Section 2

Under the torchlight, you could see that the youth was no more than 13 or 14 years of age. Yet his abilities clearly surpassed even the dreams of the various assembled experts in martial arts. He was only clothed in a plain white robe, but his air of nobility could not be matched by most men clad in brocade.

Until this moment, he had only spoken a few sentences, yet his charisma and charm were apparent. Even the Snow Sabre Liu Ruyu, whose eyes had appraised many men, felt her heart racing. Seventh Master Qiu Qingpo, who had been much admired and sought after in his younger days, felt a twinge of inadequacy, having met this young man.

Hua Wuque’s expression changed slightly. He swiftly turned to stare at Xiao Yu’er, and said, each word distinct: “You are Jiang Yu, and you are also Xiao Yu’er?”
Quite unconsciously, Xiao Yu’er began to grow alarmed, but he only said: “Why, is my name famous or something?”
Hua Wuque still stared at him for a brief moment, then lightly sighed and said, “I am very sorry.”
Xiao Yu’er opened his eyes in surprise: “Sorry? For what?”
Hua Wuque slowly said: “Because I’m going to kill you!”

Xiao Yu’er, unfortunately, did fall, and his hands couldn’t grasp anything!

He could only close his eyes tightly, and laugh bitterly: “It’s over, Xiao Yu’er dies at the hands of apes…”

Shen Qinghong mused, “The people who could slay so many experts at once, are definitely few in number. However, I would say there are about seven or eight. Among them, the ones who have the most skillful martial arts and who use the cruelest tactics, are the two princesses of the FloralPalace!”

The tone of his voice changed somewhat on uttering the final two words. He glanced about in all directions, as if afraid that the two princesses, beautiful as fairies yet monster-like in their brutality, might suddenly appear out of the darkness.

“What’s his name?” Xiao Yu’er asked her after a pause.

She answered, “You wouldn’t recognize it.”

He said, “Well if he’s more vicious than the ‘Ten Evils’, his name should be exceedingly famous.”

“Not only do I know this name of yours,” Xiao Yu’er went on, “I know that you are also called Xiao Mimi, of the ‘Ten Evils’. (1) You appear to be graceful and tender, but actually you are already four or five decades old. But don’t worry, I won’t be repulsed by your age. The older the ginger, the more bite it has; the more mature a woman, the more I appreciate her.”

Sighing, Jiang Yulang explained, “You couldn’t even imagine the height of her abilities. According to rumour, she has had more than seven hundred lovers. Among them were disciples of the Famed Seven Swords. If each lover merely taught her a single stroke, that would be enough to make her terrifying.”

“To tell you the truth,” Xiao Yu’er said, “the treasure map was a fake. It is worthless. The maker of the map merely wished any treasure seekers to kill themselves while fighting each other for it!”

Jiang Yulang was completely stunned. After a pause, he mumbled, “And who is the mapmaker?”

Xiao Yu’er said spitefully, “I don’t know either. But I will find them. Not for the sake of any greater good, but because this person has tricked me, and so I will make them pay.”

The firelight had weakened still further. Xiao Yu’er saw it grow dim, and mumbled, “Wine! That d*mn wine, was wasted by that d*mn fool.” He glanced about. The smashed pieces of the wine jar were quickly drying out on the floor. The odd thing was, the spilled wine itself was not seeping into the earth.

The ground was uneven, of course the wine would flow towards the lowest level. Xiao Yu’er suddenly jumped up, and spilled a tub of water on the floor. The water also followed the wine. He screamed wildly: “Wai, look…look!”

“The whip is covered in barbed dragon scales, which can attach to an attacker’s weapon and pull it out of their hands. It can also grip onto hidden projectiles as well.
The forked horns can neutralize all sorts of soft weapons. The outstretched tongue of the dragon is used to seal acupoints. The open mouth bites down on an enemy’s sword easily. Furthermore, the pair of dragon’s eyes contains explosives and flammable materials. From within the dragon’s mouth, the user can fire thirteen ‘Heart Withers at Noon’ darts. Once you see the blood bubbling from the throat, the person will not live another twelve hours. And, if needed, the dragon scales can also be fired as projectiles.

If you didn’t know all the background of this weapon, even a god would not be able to escape unscathed.”

Ouyang Ting.

‘Hero among men’, Ouyang Ting! Her enemy, of all people, was one of the heroes of wulin, a man of solid reputation and upstanding character. He was one of the strongest martial artists of his time, and his family was among the richest as well.

Xiao Yu’er sucked in his breath sharply. He would never have dreamed that this ogre with the dirty feet would be Xuanyuan Sanguang, the ‘Devil Gambler’ of the ‘Ten Evils’!
And never, not even in a fit of mad ravings, would he have thought that, having just barely escaped the clutches of one of the ‘Ten Evils’, he would immediately encounter another one of them.
Furthermore, the way things were going, as he met more members of the ‘Ten Evils’, each one seemed more malicious than the last!

What an impressive aura and heroic air!

Xiao Yu’er thought to himself: [I may be the world’s most intelligent man. But even if I were a hundred times smarter than him, could I instill such fear and awe in other people? It seems that I should properly hone my martial arts, otherwise I will never, in my lifetime, be as inspiring and glorious a figure.]

The cabins turned out to be surprisingly pleasant, with clean tables and bright, clear windows. Besides the white-haired old boatman, the only other passenger was a young girl of about fifteen or sixteen. A pair of huge eyes kept darting over in Xiao Yu’er’s direction. But Xiao Yu’er did not even cast a glance at her- at this point, the mere sight of any beautiful woman was enough to give him a headache.

The bathtub was a custom made wooden tub, almost as tall as a person, with steam coming out of it.
Jiang Yulang had his body totally immersed in it, his eyes closed, several times he let out a deep sigh of contentment.
What about Xiao Yu'er?
How pitiful, he could only stand outside of the bathtub watching. Moreover, one of his arms was up on the edge of the tub, what a torture.

Since the age of eight Xiao Yu'er learned to pick many different kind of locks and padlocks. To pick and to dismantle locks and to put them back together again became an everyday game when he was small. But why did he prefer to be handcuffed to Jiang Yulang and received such hardship and shame? What was really his intention? Did he suspect all along that Jiang Yulang's father was a mysterious person and full of secrets? Or maybe from the beginning he knew that this place was full of mysterious and shocking things?

Before Jiang Bie He finished his sentence, Jiang Yulang suddenly barged in while clutching his stomach, his face ashen and his body trembling.
"The wine...the wine he brought was laced with poison!" choked Jiang Yulang while pointing at Xiao Yu'er.

Since Xiao Yu'er's body had been trained till his tendons were like wire and his bone like iron, although his kungfu had not reached the first rate fighter level, when it comes to somersaulting it could be said for him that it was as easy as eating peanuts. When he reached thirty somersault, crowd started forming, and when he did sixty they all cheered in one accord. When he somersault till eighty the crowd forgot to cheer, they just stared in awe. If there was anybody that was glad, then the little miss in the red outfit with big eyes was the happiest. Xiao Yu'er continued somersaulting till past one hundred, then he stopped and with a laugh he asked, "Is that enough?"

"If Li-Zongbiaotou (general manager Li) had known about this matter, than you should not have sent a delegate to contact Duan Hefei and stole the business that had been given to us," shouted Zhao-Zongbiaotou furiously. "I've heard for quite a while that 'Heng-shanying (Eagle from Southern Mount Heng) Li Feng was a daxia with high moral and loyal to friends, hmm it turns out..."

"Crack", suddenly he squeezed the wine glass in his hand and shattered it to pieces.

People like Jiang Yulang actually didn't believe in ghosts, devils or any of those sorts. Now he's forced to believe because he knew for sure that he did hit the fatal pressure point of that servant, and he absolutely sure that the person died, moreover nobody witnessed the incidence in the Si Hai Chun's kitchen. Then who could this person be if not a ghost?
Jiang Yulang teeth were chattering so much that he wasn't able to talk. Seeing their hero scared to bits, Li Di and the others started to retreat also.
"Hehe, are you running away? Mocked Xiao Yu'er with an eerie voice. "Huh, you won't be able to. Come here and give me your life!"