Chapter 6

The old man gathered together the power of his inner Qi and directed it all onto the one strike of his palm, sending forth a gust of howling wind. Yu Luo Cha flitted by to avoid his strike, and as her clothes rippled about in the breeze, her long sword simultaneously plunged downwards from mid air. The old man immediately flipped around to push out with his palms, hastily striking towards Yu Luo Cha’s vital acupoints. With just a slight movement of her body, Yu Luo Cha’s long sword had already flipped around to pierce upwards by using the “Threading the Golden Needle” stance. It was almost as if the old man had already expected her to use such a move for he suddenly took a step forward as the tip of Yu Luo Cha’s sword immediately glided past his ribs. He then brought his two palms together and then suddenly spread them apart, extending towards the left and right sides, thus causing the “Virginal boy praying to the Kuan Yin” stance to suddenly transform into the “Ying Yang clashing palms” that struck towards Yu Luo Cha mercilessly. But for some reason, Yu Luo Cha also seemed to have been able to predict that he was going to use this stance, and with a plunge of her sword, her blade immediately shot back up and pierced towards the “Qi Men accupoint” located on the old man’s underarms. The old man did not budge a step, but suddenly contracted his body to evade this stance while immediately transforming his palms into fists and then charged forward with a “Side punch to a Tiger” stance. Yu Luo Cha extended her body and jumped up more than ten feet into the air before diving down diagonally. The old man roared, “Answer to this stance kid!” and immediately attacked forward. Yu Luo Cha flashed a beautiful smile and chimed, “Answer to this stance old bandit!” and with a sweep of her sword, her blade pared away.

The old man thought that she was using the DaMo Sword skill’s “Leaping across river” stance, therefore moved from the “Kan” [1] position to the “Li” [2] position. Then with a back flip of his hand, he attempted to clamp down onto the wrist of her sword-wielding hand. But Yu Luo Cha charged forward with her sword unexpectedly and just when she’s reached the mid point of her attack, she immediately changed the direction of her strike and headed straight towards the position of where her opponent has just dodged to. The old man was greatly taken back, but luckily his martial arts were of such an incredible caliber that it enabled him to change stances with the speed of lightning, and thus with a whirl while still residing in the “Li” position, he further retaliated by attacking with the middle and index finger of his left hand, striking towards the “Phoenix Eye Acupoint” located behind Yu Luo Cha’s back. Yu Luo Cha’s method of countering this attack was to immediately strike back, attacking her opponent as a means of countering her opponent’s attack. The old man was forced to flee the “Li” position, causing the attack of both sides to cancel each other out.

Yu Luo Cha and the old man were both competing to gain the upper hand, thus there was not a single moment, stance or move of where either of them relented. Their every action was calculated with the utmost precision as they each struggled to gain the edge over the other. Yu Luo Cha’s sword skill was mystical and unfathomable, for even when she seemed to be charging forward, she would suddenly appear from behind you, and when she appeared to strike towards the left, she would suddenly come from the right. Her sword skill seemed to comprise the essence of the various schools and sects of sword art, yet at the same time there was not a single stance which bared true similarity to its original.

Similarly, the old man’s palm strikes were incredibly strange as well, for regardless of how thunderous the force and speed of his strikes were, and regardless of how his attacks rained down like a hurricane, his body still continued to move in accordance with the formation of the “Eight Houses” and “Five Steps.” For amongst martial art theories, the “Eight Houses” referred to eight different directions that were plotted out according to the positions of the houses in the “Eight Trigrams”: Kan, Li, Dui, Zhen, Xun, Qian, Kun and Gen. [3] There were four “official positions” [4] and four “slanting positions.” [5] As for the “five steps,” that was in reference to the five step-formations that were determined in accordance to the five elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. The five step-formations thus proceed as: advance, retreat, attending to the left [6], expecting from the right [7] and remaining at center. These attacking and guarding transformations of the “Eight Houses” and “Five Steps” were originally created by Zhang San Feng, the founder of the Tai Chi school. It was known as the “Thirteen Positions of Tai Chi,” for the Tai Chi fists were founded on the principle of overcoming the hard with the soft. The force of this old man’s punches was incredibly dynamic and was an embodiment of raw strength. But the movement and step formations that he was using belonged to the “Thirteen positions of Tai Chi.” Therefore, his attack was comprised of a mixture of both hard and soft forces. To embody both forces simultaneously and then to use it towards combat was most definitely something that was not possible had one’s martial arts not approached the level of the “Enlightened” yet.

Yu Luo Cha and the old man could only counter each other’s attack by using the method of counter-attacking, yet even after exchanging over one hundred stances, neither one of them were able to gain the slightest edge over the other, causing Yu Luo Cha to be secretly alarmed. She knew it was no longer a joke and thus no longer dared to treat the situation in a playful manner. Instead, her expression became somber and serious, as she concentrated all her attention on combating her opponent and executed the exclusive sword art that was related to her by her ShiFu with increasing intensity and speed, causing the deadliness of her attack to reach a level that she has never attained before.

Similarly, the old man had already fought over one hundred stances but was still unable to win the upper hand. The mystical brilliance of Yu Luo Cha’s sword skill forced him to take extreme caution at every turn. As the battle escalated to its most intense moment, the two silhouettes flitted back and forth in such a blur that amongst the tornado created from the palm’s strike and the rays of luminance projected from the sword’s attack, it was no longer possible to differentiate which silhouette belonged to the old man and which one belonged to the young girl!

The old man secretly took a deep breath for he truly could not imagine that a young girl of such an immortal beauty could actually execute a sword skill of such deadliness that it was unmatched by anything he’s ever encountered before. She truly was one of the few worthy opponents that he has ever had the chance of encountering throughout his whole life. Similarly, Yu Luo Cha was also taking a deep breath as she never would have expected this old man’s palm strikes to embody such thunderous force. She had to admit that in terms of inner energy cultivation, it seems that this old man was a notch above her.

The battle has now reached a point of where termination or a harmless resolution was made almost impossible for both sides were delivering deadly strikes to the other. In the midst of their intense battle, Yu Luo Cha suddenly heard a scream of terror drifting in from the back of the mountains. It sounded like Zhuo Yi Hang’s voice. Her concentration and attention was momentarily disconcerted and as a result, her sword’s attack slowed down just ever so slightly. But just that little bit was enough for the old man to deliver a strike with a whoosh of his palm while residing in the “Gen” position. Yu Luo Cha immediately pierced out with the stance “astrological shift, cosmic realignment,” but by that time the old man’s palm has also arrived at the corners of her clothing. Just when it became very evident that the fight was only going to result in a double fatality, the old man suddenly retreated a few steps and shouted, “Don’t come forward!” Yu Luo Cha glanced over to the side and discovered that on the crag of which the young girl was standing on, there had appeared a beautiful middle-age woman. The old man’s words were meant for that beautiful matron. Considering the supreme martial art abilities of Yu Luo Cha and the high sensitivity of her acute senses, she was actually unable to detect exactly when this woman had arrived. In fact, there wasn’t any space or room during her fight that allowed her to divert her attention for even a brief moment, truly illustrating how intense and dangerous the battle was.

By now, Yu Luo Cha was truly a little impressed by the old man as she thought to herself: when a first rate fighter is in combat, they must be completely receptive to their surroundings. Their eyes should be able to survey all four directions and their ears must also be sensitive to sounds coming from all eight sides. But once coming across an equally matched opponent, I was unable devote a shred of attention to my surroundings! That really goes to show that I’m still not seasoned enough.

The old man gave out a loud roar and with a flip of his body, came forward again while shouting, “Let’s continue the fight!” Yu Luo Cha replied with anger, “Did you think that I was scared of you? It’s a shame that despite having such supreme martial arts, you would actually stoop so low to pull such a dirty trick of stealing someone else’s martial arts manual. Today if you don’t return my sword manual to me, I swear that you will never see the end of me!” Then with two swipes of her sword, she attacked in sequential fashion. The old man roared furiously and countered with a “PilingMountains, OverthrowingOcean,” as the two resumed their fight again.

Meanwhile, standing on top of the crag was the young girl who had faced off against Yu Luo Cha earlier. She turned towards the lovely matron who came up behind her afterwards and said, “Auntie, go and punish that thieving wench for me!” The lovely matron said, “ah-Hu, your execution of the butterfly darts are notches above mine, why ask me to make a fool of myself?” The young girl replied, “Papa said that I was not to help out.” The lovely matron asked quietly, “What sword manual is she talking about? Did that sword manual belong to her?” The expression on the young girl’s face changed immediately as she pressed her lips against the matron’s ear and whispered, “Don’t say any more, if Papa hears of this, we’ll be in big trouble!” The lovely matron only smiled faintly while thinking in her heart: That old corpse is in a life and death battle right now, he won’t be able to hear me even if I raised my voice louder. But when she noticed the nervousness in the young girl, she smiled and took out three butterfly darts while saying, “Fine, I won’t say anymore than. Just watch how I punish her for you!” and with a grand sweep of her right hand, the three butterfly darts emanated strange whistling sounds as it zipped through the air, and with the speed of lightning headed straight towards Yu Luo Cha.

At that moment, Yu Luo Cha was in the midst of an intense battle with the old man. Though the execution of Yu Luo Cha’s sword stances became increasing faster, the force of the old man’s palms was also becoming increasingly dynamic. The two fighters both had their full attention devoted to the battle when the projectiles shot in from the side. Yu Luo Cha had the ability to differentiate the type of weapon that was being thrown just by listening to the sound it emanates. Therefore, she knew right from the beginning that there were three butterfly darts that were shooting towards her and striking towards three different spots on her body – the “Qi-Men Acupoint,” the “Dang-Men Acupoint” and the “Bai Hai Acupoint.” If this was any other time, based on Yu Luo Cha’s abilities, these three measly butterfly darts were truly nothing more than just mere child’s play. She needed only to lift a finger, and all the attacking projectiles would have been shot down. But right now, the two equally matched fighters were battling for their lives. One fighter excelled in having a deep reserve of inner energy levels, while the other fighter’s sword skill was incredibly powerful, causing them to be perfectly matched in terms of ability. The situation was akin to the two sides of a balance that was perfectly equal in weight, where adding just a single pin or a thread onto either side would cause a disruption in the perfect equilibrium.

When Yu Luo Cha heard the sounds of the impending projectiles fly towards her, her face immediately changed colours as she sneered, “Shameless bastard! Can’t believe you would actually resort to such sleazy moves!” Yet surprisingly, she did not evade the projectiles. The sword in her hand executed the “Facing the lapping waves” and then immediately switched to the “Three rings covering the moon,” attacking straight towards the “Jiang Tai acupoint” located on her opponent’s front while simultaneously coming in from the side to attack his “Ju Gu Acupoint.”

You’re probably wondering why Yu Luo Cha was not dodging the projectiles? It was because Yu Luo Cha knew that though to evade the projectiles was not at all a hard task, yet if she divided her attention to impede the projectiles, in accordance with her opponent’s skilled martial arts, she knew that he would take the opportunity to attack and then she would most definitely be finished. Therefore, she figured that she might as well bring her opponent down with her. This way, even if she was going to die, she can at least die with dignity. Her last two stances were incredibly vicious, for with just two snipes of her blade she was able to force the old man to jump from the “Gen” position to the “Qian” house. Yu Luo Cha’s attack did not slow down a slight bit as she lurched forward and attacked with her sword, transforming from the “Three rings covering the moon” to the “White spectrum envelops sun,” aiming the tip of her blade straight for the “Xuan Ji acupoint” located on the old man’s chest. By that time, the three butterfly darts were already fast approaching and was just about to make contact with Yu Luo Cha’s throat!

As the projectiles hurtled forward, Yu Luo Cha was not the only one who underwent a change of colour, for the old man’s face has also bloated to a beet red. Having heard Yu Luo Cha’s charge, he became even more embarrassed and humiliated. Thus with a shift of his shoulders, his right palm suddenly shot out in the air and deflected a butterfly dart, shocking it out towards the bottom of the mountain. This action took Yu Luo Cha completely by surprise, but by that time it was already too late for her to retract her attack as her sword automatically entered through the lapse. By shifting his shoulders, the old man was only able to evade frontal contact, but a tearing sound was heard as the blade went through his sleeve, causing the tip of the blade to leave a wound on his arm and fresh blood to drip out. The old man did not utter a single sound, but with a melancholy gloom jumped back more than ten feet. By that time, the second and third darts have already arrived in front of Yu Luo Cha.

Now that her powerful opponent has retreated, Yu Luo Cha only needed to give a sweep of her sword and already the two butterfly darts were struck down. The old man charged towards the mid section of the mountain and pointed to the lovely matron while scolding in a severe tone, “Who gave you the orders to shoot out projectiles?” The lovely matron had an incredibly flirtatious demeanor, and with a bat of her eyelashes, she put on a hurt and wronged face as she pouted, “Master, you never gave me any orders to stay out of it. She was picking on ah-Hu, why should we go easy on her? Master, I did everything for you and your daughter!” Her eyes reddened and tears brimmed about. Yu Luo Cha’s shadow flitted up high into the air, and like a giant condor gliding in the air she struck towards them while shouting, “Bit*ch! So it was you who fired those projectiles” and with a sweep of her right hand, three silver needles flashed out, glinting under the sun’s glare. The old man lifted up his sleeve and with a billow brought down two needles while the third silver needle pierced straight into the lovely matron’s shoulders, causing her to shriek out in pain.

The old man shouted, “You saw for yourself! Her firing the projectiles has nothing to do with me. You are certainly one despicable and ruthless thief, first you pick on my daughter and now you’re injuring my beloved mistress! There is no way I’m letting you go. We’ll have a one on one fight, but nobody is allowed to bring along any helpers this time. Do you dare to accept my challenge?”

Yu Luo Cha suddenly laughed, causing the old man’s face to immediately change colours as he said, “We can fight right here and now if you have the guts!” He thought that Yu Luo Cha was jeering at the fact that he was injured under her sword, which was why he wanted to arrange another date for them to have a rematch. But in actuality, Yu Luo Cha was laughing at his behaviour. She knew that considering the old man’s martial art abilities, to strike down all three of the needles that she fired out earlier would not be a hard task. But he purposely allowed one needle to pass through, thus injuring the lovely matron in the process. She figured that this was very likely his way of punishing and reprimanding his mistress, as she thought to herself: “So that woman’s his mistress, no wonder he had to conceal his actions and lay the blame of her injury on me.” Yu Luo Cha then said, “You stole my sword manual, there is no way that I would be letting you off the hook. But we’re both tired today, even if we continued fighting, we won’t get any results. Where do you live? If you are willing to reveal the location of your abode, I will most definitely pay a visit to you one day.” Not only had Yu Luo Cha’s words and tone softened greatly, but furthermore, she did not mention anything about the old man being injured.

The old man was an established and famed figure in the martial arts world, therefore when his beloved mistress secretly fired out darts during the middle of his fight to help him out, he almost wanted to hide with embarrassment. This was the reason why he was not angry even though he had just sustained a sword wound. Hearing Yu Luo Cha ask him this question, he thought for a moment before answering, “Alright, a month from now I will be waiting for you at the TieMansion located in LongMen.” Yu Luo Cha was completely taken back, while the old man took his mistress in one hand and his daughter in the other and immediately flew down the mountain. Yu Luo Cha had more questions to ask and was just about to chase after them when she suddenly heard Zhuo Yi Hang and Wang Zhao Xi cry from the back of the mountain, “Heroine Lian! Lian jiejie! [8] Hurry! Come quickly!” The person who was calling “Lian jiejie” was Zhuo Yi Hang, causing Yu Luo Cha’s heart to be filled with warmth. But because she was worried that they might have undergone harm, she immediately ran towards the back of the mountain.

Amongst the maze of rocks that was scattered behind the mountain, Wang Zhao Xi and Zhuo Yi Hang could both be seen crouching inside a stone cave. Yu Luo Cha asked with curiosity, “Hey, what are you guys doing?” Zhuo Yi Hang turned around and jumped outside while saying in a somber voice, “Taoist Priest Zhen Qian has been murdered!” Yu Luo Cha jumped and said, “What? Taoist Priest Zhen Qian has been murdered?” and immediately ran forward for a look. She immediately saw Taoist Priest Zhen Qian sitting cross legged within the stone cave with blood dripping from his seven orifices. [9] The frozen expression on his face clearly communicated the immeasurable pain he had to sustain. Yu Luo Cha reached out her hand to touch his body, discovering that though his pulse had stopped, his body temperature was still lukewarm, thus indicating that his breath had stopped not long ago. Zhuo Yi Hang said, “Someone must have murdered him because they wanted to get their hands on his sword manual!” Yu Luo Cha’s heart jumped as she gasped and hurriedly asked, “What sword manual are you talking about?” Zhuo Yi Hang replied, “Your ShiFu’s sword manual! Brother Ming Ke asked Taoist Priest Zhen Qian to deliver it to Elder Tian Du. But nobody would have expected that he would suddenly die here in the middle of nowhere while the sword manual would end up missing!” Yu Luo Cha shouted with anger, “It must be that old bandit Tie’s doing! And I thought that he was a respectful elder with a strain of the heroic valor within him! I can’t believe that the old bandit would not only steal my sword manual, but would actually dare to murder Taoist Priest Zhen Qian!” Wang Zhao Xi asked, “But how did you know it was him?” Yu Luo Cha replied, “Taoist Priest’s martial arts are of such a skilled level, if it wasn’t the old bandit’s doing, who else would have the ability to injure him? Hey! Wang Zhao Xi, are you old acquaintances with that old bandit? Tell me now!” Zhuo Yi Hang chipped in, “You guys keep going on and on, but who exactly is this ‘Old Bandit Tie’?”

Yu Luo Cha answered, “Even though I’ve only branched out on my own for three years, yet I’m quite aware of the figures and heroes belonging to both the black and white sides. Tie Fei Long is from the LongMenCounty located in the ShanXi province. He is well known to others as a strange martial artist belonging to the Northwest regions. Am I right?” Wang Zhao Xi continued, “This person resides in the juncture between the good and the bad. He may do good deeds, but he similarly does bad deeds. Anyone who dares to harass him would most definitely be shamed and tortured to their deaths. But he has been very proud and arrogant his whole life, he might not be willing to do such things as steal another sect’s sword manual.” Yu Luo Cha glared and asked, “Did you think my eyes were playing tricks on me then? The girl who appeared in the prefecture building – was that his daughter?” Wang Zhao Xi nodded and with an embarrassed expression answered, “Yes.” Yu Luo Chan then said, “The sword skill that his daughter used was my very own sect’s sword skill.” Wang Zhao Xi’s eyes widened with surprise and asked, “Is that really true?” Yu Luo Cha laughed coldly and said, “You must be trying to protect her on account of seeing that she’s a beautiful young girl!” These words took Wang Zhao Xi by such surprise that he stepped back two steps and respectfully stated, “My father does indeed know that old man, but all I know of him are what I hear from others’ words. In honesty, I am not too aware of exactly what his true character is like.” But in actuality, Wang Zhao Xi did have an incident with Tie Fei Long and his daughter. He originally wanted to reveal the details, but when he saw how angry Yu Luo Cha got, he immediately swallowed up the words that had already arrived at his lips.

Yu Luo Cha continued, “I battled Old Bandit Tie for half a day and still had no idea who he was. But before he left, he told me to find him at the TieMansion of the LongMenCounty. He’s really got some guts! He actually dares to leave me his name after stealing my sword manual and murdering a good man! I most definitely will seek him out and settle this score!”

Suddenly, Zhuo Yi Hang was heard to cry out with an “Ai-yah!” and then continued, “I remember now. This old man has a nose like a hawk and a mouth of a lion, a bristly short beard also fills the lower half of his face to complete his unappealing appearance – am I right?” Yu Luo Cha asked, “You know him as well?”

Zhuo Yi Hang replied, “Around seven or eight years ago, he came to my ShiFu and challenged him to a competition based on the skill of palm attacks. My ShiFu refused, therefore asked my fourth martial arts uncle to compete with him instead. My uncle ended up losing by one stance. After this incident, my uncles all blamed my ShiFu for not helping out and causing Wu Tang’s name to be shamed. But my ShiFu replied, ‘The way to counter arrogant and competitive people is to let them win, especially since our Wu Tang’s eminence is already like a large tree that easily attracts the rage of stray winds. Why should we bring more trouble upon ourselves just to win this one little match? Besides, I can tell that though he won over brother you by one stance, yet within his heart, he already holds our sect in true deference.’ My four uncles all asked what my ShiFu based this theory on, but my ShiFu only smiled and did not respond. It was only later did he reveal to me: ‘I didn’t want to tell them the truth because your fourth uncle is similarly a competitive and arrogant person. The man used the Dragon Subduing Hands to win your fourth uncle by one stance. That was a powerful stance found within his Thunderstorm Palms of the Eight Trigram. After he won, he was discussing the dynamics of his stance with me and his attitude was very pleased and haughty for he thought that there was nobody in the world who would be able to dismantle this stance. I didn’t say anything, but when I saw him to the door, I purposely stood in an eight trigram foot sequence, and from the Xun position, I ran straight towards the Qian position before turning straight towards the Li direction. I brought my hands together to form a fist and bowed with my palms slanting downwards. Then with a separation of my left and right hands, I appeared to be performing the rites of seeing one’s guest out, but in actuality, I was executing the stance which could overthrow the stance in the Dragon Subduing Hands. He is an expert, therefore of course he would be able to discern my true intention. That was why after he stepped out of the doors, he turned around and brought his hands together in a bow and then asked me to excuse his previous actions.’“ Wang Zhao Xi praised, “Your ShiFu’s character is truly magnanimous.” Yu Luo Cha snickered coldly, “I would never be so nice when dealing with such despicable villains.”

Wang Zhao Xi did not dare to make a sound, but within his heart he was secretly crying for help. Tie Fei Long did not have a male child, he had only one daughter named ShanHu [10] whom he spoiled immensely. He was not only arrogant and competitive, but his personality and ways were always considered as being quite strange and eccentric. Therefore he rarely associates with the people of the martial arts world, and similarly, other people dared not to bother him. Because of this reason, though Tie Shan Hu was actually quite lovely, yet even now at the age of eighteen, she still remains to be unmarried. Tie Fei Long brings her along with him as he roams around the martial arts world, but he was still unable to find a suitable husband for his daughter. Because Wang Zhao Xi assists his father in handling the affairs of the Northern Shaan area’s underground world, he has established quite a reputation for himself. Coincidently, Tie Fei Long and Wang Zhao Xi’s father Wang Jia Yin knew each other already, thus when Tie heard of Wang Zhao Xi’s name, he secretly laughed at himself for not taking notice of the cream of the crop that was standing right in front of him, but was instead digging around at the bottom of the barrel.

Therefore, along with his daughter they arrived at the Yan An City to visit Wang Jia Yin, and of course Wang Jia Yin showed the greatest respect and devoted his utmost attention to this wandering master of rare ability. After the father and daughter met Wang Zhao Xi, they found him to be extremely suitable and thus after the banquet finished, Tie Fei Long straight out proposed marriage to the Wang family. Wang Jia Yin was extremely apologetic and could only tactfully explain that his son was already engaged to the daughter of Meng Can, the martial arts instructor of Beijing. This marriage engagement was made before the kids were even born, therefore they could only ask Tie Fei Long to please select another suitable husband for his daughter. But what he really didn’t expect was that Tie Fei Long could actually be so inconsiderate of social etiquette, for he actually smacked down on the table and shouted, “And you call yourself a lord of the underground world when you’re accepting a dog that works for the imperial courts as your in-laws? Is there a single thing about my daughter that’s not perfect? Call off that marriage engagement right away!” Wang Jia Yin knew that he was dealing with an unreasonable man, and since he was also in the midst of putting together important matters, he didn’t want to anger such a person. Therefore he could only say, “Even if we were to call it off, I still have to explain everything to Master Meng. But we are separated by such great distances, it’s not something that can be accomplished over the course of a day or two.” Tie Fei Long then took his daughter and left in an angry huff. Afterwards, Wang Jia Yin asked his son what his feelings were towards this incident. Wang Zhao Xi did not particularly like Tie Shan Hu, and did not wish to call off his original marriage engagement for the purpose of establishing another marriage. But at the same time, he also didn’t want to anger old Tie, therefore after discussing it over with his father, they decided that Wang Zhao Xi was to hurry towards the capital and quickly complete the marriage ceremonies. But little did they expect that as soon as Wang arrived in the capital, he would come across Meng Can’s death, and then come to a misunderstanding with Bai Min.

Wang Zhao Xi was thinking: Yu Luo Cha is in the midst of striking up a treaty with my family, if she goes to seek out the old freak Tie and end up creating a huge ruckus, then wouldn’t all this blame end up being dumped onto my family’s head?

Then Wang Zhao Xi also thought to: Even if all this does end up on my family’s front doors, that still may not be much of a big deal. But right now our main task concerns the amalgamation of the world’s heroes in hopes that we can come together as one body and do great things one day. These small matters are simply not worth the trouble of ending up on the blacklist of this crazy martial arts master. Besides, old Tie most definitely is not the type to commit murder in order to covet another’s manual. Although Wang Zhao Xi was really quite displeased with Yu Luo Cha’s way of acting out based on her emotions, yet because he knew that Yu Luo Cha would be even bigger trouble than old Tie, he could only remain silent.

Having spent half the day in battle and after a long night’s toil, the hour was already approaching midday. Yu Luo Cha and the others were all hungry and thirsty, and as the shafts of sunlight shone into the stone cave, the stench of blood became even harder to withstand. Yu Luo Cha tore down a section of her sleeve and returned to the cave to slowly wipe the blood off Taoist Priest Zhen Qian. She noticed that the blood stains were purplish and dark in colour, as if his death was caused by poison. Yu Luo Cha thought to herself: Tie Fei Long’s martial arts were above Zhen Qian’s, if he wanted to take his manual it seems unlikely that he would need to use poison. She did a careful examination and found that the bones of his jaw were completely shattered, very obviously resulting from the blow of a palm’s strike. Then with a closer look at the area of injury, she discovered that the marks of fingers’ clenching down onto bone could be vaguely discerned. This was very obviously the result of a victim who was first struck down with a palm strike from his aggressor who then clamped down with their five fingers and utilized the power of inner Qi to injure their victim’s throat. Such an act was indeed synonymous with Tie Fei Long’s fighting style! Yu Luo Cha’s heart was now filled with a great number of unanswered questions.

The Taoist Priest Zhen Qian was old friends with both Zhuo Yi Hang and Yu Luo Cha’s ShiFus. While shedding tears, the two of them dug out a plot in the ground and buried Zhen Qian. Afterwards, Yu Luo Cha gathered together a mound of earth to serve as a representation of lighted incense before then turning towards the heavens to make a solemn vow of seeking revenge for Taoist Priest Zhen Qian.

The three of them then washed off their blood-stained hands, drank some water from the stream and consumed some dried food. By the time they descended the mountain, Wang Zhao Xi’s backup troops has already arrived. Bai Min has also been rescued already and when he saw Yu Luo Cha, he immediately expressed his gratitude with joy.

When Yu Luo Cha saw how Zhuo Yi Hang’s eyebrows were knitted together tightly, she said, “Don’t worry Brother Zhuo, I have already commanded someone to bring your grandfather’s remains to WaYaoBao. When Brother Zhuo you arrive there, we can immediately begin the burial rites. As for your servants, I have already taken the liberty of making the decision for you and have dispersed them after giving them all compensational money.” Zhuo Yi Hang remained silent and did not say a single word. He was thinking that since things have come to this point, if he did return home he would most definitely be arrested. Therefore, he could only allow her to arrange things as she pleases.

Zhuo Yi Hang originally did not want to accompany Wang Zhao Xi to WaYaoBao, but because he needed to rely on him to bury his grandfather’s remains, he had no choice but to follow him. WaYaoBao was located around a hundred fifty miles from Yan An City, and since they traveled along with Wang’s men and horse troops, by midnight they were able to arrive at their destination. Wang Jia Yin came out personally to greet them and was very happy to finally meet Yu Luo Cha, finding her to be extremely likable. They both exchanged greetings and expressed their admiration for each other. Then when Wang Zhao Xi explained to his father about Zhuo Yi Hang’s background, Wang Jia Yin was again filled with joy as he laughed and said, “How lucky we are to have someone like Brother Zhuo who is well learned in both the martial and literary arts. What the bunch of us ruffians and hoodlums need is indeed such a talent who has the ability to strategize military tactics.” Zhuo Yi Hang acknowledged the praise by returning a greeting with a fold of his hands and then said coldly, “We can discuss such matters at later times.” Wang Jia Yin was taken back, but Wang Zhao Xi immediately explained in a low voice, “Brother Zhuo is in the midst of mourning.” Wang Jia Ying then immediately expressed his condolences and then hurriedly ordered someone to bring forth a set of mourning attire for Zhuo Yi Hang to change into.

Zhuo Yi Hang was desirous to leave as soon as possible, therefore he immediately buried his grandfather the next day and then entreated Wang Zhao Xi to take care of the tomb in the future. Yu Luo Cha had to meet and greet the various fortress leaders during the day time, but by sunset, she still found time to come forward to Zhuo Zhong Lian’s tomb to give her respects. Even though she was lighting incenses and candles, as well as accompanying Zhuo Yi Hang in a series of reverential bows, but within her heart she honestly found it funny that she was actually bowing to the high official whom she had robbed in the past. When Zhuo Yi Hang saw how her expression did not communicate any distress or sorrow, he secretly became very displease within his heart for he thought that she was just hypocritically putting on a display of concern. But what he did not understand was Yu Luo Cha’s heart. If Yu Luo Cha wasn’t doing this for him, even if someone had held the blade of a sword to her neck, they still would never have been able to force her to come and kneel or bow by the tomb.

The last traces of sunset gradually disappeared from the horizon as the new moon rose in the night sky. Zhuo Yi Hang and Yu Luo Cha were standing shoulder to shoulder as they slowly walked back from the burial grounds. Yu Luo Cha was leaning close by Zhuo Yi Hang, her soulful eyes brimming with expression as she suddenly started to gently play with her hair, seemingly as if desiring to say something, but in the end deciding to remain silent. Zhuo Yi Hang felt as if the air she was exhaling was filled with the fragrance of orchids, causing his soul to palpitate wildly. He hurriedly stepped away, causing Yu Luo Cha to laugh and ask, “Even now, you’re still scared of me?” Zhuo Yi Hang replied, “I don’t know why you always want to make others be afraid of you.” Yu Luo Cha said, “Didn’t you know that I was nursed by a mother wolf? I never set out with the goal to make others be afraid of me, but maybe it’s my untamed wildness that causes others to be scared of me.”

Zhuo Yi Hang suddenly took a deep sigh and thought to how Yu Luo Cha was not only blessed with a beautiful appearance, but she similarly possessed an intelligent mind. She was like a beautiful piece of jade that was so exquisite that it could only have been created by the heavens. It was really a shame that she had nobody to bring her onto the “good paths.” Yu Luo Cha asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly sighing?” Zhuo Yi Hang replied, “With your supreme martial art abilities, why must you continue to mix in with the crowd of the Underground world?”

Yu Luo Cha’s expression changed immediately as she retorted, “What’s so bad about the underground world? It’s at least a much cleaner business than the world of officialdom!” Zhuo Yi Hang lowered his head and didn’t reply. Yu Luo Cha then said, “What plans do you have from now on? Are you really planning to take the position of a government official, and like your grandfather and father, devote your life to the stinking emperor?” Zhuo Yi Hang answered with determination, “Never in my life will I be an official, but I will similarly never be a bandit!” Yu Luo Cha’s heart was filled with fury, and had it been someone other than Zhuo Yi Hang who had said these words, she most definitely would have extended out her palm to deliver a hard slap.

Zhuo Yi Hang then said slowly, “I am a Wu Tang disciple, and the rules of our sect states that we are not allowed to act as bandits or escorts. You should know that.” Yu Luo Cha sneered and asked, “But are your grandfather and father not bandits?” Zhuo Yi Hang said with anger, “How in the world can they be considered as bandits?” Yu Luo Cha answered, “Those who act as officials rob from the poor to feed the wealthy. But what we do is rob from the wealthy in order to feed the poor. Yes, we are bandits, but my kind of stealing is at least much better than the kind of stealing that your kind does!” Zhuo Yi Hang retorted, “Fine! Say as you wish, but we all have our own ways. There’s no need to force others to accept your own ideals.”

Yu Luo Cha’s body was trembling slightly while an incredible sadness filled her heart. When Zhuo Yi Hang saw the brimming tears that were threatening to fall from her reddened eyes, a compassionate tenderness immediately began to develop within him as he unconsciously reached out to hold her finger and say, “Though our ideals and goals may be different, yet our friendship will always remain.” Yu Luo Cha asked sadly, “When are you going?” Zhuo Yi Hang answered, “Tomorrow.” Yu Luo Cha sighed and did not say anything else. After a long silence, Zhuo Yi Hang changed the topic and asked Yu Luo Cha to tell him all about the strange happenings and interesting anecdotes of the martial arts world, while he himself talked about the colourful lifestyle and attractions of the capital. Under the moonlight, the two of them slowly strolled together while conversing like two old friends. Even though neither of them dared to reveal the feelings concealed within the deepest parts of their hearts, yet they were already able to develop a much better understanding of each other. That evening, they talked until late night before finally parting.

Early morning of the next day, Zhuo Yi Hang bid his farewells to Wang Zhao Xi. Since Wang Zhao Xi knew that Zhuo was determined to leave, he did not try to detain him. They delivered their best wishes to each other and then departed with tears in their eyes.

Having recently undergone a series of traumatic changes, Zhuo Yi Hang was filled with sorrow and dejection. But at the same time, he knew that there were matters concerning the state and country which could not be ignored. He thought over such matters for quite a while before he finally decided to take the next step of journeying to the capital and report to the Crown Prince about the traitors who have been bought out by the Manchurians. He figured that he could take this chance to proclaim his innocence as well.

In order to arrive at the capital, he decided to take the path through ShanXi and then turn into Hebei. It took him only seven days to arrive into the ShanXi area and as he entered into the LongMenCounty that day, he marvelled at the force of the Yellow River’s rushing currents and the grand majesty of the stone cliffs that comprised a most sublime scene. Zhuo Yi Hang suddenly remembered that Tie Fei Long and his daughter resided in this area and couldn’t stop a jolt of fear from striking at his heart. His eyes darted all around him but he found no other pedestrians alongside the roads. In fact, the only things that could be discerned were the faint outlines of boat sails seen amidst the far seas. Zhuo Yi Hang felt quite lonely during his trip as he trudged along, accompanied by only his own shadow. After walking for a while, he passed over a hill to suddenly come face to face with a villa situated right in front of him.

Zhuo Yi Hang thought to himself, “Could this be the ‘Tie Villa’?” and just as he was in the process of mumbling to himself, he suddenly heard a series of cold laughter sound from behind him. When he whipped his head around, he was shocked to discover that it was none other than Yun Yan Ping and Jin Qian Yan! Yun Yan Ping sneered, “Hey! Where’s your bodyguard Yu Luo Cha? You know kid, if you had stuck to her, we may not have been able to do anything to you. But I can’t believe that you would actually dare to run around on your own!” Zhuo Yi Hang extracted his sword from its sheath and shouted angrily, “Even if I’m by myself, I’m still not afraid of you!” Jin Qian Yan laughed and said, “Oh, what a brave little hero! Did you really think that we weren’t aware of the limits to your capabilities? You can just quit your bluffing now.”

Amidst the laughing and jeering, a loud gust was suddenly heard as Jin’s palm struck out to attack. With a twist of his waist followed by a quick dodge, Zhuo Yi Hang immediately retaliated with a swipe of his sword. Jin Qian Yan’s body flitted up as he threw a punch with his left hand and then initiated a palm strike using his right hand. He punched towards Zhuo’s chest and slashed towards his wrist, enabling the same stance to be simultaneously executed in two different fashions. With a quick twist of his body, Zhuo Yi Hang blocked with his treasured sword and attacked from the side. With a ferocious growl, Jin Qian Yan’s right index finger suddenly flicked out at Zhuo’s sword blade, causing the sword to swerve to one side. Then with a punch using his left fist, Jin immediately advanced to attack again.

Zhuo Yi Hang hurriedly executed the “Reverse Seven Star Steps” and branded his sword in accordance with the movements of his body. Amongst the piercing glint shooting out from the sword’s blade, Zhuo executed the stance “Toss of the Golden Coins” to chop towards Jin’s palm and pierce towards his wrist. The stance arrived with such startling speed that Jin Qian Yan did not dare to intercept with his fingers, therefore with a “Twist and Hook,” he expanded his arms and grasped towards Zhuo Yi Hang’s head with his vermillion coloured palms. Knowing that Jin was the practitioner of the Venomous Palms of Yin Winds, how could Zhuo Yi Hang possibly dare to intercept this attack? Therefore he could only thwart the attack with his sword’s blade and then sneak out from under the gusts of his opponent’s palm strikes to execute the 72 Styles of the Sequential-Linking Swords, conjuring up such a storm that his opponent dared not to approach.

Although Jin Qian Yan’s movements were not as agile and lithe as Zhuo Yi Hang’s, yet his overall martial art cultivation was far above Zhuo Yi Hang’s and as a result, his palm strikes were extremely forceful. Furthermore, the Venomous Palms of the Yin Winds was such a deadly and poisonous martial art that had Zhuo Yi Hang not been a practitioner of internal energies, he would have found it difficult to withstand even a light whiff coming from Jin’s palm strikes. After the two fighters have battled for up to fifty or seventy stances, Zhuo Yi Hang was already beginning to show the signs of eminent defeat. On top of that, there was still a Yun Yan Ping observing the battle from the sideline with his waist belt in hand, ready for attack at any moment.

Since Zhuo Yi Hang knew that he wasn’t their match, he could only attempt to devise an escape plan while still engaged in battle. During the most intense moment of their combat, Zhuo Yi Hang faked a move and then immediately dashed towards the direction of the villa. Yun Yan Ping’s levitation skills were quite superb and after shouting out loudly “Where do you think you’re going?” his toes tapped lightly on the ground and with just three sequential jumps, he has already arrived behind Zhuo Yi Hang. With a flicker of his belt, the sash coiled towards Zhuo Yi Hang’s waist, yet Zhuo has already dashed into the villa with just a few quick darts. Yun Yan Ping’s belt was like a python snake that never left Zhuo’s back for more than three inches and just when the danger has escalated to its most urgent point, a woman’s clear laughter rang out from amongst the cluster of flowers and trees planted by the side of the road. A pair of long handled scissors then suddenly emerged to cut Yun Yan Ping’s belt into two pieces!

From amongst the cluster of flowers and trees, a woman suddenly emerged. She was followed by another woman. The one who was walking in front was the same middle-aged matron who was just recently wounded under Yu Luo Cha’s projectiles. Behind her was Tie Fei Long’s daughter Tie Shan Hu. Yun Yan Ping hurriedly folded his fists to perform obeisance and said, “Jiu Niang, [11] this kid is bad news.” He then also said, “Miss Shan Hu, last time you lent out a helping hand to us. Can you please see us to the end here and help us out again by capturing this kid for us?” Tie Shan Hu laughed with scorn and said, “I will only do what I want to do. Why would I want to help you guys out?” The middle-aged matron then said with a displeased expression, “Our Master has already said that he won’t see the two of you. So why did you guys come barging into here again?” Yun Yan Ping replied, “We were chasing after that kid and ended up here. Did you not see that elder?” The middle-aged matron scoffed, “You expect me to bother myself with taking notice of your trifling matters? Did you think our Tie Villa was a place you can just charge into at will? Now get out of here right away, Go!” Yun Yan Ping and Jin Qian Yan just looked at each other and did not know what to say.

This middle-aged matron was named Mu Jiu Niang and she was the stepmother of Tie Shan Hu. When Tie Fei Long lost his wife during his midlife years, he later took a street performer as his wife. Although he adamantly refused to establish Mu Jiu Niang as his official wife out of respect for his deceased wife, yet Mu Jiu Niang was still highly favoured and dotted upon. Therefore the only thing that Jin Qian Yan and Yun Yan Ping could do was to stare at each other for even though their martial arts were far above that of Mu Jiu Niang’s, yet they feared her powerful backup. Even if they had been ten times gutsier, they would still never dare to initiate any conflict with Tie Fei Long’s precious concubine.

Mu Jiu Niang shouted again, “Are you guys really itching for a good beating? Why aren’t you guys scramming like I told you to? Did you really want me to call upon the Old Master and ask him to personally see you guys to the door?” Yun Yan Ping hurriedly insisted, “Jiu Niang, please do not mind us. We will leave your esteemed abode immediately.” After a hateful glare at Zhuo Yi Hang, he then quickly ran out of the village with Jin Qian Yan.

Just as Zhuo Yi Hang was about to retreat as well, Mu Jiu Niang beckoned with her hands and said with an inviting smile, “Where are you going? Come here!” Zhuo Yi Hang lifted his sleeves and then said with a bow, “I dare not disturb the Master of the Villa.” Mu Jiu Niang remarked, “Silly boy, if you go out now those two people will still be hanging around. Don’t forget that you’re not their match, did you really want to die?” Zhuo Yi Hang blushed and realized that there was indeed reason behind these words; therefore he could only follow them inside the mansion.

Mu Jiu Niang brought him to West-end reception room while Tie Shan Hu brought forth fragrant tea and then suddenly asked, “Is Wang Zhao Xi going to be with you?” Zhuo Yi Hang replied, “No.” Tie Shan Hu looked as if she was quite disappointed and with a twist of her body, ran outside the reception room. After a while, Tie Fei Long entered the room with his daughter by his side and Zhuo Yi Hang hurriedly issued a courteous bow in greeting.

Tie Fie Long asked him for his name and then suddenly remarked, “You’re a descendent of Zhuo Zhong Lian?” Zhuo Yi Hang stood up and said, “He is my grandfather.” Tie Fei Long’s expression did not falter as he continued, “Is Wang Zhao Xi a good friend of yours?” Zhuo Yi Hang replied, “You can say that we are acquaintances formed in the name of honour.” Tie Fei Long gave a cold snicker and said, “Wang Jia Yin could be considered as a powerful figure of the Underground world, yet why is he always interested in hanging around government officials?” Zhuo Yi Hang was extremely displeased, but Tie Fei Long continued, “Is that thieving wench who battled with me the other day also with you?” Although Zhuo Yi Hang was indeed displeased with the fact that Yu Luo Cha was a bandit, yet upon hearing others insult her as a “thieving wench,” fury still erupted in his heart. He coldly stated, “Please do enlightened your unworthy junior as to what line of reasoning you abide by old hero Tie; you say that you despise the government officials and yet, you similarly detest the bandits.”

Tie Fie Long was infuriated as he shouted, “Mind your manners you pompous brat!” and immediately extended his hands to grasp down on Zhuo’s shoulders. Zhuo Yi Hang sunk his shoulders and lowered his elbow in order to struggle free from his grasp. Although he did manage to escape out of this deadlock, yet he also felt as if his shoulder was just scalded by a rope made of fire as he was overwhelmed by painful burning sensation.

Tie Fei Long’s expression immediately changed as he shouted, “You’re the disciple of Taoist Priest Purple Sun?” Zhuo Yi Hang replied, “Indeed, he is my revered ShiFu.” Tie Fei Long murmured an “Oh,” as Zhuo Yi Hang continued, “Seven or eight years ago, I was still at Wu Tang accompanying my ShiFu. At that time, I have already seen you Elder Tie.” Tie Fei Long again murmured an “Oh” as his expression immediately softened and with a sweep of his hand he said, “Have a seat.”

Zhuo Yi Hang sat down as instructed and Tie Fei Long said, “I once had the opportunity to meet your ShiFu and so I have no desire to give you a hard time. But you must answer me truthfully, that girl who battled with me the other day – who is she?” Zhuo Yi Hang proudly replied, “She is the famed Yu Luo Cha, whose mere name can cause the abandonment of all guts and the loss of all courage amongst the crowds of the Underground world!” Tie Fie Long jumped up and cried, “Ha! So she’s Yu Luo Cha?! And I always thought that the talk amongst the Underground world were merely exaggerations! It seems that she does have some credibility to her martial arts.” He continued to ask, “And who are you to her?” Zhuo Yi Hang replied, “You can say that we are acquaintances formed in the name of honour,” causing Tie Fei Long to immediately burst out into a series of loud guffaws.

Zhuo Yi Hang had no idea what that was all about, but after Tie Fei Long had his share of laughing he finally said, “I was just planning to bring Yu Luo Cha and Wang Zhao Xi over here. Since you guys are all acquaintances formed in the name of honour then that’s perfect! But I’m afraid that I will have to inconvenience you by asking you to remain here at my humble abode for a few days, which means that I can’t let you go until they get here!” Zhuo Yi Hang reacted with anger, “So what elder you are trying to say is that you plan to kidnap me and put me under restraint?” Tie Fei Long replied, “That’s right! However, on the account of your ShiFu I won’t put you under restraint. But don’t you even think about escaping!” Thus he brought Zhuo out of the reception room and pushed him into the woodshed before locking the door behind him and saying, “I’m afraid the room’s not too ideal, but you’ll just have to tolerate it for a few days.”

Though Zhuo Yi Hang was thrown into the woodshed, yet he knew that he was dealing with a man of a very peculiar temper and could therefore only accept the situation as it was. He proceeded to sit cross-legged on the floor and began to practice the cultivation of his internal energies. By nightfall Mu Jiu Niang has already arrived with his dinner. She smiled and said, “Wow, aren’t you very hardworking!” but Zhuo Yi Hang ignored her and swallowed down his dinner in just two or three gulps. Mu Jiu Niang sat down beside him and was watching him eat when her almond shaped face suddenly flushed a shade of light pink. After she had stared at Zhuo for a little while longer, she then lowered her head. But from then on, every meal was delivered by Mu Jiu Niang and furthermore, the quality of the dishes got increasingly better. Not only was there wild fowl and mountainous livestock, but there was also carp fish from the Yellow Rivers.

Every time that Mu Jiu Niang came, she would chatter on and on and on, but Zhuo Yi Hang would barely take any notice of her, leaving her to be quite dispirited. One night, Mu Jiu Niang came again for another babbling session and said to Zhuo Yi Hang, “People say that your ShiFu is the number one swordsman in the world. Then your sword skills must also be quite good. Why don’t you perform a few moves for me?” Zhuo Yi Hang did not budge a finger and instead stated coldly, “I am your prisoner, how could I be allowed to play with swords and knives?” Mu Jiu Niang replied, “Oh I see, you’re still angry at our master. But that’s understandable, after all you’re a descendent from a wealthy family of officials, how can you possibly tolerate this kind of suffering? Did you want to run away?” Zhuo Yi Hang kept his lips tightly sealed and did not utter a single word in reply.

Mu Jiu Niang continued, “Did you know why our master has to lock you up here like this? It’s all because of his precious daughter.” Zhuo Yi Hang was quite taken back as he asked, “What?” while thinking in his heart: one is already hard enough to handle, what am I going to do if another one latches on? Mu Jiu Niang laughed and said, “Shan Hu’s heart is set on marrying Wang Zhao Xi, but it turns out that Wang Zhao Xi already has a fiancé.” She immediately stopped once she has gotten to this part but Zhuo Yi Hang was already silently crying to himself “Oh no!” before Mu Jiu Niang could add, “Therefore he has to lock you up here.” Zhuo Yi Hang hurriedly stammered, “But what does that have to do with me? There are plenty of other men in this world!” Mu Jiu Niang’s laughter rang out and flourished like a flower dancing in the breeze, causing Zhuo Yi Hang to be quite baffled. Mu Jiu Niang laughed for a while longer and then extended her index and middle finger to teasingly brush across her face while laughing, “Oh dear! What an egotistical Narcissist! Did you think that she has her eyes set upon you? Shan Hu wants to lock you up here in order that she may lure Wang Zhao Xi to the Tie Villa and then …” having gotten to this part, she suddenly stopped again.

Zhuo Yi Hang let out a sigh of relief as he secretly laughed at himself for letting his imagination run out of control while Mu Jiu Niang suddenly sighed and remarked wistfully, “But perhaps there is someone else who has their eyes set upon you.” Zhuo Yi Hang sat crossed-legged on the floor and completely ignored her, once again causing Mu Jiu Niang to be quite dispirited. She then leaned forward and attempted to make small talk, “Did your ShiFu give you this sword?” Zhuo Yi Hang continued to ignore her, but Mu Jiu Niang suddenly stretched her hand towards his waist and snatched his sword away from him. Zhuo Yi Hang immediately leaped up and said, “What are you doing?” Mu Jiu Niang pouted, “Can’t I even take a quick peek?” Zhuo Yi Hang was just about to snatch it back when Mu Jiu Niang immediately hid the sword behind her body while simultaneously thrusting her chest forward. Just when Zhuo Yi Hang was in the process of hurriedly retreating, a cold laugh drifted in from outside the door followed by the words, “Shameless tramp!” The sound of a loud bang was immediately heard as the door was suddenly kicked open, causing Mu Jiu Niang to jump up in fright. A young girl was immediately seen to jump inside and it turned out to be none other than Yu Luo Cha!

Zhuo Yi Hang cried, “Lian jiejie!” while Yu Luo Cha glared and did not respond. Her expression filled with the iciness of the wintry frost as she turned towards Mu Jiu Niang and said, “What do you think you’re doing here? Humph! You really have no sense of shame!”

When has Mu Jiu Niang ever experienced such ridicule and chastising? Though embarrassed, she was simultaneously infuriated which is why even though she knew that she wasn’t Yu Luo Cha’s match, yet she simply found it impossible to settle the fire that was arising within her heart. With a swipe of her sword, she immediately lashed out at Yu Luo Cha, but Yu Luo Cha only laughed coldly and then executed a stance in return, immediately causing Mu Jiu Niang’s sword to fly#####ds. However, with just a sweep and rotate of her sword, Mu Jiu Niang was able to retract her sword and then extract it from its sheath before she hurriedly escaped through the window.

Yu Luo Cha was momentarily dumbfounded, for the stance that Mu Jiu Niang just executed was again a stance taken from her ShiFu’s exclusive sword art. She hurriedly chased outside and with just a flit of her silhouette, immediately zipped above Mu Jiu Niang’s head to land in front of her, completely blocking her way of escape. Then with a stab of her sword and a leap towards the left, Yu Luo Cha used her residual momentum to immediately rotate the tip of her blade around. This was a powerful move within her exclusive sword art and unless the internal energies of one’s opponent was far above that of one’s own, otherwise the opponent must employ a stance from the same school of sword art in order to dismantle it.

As expected, Mu Jiu Niang did indeed block with her sword by using her blade to deflect from left towards the right and then with just an additional sink of her sword, Mu Jiu Niang was able to dismantle the stance. Although her movements were not at all well-practiced, yet it could be ascertained without any more doubt that she has indeed read the sword manual. Yu Luo Cha unleashed a series of wild laughter and no longer held any mercy in her attack.

Her sword stances succeeded each other with such urgent force that with just two quick swipes, she was able to simultaneously pierce towards the acupoints located on the two sides of Mu Jiu Niang’s body. Although Mu Jiu Niang has indeed secretly practiced Yu Luo Cha’s sword manual, yet these days were nevertheless limited and the stances weren’t even well-practiced yet, thus how could she possibly withstand Yu Luo Cha? In just a flash, Yu Luo Cha’s sword has already pierced through Mu Jiu Niang’s clothes and entered into the acupoints located on the two sides of her body, causing Mu Jiu Niang to fall over backwards.

Yu Luo Cha retracted her sword and laughed wildly, but just when she was about to pursue, Tie Fie Long has already charged out and after a sweep of the scene with his two eyes, his anger erupted like the raging thunders. With a sweep of his Iron Palms, he roared furiously, “Yu Luo Cha, you’ve gone too far! Since you’ve come to my doors requesting a duel, then why didn’t you follow the rules of the JiangHu world and presented a calling card? What vengeful score could you possibly have with her that would justify you to use such deadly actions?!” Yu Luo Cha snickered and said with an icy tone, “Humph! Your whole family is a bunch of petty and dirty thieves!” With an angry snarl, Tie Fei Long immediately struck out with a sweep of his palms. Yu Luo Cha flipped her body over and attacked, all the while laughing coldly and saying, “If you don’t return my sword manual to me, I swear that you will never see the end of me!”

Tie Fie Long intercepted a few stances with ferocious fervour before issuing a violent blow that forced Yu Luo Cha to retreat a few steps and then shouted out, “A bunch of crap! What sword manual?” Yu Luo Cha struck again with her sword while sneering, “What use is there in pretending that you know nothing? If it wasn’t you who stole my sword manual, then how come your precious daughter and that flirtatious fox would know how to execute my ShiFu’s exclusive sword stances?” With another lion’s roar, Tie Fei Long’s two fists struck out and once again forced Yu Luo Cha to retreat a few steps. He then immediately jumped out of the battle sphere and shouted, “Wait! Let me get this straight first!” and then jumped to Mu Jiu Niang’s side to help her up.

When he observed that she was bleeding from her sides, he was initially filled with tender compassion until the cold light radiating from a sword blade caught his eye and he discovered the long sword that laid by her side. Tie Fei Long immediately recognized that this was Taoist Priest Purple Sun’s Ice Ray Sword and thus no further questions needed to be asked in order for one to determine that the sword was taken from Zhuo Yi Hang’s body. Suddenly the two words “flirtatious fox” rang in Tie’s head again, causing him to undergo a change of colour as he growled in a low tone, “Why did you steal another person’s esteemed sword?”

The traces of an icy sneer hung by Yu Luo Cha’s lips, but just when she was about to open her mouth to speak, she suddenly noticed that Mu Jiu Niang was trembling violently. Unspeakable volumes of terror could be discerned from her eyes, a look that very much resembled the horror found in the eyes of the ferocious bandits that would usually die under her own hands. She suddenly thought of the words that Zhuo Yi Hang said to her when they were in the cave, and she didn’t know why, but she was suddenly filled with a merciful compassion that caused her to hold back the truth that have already arrived at her lips.

When Mu Jiu Niang saw that Yu Luo Cha did not reveal anything, she let out a sigh of relief and then said with a trembling voice, “She broke through the door with her sword in her hand and since I didn’t have any weapons in my hand at that time, I could only borrow Zhuo Yi Hang’s sword for the time being.” These words sounded quite reasonable but Tie Fei Long continued to bellow, “Then did you take the sword manual?” Mu Jiu Niang could only continue to shamelessly deny her guilt as she stammered, “N…n…no, I didn’t.” Tie Fei Long roared, “Bring Shan Hu here!” causing Mu Jiu Niang’s face to be suddenly drained of all colour.

Such is: The extraordinary book brings about extraordinary calamities, jade bones consumed by dust and sand.

 

 

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[1] “Kan”: The Kan house amongst the “8 Gua” (Eight Trigrams) is considered as the position representing the element of “Water” such as the Moon. Sometimes this Yin house is said to reside in the Western sphere, but most resources list it as being in the Northern house. Such discrepancies may be a result of the “earlier” and “later” version of the “8 Gua”

[2] “Li”: The Li house amongst the “8 Gua” is considered as the position representing the element of “Fire” such as the Sun. Sometimes this Yang house is said to reside in the Eastern sphere, but most resources lists it as being in the Southern house. Such discrepancies may be a result of the “earlier” and “later” version of the “8 Gua.”

[3] “houses of the ‘Eight Trigrams’”: Kan, Li, Dui, Zhen, Xun, Qian, Kun, Gen”: These 8 elements are commonly translated as: Water, Fire, Marsh, Thunder, Wind, Heaven, Earth and Mountain.

[4] “four ‘official positions’”: referring to North, South, East and West.

[5] “four ‘slanting positions’”: referring to Northwest, Northeast, Southeast and Southwest.

[6] “attending to the left”: book’s footnote: an action which embodies the intention of turning towards the left.

[7] “expecting from the right”: book’s footnote: an action which embodies the intention of turning towards the right.

[8] “Jiejie”: translates as older sister. Zhuo Yi Hang may indeed be one or two years younger than Yu Luo Cha, but it should also be noted that Zhuo’s act of addressing Yu Luo Cha as an “older sister” is a way of expressing respect and veneration. In LYS’s novels, such a method of addressing another is quite common, even in cases where the “younger” person may in actuality be a few years older. Similarly, characters sometimes uses the terms “older sister/brother” (jiejie/gege) and “young sister/brother” (meimei/didi) interchangeably even when referring to the same person.

[9] “Seven orifices”: The seven orifices refer to the human body’s pair of eyes, pair of ear holes, two nostrils and mouth.

[10] “Tie FeiLong” ... “Tie ShanHu”: On the name of these two characters: the surname “Tie” is the same character for the word Bronze, while the name “Fei Long” literally translates as “Flying/Soaring Dragon” and “ShanHu” translates as “Coral.”

[11] “Jiu Niang”: Mu Jiu Niang is the name of Tie Fei Long’s concubine. The word “Jiu” literally means Nine (9), whereas the word “Niang” can also mean “lady,” “madam” etc.