Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher had completely different views on what the rules of Jianghu were.
“You take a step back, and I’ll take a step back. That way, everybody gets something. This is what the rules of Jianghu are.”
“Heh heh, bullshit! What if I take a step forward after you take one backward? How can you be so sure that I will remain still after taking a step backward?”
“It doesn’t matter. Rules are not something formed between merely two people, but rather something that is upheld by all of Jianghu. If you break the rules, then you will lose your place in Jianghu, and everybody will despise and attack you.”
“Hehe, you think that I haven’t been mobbed before? But look at me, I’m still standing here alive. And look at you. You’ve been following the rules for so many years, but you still live under your sister’s custody like her dog. Oh, and where’s your dog-butchering saber? Why aren’t you carrying it around anymore?”
“My Senior Sister said that it wouldn’t be right for a patriarch to have a heavy killing aura, so I changed my weapon from a saber to a cane. As for the benefits of following rules, that would that be when you land in trouble, many people, even strangers will offer you help. Unlike you, nobody’s would take you in except for His Majesty.”
“Take me in? Are you trying to say that His Majesty took me in? Your Majesty, tell him. Haven’t I been of great help to you? I stay here only because His Majesty is seeking out talented people like a thirsty person seeking water. The Unique King was crying and begging me to work for him, yet I still refused…
Dog Butcher smiled and said no more. Although he was not a very decisive person, he still was not a fool. When Old Man Mu had ranked among the peak of all kung fu experts, then maybe ambitious lords and leaders would have vied for his allegiance. But now he only had sixty to seventy percent of his former power and was as strong as an average master now. The Dragon King was the only one who would treat him like someone of high value.
Gu Shenwei had only brought a dozen of his men, who acted like a group of reticent ghosts in this empty palace. And the debate between Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher imparted some needed vitality to this palace.
Gu Shenwei also had his own understanding of the rules of Jianghu, but he didn’t chip in. What a killer pursued was a path to bypass the rules entirely. That path culminated in striking the enemy with a single, lethal blow, which sounded a little similar to the Old Man Mu’s opinion. But a killer mustn’t be obsessed with fame. Getting off of the stage in time after the job was done and keeping a low profile should be the norm.
Although he wasn’t a killer anymore, he couldn’t get rid of his killer’s mindset that easily.
“What are the rules of Jianghu like in the Norland?” Gu Shenwei asked Mo Lin who was beside him.
Mo Lin didn’t seem to be in a talking mood. He had had his adventures in Jianghu and achieved considerable success, yet he didn’t miss those experiences much. “They are similar to those of the Central Plains’. Norlanders brag a bit more often, but that is how they make friends with each other.”
“Actually, the people in the Central Plains do the same thing.” Dog Butcher widened his eyes, surprised by the similarity. “But as far as I know, it’s better to let others do the dramatizing. And in fact, the fewer relations you have with the speaker the better. For instance, an apprentice bragging about his master is far less effective than a disciple of another sect saying the same words occasionally.”
“Hypocritical, so hypocritical.” Old Man Mu was indignant. He had always been proud of his status as a villain and couldn’t tolerate the existence of another person who was even more shameless than him.
“You think that it’s hypocritical?” Dog Butcher thought carefully for a while. “It’s not hypocritical if it’s mutually beneficial to both parties, is it?”
“It is. Every word that isn’t heartfelt is hypocritical,” Old Man Mu affirmed.
“So are you saying that we should be truthful under any circumstance?”
“Absolutely. I myself… seldom lie, and always tell the truth about who I hate and who I like.”
“So, if I think that this palace is ghostly and really creepy and I don’t want to go any further into it, I should just honestly say it?”
“Uh, you should. I think it’s a little strange, too. Your Majesty, is it true that you always prefer to do things at night? I mean, it’s just a head. Can’t we come back during the daytime?”
Gu Shenwei didn’t answer. He liked the night. They gave his enemy more chances, but also gave himself more space to exert his skills.
Dog Butcher was still pondering the idea of “hypocrisy.” He thought for a while and said, “Let me offer another example. You seem to like Han Wuxian very much, but you quarrel with her all the time. Is that hypocrisy?”
“No!” Even from horse back, Old Man Mu was furious. “Who told you that I liked that crazy bitch? I merely slept with her a few years ago. You think I want her back? Ha, that would only be her one-sided love dream…”
“Hypocrisy.” Dog Butcher nodded seriously. It seemed that he had finally understood the meaning of this word. Suddenly he straightened himself and looked around. “I don’t know what the rules are like here, but I think we’re surrounded. None of you are talking. Did you not notice it or are you not afraid?”
“Not afraid, of course.” Old Man Mu rode forward quickly, yelling out, “The Dragon King of the Western Regions is here. All you sneaky little bastards get out and kowtow to your king!”
A smile lit up Dog Butcher’s face. He whispered to the Dragon King, “So it seems like the rules in the Western Region are the same. Look, Old Man Mu was bluffing about Your Majesty, but if we were in the Central Plains, then he would have never said anything like ‘little bastards’. I mean, what if the people on the other side have a powerful background?”
Figures of people moving around flickered in the darkness. At least a hundred people came around, forming a simple encirclement ring.
A resonant voice came over, saying, “I’m the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect. You barbarians from beyond the Great Wall, get off of your horses and surrender!”
“You move an inch forward, but I move a foot forward. The people from the Central Plains are angry because we violated the rules,” Dog Butcher commented in a low voice, then looked around. “Is the surname of the present Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, Liu or Lu?”
Dog Butcher asked in a reserved manner, but Old Man Mu brazenly demanded, “Which Sect Leader are you? Have you resolved your infighting?”
A small group of people walked to them from the other side and stopped about ten steps away. Dozens of torches were lit at the same time. Among them, a middle-aged swordsman with a square face and a long beard answered with his hands crossed behind: “I’m the Sect Leader of Qingcheng Sect, Liu Qingpu.”
Standing beside Liu Qingpu was a tall and thin swordsman, who looked a little younger than him. His face was red, which was very conspicuous under the light of the torch fire. “I’m the Sect Leader of Qingcheng Sect, Lu Mian
Old Man Mu laughed out loud derogatively and fell from his horse with his hands on his belly. He pointed at the red-faced swordsman, “It’s funny enough your surname is ‘Donkey’, but your first name is also ‘Face’. Haha, a red-faced donkey. That’s a rare sight, isn’t it?”
Dog Butcher’s mouth twitched and he shook his head. Clearly, he thought that Old Man Mu was violating the rules again.
As expected, Lu Mian looked offended, but it was not he who stepped out to talk. Rather, Deng Yuanlei, who was standing beside him, did. “Old Man Mu, how dare you? Spitting out mean words doesn’t count as any real skill.”
“Who told you that? When you become speechless under my curses, you will know what is a real skill. You…”
“Old Man Mu, that’s enough.”
Deng Yuanlei was humiliated when he had served in the Dragon King’s army, and clearly he had betrayed Liu Qingpu and taken Lu Mian’s side, which would make a wonderful story to talk about, but Old Man Mu had barely started telling it when the Dragon King stopped him.
Old Man Mu was greatly surprised, turned over his head, and gave the Dragon King a begging look with his face. But eventually he took his horse back to his former position. With his back towards the others, he only gave off one sigh after another.
Mo Lin jumped off of his horse, and walked a few steps forward, and said “Two Sect Leaders, which one of you should I address first?”
Everyone from the Qingcheng Sect remained silent. It was Tu Pianpian from Kongtong Sect who stepped forward. “Talk to me.” Her voice was severe, as if she were teaching her disciples a lesson.
After several awkward coughs, Dog Butcher suddenly jumped off of his horse and stood beside Old Man Mu, with his back against the others.
Old Man Mu said in a low voice, “Your short fat elder sister doesn’t seem like a big fan of the rules.”
“Uh, she’s an elder of the Kongtong Sect, so she’ s entitled to… skirt over the rules a little,” Dog Butcher replied in an even lower voice.
Mo Lin looked around and said aloud, “All of you are from the Central Plains, yet you came to the Norland to make trouble. Our magnanimous king commands you to leave right now.”
Everybody laughed. Only the faces of the two Sect Leaders remained as cold as ice. Tu Pianpian replied, “Here’s an order from the martial arts world of the Central Plainss: hand over the head of Khan, or die.”
This was a standard “rule-following” dispute. Although both sides expressed their opinions in aggressive tones, there were no more personal attacks. Gu Shenwei listened quietly from the side, realizing that this was very similar to the rules of the wandering sabermen of Jade City.
A young saberman from the Central Plains became bored, and since nobody was talking at the moment, he cried out: “Stop this nonsense. We outnumber them. Let’s just fight with our full strength and take the Dragon King alive, and then the head will be ours.”
Mo Lin sneered and replied, “His Majesty owns hundreds of thousands of troops. He believed that the people of the martial arts world in the Central Plains were all rule-followers and would never win by oppressing through sheer numbers, so he came here himself. I never saw this coming.”
That saberman was accused by a dozen fellows at the same time. He flushed and slowly backed away, never speaking out again.
Tu Pianpian tapped his crutch on the ground heavily, “Now that the Dragon King has come here as a member of the martial arts world, let’s have a kung fu competition. Same number on both sides. Fair for everyone.”
Mo Lin shook his head and replied, “His Majesty is not here for a kung fu competition.”
“Not here for a kung fu competition? Then what for? To play a trick on us?” Tu Pianpian demanded as she twitched her wrist and the crutch sank several inches deeper into the ground.
Dog Butcher gave a slight sigh. “Senior Sister has never controlled her bad temper.”
Old Man Mu tried to console him by saying, “Don’t worry. Your sister’s face is like an arrow-proof shield. She’s the last person His Majesty would make fun of.”
The two sides glared at each other. Mo Lin stated their intentions, “His Majesty had already had a kung fu competition with the Kongtong and Qingcheng Sects and won it. He wants to know how many more such competitions are to be held. He doesn’t have time for this… nonsense.”
Tu Pianpian flushed. She was still bitterly unconvinced of the result of that competition, but she could not deny the fact that she had been defeated back then. Her brother was now standing right beside the Dragon King.
Liu Fangsheng had been by his father’s side this whole time, his wound already healed. He took a few steps forward. After he received tacit approval from Tu Pianpian, he said, “In the last kung fu competition, we did lose. But it’s not the Kongtong Sect’s fault. As two junior disciples of the Qingcheng Sect, we overestimated ourselves and were defeated by the Dragon King, also bringing trouble to the two elders of the Kongtong Sect.”
Dog Butcher looked down at Old Man Mu and nodded appreciatively. “Now this is the true rule of the martial arts world in the Central Plains.”
Old Man Mu sneered contemptuously.
Liu Fangsheng’s words pleased the majority of the crowd. He had called himself a junior, so his failure in the previous compitition wouldn’t bring too much shame to the Qingcheng Sect. Meanwhile, he also satirized the traitor Deng Yuanlei with the same title by insinuation. Then his father spoke out, saying, “This time, as the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, I’ll be in the arena myself, on behalf of the whole Qingcheng Sect. Whatever the result is, this will be the last competition for us. As for the other sects, that’s not our decision to make.”
Tu Pianpian thought highly of herself, but she had much respect for the leaders of other sects as well, so she cried out immediately, “The Kongtong Sect will share joy and sorrow with the Qingcheng Sect as long as we are in the Royal Court!”
Hearing her words, the disciples of all other sects also declared their stances. Of the different parties, there were more than ten sects from the Central Plains. Yet in their declaration, every party clearly stated that the location was limited to the Royal Court, lest people thought that their respective sect was of a lower status than the others’.
Mo Lin turned around and looked at the Dragon King, who nodded.
“Okay. But His Majesty has one more request.” Mo Lin had given up the martial arts world because he was tired of it, but at this moment, he somewhat found the vibe of the martial arts world to be enjoyable. “His Majesty wants to see the kung fu proficiency of the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect. If he’s on a similar level with the aforementioned two former disciples, then this competition is pointless.”
His words aroused public indignation. All the people from the Central Plains howled expletives of him aloud. Liu Qingpu and Lu Mian exchanged a glance and then nodded in unison.
Tu Pianpian cried out, “Fine. Let the Dragon King see for his own eyes the unique skills of the Qingcheng Sect. Send your man in.”
Old Man Mu was eager to go, so he turned to the Dragon King for his consent. “Your Majesty, shall I?”
Gu Shenwei didn’t plan to use his kung fu. “You two, widen your eyes and watch. This is tonight’s task.”
To get information on his enemy, Gu Shenwei thought that it was necessary to see what the top-notch kung fu of the Central Plains was like.
