Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The kung fu competition began on schedule.
The Dragon King was not present, so Fang Wenshi followed the backup plan they had agreed to by themselves. “There are two Sect Leaders of the Qingcheng Sect, so there has to be two competitions. What if the result is one victory and one defeat each?”
He had hoped that this would start a chaotic argument and buy them some time, but it turned out that there was only one Sect Leader present.
“Lu Mian quit the competition, so today I will be the only one to challenge the Dragon King.” Liu Qingpu looked grim, which made it impossible to speculate about what he was thinking. Behind him stood more than ten disciples of the Qingcheng Sect along with sixty or more people from the other sects. They didn’t have an advantage in numbers, but every one of them was standing with their chest puffed out, imparting a confident air to the entire group.
Fang Wenshi was very surprised, but he soon rejoiced. After giving two short coughs, he shook his head out of habit, and started considering the new situation. “So today there will only be one match to decide the final winner?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, Sect Leader Liu has come here to challenge the Dragon King. But as luck would have it, the Dragon King is occupied with some urgent business and thus couldn’t be present. So the one on our side to take up the gauntlet is…” Fang Wenshi twisted his head and gave a look to Mo Lin.
At the end of the former consultation, the plan they had come up with was that Mo Lin would fight Liu Qingpu and Chu Nanping Lu Mian. The most probable result of these matchups was one victory and one defeat, and then Fang Wenshi would find a way to maneuver through the resulting muddy situation. But now that there was only one competition, and it was even the one where the odds were very much in their favor. Things seemed to have become easier to handle.
But Mo Lin abandoned the safe plan. He took a step forward and said, “Chu Nanping. Your opponent is Chu Nanping.”
Feeling humiliated, Liu Qingpu raised his eyebrows and flatly replied with only one word, “Good.”
To his surprise, Fang Wenshi opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but eventually he decided to respect the choice of the Khan’s wing guard and said “Good” as well.
Liu Qingpu took a deep breath. Yes his goal today was more than just a competition, “For a competition, there’s always a trophy.”
“How about 10,000 taels of silver? It’s not much, but not nothing either.” Fang Wenshi acted dumb. To be honest, he wanted to wait for the Dragon King’s return because he barely knew anything about kung fu competitions.
“Heh,” Liu Qingpu gave a short laugh. “how about – the Khan’s head.”
Fang Wenshi shook his head vigorously, “First of all, the head does not belong to the Dragon King and secondly, you don’t have anything of equivalent value to bet against the head.”
“The slave girl left by Khan…”
“You can keep her,” Fang Wenshi made a decision by himself, planning on finding another way to snatch the woman who was of importance to the Dragon King.
Taking his time, Liu Qingpu gently waved his arm and two disciples of Qingcheng Sect came over, each carrying a long box in their hands. When the lids of the boxes were removed, the weapons inside were revealed.
The Five Peaks Saber and Dragon Head Sword! Even Fang Wenshi recognized the two weapons.
Tens of miles away.
Han Wuxian had no interests in a kung fu competition at all. “So stupid! Why do you have to make killing so complicated? Just do it the simple way.”
At that moment, Han Wuxian was sitting in a rattan chair which Nie Zeng was carrying on his back, and Tie Linglong was on a horse beside them. The look on the young girl’s face was severe and cold, and also a little ashamed – she had failed to kill that disciple named Han Qin from the Waning Moon Hall.
Han Qin had gone through gruesome torture and was powerless to strike back, and yet Tie Linglong couldn’t do it.
Han Wuxian was not be angry. If it were in the past, she would have killed Tie Linglong as a failed trial product. But now, she had decided to change her training method.
As a result, she took the two teenagers out of the camp very early, and they quickly arrived at the camp where the people of the Central Plains had congregated.
“I have a feeling. Some traitors of the Waning Moon Hall are hiding here.” Han Wuxian closed her eyes, raised her head and sniffed the air a few times.
Tie Linglong felt a chill creep down her spine. She snuck a glance at Nie Zeng who was carrying the Hall Leader of Waning Moon Hall, feeling that his deed was simultaneously admirable and disgusting.
Some people from the Central Plains discovered the three strange visitors and more than ten people surrounded them as soon as they entered the camp. “Are you passing by or looking for someone?”
Nie Zeng turned the horse to face the crowd. Han Wuxian, who was on his back, twisted her head and replied, “Looking for someone.”
Although this woman with unkempt hair seemed a little eerie, her voice and figure gave off an air of tenderness, which lowered the vigilance of these people of the Central Plains. “Would you please tell me who you are looking for? We might be able to help.”
“Of course you can help,” Han Wuxian replied as her voice became more and more tender. “I’m looking for someone who can be killed. You are all mortal human beings, so I think it’s safe to say that you can be killed, right?”
The crowd was startled and took out their weapons in a panic. The one at the front asked severely, “Who are you? The Dragon King’s subordinates?”
Raising her head, Han Wuxian started laughing hysterically, and the laugh instantly spread through the whole camp. As more people gathered around, she stopped laughing abruptly, and in her usual tender voice, she replied, “This is the first time, so I won’t blame you. But if anyone dares to call me a subordinate of the Dragon King again…”
A young saberman elbowed his way through the crowd, “I know you. Your name’s Han Wuxian and I’m sure you’re the Dragon King’s subor-”
All of a sudden, with a pink flush on his face, the saberman started scratching at his throat as if he were choking on food.
In a low ominous tone, Han Wuxian said, “This will be the consequence.”
Han Wuxian had once displayed great martial arts skills during a kung fu competition in the Central Plains. Some of the people in the crowd finally recognized her and they immediately began spreading the tale of her intimidating skills. The crowd backed away, and the young saberman was the only one left behind, struggling in front of the horse.
Tie Linglong was a little anxious. This was not the scene she had expected to see.
In her mind, there was a scene that she couldn’t stop replaying: a ruthless saberman fighting alone against several enemies, calm and unhurried, spilling blood with every saber strike.
This was the exact reason why she didn’t like the style of the Waning Moon Hall, although she had nonetheless learned some of their basic skills. The killing method of the Waning Moon Hall was far from similar to that image of the saberman in her mind.
With his head looking down, Nie Zeng was irritated by the muffled screech of the young saberman and hoped that someone would put an end to this ugly scene with a quick saber strike. His stretched his right hand towards the saber hilt.
Han Wuxian was concentrating on combing her long hair. She wanted to rebuild the Waning Moon Hall, which meant she had to start from the foundation, training these two teenagers. Lotus did bring some new ideas which she had to accept.
A figure flew over and gave the young saberman’s neck a slight stroke.
Gasping heavily, the young saberman hurried behind the crowd on his hands and feet. He looked at Han Wuxian in horror from far away, and it wasn’t until the people nearby reminded him that he raised his arm and discovered that he was holding onto three black hairs.
She had nearly suffocated him with her hair, and yet he couldn’t break it?
Han Wuxian pressed her lips together and smiled, seemingly recalling some sweet moments of the past. “Old woman, you broke my hair. How dare you!”
Tu Pianpian snorted and rebuked the people of the Central Plains, “A bunch of cowards! You would rather stand by watching your own people die than offer help? Get out of my sight!”
The old woman was very abrupt, but in this occasion, everybody felt that the elder of the Kongtong Sect was totally right to speak this way, so the crowd scattered and nobody dared to get close again.
Tu Pianpian turned and faced Han Wuxian. The two had met without gaining a good impression of each other in the Dragon King’s army camp. “Han Wuxian, what should I call you? Elder sister or younger sister?”
“Humm, how about great-grandma.” Age was one of the most taboo subjects of Han Wuxian, whose voice had ceased to be gentle and joking, and whose hands were pulling at a strand of hair. A killing intent had been provoked.
Dog Butcher realized that he couldn’t stand by and watch anymore. Neither of the two women were strict followers of the martial arts world’s rules and it wouldn’t take them long to fall into a life-and-death fight. Taking Fan Yongda with him, Dog Butcher emerged from behind a tent. He was running and talking. “Wait a minute. Let’s talk this out. Let’s talk this out.”
Tie Linglong was surprised, “Weren’t you two with the Dragon King? It’s almost noon. Why are you still here? Where’s the Dragon King?”
Dog Butcher was sweating buckets, which had nothing to do with the hot weather or fatigue as he responded, “The Dragon King – he – he’s gone.”
“Gone? He returned to the camp alone?” Tie Linglong was confused.
“Ur, not really…” Dog Butcher wanted to continue but he stopped when he was interrupted.
Tu Pianpian was still glaring at Han Wuxian. The reason why she had come here, though reluctantly, was not because she really wanted to save the Dragon King but rather because her brother had begged her, so she declared loudly, “The Dragon King’s missing, probably kidnapped.”
“Impossible!” Tie Linglong and Nie Zeng yelled at the same time.
Tu Pianpian gave a sneer, “Nothing’s impossible. The Qingcheng Sect has his saber and sword. You wouldn’t think that the Dragon King left them here accidentally, would you?”
The two teenagers were shocked. Nie Zeng turned the horse around and looked at Dog Butcher, asking, “What happened?”
Dog Butcher believed that he was responsible for the Dragon King’s disappearance and he was too nervous to respond to the teenager’s question. Fan Yongda described what hhad appened the night before. “When we came back, they were gone. We waited for dawn to break, and had to resort to asking Aunt Master, who said that she saw it with her own eyes and that…”
“That Liu Qingpu was holding a saber and a sword, saying in a self-satisfied tone that today he would surely take back the Khan’s head.” Tu Pianpian finished his sentence, and she seemed to feel a little self-satisfied as well.
Unexpectedly, Tie Linglong calmed dow., “You still have Liu Fangsheng?”
Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda nodded at the same time.
“Then the Qingcheng Sect won’t dare to make any bold moves.”
Yet Tu Pianpian reminded them of an important fact, “Maybe Liu Qingpu wouldn’t, but isn’t Lu Mian totally without scruples?”
Tie Linglong couldn’t deny that. She had never thought that the Dragon King would be kidnapped. And neither had Nie Zeng. “I still can’t believe it. How could the Dragon King…”
“Maybe he was drugged,” Fan Yongda guessed.
Tie Linglong looked at Han Wuxian and asked, “Are there really disciples of the Waning Moon Hall here?”
“Traitors,” Han Wuxian corrected her. “There are traitors of the Waning Moon Hall here.”
“No, no,” Tie Linglong organized her thoughts quickly, “The Dragon King has an antidote, so the common knockout powder of the Waning Moon Hall wouldn’t work on him, unless…”
“Unless it’s the new knockout powder which Lotus brought here from the Land of Fragrance,” Nie Zeng said aloud. “The Indra Fragrance! Hall Leader Han, you have the antidote, right?”
Among all the people here, Han Wuxian looked the most indifferent, holding her long hair like a mother holding her young baby. “Why do you think I have the antidote? I don’t even know what the Indra Fragrance is.”
The others looked at each other, not knowing what to do next. Tie Linglong said resentfully, “Han Wuxian, you’re all by yourself now. Without the Dragon King, how will you avenge yourself against Lotus? Think, and find a way.”
With her back to them, Han Wuxian gently said, “There’s nothing I can do. And the Dragon King’s also too smart to need help from others.”
“What do you mean? Are you saying that the Dragon King knew that there was a trap here?” Tie Linglong was both surprised and delighted.
“I have no idea what the Dragon King is thinking. But I would be surprised if he got knocked out by the Indra Fragrance because that Doctor Sun kept bugging me and asking all kinds of questions, so he should’ve made an antidote.”
Tie Linglong was slightly relieved, but another question arose. “Why is the Dragon King still missing if he has the antidote to the Indra Fragrance?”
Doctor Sun did manage to prepare an antidote, and he had given the Dragon King a bottle of it, but he had stressed, “I can’t guarantee its efficacy, especially immediate effects. So try not to use it unless you have to, Dragon King.”
Right beneath the feet of Tie Linglong and the others, in the mausoleum, Gu Shenwei had secretly swallowed the antidote. Several hours had passed by, and he could now dully feel his internal energy, but it hadn’t fully recovered.
But among all the people trapped down there, Lu Mian was the first one to stand up.
