The Shen family’s estate was in a state of uproar. As the night deepened, more and more red lanterns were hung, and many idle acquaintances gathered to whisper amongst themselves. Those who had not managed to witness the battle firsthand were left startled by the rumors. Thirty-four men had perished in the attempt to subdue the young swordsman who had come to provoke a fight on the mountain, and even the master of the estate, Shen Zhi, had been pierced through the heart. His death was attributed to the young swordsman’s overwhelming sword qi, which surged like a collapsing mountain and a roaring tide. Although Shen Zhi had long stood at the second-tier realm, his single misstep led to his untimely demise. This did not provoke much suspicion or speculation publicly.
After the aftermath was cleared, Shen Kaihe, dressed in purple robes, went to the back mountain and knocked open a wooden door, reporting the events at the summit to an elderly man with white hair and beard. The old man remained silent, finally fixing his gaze on his grandson’s eyes. Shen Kaihe sat upright, unmoving, especially keeping his back straight. The old man, seemingly a retired emperor figure who had been living in seclusion at Changle Peak, finally spoke in a tone devoid of emotion. “Bury your father sooner rather than later, to avoid leaving room for gossip.”
Shen Kaihe knelt down with a loud thud, weeping bitterly. “I am unworthy of being your grandson!”
Only now did the old man allow his expression to soften, revealing his weariness. Like a sheet of xuan paper that had been stored for many years, it took time for the ink to seep in after a drop of concentrated ink fell upon it. Changing the subject, he asked, “What has become of the woman from Dunhuang City?”
Shen Kaihe, still choked with tears, replied, “It is unknown whether she descended the mountain during the chaos or intended to take advantage of the situation.”
The old man’s voice grew heavier. “You must gradually distance yourself from the Jie Jie Ling of the Ju Zi province, without revealing any traces that might provoke disgust. However, I will draw a line for you on behalf of your father. If you dare to cross it, gambling the lives of the Shen clan for your ambitions, since I already have several great-grandchildren, I won’t mind losing another grandson. If you cannot be supported, why should I support you?”
Shen Kaihe, still keeping his head bowed, replied, “I now understand the gravity of the matter.”
The old master closed his eyes in meditation. After a while, Shen Kaihe rose and bowed before retreating.
With dawn came the promise of mourning across the mountain.
The mountain wind howled. The old man opened his eyes and looked toward the door. “Since the honorable guest has passed by, why not step inside for a conversation?”
A sumptuous woman clad in brocade smiled sweetly, pushed the door open, and entered directly, sitting down. The grave old man, after a moment of scrutiny, asked, “Are you the Jin She, who recently made the rankings alongside the blind lute player Xue Songguan?”
The woman ran her fingers across her lips, as red as blood, and smiled. “I merely ranked at the bottom, hardly worth mentioning.”
Shaking his head, the old man replied, “There were two second places, making a total of eleven ranked individuals. The top spot and the young girl Jia Jiajia are merely more famous, with some questioning their worthiness. In my opinion, regarding the art of assassination alone, Xue Songguan, who excels in using the finger to kill a King Kong, should rank first. Jin She, while not necessarily in the top three, should at least be within the top five.”
The young and beautiful woman feigned clutching her chest, laughing while holding her heart. “Shen Shuihu, they say in Ju Zi province that you hold yourself in high esteem, yet your flattery surpasses even your martial prowess? Truly, you are a man of hidden depths.”
The old man, having been sharply mocked, simply smiled and changed the subject, sighing, “My family’s shame has been exposed, causing Jin She to laugh at me.”
The woman raised an eyebrow and asked, “Family shame? Can it be as bad as mine?”
Shen Shuihu laughed heartily. “Jin She, you truly enjoy jesting. In my eighty-odd years of life, I have indeed encountered few women as enchanting as you.”
She asked seriously, “I killed a servant of the grass hall named Du Qinglou, who was a spy for Murong Baoding. Will you come after me for that?”
Shen Shuihu pondered for a moment and shook his head. “How could I dare to confront a lady such as yourself? Not to mention the ‘Two Kings’ of Dunhuang City, even this humble grass hall would not dare to challenge you. However, the Jie Jie Ling will certainly investigate. Can the grass hall openly accuse Dunhuang City of the murder? Miss Jin She, you know the grass hall is not as strong as Dunhuang City and cannot withstand the harassment of the Jie Jie Ling of Ju Zi.”
The woman smirked. “Fine.”
Shen Shuihu bowed. “We shall rely on Dunhuang City from now on.”
She nodded.
※※※
Arriving alone at Liuyi Mountain and departing alone, she found a pot of wine at Qing Zhuniang’s tavern, slung her book chest onto her back, wearing a black robe with white lining, embodying the essence of spring and autumn. As she walked and drank, Xu Fengnian felt he finally had a bit of the demeanor of a chivalrous warrior.
What was the purpose of coming to the mountain to kill? Xu Fengnian walked along the muddy path, trampled into pits and potholes by horse hooves. He thought about Qing Zhuniang’s words, “So high.” In Xu Fengnian’s view, voluntarily diving into the martial world to explore, whether swimming or floating on his back, it was all about individual effort and self-preservation. Like the Fish Dragon gang and Liu Nirong, they had to accept the risks of life and death, taking responsibility for their own fates. Others pursued martial arts to achieve a realm and then went off to right wrongs and uphold justice. Xu Fengnian, in the Northern Desert, was barely able to survive himself and had no intention of joining in this commotion. Since he had resolved to seek fame and fortune in the martial world, if he were to be crushed by the waves, he could blame no one else.
Yet, the young daughter of Qing Zhuniang, who had died unjustly, should never have met such a fate. No matter how many reasons one might give, such as the injustice of the world or the cheapness of life, they would not hold up. Furthermore, upon hearing from the skinny monkey about the climactic battle between Deng Tai’a and Toba Boshi, and about Li Chungan borrowing a sword, Xu Fengnian, familiar with Li Chungan’s character, knew the old man in the sheepskin coat must have died, departing this world with dignity. Xu Fengnian had rarely admired anyone in his life; his teacher, Li Yishan, was one, and the only other was this old man in the sheepskin coat. As for Lao Huang, who had accompanied him on a six-thousand-mile journey despite missing a tooth, he wasn’t someone Xu Fengnian admired, but thinking of him using a comb to brush his hair made him want to laugh, and thinking of his toothless grin made him want to laugh even more. Only when he thought of the yellow wine did he stop wanting to laugh.
Xu Fengnian recalled the fortune-teller under the willow tree in that city and took another swig of wine. Previously, he had not believed much in the words of fortune-tellers or the prophecies of diviners. But now, his mother was gone, his eldest sister was gone, Lao Huang was gone, and now even Li Chungan had passed away. How could he not believe? Would it not be better to die in the Northern Desert? Xu Fengnian took another sip of wine, thinking that no wonder so many people in the Northern Desert wanted to become devils. When happy, they killed; when depressed, they killed. Killing brought them fame, and killing many earned them a place on the list. In the martial world, filled with rules and pitfalls, the most delightful thing was precisely not following the rules.
Even an emperor had various constraints. The middle-aged man in the Tai’an city, surnamed Zhao, was truly willing to marry his beloved Princess Sui Zhu to himself? Was he really willing to let Zhang Julu, the “Green-eyed boy,” hold the reins of state power to such an extent that he became the most powerful official? Was he really willing to let Gu Jiantang return to the border of the two Liao regions like a tiger released back to the mountains? If even the Son of Heaven faced such difficulties, it was even more so for being the King of Beiliang.
Xu Fengnian had no idea that bandits and outlaws were as numerous as locusts in these mountains. His original intention was simply to have a few bowls of wine at the foot of Liuyi Mountain to quench his thirst and satisfy his craving, then head for Dunhuang City, six hundred miles away.
Wudic City, located in the East Sea, stood apart from the Li dynasty. In the Northern Desert, there was Dunhuang City, which refused to be controlled. This city, with a population of eighty to ninety thousand, was a melting pot of all sorts. In terms of population, it even surpassed Wudic City. As to why Dunhuang City could maintain its independence without being eradicated by the Northern Desert court, there were many theories. Some said the city’s master, who was known as the “Second King,” was actually the twin sister of the Northern Desert Empress. Others claimed she had once had a passionate love affair with Toba Boshi, who was younger by more than a decade. This theory even insisted that Toba Boshi’s rise to prominence within the Zharong soldiers was due to a martial arts manual he obtained in Dunhuang City. There were also those who said she was once a beauty unparalleled, captivating Murong Baoding to the point of unrequited love, which led to her being tolerated by the Ju Zi province on the border of two provinces. If any of the several armies from the Jin Xi province dared to make a move, this Jie Jie Ling, who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts, would lead his troops north to protect her.
The common people, when chatting about the secrets of the rise of great figures, always had such vivid imaginations, leaving listeners in awe and the participants helpless.
Just like when speaking of the Crown Prince of Beiliang, the entire court and country were filled with tales of his exploits, such as losing his virginity at eight and sleeping with a hundred women by nine. Some even claimed he was insatiable, capable of sleeping with eight or nine women in a single night. Xu Fengnian paid no heed to these stories, secretly wishing he truly possessed such prowess in the bedroom. After all, in the noble families, how many seemingly perfect matches between talented men and beautiful women, which everyone envied, ended up cold and lifeless due to the lack of intimacy? Many aristocratic women were too restrained, and the reason why scholars were known for their indulgence in courtesans was not entirely due to their lust. It was more because their own fields were too hard to till. Even the most diligent old oxen would find it unbearably bitter when cultivating such land, leading some men who strictly adhered to etiquette to suddenly discover, after some experience, that the pleasures of love could be so delightful!
Xu Fengnian remembered Li Hanlin telling a humorous anecdote. Back in his father’s jurisdiction in Fengzhou, there was a scholar from a prominent family who had been lovingly married to his equally noble wife for many years. Once, he was dragged by a friend to celebrate his promotion by visiting a brothel. After experiencing the various techniques of the courtesans, he returned home only to be scolded. He hesitantly shared these techniques with his wife, who, after some initial reluctance, tried them out and was immediately filled with joy. From then on, she secretly encouraged her husband to learn more from the brothels, and they truly began living a blissful life together.
Xu Fengnian walked slowly, sipping his wine.
Thinking about these vulgar matters improved his mood a little. After drinking most of the pot, he remembered that after this village, there would be no more shops, so he was reluctant to drink any more and gently placed the pot into his book chest.
The moonlight was as cool as water, and there was no one around, not even a ghost. Xu Fengnian loudly hummed a little tune that the young heroine loved the most, “The King sent me to patrol the mountain, patrolling the northern mountains and then the southern ones. Patrol the eastern mountains to kill passersby, patrol the western mountains to watch the sun. Yo yo yo.”
“My King has three heads and six arms, and his henchman stole a young girl and carried her on his back. Poor me, the meat was right there but I couldn’t eat it. When will I ever become the King?”
“Hey, brother, are you also patrolling the mountain for the King? Come on, let’s grab a young girl together and run into the woods, hey hey, scaring countless birds.”
Xu Fengnian made up lyrics as he sang, laughing heartily, “One day I’ll become the King of the mountain, but I won’t patrol the mountain anymore. I’ll have my henchmen conquer the world, grabbing young girls of all ages, from the young and tender to the mature and alluring, yiyayiya.”
A woman who had been following him couldn’t help but burst into laughter, laughing without restraint.
Xu Fengnian turned around, fixed his gaze on the woman who was doubled over in laughter, spread his arms wide, and with a gentle smile in his eyes, said, “Come here, you unlucky little lady. Be a good girl and come into my arms, my henchman.”
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