Chapter 108: Morning Radiance

There was a reason Chen Guangxi obeyed Zhang He’s every command.

Golden Wheat’s judgment had been perfectly accurate. Zhang He indeed had not left the territory of Famous Sword Manor—not because he had chosen to stay, but because he could neither leave nor afford to.

He had accidentally killed Zhong Shuman. She was a minor heroine of the martial world, with a remarkably high chivalry rating. Her death had not only caused Zhang He’s evil score to soar from thirty-five to fifty, but had also turned him into a wanted criminal. From the moment he slipped into the Ruyun Inn in Blissful Forest, he had lost all hope of entering another town. There was no way he could remain in Blissful Forest.

Yet although Blissful Forest was no longer an option, he could not return to Hidden Sword Manor either, not while the truth remained unclear.

There were too many suspicious and inexplicable details surrounding the affair. He could not allow himself to be used for no reason, then return home in a daze. After thinking it over again and again, he decided that if he wanted to uncover the truth, he would have to begin with Famous Sword Manor, since every incident had originated there.

He had just begun his secret return to Famous Sword Manor when he encountered Chen Guangxi on the way.

“Do you want to know who chopped off your wife’s head?”

Zhang He’s first sentence dispelled more than half of Chen Guangxi’s suspicion.

“They’ll certainly take action now. I suspect they’ve sent nearly all their best men out to search for clues. At most, only two experts should remain inside the manor. Butler Yan will definitely be guarding the place. You can give this a try: hide me inside your gift chest. If I’m wrong, it’ll be easy enough for you to kill me afterward.”

Zhang He’s proposal was indeed difficult for Chen Guangxi to refuse. Most persuasive of all was the final sentence. If Zhang He was merely putting on an act, Chen Guangxi could easily kill him once he was inside the chest. Besides, Chen Guangxi himself was still completely in the dark. What harm could there be in trying?

And so Zhang He slipped into Famous Sword Manor without anyone noticing. Even if they killed Yan Jiu and Fourth Miss, they would never have imagined such a thing.

Much of what happened in this martial world was just as Golden Wheat had said: accidents were inevitable, and circumstances could always change. But the real question was whether one could make proper use of those changes and turn them to one’s own advantage.

Even if Zhang He had encountered Qi Shiqi or Fat Mantis instead of Chen Guangxi on his way back—even if he had encountered Zhong Shuman, or even the three leaders—he would still have found a way to reenter Famous Sword Manor.

Unfortunately, the city where Zhong Shuman had revived after her death was very far away. Zhang He did not even know where it was. He only knew that his carrier pigeon could not deliver a message, which proved that Lady Zhong and he were temporarily in different regions. She would not be able to make it back anytime soon.

As for the three leaders, although they had miraculously survived the chaotic battle that morning, in truth, they might as well have been hacked to death by the people of Famous Sword Manor.

The three of them had fought in Blissful Forest, committed violence on horseback, and trampled thirty-two vendors’ stalls. Their official charge was “damaging public property.” They had no money to pay compensation and had even resisted arrest by force. The constables of Blissful Forest had already dragged them away.

It seemed the secretary’s latest “rural field investigation into increasing household incomes by ten thousand yuan” had gone completely awry. They might even be handed over to the judicial authorities and formally prosecuted by the relevant department. They could forget about revolutionary work for now and concentrate on figuring out how to win their lawsuit and get themselves out of trouble.

If the events of the day had seemed exceptionally bizarre, then what happened that night was stranger still.

Elder Chen, a native of the Beggars’ Sect, had always been a quiet and respectable man. Everyone in the manor knew about his relationship with Third Miss. From everything Yan Jiu and Fourth Miss had observed, Elder Chen had always revolved around Third Miss. When she acted coy, he went to soothe her. When she was displeased, he grew anxious. When she wanted to enter a dungeon, he accompanied her. And when she wanted to go shopping in a major city, he instantly transformed into an open wallet. Whenever she wished to travel far away, he became a Transformer, capable of turning into a taxi, a train, a ship, an airplane—every conceivable means of transportation.

Such was the behavior of a perfect man. But whenever Third Miss was absent, another side of him emerged.

“He says he wants a midnight meal, and he even gave us a menu, but Ding from the kitchen can’t make any of those dishes,” a disciple of the manor reported in the main hall to Chief Steward Yan Jiu.

Yan Jiu frowned. “What does the menu say?”

The disciple replied, “Beef soup slow-cooked in a bronze cauldron with aged pickled radish; supreme gluten mixed with winter bamboo shoots, served with crispy chicken; deer tendon and pickled cabbage with cloud-slice tofu; three-delicacy meatballs with honey cake and red-date paste…”

Not only were the chefs of Famous Sword Manor incapable of preparing such dishes, even the Fragrant Heaven Restaurant—which might have been able to make them—probably could not gather all the ingredients at such short notice.

“What does he think this place is, the imperial kitchen?” Fourth Miss swallowed the words before they could leave her mouth, because Yan Jiu was already smiling as he said, “Make as much as you can.”

“Yes,” the disciple said. “However…”

“However what?” Yan Jiu stared at him.

The disciple lowered his head again and stammered, “Elder Chen also said that after eating, he wants to take a bath. He wants a large, horizontal carved-wine bathing tub scattered with rose petals, and a servant specifically assigned to fill it for him. The water must not exceed forty-five degrees.”

Fourth Miss did not know whether to laugh or cry. Even at the Ruyun Inn in Blissful Forest, an innkeeper would have found such a request nearly impossible to satisfy.

Yet despite Chen Guangxi’s deliberately troublesome demands, Yan Jiu remained astonishingly calm. He said blandly, “Satisfy that as well. Have Little Flower and the others prepare it.”

The disciple suddenly lowered his head and muttered, “He… he also said… he said…”

Fourth Miss could not restrain herself. “What else did he say?”

“He said he wants Fourth Miss herself to go in and scrub his back!”

At last, the color drained from Yan Jiu’s face. There was no way such a demand could be fulfilled. The bride had only just left, and now this? How could they possibly allow it?

Fourth Miss’s face turned livid as well. “I’ll go take a look.”

Yan Jiu nodded grimly. “Be careful. The atmosphere seems somewhat wrong.”

The atmosphere was indeed wrong. The moment Fourth Miss reached the gate of the Peach Grove Lodge, she heard the sound of garments slicing through the air. Clearly, someone was using lightness skills to run across the rooftops.

She looked up and saw Zhang He. His toes brushed lightly across the roof tiles as he skimmed over them like a swallow.

Behind him, Chen Guangxi was pursuing him with a hemp sack strapped to his back, evidently using lightness skills as well.

Fourth Miss was astonished. She absolutely refused to believe that someone at the first advancement could perform lightness arts of this level.

In truth, Zhang He had his peerless-level Songstep skill and an Ascending Dawn movement technique to thank. After reaching the second advancement, he was clearly on an entirely different level. Songstep now consumed very little internal energy, and the shifting frequency of the S-shaped arcs in his flight had become astonishingly rapid. Several times, Zhang He appeared about to lose his footing, only to twist in some uncanny manner. Not only did he evade Chen Guangxi’s palm strikes, he continued gliding forward without pause.

Such movements had been utterly impossible at the first advancement.

The two men moved at incredible speed. After several leaps, they vaulted over the wall and vanished into the courtyard beyond. Fourth Miss had no time to think. She drew her soft sword, used Grass-Flying, and swept over the wall after them, pursuing them into the darkness.

No lamps shone across the wilderness beneath the night sky. Only the faint light of the stars draped the earth in a thin veil of white. Within that veil, Zhang He and Chen Guangxi fought for their lives.

As one of the great powers of the Central Plains martial world, the Beggars’ Sect possessed astonishing martial arts.

Broadly speaking, its techniques fell into several major categories: staff arts, palm arts, lightness skills, and formations.

Staff techniques were especially prominent, forming the mainstream of Beggars’ Sect martial arts. Most Beggars’ Sect disciples chose to specialize in that path. Given the game’s background, the reason was easy to imagine: an impoverished old beggar could pick up a staff and use it as a weapon with effortless ease.

Palm techniques came next. The Beggars’ Sect’s palm arts were a broad category centered primarily on defense, incorporating branches such as grappling, close combat, and restraint. Of course, the sect’s supreme art, the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, was an entirely different matter.

The Beggars’ Sect had a very low threshold for entry. Anyone whose chivalry and evil ratings were not in direct conflict could join. Advancement, however, was extremely difficult.

The first advancement consisted of disciples ranked from One-Bag to Seven-Bag. Even within this stage, a Seven-Bag disciple was unquestionably far stronger than a One-Bag disciple. First-advancement disciples trained in every major category—staff, palm, lightness, and formations. Outsiders might find this difficult to understand, but according to the philosophy of “If You See the Lord,” this approach amounted to cultivating multiple skill trees. Thus, although first-advancement Beggars’ Sect disciples possessed deep foundations, their overall strength was generally unimpressive.

After the second advancement, however, an Eight-Bag Elder could choose to specialize in the major branch of martial arts he most favored and excelled in. The principle was simple: after learning so many skills, one naturally knew which were easier to practice and which suited oneself best. Consequently, second-advancement elders generally possessed at least two martial arts of contrasting styles. The classic example was the Beggars’ Sect’s combination of staff and palm techniques. A second-advancement elder of that caliber was difficult for disciples of most other sects at the same level to withstand.

By the third advancement, a Nine-Bag Elder possessed not only deep foundations but also exceptional mastery of at least one martial style. Even if he encountered an opponent stronger than himself, several elders could join forces and form a battle array, compelling that opponent to retreat rather than court disaster.

Naturally, there were also players willing to endure hardship and blessed with extraordinary talent. They might pursue several paths at once. It took longer, but if they eventually mastered both the Dog-Beating Staff and the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, they became truly terrifying experts. They could casually wipe out a dozen or twenty burly fighters at the fourth or fifth advancement. Against people at the first or second advancement, they would crush them as effortlessly as a rolling pin flattening dumpling dough.

The Beggars’ Sect’s advancement system had its own flaw, however: its martial arts were broad but impure. Its disciples appeared to know everything, yet it was extremely difficult to cultivate any single art to true perfection. As a result, Beggars’ Sect practitioners were either mediocre or extraordinarily formidable.

The usual outcome was this: if you fought one of them alone, you might not be able to defeat him, but he might not be able to kill you instantly either. You still had a good chance of retreating if you could not win. But in a group battle, it was best to flee immediately. When the Beggars’ Sect gathered in numbers, few people in the martial world dared stand against them.

Thus, although Elder Chen’s bare palms flashed beneath the starlight like dragons bursting from the water, Zhang He’s Flowing Cloud Saber danced so tightly that not even a splash could pass through. After all, he possessed the advantage of weapon range.

Seeing this, Fourth Miss estimated that Elder Chen would have difficulty taking Zhang He down in the short term. She flicked her soft sword, and its gleaming blade shot toward Zhang He like a strand of silver thread.

Now, a third-advancement Beggars’ Sect elder and a fourth-advancement protector of Famous Sword Manor had joined forces against Zhang He, who was only at the second advancement.

Zhang He was as good as dead.