Fisherwoman of Wushan

A carriage stopped at the entrance of the Mountain God Temple. The youth driving the carriage jumped down from the front seat and bowed and said to the cart, "Master, there's only an inn twenty miles ahead. It's raining rapidly, please get off here and rest."

A female voice in the car responded, "Okay,Let's take a rest."

Li Jing looked through the broken temple door, and saw the cart curtain lifting, a masked lady with black clothesgot down the cart, her body as light as a feather, without any slightest sound. The young man driving the car was dressed in grey and white coarse clothes, holding a roll of green bamboo mat in his left hand, his right hand holding up an oil-paper umbrella to shield the rain, and respectfully invited his master to enter the temple. Seeing a kid with a boy sitting on the ground, he did not care, spread the mat on the ground, and invited his master to sit down.

The woman in black, revealing only two beautiful eyes and a forehead as smooth as tender lotus roots, glanced at Li Jing and Alone Star and sat cross-legged on a bamboo mat. The driving young man returned to the carriage, fetched steamed cakes and water bags, and invited his master to eat. The woman in black was about to remove the veil when her white fingertips retracted and glanced at the carriage-driving youth.

The youth driving the cart greeted Li Jing, "This little brother, please."

Li Jing got up and responded, "This big brother, please."

The young man asked, "Where are you from? Where are you going?"

Li Jing naturally understood that it the veiled woman wanted to know about him and Alone Star, so he said, "Our brothers are from the north, we suffered a change of fortune when both our parents died, and then we fled to this place, we don't know where to go."

That black-clothed woman's burning gaze was cast over again. Li Jing fell into the water last night, his clothes were dirty and wrinkled, and a few withered grasses were on his head, so he did look like he had fled; while Alone Star, after all, had Han Zhong to take care of him, and his clothes were much tidier.

The woman in black said softly, "As an elder brother, you are indeed devoted." The voice was as cold as a cold spring, without any earthly trace. After saying that, she undid her veil. Li Jing immediately felt a light shine in front of his eyes: he saw her willow-leaf eyebrows and phoenix eyes, jade nose and cherry mouth, black pupils deep bottomless, slightly upturned corners of the mouth revealing the rigidity, her skin almost as white as transparent. She was like ice and snow frozen a thousand years , leaving freezing coldness in the air.

The woman in black chewed and ate the steamed cake slowly, taking small sips of water and ignoring Li Jing and Alone Star. Alone Star, after all, was young, and at this time, his belly was hungry and thirsty, and he couldn't help but gulp. The woman in black said, "Take some food for them." The young man driving the carriage took two pieces of steamed cakes and distributed them to the two. Alone Star ate hastily and burped. The youth picked up the sheepskin water bag and handed it to the woman in black, "Master ... we only have this water bag ..."

Li Jing saw that sheepskin water bag was bulging with at least half a bag of water, and wondered why the black-clothed woman wouldn't let Alone Star drink it. Little Alone Star rolled his eyes and continued to burp. The black-clothed woman looked around, as if searching for a container to hold water. However, the broken temple is in disrepair, not to mention the dishes and cups and plates, there was not even an incense burner. The woman in black said to Little Alone Star, "Open your mouth." Little Alone Star just opened his mouth, only to see a stream of water shooting into his mouth, like a thin line. When Little Alone Star's mouth was full of water, the water flow suddenly stopped, and not a single drop was spilled on the ground.

Li Jing looked dumbfounded. Uncle Han Qinhu's skill of flinging arrows, was already very high level martial arts, and this woman in black could force out the water in the water bag to form a water line, shooting and stoppingit freely, her kung fu must be better than Han Qinhu. At her age, thirty at the most, she must one of the very rare in the world with such shocking martials. Suddenly, Li Jing's mind jumped over a name "Wushan fisherwoman" – when uncle assessed the best martial arts people in the world, there were only two women, one was Sin A Ying, a slang in the South Yue, the other was Wushan fisherwoman, a heir from female Yue sword school . The black-clothed woman's kung fu of harnessing water with Qi is obviously the same as what uncle said about "flying swords to kill people".

The woman in black slowly finished her steamed cakes and put her face scarf back on. The young driver swallowed some pancakes without water and put away the sheepskin water bag. Only then did Li Jing realise that the woman in black was extremely strict and would never allow others to drink from the same bag of water.

Just then, the sound of rushing hooves came from the rain outside the door. In a short while, a dozen horses run to the front of the Mountain God Temple. A fully armoured and bearded officer at the head rolled his saddle and dismounted, striding into the temple and glancing at the four people sitting on the ground. Li Jing only felt his gaze shoot like a sharp arrow, and clearly felt that there was a kind of surprise of treasure in his look, so he could not help but feel a chill in his heart.

The officer only made a few gestures, and the soldiers had already taken their positions. Li Jing recognised that this was an extremely common five-flower formation in the military, only that the officer treated each of his soldiers as a team of fifteen, sealing off all the ways out. This group of people might be rushing towards him and Alone Star!

However, after the officer had finished his gestures, he was in no hurry to arrest anyone, but looked at the young man driving the cart as if nothing had happened, and said with a loud voice: "This little brother, I am thirsty, may I borrow some water to drink?"

The young man driving the carriage sat still, ignoring the man. The officer laughed loudly, "Kid, are you borrowing or not? Give me a word, I will never force anyone for anything."

The youth said, "You respectable general, we only have one bag of water, which is reserved for the master's use, and I don't dare to drink a single drop."

Only then did that general cast his eyes at the woman in black, and after being shoot at by her cold gaze, he could not help but to stop his laughter and turned back to the soldiers and said: ''Tie up the horses. The rain is too heavy, I'm afraid we'll have to rest for a while. Brothers we have to first endure our thirst, when the rain stops, we will go to find some food and drink."

Li Jing took a closer look. These sixteen people were in Sui uniforms, with extremely neat military appearance , but there were blood stains on the clothes and armour. The general waved his hand, the soldiers sat on the ground, rolling up and down the knot in the throat, obviously quite thirsty. Although they were not able to obtain any water, they did not look aside, nor make any sound.

Li Jing held little Alone Star in his arms, his heart bursting with bitterness. Although he couldn't confirm that this group of people was rushing towards Alone Star, he had a hunch that the general leading the group was waiting to arrest him, but he was afraid of the black-clothed woman and her servant. He secretly hoped that the rain would stop soon, so that he could get out as soon as possible, otherwise even if this group of people were harmless, this broken temple was too shabby to live as a shelter – in daytime it can still make do, at night when cold air flows, it was impossible to survive in such thin clothes without fire.

However,the weather didn't cooperate, and the rain grew heavier, drenching the horses outside hissing. If they were not trained properly, these horses would have run away.

The general said to one of the sergeants, "Xiao Wu, go and carry that ancient Qin into the house, it's no good if it gets wet."

The sergeant called Xiaowu answered and got up to fetch a Qin bag from outside the temple. Li Jing took a look at it and was shocked: it was none other than Old Man Zhang Xian's sheepskin Qin bag!

The general took the Qin bag, pulled out a piece of cloth, gently wiped the Qin bag out from rain. after it was dried and clean, he opened the bag to take the Qin, and said with a slight sigh: "Really it is the best Qin ...."

The black-clothed woman who hadn't said anything flashed a cold aura in her eyes and asked in a cold voice, "Where did you get this guqin from?"

The general was shocked, he glanced at the woman in black, and said faintly, "Who are you?"

The woman in black asked again, "You don't need to care who I am. I only ask you: where is the owner of this guqin now?"

That general rolled his eyes, "I had a friend, he gave the guqin when he was dying, let me look after it...."

The woman in black trembled in shock, "Are you saying that the owner of this guqin is dead?"

That general said, "Indeed, he has died ... just two hours ago."

The woman in black was silent for a long time and asked in a stern voice, "How did he die?" The voice was sharp, to arose Li Jing's goosebumps.

That general said, "The guqin master has a sudden malady, this will be ineffective to save, it is a pity ..."

Hearing his lies, Li Jing couldn't help but say, "I know this guqin, it belongs to old Mr Zhang Xian."

The woman in black looked back at Li Jing, "Little brother, you know the guqin Master?"

Li Jing said: "If it is not Mr Zhang, my brother and I would have been killed ..." due to concerns about Alone Star's bloodline, he could not fully reveal what happed last night, but to change the topic: "But the person killed by this general, is a Middle-aged boat owner with surname Xie."

The woman in black stood up abruptly, walked to Li Jing's side, and asked drily, "Tell me quickly whether the guqin Master is dead or alive!"

Li Jing could only reply, "Mr Zhang Xian has passed away ..."

The black-clothed woman's eyes seemed to be spitting fire as she swept a sinister glance at the general and gritted her teeth, ''I don't think you're capable of harming the guqin master either! Talk! How did you get your hands on this guqin?"

With a wave of that general's left hand, fifteen soldiers stood in unison, each pressing the hilt of their swords, just waiting for the order.

"To tell you the truth, today I met a group of merchants in Congyang who disobeyed Sui's decree and have all been executed!" The general laughed coldly and said, "I am Yang She, a general under the command of Sui General Yang Su, and I have been ordered to go east on business. This is the territory of the Sui State, and I have been courteous to you because you are a woman. If you speak disrespectfully again, I will behead you without mercy!" He shouted loudly. the sheath of the knife buzzing straight, knife light like snow, the broken temple was filled with killing atmosphere.

Li Jing put Alone Star behind him and his hands were already touching his calves. Just waiting for the enemy to approach, he would draw his sword and fight to protect Alone Star. However, he clearly felt that Yang She was still focusing on the woman in black, and did not even look at him.

The woman in black softly called out "Mu Sheng". The figure of the young man driving the carriage flickered. Immediately, miserable cries arose. Before Li Jing could see clearly, he could only hear the sound of thuds, and long swords with hands fell to the ground. In the snap of a finger, the young man had fifteen soldiers' right hand wrist chopped off, blood wildly sprayed like a stream.

Yang She had been in battle for a long time, but he never saw such a weird thing, so he could not help but tremble in his legs. A servant had such a high level of kung fu, the master can be imagined. His forehead dripped sweat, in trembling voice he said: "You ... are the Wushan fishingwoman ..."

The woman in black coldly said: ''your eyes are working! Not to mention you, even Yang Su would have to show me some respect. Say! What evil deeds have you done today?"

Yang She's cold sweat was flowing, he hurriedly cupped his fist and saluted, "Senior... It's my blindness that offended you, elderly, I make amends ... also please let me save my men." He looks more than forty years old, but called the Wushan fisherwoman, who is not more than thirty years old, "elderly", which seems extremely funny.

"Then I'll spare you all first." The Witch Mountain Fisherwoman sneered.

Yang She hurriedly took out his medicines and ordered the soldiers to apply medicines and bandages to their wounds. When Li Jing saw that the soldiers were all pale, but no one moved a step, he couldn't help but be appalled. It seemed that all the soldiers under Yang Su's command were trained to be iron men.

While the soldiers were treating their injuries, the Wushan fisherwoman asked Li Jing, "Who actually harmed the guqin master?"

 Li Jing, being observant and heard her repeatedly call Zhang Xian "Master of the guqin" instead of his name, thought that their relation must be close, so he immediately answered, "It's the Shadowless Ghost Hand." Then, he omitted Alone Star and his own background, and told her how Zhang Xian protected the orphans, and how he dueled with the Shadowless Ghost Hand.

After hearing this, the Wushan fisherwoman asked Yang She, "General Yang, where is that little girl, A yue, now? Wasn't she cut down by your sword?"

Yang She had already assisted his subordinate soldiers to finish tending to their wounds, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but said angrily, "I had been following qinghe County Duke, and had fought dozens of battles of all sizes, and I never killed a child! I have never seen this girl you are talking about!"

The Wushan Fisherwoman said, "Since this guqin was passed down from the guqin master to A Yue, now the qin is here, but Ayue is not, do you think I'm easy to be fooled?"

Yang She said: "A few hours ago, I met the boat owner Xie that this young man mentioned in Congyang County. He was probably around forty years old or so, carrying this ancient guqin on his back, in a restaurant called 'li yun'. The boat owner was accompanied by a group of people. Around that boat owner were a group of robbers, they did not listen to my orders, refused to accept the search ... therefore, we had to fight. That gang of robbers were defeated, and not one of them escaped ..."

He stammered for a long time, but the Wushan fisherwoman heard and understood, and laughed coldly: "So you officials passed by and forced a search, and when the people slightly disobeyed, you killed them! Say, that boat owner Xie, what did you do to him?"

Yang She was speechless. Under the stern gaze of the Wushan fisherwoman, he could only raise his right palm and gesture towards his thigh. Li Jing immediately pulled his heart out - it seemed that the boat owner Xie had already had his legs chopped off by this group of people!

Li Jing had been in the army for a long time, and he knew that although the Sui army were not fully self-disciplined\, but it is not to the point that the people are slaughtered at the drop of a hat. What happened in Congyang County? Is A Yue still alive? Does Lai Huer, who led Meiniang and the three others on their way, know about it?

The Wushan Fisherwoman said, "Very well. You have legs too, are you going to cut them off yourself? Or will we do it for you?"

This sentence as cold as frost, scared Yang She face no colour, trembling voice: "Please senior let go of my ... I when report to Lord Jin ... great general ... I can serve as an ox or a horse to you, to repay your grace..."

"Yang Su is also a famous hero, yet under his command, there are such useless individuals like you!" Wushan Fisherwoman was very impatient and said to the youth driving the carriage, "Kill them all."

"I can cut my..." Yang She suddenly drew his sword and gritted his teeth and chopped towards his legs. With a miserable cry, both legs had been broken, and blood sprayed wildly. Wushan fisherwoman didn't even blink her eyelids, coldly laughed: "It's too late!"

However, miserable cries were heard in all directions. The figure of the cart-driving youth fluttered once again. In an instant, sixteen people fell down almost simultaneously, and Yang She, who had just chopped off his own legs, desperately fought back, and was sent flying with a sword strike from the cart-driving youth's weapon. Li Jing was extremely attentive this time, but he saw that all of them had blood arrows shooting from their chests. But the young man's slender soft sword actually dripping blood had not been stained, and he coiled back to the waist.

Li Jing couldn't understand at all, just now, the Wushan fisherwoman let Yang She save her soldiers, but now she let the young man kill all of them. this reversal occurred simply only by Yang She's unwillingness to cut off his own legs and beg for forgiveness, so he couldn't help but be horrified.

"There are no bystanders now, so you can tell us all about last night." The Wushan Fisherwoman glanced at Li Jing, who had frozen.

Li Jing only had to tell the truth. The whole process.. In case any part of story about Alone Star was hidden to make it incomplete, and the horrifying lady was annoyed, he knew both their lives can not be kept. Speaking to the sad part, Li Jing feel so sore and bitter that he could not help but shed tears.