Chapter 25: A Challenge

"If what you say is true…"

The carriage trundled along, its horse pulling it onwards with measured steps. Zhou Fei had wrested half of the driver's seat from Xie Yun, and was absent-mindedly twirling the horse's whip in her hand. She was in no frame of mind to admire the scenic mountains around her, and had a somewhat grave expression on her face instead.

Xie Yun protested: "You can always trust what I say. Do you know anyone else who devotes himself so seriously to gathering every little bit of information on this earth, like I do?"

Zhou Fei didn't understand why anyone would take pride in having a keen ear for gossip. But she was in no mood to quarrel him with right now, so she waved her hand dismissively and got straight to the point: "Based on your theory of there being different 'levels', I'm a second-level pugilist at best."

Xie Yun snorted: "Just barely, and only on your good days."

Zhou Fei rolled her eyes at him: "Did you hear what that songstress made me out to be?"

Shaking his head, Xie Yun said: "You apparently have skills that exceed even top-class pugilists, leaping ahead a whole two levels to be worthy of the title of grandmaster. Oh my, you're actually even better than that, because all the other grandmasters are advanced in years, with heaps of children and even grandchildren, and nothing compared to you in the looks and youth department. It almost makes me want to kowtow to you right now. Great hero, thine humble servant is only fit to drive thine carriage. When do you plan on ascending to heaven, and knocking that old fogey the Jade Emperor[1] out of the sky?"

Wu Chuchu drew back the curtains of the carriage and peered out at them: "What are you talking about? Oh…wait a minute, have you two started talking to each other again?"

Xie Yun replied without looking back at her: "We're discussing the renowned hero of our generation, 'Zhou the Great, Breaker of Sabres'."

Zhou Fei said: "…You think that I won't kick you off, don't you?"

"Certainly," Xie Yun said with confidence, "If you kick me off, the Great Hero Zhou will probably drive this carriage all the way to the farthest end of the southern frontiers."

Zhou Fei: "…"

Xie Yun refused to let up: "For a 'great hero' like you who has no concept of practical matters like earning a living, you might really be reduced to begging then. Oh yes, great hero, do you know how to perform doggerel[2] like beggars do? Perhaps I should teach you a few lines?"

Zhou Fei couldn't stand him any longer, and delivered a swift kick in his direction. Xie Yun 'floated' lightly away like a nimble leaf, making a dangerous-looking but graceful flip in mid-air to land elegantly on the carriage's roof, where he leisurely took a seat.

Wu Chuchu instinctively covered her head with her hands – afraid that he might cause the carriage's roof to collapse on her.

Zhou Fei cracked the horse's whip hard, but perhaps her technique left much to be desired, or that dumb beast had grown callouses that were impenetrable – the creature simply refused to speed up, merely squirming a little before continuing to plod on at a stately pace.

Zhou Fei said angrily: "This must be a mule in a horse costume."

She hadn't had a good night's sleep since hearing the songstress recount that 'martial arts legend' about her. Instead, she'd dreamt of the Big Dipper and the Mountain of the Living Dead's Four Symbols getting into formation around her and attacking, or of her mother beating her with a whip as thick as her waist till she spun round in hundreds of circles, waking up the next morning dizzy and bleary-eyed.

But how had this ridiculous rumour spread?

Zhou Fei furrowed her brow, as one possibility came to mind. Addressing the fellow who was reclining on the carriage's roof, she asked: "Do you think that this was all a plot by Shen Tianshu to get back at me?"

"And what plot would that be?" Xie Yun's voice travelled down from above her: "To broadcast to the whole world that he was defeated by a little girl?"

Zhou Fei: "…"

She had to admit to herself that he was right. Shen Tianshu and that bunch of incorrigible baddies wouldn't do something like this which embarrassed them so – and anyway, going to such lengths for a little nobody like her really wasn't necessary.

Xie Yun said slowly: "Perhaps you aren't aware of this, since you don't get out very much. Everyone in these parts has had a grievance or two against the Big Dipper for a long time now. So every month or so, you'll hear wild stories of Dubhe getting trounced by some youngster or other. Even Shen Tianshu himself can't be bothered with any of it, and most people wouldn't really believe such tales."

Zhou Fei said perplexedly: "Who's so bored as to come up with such preposterous stories? There doesn't seem to be any point in it."

"Oh but there is," said Xie Yun as he arranged his long legs in a more comfortable position. "When everyone is mired in the despair and doldrums of this turbulent age, it's only natural that they would hope for a hero to emerge. However…your rumour is a little more special than most, because it just so happens that the Azure Dragon Lord really did get killed."

There had been plenty of people hanging about the vicinity of the Three Springs Inn. Many of them had probably peered through their half-closed windows to get a peek at what was happening. And there had indeed been quite a commotion when Zhou Fei exchanged blows with the Nine-Dragon Elder. Then later, in the Heng Mountains, all eyewitnesses apart from the three of them and Yin Pei had died in the secret passageway. And she was quite sure that Yin Pei wouldn't have said a word about what had really taken place, since he even refused to reveal that he was a Yin.

So the Snow-Breaking Sabre had indeed been spotted at the Three Springs Inn, and not long after, the Azure Dragon Lord had mysteriously met his demise.

The rumours about her did seem like they might be true.

While tales of the fight at Huarong City were presumably complete hearsay, the fight at the Three Springs Inn had probably been increasingly exaggerated as it was passed on from person to person.

And if a youth still wet behind the ears had really dared to challenge the Azure Dragon Lord all on her own, and breeze away without a scratch after besting him…then the rumours of her defeating Shen Tianshu suddenly became a whole lot more plausible.

Zhou Fei said drily: "My mother will flog me to death."

Xie Yun peered down at her from the carriage roof: "Amazing – I can't believe you're still able to spare a thought for your mother at a time like this. You really don't know how this world works, do you? Fei, let me give you some advice: from now on, please keep as low a profile as possible, and avoid getting into any fights, I beg of you. Before you return to the 48 Zhai, play dead as best you can, and leave those rumourmongers to their rumour-mongering. As long as you don't show yourself, and don't get into any more trouble, they'll forget all of it after a while."

But Zhou Fei's concerns lay elsewhere. When even Li Jinrong had said that she herself had not truly mastered the Snow-Breaking Sabre, how could Zhou Fei, who'd only learnt a tiny bit of it, let others call her its 'descendant'? She felt like she was heaping shame on the heads of her ancestors. So she snorted in response, which was the closest thing she could muster to agreeing with Xie Yun.

Perhaps because they had recently experienced their fair share of hair-raising adventures, the next few weeks were positively tranquil.

Xie Yun finished his absurd new opera, while Zhou Fei finally got used to driving the carriage, and Wu Chuchu increasingly shed the inhibitions of a proper young lady. And maybe it was the sudden pressure from all those rumours about her, but like a student burning the midnight oil the night before an exam, Zhou Fei had frantically taken to seizing every single waking hour to practice her Snow-Breaking Sabre, in constant fear that someone might force her into an 'exam' at any moment.

She didn't even break for meals. She would often stare fixedly ahead of her as she ate, looking unblinkingly at the tips of her chopsticks.

Xie Yun waved his chopsticks in front of her face: "Hey…"

With a twist of her wrist, Zhou Fei wielded her wooden chopstick as she might a sabre, executing 'Parting the Sea'. Xie Yun's chopsticks split right in two.

Xie Yun: "…"

Wu Chuchu couldn't take this anymore, exclaiming: "It isn't good manners to talk while eating, and neither is it to fight!"

Zhou Fei hadn't really tried too hard to hide her skills on the journey here. After all, nobody would have guessed that the so-called 'descendant of the Southern Blade' was just an ordinary young maiden – in the increasingly fantastical rumours about her that they had heard along the way, she had been transformed from a 'muscular sabre-wielding heroine' to a 'green-faced, fanged monster who could kill a bear with one blow'.

They had a peacefully uneventful journey to Shaoyang City, where the three of them settled down to rest. By the time they reached, Xie Yun had put the finishing touches on his new opera, which was entitled 'A Jackdaw's[3] Cry'.

In the evening, Xie Yun set about giving himself a completely new look, sticking a small moustache on his upper lip and adding several wrinkles to his face. When he turned around from the mirror to face Zhou Fei, he had utterly transformed from a dapper young gentleman into a middle-aged scholar lamenting the hardships of life. It was as if he had shapeshifted.

Xie Yun creakily adjusted his collar, a sour, pinched look on his face: "This old fellow is 'Thousand Years of Anguish'. What do you think?"

Zhou Fei said honestly: "You look so sour that if you were to lie down in a saucer, I'm sure you would make an excellent vinegar sauce for me to dip dumplings in."

Xie Yun tapped his fan on the top of her head: "You have no manners, girl, how can you speak to an old man like this?"

Zhou Fei swatted his hand away.

This wouldn't be the first time she was pretending to be someone's maidservant. When she had done so for Old Madam Wang, the position had even given her a seat in the carriage. But while it was quite normal for an elderly lady to be accompanied by a young maidservant, for a sour old man who had 'I am an Artist with a capital A' written all over him to bring a young girl everywhere he went…didn't it reek of scandal?

Well aware of her reservations, Xie Yun asked in faux-surprise: "Did you actually think that Thousand Years of Anguish was a proper and dignified person? There must be thousands of scholars in this country. If I didn't write lewd operas, how on earth would I stand out from the masses?"

Zhou Fei: "…"

Xie Yun beckoned at her mischievously: "It would be inconvenient to bring a proper young lady like Miss Wu along with me to sell my operas. But how about you? Do you want to come along with me and expand your horizons?"

Zhou Fei didn't think that this was such a good idea. Even though the sabre in her hand had shed copious amounts of blood by now, she still felt that mixing with a man who wrote scandalous operas for a living wouldn't do her reputation any favours.

Xie Yun asked: "So are you coming? If not then I'll be on my way."

Zhou Fei only put on a semblance of demureness for a moment, before following after him without a word.

Xie Yun seemed to be extremely familiar with Shaoyang City – he appeared to be quite at home wherever he went, pointing out the various sights to her and droning on about them, so much so that Zhou Fei half-suspected he was making all of it up. Seeing him navigate yet another stretch of twisting alleyways with ease, Zhou Fei finally couldn't help but ask: "How are you so familiar with this place?"

Xie Yun replied in earnest: "I've begged on these streets before."

Zhou Fei: "You…what?"

"When I was young, my master thought me too pampered and fragile. So to toughen me up, he refused to teach me martial arts, instead sending me out on the streets without a single coin in my pockets to beg for three years. He said that if I managed to survive those three years without starving to death, he'd teach me a set of skills that could I use to protect my life. Well, I tried joining the Beggars' Sect at first, but didn't quite get along with them. Even though the Beggars' Sect professes to be good and upright, there's actually a fair amount of scum in that bunch, with the stronger beggars often bullying the weaker ones. Since they were so inhospitable, I had no choice but to rebel, and shaved my head to become a monk instead. While there are many fake priests in this world, these are on the whole at least slightly more noble than beggars. Some of those baldies even know how to recite a few sutras. And I found that those who can find it much easier to beg, especially extremely good-looking and charismatic ones like me…"

Instantly dismissing this as nonsense, Zhou Fei rolled her eyes: "Right…wouldn't your master and his entire family have been beheaded for putting the great Prince Duan through all of that?"

Xie Yun chuckled gleefully and incongruously with that sour scholar's face, and then faux-sighed: "You yourself asked me about it, yet you don't believe me even after I tell you the truth…ah, women."

"What's that about women?" At the end of this alley, a window was suddenly flung open, and a woman's head popped out. She leaned her torso out the window, a hand poised questioningly on her chin, and shot a reproachful glance down at Xie Yun.

This woman couldn't really be considered a great beauty, but her narrow eyes slanted upwards sensuously, heavy-lidded and seductive, and she wore a languid, sultry expression. The faintest of smiles suddenly appeared on her fair, oval-shaped face: "Mr Thousand Years of Anguish, I haven't seen you in years, yet you look as dashing as ever."

Xie Yun clasped his hands respectfully towards her: "Madame, I haven't seen you in years, yet the masses still swoon at your feet, never to rise again."

Instead of taking offense at Xie Yun's flippantly insincere compliment, this 'Madame' seemed a little pleased, and beckoned to him with one finger: "Do you have the goods? Come up here if you do, and get lost if you don't. I don't entertain poor sods like you."

Xie Yun laughed heartily, then turned around to Zhou Fei and beckoned her closer, whispering: "This person has the big bucks – if we manage to earn enough I'll buy you a proper sabre. So watch your words later, and don't get into any trouble."

Besides the older women in the 48 Zhai, Zhou Fei had seen the burly village women on the outskirts of Yueyang, the proper ladies of the Wu family, and the madwoman Duan Jiuniang…but this 'Madame' was entirely different from all of the women she had met so far – her bones seemed to be made of something ethereal, so pliable that it seemed they could bend and sway every which way without breaking.

A village girl like Zhou Fei, who hadn't seen much of the world, was still ignorant of such seduction.

There was a narrow door at the end of the alley, which was clearly not the proper entrance of this establishment. The Madame went down herself to open it for them: "Come in…hm?"

Her eyes landed on Zhou Fei, who had been standing behind Xie Yun. Looking Zhou Fei up and down curiously with those bewitching eyes of hers, she smiled coquettishly, covering her mouth with her hands, then said: "Where did you kidnap this beauty from?"

Xie Yun said with an entirely straight face: "This is my daughter, and her name is Xie Hongyu."

Zhou Fei: "…"

Was this fellow itching for another beating!

Narrowing her eyes, the Madame smiled at him. While she clearly didn't believe him, she didn't probe further. She strolled languorously ahead of them, leading them in to the backyard. This backyard wasn't very big, but the flowers here were all abloom, sitting in rows of pots and snaking across trellises that lined its walls, in an explosion of colour. There was even a swing here, and a zither on the small table beside it. A faint fragrance permeated the air, its source unknown. Zhou Fei took a discreet look around her, finding this place exquisitely charming.

The Madame extended her open palm towards Xie Yun, and Zhou Fei caught a flash of her long fingernails, which were painted bright red: "Hand it over then."

Xie Yun drew out a bound copy of 'A Jackdaw's Cry' from within his robes and handed it over to her. He simultaneously gestured to Zhou Fei behind his back, in an attempt to warn her against accidentally stepping into the fish pond while she was looking about.

With Xie Yun's opera in hand, the lady boss sashayed over to the swing and sat down. Pointing at the stone table and bench beside it, she said to them: "Please have a seat."

As she said this, a number of brightly-dressed young beauties streamed out from somewhere inside, heaping polite pleasantries on Xie Yun as they laid out refreshments for them – one of them even affectionately pinched Zhou Fei's cheeks.

Zhou Fei: "…"

All these maidens seemed to be quite familiar with Xie Yun, but for some reason maintained their decorum, treating him with a somewhat formal respect.

The Madame didn't take very long to finish flipping through Xie Yun's work. Then she stared contemplatively ahead of her for a few moments, before lifting her head to look at Xie Yun.

Xie Yun arched a brow: "What is it?"

She asked: "Are you sure you want to give this to me? It feels like you're exploiting someone's blood and tears for money."

"Let me correct you there – I'm simply 'depicting' the hardships of others, mind you. Tsk, I'm an artist, not a pimp. There's no need for you to put it like that." Xie Yun corrected her breezily: "Anyway, it's quite disgusting to consume blood and tears by oneself, and recounting such things to others would also be highly inappropriate. If I can use it to cover my travel expenses, wouldn't this be an excellent use for it instead?"

The lady boss broke into a smile at this, and said: "Fine then, I'm keeping this. Payment will be the same as usual."

Just as she said this, one of her young maidens approached them bearing a tray, and handed a silk brocade pouch over to them.

Xie Yun weighed it in his hand, and without even checking its contents, tucked it away in his robes: "I knew that Madame would be a pleasure to do business with…actually, I have one more thing to ask of you this time."

The Madame put up one finger.

Xie Yun opened the pouch and took out a piece of gold leaf,[4] handing it back to her without a word.

Zhou Fei finally understood. She was pretty sure that Xie Yun was selling his opera not to cover their travel expenses, but to purchase information.

The Madame rolled her eyes at him as she took that piece of gold leaf, scoffing: "Using my own money to pay me? You really have some guts! Now, if you have something to say, then spit it out!"

Xie Yun said: "I wanted to ask Madame about something that happened a long time ago. When twelve senior officials escorted the current Emperor down south, for added protection this entourage must also have included some other highly skilled personalities. Other than Yin Wenlan, were any people from the Qimen Sect involved, as well as one or two…less than above-board friends?"

The Madame looked slightly astonished. She slowly passed that piece of gold leaf back to Xie Yun, saying: "I don't know. And even if I did, this isn't something that you can purchase with a single piece of gold leaf."

Xie Yun's eyes flashed: "I can offer…"

Before he could finish his sentence, a young maiden hurried into the back courtyard, and whispered something into the Madame's ear.

Zhou Fei had sharp ears, and heard the girl say: "Madame, a large number of men have gathered outside our front door, claiming to be from the 'Wayfarers' Union'."

The Madame's suspicious gaze landed first and foremost on Xie Yun.

Xie Yun already had an excellent poker face, which was even more impassive now that it was covered in a layer of prosthetics. He said in bewilderment: "Are those people after you, or me?"

The Madame stared hard at him for a moment, then with an arch of her brow, rose to her feet.

"It doesn't matter who they're after," she said with a humourless smile, "whoever it is they're after, it's my door that they've come knocking at."

She turned to leave, her loose-fitting silk robe fluttering behind her, like pink-tinged cirrus clouds wreathing the moon. She was a vision, like an ethereal goddess riding the clouds.

Xie Yun contemplated this for a moment, then beckoned to Zhou Fei: "Let's go and take a look as well."

Zhou Fei whispered: "Could it be that Mr Bai is here to catch you and bring you back?"

"Catch me?" Zhou Fei arched his brow, which tugged at the fake wrinkles that had been pasted at the corner of his eye. An ice-cold look crossed his face: "What right do they have to catch me? As far as I'm aware, I haven't broken any laws. Even if the Emperor himself was here, he wouldn't dare say that he wanted to 'catch' me."

From the backyard, they passed through a little building, to emerge in the front courtyard. This courtyard didn't have such a profusion of flowers, making it feel much more spacious. Several young maidens were here, some warming up their vocal chords, some stretching their limbs, and some doing the splits, yet the scene didn't appear inelegant in the slightest. In fact, this sight seemed even more splendid than the flowers bedecking the backyard.

Seeing two strangers follow their boss out here, the girls all stopped what they were doing to stare curiously at them.

With a massive creak, the front door of this establishment was flung wide open, giving Zhou Fei a clear view of the people gathered outside.

At a glance, those men were all dressed shabbily, in closely-fitted attire, and all with the same scruffy, weathered look on their faces. Quite a number of them were slightly hunched, looking very much like they had been bent out of shape from years of manual labour. Although these men were of different shapes and sizes, their faces all blended into each other, such that if one didn't look closely, they would be impossible to tell apart.

The girls inside here were as bright and clean as the men out there were dull and dirty. When the two faced each other directly, as they were doing now, the juxtaposition was incredibly jarring – it was a truly strange sight to behold.

Seeing the Madame herself come out to receive them, a middle-aged man who appeared to be their leader stepped forward. He clasped his hands with extreme respect, saying meekly: "Madame Cirrus, our deepest apologies for disturbing you."

Madame Cirrus daintily tucked a stray tendril of her hair behind one ear, as she leaned against the doorframe. She smiled: "Your humble servant is but a weak woman, who only knows how to sing and play the zither. How might I have offended all of you, brothers, that you have to darken my doorstep like this? Young maidens as delicate as flowers live here – they're extremely timid, and can't bear such brutish behaviour. What on earth will I do if they are frightened by this commotion?"

As she said this, the girls behind her broke into soft peals of laughter. It was as if a small gust of wind had swept through the courtyard, causing the plants and flowers within to tremble violently. But Zhou Fei was sharp enough to discern that this lilting laughter contained a frisson of murderous intent. Even though it wasn't directed at her, her back instinctively tensed.

The leader of this group of men from the Wayfarers' Union took another step forward. Bowing so low his face nearly touched the ground, he said with even more respect: "We had no intention of disturbing Madame at all, but were forced to come today only at the behest of someone else – Madame, the esteemed guests that you have received today are incredibly difficult to find, so we could not afford to miss such an opportunity. Forgive us, but we really had no choice."

Madame Cirrus' brow furrowed slightly, and both she and Zhou Fei turned to look at Xie Yun.

Xie Yun was a little taken aback – he knew that some of Mr Bai's spies would certainly be in the Wayfarers' Union, and that as Mr Bai had been given a mission to find him, the fellow wasn't going to let him go just like that. It also wasn't surprising that that sly old fox, who had eyes and ears everywhere, would know of his second life as 'Thousand Years of Anguish'. It was Madame Cirrus' 'Feathercloud Troupe'[5] which had made famous the name 'Thousand Years of Anguish' anyway, and the Troupe was based in Shaoyang City. If one was travelling from the Heng Mountains to the 48 Zhai, while adhering to the borders of the Southern Dynasty, one would have to pass through this place. And if Xie Yun were to rest here, it was almost certain that he would pay a visit to Madame Cirrus. So he supposed it was plausible that Mr Bai had predicted he would come, and lay in wait for him here…Xie Yun had put on this disguise precisely to avoid being caught, although it looked like this hadn't worked after all.

He couldn't figure out how on earth this group of men from the Wayfarers' Union had managed to recognise him. And given how shrewd Mr Bai was, even if he'd managed to recognise him somehow, he could certainly have waited for him to return to his inn before sending people after him. Why would he come knocking at the door of the Feathercloud Troupe, and risk offending Madame Cirrus unnecessarily?

It didn't make any sense to him.

The Madame Cirrus was after all something of a big shot – she certainly wasn't going to let this bunch of scruffy beggars from the Wayfarer' Union walk all over her.

Madame Cirrus fluttered her eyelashes at them, flashing a charming smile at them, although her words were far from amiable: "There are only writers of little operas and pitiful maidens here. There aren't any esteemed guests, but there are a whole lot of hangdogs. Which one do you want?"

Pretending not to hear the steely edge in her words, the leader of that bunch of men said submissively: "Oh no no no, oh no, we wouldn't dare ask for any of your people. Apologies for inconveniencing Madame, but we're looking only for the maiden who wields the Snow-Breaking Sabre."

Everyone present was stunned into silence. And when they recovered, their gazes all simultaneously fell on Zhou Fei.

Zhou Fei still hadn't quite accepted her inadvertent rise to stardom, and wasn't used to having everyone's attention on her like this. More than a little alarmed, she instinctively groped for the weapon at her waist – until she remembered that there was nothing there. Her sabre was still in the distant future that Xie Yun had promised, and hadn't yet sprung into existence.

Narrowing her eyes, Madame Cirrus first shot Xie Yun a savage glare, then murmured: "Snow-Breaking Sabre?"

The man bowed his head respectfully. Following the crowd's gaze, he set his sights on Zhou Fei, saying: "At the behest of someone, I've been instructed to search for you, Miss. We followed lead after lead to no avail, until we finally managed to find you here. We plead of you, Miss, take pity on us for our efforts, and come with us just this once."

All the way here, Zhou Fei felt that she had been incredibly well-behaved, not getting into even the slightest bit of trouble, which left her a little perplexed now as to how this bunch of men had managed to find her. Xie Yun, however, thought that he understood what was happening – Mr Bai must have asked the Wayfarers' Union to track him down, and after finding out that there was someone else trying to find Zhou Fei, had decided to do that person a favour as well, killing two birds with one stone.

Zhou Fei was about to step forward, when Madame Cirrus reached out a hand to block her way.

Try as she might, all Madame Cirrus could see was an ordinary young girl standing before her. Other than being a little reserved, Zhou Fei didn't seem any different to her from the other young maidens in this courtyard. She couldn't see any ferocity in her, nor any profundity beyond her years. Looking the girl over from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, Madame Cirrus couldn't see the slightest trace of the 'Snow-Breaking Sabre' on her. She thought to herself in disbelief: Could it be that there really is a prodigy like this, who's managed to attain such heights at such a tender age?

Madame Cirrus' eyes gleamed, and she even straightened up somewhat. She asked Zhou Fei: "Did you really kill Zheng Luosheng? And did you really one-up Shen Tianshu?"

More than a little embarrassed, Zhou Fei quickly said: "No, that was just…"

"Ha! An esteemed guest indeed!" Madame Cirrus cut her off with a hearty laugh. Before Zhou Fei's astonished gaze, every single trace of that seductive air about her vanished in an instant, and chuckling loudly, she said: "Good, very good!"

Zhou Fei: "…"

This was a huge misunderstanding, she really hadn't done any of that!

Ignoring her protests, Madame Cirrus strode out the front door. Apart from their leader, all the other men from the Wayfarers' Union shrank back a step, in apparent fear of her.

Madame Cirrus said stridently: "Since the one who wields the Snow-Breaking Sabre is my guest, how dare you demand that I hand her over? Get lost! Both you and I come from the lowest professions, the scum of the earth – why would I fear you?"

This lady had changed completely in the blink of an eye, all sultry seduction one minute, then cold-bloodedly ruthless the next, like a soul-sucking, shapeshifting demoness. The young maidens in the courtyard who were still giggling just moments ago now fell silent. They surrounded Madame Cirrus, the cold gleam of hidden weapons peeking out from beneath their wide sleeves. Zhou Fei stared at the scene open-mouthed, a chill running down her spine.

The atmosphere had suddenly grown tense.

The man in front stretched out a hand behind him, signalling to his men to be at ease, as he said: "Come, come, we can always talk this out. Calm down, please, everyone."

He pulled a bangle out from up his sleeve, saying to Zhou Fei: "The person who hired us asked me to bring this to you, Miss. He said that you'd probably recognise it, and that once you saw it, you would definitely come with us."

Not only did Zhou Fei recognise that bangle, she was quite familiar with it. Her face hardened – the material that bangle was made of was indiscernible, as it was wrapped entirely in colourful silk. It even sported a brightly coloured little bell which jingled merrily wherever its owner went, to her constant irritation – it was Li Yan's.

Back home, Li Yan did nothing but play all day, and her seniors and elders in the 48 Zhai often couldn't be bothered to chastise her. As she was a good-looking little girl, and could be very charming, they were prone to spoil her, which had gradually moulded her into a mischievous and incredibly lazy bum. Her martial arts skills were infamously bad, although she was quite an expert in eating, drinking, and making merry instead. Zhou Fei had used to get an instant headache whenever she heard the annoying jingle of that bell, so she would recognise it anywhere.

But why would Li Yan have left the 48 Zhai?

Who had brought her out? And who had dared to seize her?

Li Yan had yet to complete her apprenticeship, so she mustn't have been sent out on her own. There would have been a senior from the 48 Zhai accompanying her. Given what Li Jinrong had said in her letter to Zhou Yitang, they were probably heading for Jinling. If that was the case, it would have been both unnecessary and impossible for them to travel through the territories of the North, and so they wouldn't have run into the Big Dipper's men.

But other than the Big Dipper, who else would dare to seize her?

Did they not know that she was from the Li Clan?

Weren't they afraid of Li Jinrong's wrath?

In that instant, Zhou Fei seemed to show hints of a true pugilist's level-headedness and calm again, the same way she had when hiding with Wu Chuchu from the Big Dipper in Huarong City. A dozen different scenarios flashed across her mind, as she tucked that bangle securely up her sleeve. She said sternly: "Who is your client? Does he know who the owner of this bangle is? Does he have a death wish?"

As the tone of her voice grew in ferocity, the man in front started to look a little wary.

Zhou Fei exchanged a discreet look with Xie Yun, who nodded imperceptibly.

Under normal circumstances, she should keep a low profile to stay out of trouble. But now that these people had Li Yan in their clutches, she couldn't very well stay 'humble and honest'.

Zhou Fei knew that the fiercer she pretended to be, the more carefully the other side would tread. So instead of clarifying those tales about her, she deliberately put on the airs of an unparalleled pugilist – her scornful gaze took its reference from Duan Jiuniang, while her aloof arrogance was courtesy of Ji Yunchen, in those glorious moments when he had wielded his sabre once again – it was impossible to pick up the skills of these two great experts in just a few months, but she could at least mimic their behaviour.

Xie Yun assisted her in this charade, trying to prod the man into revealing his client: "Throughout all the years that I have done business with your Union, I've never seen two different deals being mixed together like this. Is this how that Bai fellow does things now? That's new to me."

With the two of them complementing each other like this, they really put on quite a good show.

But that man wasn't so easily conned. With a placating smile on his face, he said: "I don't quite understand what you're saying, Mister. I'm just a lowly messenger, unlike all of you lofty heroes. People in my line of work, who pass on messages and run errands, need to have a wide circle of friends and contacts, and the cardinal rule of maintaining such a network is to keep our mouths shut. Even if the Snow-Breaking Sabre was pressed against my neck, I wouldn't be able to speak on behalf of my client, would I?"

While this person appeared conciliatory, he was actually also delivering a subtle threat – no matter how great your skills, or how invulnerable you thought you were, could you still be on your guard at all times, even when eating, sleeping, or going to the bathroom? It was impossible for one to be on the defensive forever, as one was bound to slip up at some point. Even the Southern Blade Li Zheng himself might not have dared to offend this bunch of pervasive gutter rats.

"However, our client didn't actually say that we weren't allowed to convey his great name." The man slyly appeared to make a concession, to show his sincerity while also letting them carefully consider his client's identity: "Have you heard of the 'Cloud-Bracing Trench' before, Miss?"

There were numerous sects in the martial arts world. Any old bunch of idle rascals living deep in the mountains could choose to form their own self-professed 'Unbeatable Divine Sect', although the vast majority of these were a bunch of nobodies.

This 'Cloud-Bracing Trench' didn't sound much greater than any of those 'Unbeatable Divine Sect's. Zhou Fei blurted out: "What the hell is that? I've never heard of it. Has that clueless client of yours perhaps heard of this little old place called the '48 Zhai'? If my junior has offended you in any way, you can very well go there and seek compensation from Mistress Li."

Xie Yun hurriedly coughed, signalling to Zhou Fei that she had gone overboard.

Zhou Fei hesitated, thinking to herself: What, you mean this 'Cloud-Bracing Trench' isn't some garbage sect from a rural backwater?

Just then, a cold snort was head from a corner of the street. The group of men from the Wayfarers' Union parted like the red sea, making way for a young man to walk slowly towards them. This man was tall and broad-shouldered, and had an unfriendly look on his face. He could be considered somewhat handsome, although his face was a tad too dark. With his dark face, dark clothes, and a goose-wing sabre in his hand that was entirely black,[6] from a distance he looked like a moving block of charcoal!

This 'Cloud-Bracing Trench' was being 'braced' by a dark cloud!

But as he neared them, something else besides his appearance drew their attention – this person had solid, stable steps, and as he walked, his shoulders stayed absolutely still, giving him a dignified air. He was obviously a martial arts expert, in both internal and external techniques.

The young man took step after step till he was right in front of Zhou Fei. Looking her up and down, he said: "So you're the Southern Blade?"

Zhou Fei felt like the Shu Mountains of the 48 Zhai had just crashed right down onto her, yet she had no choice but to stick her neck out and withstand its weight.

This young man had a little bit of an accent. His speech seemed quite effortful, as if he was forcefully feeling his way around each syllable. His eyes fixed on Zhou Fei, he said: "Did you just ask 'what the hell' is the Cloud-Bracing Trench?"

Zhou Fei arched a brow: "So you're the one who hired them?"

The young man didn't reply, instead stretching out his hand in greeting: "I am Yang Jin, Chief of the Cloud-Bracing Trench. Having heard that the Southern Blade is the best blade on this earth, I've come all this way to get a taste of it."

Zhou Fei: "…"

Was this guy off his rocker?

This person by the name of Yang Jin had the incredibly lean face of a young man. It seemed like if he were to clench his jaw just a little, the bulging green veins at his temple would burst through his skin. He pursed his lips, and with that peculiar way of speaking, said: "Since you are a disciple of the Southern Blade, you must have some connection with those from the 48 Zhai. Don't worry, I absolutely will not harm any innocents. The sabre in my hand is called 'Lone Goose'. Having trained with it for twenty years, I think I'm somewhat accomplished, so I have come to witness the 'best blade on earth'…."

He was interrupted by the man from the Wayfarers' Union: "Jin, it isn't proper to say such things on Madame Cirrus' doorstep."

Yang Jin spared the barest of glances at Madame Cirrus, then looked away with disinterest, fixing his gaze squarely back on Zhou Fei: "I've asked Uncle Xu here to find you for a long time. As long as you let me have just one taste of your blade, whether you win or lose against me, you have my word that that person from the 48 Zhai will be unharmed."

Zhou Fei thought this situation beyond absurd – twenty years ago, Ji Yunchen had held Yin Pei hostage to force the Sword of Mountains and Rivers into a fight. Well, the very same thing was happening to her right now!

The only problem was that while the Sword of Mountains and Rivers was a bona fide expert, she was full of hot air!

Yang Jin thrust his sabre in front of him: "This is my blade. Where's yours?"

Zhou Fei: "…"

She didn't have the money to buy one!