Chapter 37: Yongzou

Zhou Fei's sabre usually never left her side, and even when she was away from home, she never failed to continue the routine she'd followed as a disciple in the 48 Zhai. She would always get up before dawn to train for a full two hours, during which she would simply drill down on the dull fundamentals over and over again. When she finished her practice, it was about time for the others to get up as well.

And evening was the time set aside for honing her internal strength. Nothing could get in the way of this, not even an earthquake or thunderstorm outside. She would never skip this practice session, even if it meant missing dinner.

But she wasn't in her room this evening. After looking all over, to Li Yan's complete surprise she found her sitting idly in the inn's dining hall out front!

"Zhou Fei" and "being idle" were just two things that didn't go together at all. Shocked, Li Yan went up to Zhou Fei with great concern, reaching out a hand to feel her cousin's forehead. She was sure that her cousin must be having a fever – perhaps her injuries were acting up again?

Without even turning around, Zhou Fei grabbed the girl's little paw: "What are you doing?"

Li Yan gleefully told her what the inn's waiter had said. Zhou Fei nodded distractedly in response and said: "Got it, we'll leave shortly."

Li Yan had more to say, but Zhou Fei put up a finger, signalling her to keep quiet.

Li Yan followed her gaze across the hall, which was still strewn with broken tables and chairs in the aftermath of the Black Turtle Sect's violence. The old bard had been replaced by an old fellow accompanying himself on the zither today. The damp strings of his zither creaked as he picked at them. The old fellow was also missing a front tooth, making his words a little muffled as he sang along to the music.

Li Yan asked curiously: "So you're here just to listen to this? What's he singing?"

"'A Jackdaw's Cry'," said Zhou Fei lowly.

Li Yan had never heard of it before. She sat down beside Zhou Fei, still quite perplexed at her cousin's uncharacteristic behaviour. Rocking back and forth in her chair restlessly, she finally thought she'd caught a bit of this ode's meaning after a while – this verse of 'A Jackdaw's Cry' was quite novel. It wasn't about generals and kings, nor great geniuses or beauties. It was as colourful as the old legends of demons and monsters, and a touch fantastical.

It spoke of a man whose homeland had fallen to foreign invaders when he was young, forcing him to roam the earth with no place to call home. Entirely by chance, he came under the tutelage of an old Taoist priest, who imparted to him a set of phenomenal skills which could protect him from all harm. Desiring to reclaim his homeland, he then joined the army.

The old fellow on the zither had sung the prologue in a hoary voice, imbuing it with a soul-aching bleakness. A good number of refugees who had been similarly driven from their homes stopped to listen. As the old fellow sang the line "When the lad mastered those skills, he was great enough to rule the world", the strings beneath his fingers veered off-key, as did his voice, making those words sound all the more sarcastic.

This 'great' lad was skilled in both physical combat and military strategy, and was extraordinarily valiant on the battlefield. He rose through the ranks very quickly, and was soon appointed a senior officer in the army.

After winning several consecutive battles, this senior officer gained the favour of his general, who bestowed on him the highest commendations. Deeply touched, tears started streaming down the lad's face, who knelt to the ground and bitterly recounted the circumstances of his birth and his aspirations to reclaim his homeland. Upon hearing this, the general stroked his beard and sighed. He promptly promoted the lad, and commanded him to lead three thousand soldiers in an ambush of the enemy's elite troops. If he succeeded, they would be able to retake much territory, which the general promised to give this lad all the credit for.

All those people who had just been laughing at the old fellow's off-key rendition now quietened down again, listening with rapt attention. They knew how such stories went and relished them completely – this unlucky exile would finally emerge victorious, freeing his homeland from unjust subjugation, and win for himself power and prestige in the end.

Deeply grateful to the general, this young lad was willing to do anything for him. He lay in wait for the enemy troops for three days, until they finally came marching over the horizon. This time, the old fellow on the zither didn't botch the vivid depiction of this mighty battle, managing to stay on-key throughout, and Li Yan couldn't help but hold her breath – alas, in the end the lad found that he and his soldiers had just been used as bait. Deathly afraid that this highly decorated boy would end up replacing him, the general had used the lives of those three thousand soldiers to lure the enemy out, killing two birds with one stone – eliminating both the internal and external threats to himself.

Just when this lad was on the verge of death, he saw a large flock of jackdaws flying across the sky, and realised that they had been sent by his shifu, that old Taoist priest, to save him. He promptly abandoned his armour and all prospects of glory. Following that flock of birds away, he resolved to become a monk instead.

Li Yan's jaw dropped: "What rubbish is this!"

The next day, Zhou Fei and company joined the Xing Nan Escort Agency on their journey to Yongzhou, on the pretext of "joining in on the fun and gaining some experience along the way". The Zhu siblings were all too happy for their company – if they had a few more highly-skilled pugilists with them, at least they needn't worry that those scum from the Mountain of the Living Dead might come after them again.

Zhou Fei and Yang Jin were riding in front. Li Yan, Wu Chuchu and that girl from the Xing Nan Escort Agency, whose name was Zhu Ying, sat together in the carriage, which followed the escorts and the goods they were conveying. Zhu Chen and Li Sheng brought up the rear on horseback.

Li Yan was still hung up about the absurdity of 'A Jackdaw's Cry'.

"And then the ending was even more ridiculous. After becoming a monk, that lad spent all his days cultivating his powers deep in the mountains, with only crows and bleached bones for company. With a great deal of effort, he managed to develop some new powers, although these only worked on occasion. Sometimes, he would be chased by all kinds of demons and monsters lurking in the mountains, escaping by the skin of his teeth. In the end, after experiencing all these hardships and trials, he ran into a group of teenagers on a little mountain hike, and muttering to himself "my road ends here", abruptly attained enlightenment and became immortal!" Li Yan's indignant rant could be heard even from outside the carriage. "Have you ever heard of anyone attaining immortality just like that! If I'd known that was possible, I'd have long since rounded up a bunch of disciples to go hike up a random mountain with me, and charge a thousand silver ingots to each person we encounter in exchange for granting them immortality – we'll be rolling in cash! Hmph, I just don't get it. The first part was all about seeking glory and revenge – what does that have to do with this dumb ending?"

Wu Chuchu said gently: "Such pieces are all about the music and lyrics – the plot is secondary. There are odes even more bizarre than this, but the only thing that matters is that they are pleasing to the ear."

"But it sounded terrible!" Li Yan moaned, on the verge of angry tears. "You have no idea how bad it was. That old fellow was missing half his teeth, so you couldn't make out what he was saying, and if he wasn't going off-key, his zither would. I sat there like a fool hearing him croak it out for a whole two hours, just to see how absurd the story could get! The mere thought of his scratchy voice now is enough to make my hair stand on end!"

Li Sheng's mouth twitched slightly as the girl's rant continued. He turned to Zhu Chen, who was astride the horse beside him, and said: "Excuse my sister, she's still quite immature."

Zhu Chen smiled: "Oh no, Miss Li is charmingly innocent, which is quite a rare quality these days."

He coughed a little after saying this. Li Yan chirped something to the other occupants of the carriage, and fits of giggling ensued – even the troubled Zhu Ying seemed much more relaxed.

Zhu Chen felt a little comforted by the sound of his sister's laughter at first, but then he couldn't help but sigh – if he were a capable man, his sister, who was only sixteen, wouldn't have had to follow him on the road to experience such hardships and humiliation. Just as he was feeling quite down about his own mediocrity and the bleakness of his future, Yang Jin, who had been moving peacefully along with Zhou Fei in front, suddenly unsheathed his sabre and hacked it towards her head.

Zhu Chen looked at them in shock. Sensing his unease, the horse beneath him panicked and stumbled a little. Li Sheng had to reach out and grab its bridle for it to regain its footing.

Li Sheng said nonchalantly: "It's nothing. Ignore those two lunatics."

Without even lifting her head, Zhou Fei, who looked like she had been stoning on her horse all this while, hoisted the Mountain of Lost Springs onto her shoulder. She thrust it upwards at a particular angle, knocking Yang Jin's Lone Goose Sabre aside. At the same time, she leaned slightly backwards and swiftly unsheathed her sabre before Yang Jin could come at her again. In the span of a few short breaths, she and Yang Jin had already exchanged seven or eight blows. While the two of them were using fairly long sabres, each of these blows was exchanged within a metre of Zhou Fei. She seemed to be surrounded by a gleaming wall of metal.

Zhu Chen nearly broke out in cold sweat as he stared dumbfounded at this life-threatening exchange. Even the three girls in the carriage were startled by this commotion, and stuck their heads out the window to take a look – apart from Zhu Ying, who looked properly alarmed, Wu Chuchu and Li Yan merely glanced at them before settling back in the carriage, obviously used to this.

If Yang Jin's sabre could be characterised as fiercely unrelenting, Zhou Fei's could be described as infinitely changeable.

She seemed to be experimenting ceaselessly, changing styles every few days. The angle of her blade, the amount of force she used and the technique, depended entirely on what was going through her mind at the precise moment that Yang Jin attacked her.

As for today, Zhou Fei had been doing a comparison of Mingfeng Tower's 'Stringed Machine' and Ji Yunchen's 'Slicing Water and Tangling Silk'. So when her train of thought was abruptly interrupted by Yang Jin, the technique she used ended up combining the characteristics of both – deft, mysterious, and pliable, as if what she held in her hand wasn't a long sabre, but a strand of hair that could twist and turn every which way, forming a myriad different shapes at will, while delivering blows that were silent and fatal.

Growing frustrated with this languidly sinuous technique, Yang Jin's Lone Goose Sabre picked up speed, moving so quickly that it was a blur, and headed straight for Zhou Fei's chest. Leaning back, Zhou Fei swept the Mountain of Lost Springs before her, abruptly executing the Snow-Breaking Sabre's 'Cutting' move. This move was by nature overpowering in its brute force, and the stark opposite of that subtle and almost serpentine way she had just been wielding her blade. With a massive clang, it parried Yang Jin's Lone Goose Sabre.

Yang Jin was most afraid of Zhou Fei's tendency to change styles as she pleased like this. Caught off guard by this sudden switch, he instinctively swerved away from her. And just as he did so, Zhou Fei viciously jabbed the behind of his horse with her scabbard.

Despite the scuffle between these two, that horse had been trundling along without complaint, yet had been most unfairly rewarded with this poke to its rump. It reared up on its hind legs in a rage, neighing loudly and nearly flinging Yang Jin right off, before charging forward furiously.

Even this great Hero Yang of the lightning-quick Lone Goose Sabre was forced to frantically soothe his disgruntled steed. Regaining his seat with much difficulty, he yelled at Zhou Fei: "Can't we just spar properly? Why are you cheating again!"

It had started with their fight in Shaoyang City – as long as Zhou Fei was exchanging blows with Yang Jin, she simply felt compelled to outsmart him with some little trick or other. And Yang Jin would never disappoint: he always jumped right into the pit that she'd dug for him, and promptly fly into a rage after doing so. Zhou Fei had even begun to view this as a form of entertainment.

Zhou Fei casually put the Mountain of Lost Springs back in its scabbard: "It's your fault for sneaking up on me like that."

This was the first time that Zhu Chen had heard Zhou Fei say anything since the start of their journey together.

As long as there was someone to lead the way, Zhou Fei was more than content to immerse herself in the world of her sabre. Out of the twenty-four hours in a day, more than twenty were devoted to honing her technique – so Zhu Chen had thought all along that she was an eccentric hermit of a pugilist. Only now did he realise that she was actually capable of joking around too.

A long tendril of hair had escaped her braid in her scuffle with Yang Jin, which now hung loosely down her face. Zhou Fei casually tucked it behind her ear, revealing features that were pretty and delicate, and which were presently relaxed in a smile.

Zhu Chen couldn't help but gaze at her for a good long while, only returning to his senses when Li Sheng started talking to him again. He hastily looked away, knowing that it wasn't proper for him to be staring at a girl like this.

The journey to Yongzhou wasn't a long one, and apart from Yang Jin and Zhou Fei's occasional bouts of violence, it could be considered very tranquil indeed. They reached the city quite quickly. Since ancient times, Yongzhou had been known for producing many illustrious scholars. It was a place of scenic mountains and lakes, its natural beauty as great as the distinguished figures it had nurtured. The city possessed a deep sense of history and still radiated a rare elegance and serenity, having not been touched by the North-South war.

However, as Huo Liantao had been making waves here of late, this city of ancient sophistication was now teeming with martial arts pugilists from all across the country. The crowded streets were bustling with pugilists from various different sects, those that knew each other calling out in mutual greeting every now and then. Even the roadside beggars and coachmen loitering on these streets seemed like they might hail from the renowned Beggars' Sect or the Wayfarers' Union, such that no one dared to underestimate any of them. That wizened old man hobbling past you on a wooden cane could very well be a top pugilist.

Zhou Fei and company followed the folks from the Xing Nan Escort Agency into one of the inns facing the main street. Upon entering the dining hall, their attention was drawn to three people first – a one-eyed old man with a sabre in one hand and a monkey in the other, a burly middle-aged 'lady' who was very obviously a man dressed as a woman, and a young man carrying a basket full of poisonous-looking snakes.

A white-haired old Xing Nan escort, who had stood in for Zhu Qing as head of the agency after he was rendered out of commission, was respectfully referred to by the Zhu siblings as 'Uncle Lin'. Having travelled extensively and seen quite a lot in his time, the old man discreetly explained to Zhu Chen who those striking characters were: "That fellow with the monkey is called 'Old Man Ape', and the man in woman's clothes beside him is his brother, who's called 'Lady Monkey'. These two are experts at killing, and once ranked amongst the four great assassins of the martial arts world, although they haven't shown themselves for some years now. I have no idea why they would accept such an invitation from the Huo Clan."

The only renowned assassins that Zhou Fei was aware of thus far were from Mingfeng Tower. She didn't realise that there might actually be a whole host of different sects and organisations dedicated solely to the business of assassination, and glanced over at Uncle Lin.

Sensitive to Zhou Fei's every movement, Zhu Chen sensed her curiosity and asked on her behalf: "Uncle Lin, who were these four great assassins?"

Uncle Lin whispered to the youngsters not to cast their eyes all around them, lest they offend anyone, while leading everyone up to the second floor. Only after they had settled down in their seats did he answer: "If one were to speak of assassins, the first thing that comes to mind would be: 'Wreathed in clouds and bedecked with flowers, the winds of spring bring a shower of purple rain' – this refers to the two main sects of assassins across the North and South…"

Zhou Fei's heart quickened. Both of those sounded quite familiar.

Sure enough, Uncle Lin finished his sentence with: "…which are the legendary 'Feathercloud Troupe' and 'Mingfeng Tower'."

While Zhou Fei knew that Madame Cirrus and that bunch of girls under her had the uncanny ability of disappearing without a trace, she hadn't expected them to have a side business in taking human lives in addition to their main jobs of singing and dancing!

Uncle Lin continued: "As for the other two, one of them is the 'Black Judge' Feng Wuyan, who's something of a lone ranger, and the other is this pair of siblings – the 'Twin Simian Furies', both of whom have gone into retirement for many years now. As the Big Dipper went around harassing everyone in sight back then, eight out of ten bounties being offered were on their head. If these four great assassins avoided taking up any of these jobs, it would be bad for their reputations, yet they couldn't really agree to these either – think about it, even the great Mingfeng Tower was forced to retire to the 48 Zhai after accepting that job in the Northern capital. Would the rest fare any better than that? This placed the assassins of the time in a real bind, so the smart ones wisely withdrew from the scene, going into retirement."

These youngsters all looked a little glum upon hearing this. Li Yan asked familiarly: "Uncle, who's that fellow with a basket of snakes?"

Uncle Lin said with bemusement: "Little girl, you really have some guts – aren't you afraid of snakes?"

Li Yan wasn't, of course. Given the wet and rainy climes of the 48 Zhai, while the entire mountain wasn't exactly crawling with poisonous snakes and insects, one was liable to spot a few of them every couple of days. If one had the occasional mouth sore or ailment, one might even be lucky enough to score some medicinal snake soup.

"What's there to be afraid of?" said Li Yan with an insouciant shrug. "I've even kept one as a pet before, but Aunt scolded me and took it away."

Yang Jin went a little pale beneath his dark complexion, and discreetly inched away from Li Yan.

The grandfatherly side of Uncle Lin took an instant liking to this rambunctious child. Beaming kindly at her, he proceeded to explain: "That fellow is 'Doctor Poison', and his name is Ying Hecong. Those precious snakes in his basket are certainly not for you to play with, as each and every one of them is extremely poisonous."

Li Yan had actually kept a poisonous snake back then, which was why Li Jinrong had been so fussed about it. But despite her naïve appearance, this girl was an expert at currying favour with others, and perceiving that Uncle Lin and the rest seemed quite leery of this 'Doctor Poison', she refrained from mentioning this. She merely gave an awed 'wow', which elicited a chuckle from Uncle Lin. Then she peered down through the railings, sneaking a slightly envious look at that young man's basket.

'Doctor Poison' seemed to have sensed something and looked up suddenly, his gaze just so happening to collide with Li Yan's.

Ying Hecong's face was a little gaunt, although his features were handsome. While he had a slightly gloomy air about him, he was overall quite a good-looking young man – unfortunately, most people failed to realise this as they wouldn't dare take another look at him after seeing his basket of snakes.

He seemed a little surprised to see Li Yan, as he hadn't expected his brazen observer to be a girl this young, and elegantly arched a brow. Li Yan had the audacity to send a huge grin his way. Just as she was beaming foolishly at him, she felt someone poke the back of her head. Yelping, she turned around and snapped: "What was that for, you big bully?"

Li Sheng glanced downstairs, and seeing that 'Doctor Poison' had withdrawn his gaze, turned back to Li Yan with relief and said: "Smile any wider and your teeth are gonna fall out – don't ask me to help you find them then."

Li Yan: "…"

She yearned for the day when she would be powerful enough to beat him – she would be sure to leave three deep scratches on Big Bully Li's face.

Used to the two of them squabbling like this, Zhou Fei shook her head indulgently, a corner of her mouth quirking upwards in a faint smile. As she did so, someone suddenly thrust a porcelain cup in front of her.

Looking over, Zhou Fei found that the sickly young master of the Xing Nan Escort Agency Zhu Chen had been scalding the cups on their table before carefully wiping them with a silk handkerchief, and had just handed her one of these clean cups. When her gaze fell on him, Zhu Chen nearly jumped out of his skin, frantically averting his eyes. He continued to wipe the rest of the cups, dutifully distributing them round the table, not daring to look up anymore.

Zhou Fei found this a little strange, and thought to herself: All I did was chop off four limbs – am I really that frightening?

Just as she was about to say something, she heard the sound of a lute coming from downstairs. After listening intently to this for a few moments, the expression on Uncle Lin's face grew tense. He pressed a hand down on Zhu Chen's shoulder and put his index finger to his lips.

Many others in the inn had also tensed, especially that monkey on Old Ape Man's shoulder. That furry beast scampered onto the bench and started squeaking, as if he was trying to drown out the sound of that lute. But that lute continued trilling merrily on. The longer it played, the more familiar it sounded to Zhou Fei, and she couldn't resist craning her neck towards the doorway to take a look.

Shortly after, peals of tinkling laughter were heard from the doorway. Several young maidens entered the inn, each one of them as willowy and graceful as delicate flowers swaying in the wind.

Wu Chuchu: "Ah! Isn't that…"

Before she could finish, there was a flash of colour at the doorway, and someone sashayed in. This was a familiar face – Madame Cirrus!

As the Mountain of Lost Springs had been a gift from Madame Cirrus, Zhou Fei certainly couldn't ignore the lady after having seen her. Muttering "I'm just going down for a bit", Zhou Fei got to her feet and made for the stairs. But just as her foot reached the first step, she sensed the tension in the atmosphere down there, and halted in her tracks.

Having spotted her, Madame Cirrus raised her delicately pointed chin and winked at Zhou Fei. Then her gaze shifted to that odd-looking pair of simian siblings, and with a twinkle in her almond-shaped eyes, she tittered lightly: "Oh, Brother Ape, it's been a long time. Why does that little beast still bare his teeth whenever he sees me?"

Before Old Man Ape could respond, Lady Monkey got to his feet, his body undulating in place, and simpered in a falsetto: "He must have choked on a vixen's musk."

Madame Cirrus threw her head back and laughed, as if this insult was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. Her maidens strutted into the inn after her, giggling as they commandeered several tables. The people around them quickly moved away.

You could have cut the tension with a knife.

And right at this moment, a figure wearing a conical hat appeared at the doorway – it was the long-lost Xie Yun.

Xie Yun had followed the Feathercloud Troupe here. Not wanting to meet Madame Cirrus, he had pulled his wide-brimmed hat low over his face. But before he could step into the inn, he saw Zhou Fei standing at the top of the stairs.

Xie Yun felt a ringing in his head, and his mind went blank for a second – why was this Water Plant Sprite here!

He immediately turned tail and left without thinking.

As Zhou Fei was high up on the stairs, she could only see the tops of people's heads below, and it was impossible to make out the faces of anyone wearing one of those broad-brimmed conical hats. Moreover, with Madame Cirrus evidently at odds with that simian pair, a big fight seemed imminent, so Zhou Fei's attention had been drawn to the centre of the hall. If Young Master Xie had crept in stealthily and stood quietly in a corner of the room, Zhou Fei would probably have overlooked him completely. But he'd ruined things by turning and leaving so abruptly, as if he'd seen a ghost.

The second he turned around, he knew that he had made a horrible mistake.

However there was no turning back now, so consoling himself with the thought that even geniuses slip up some times, and praying hard that Zhou Fei's eyes had somehow malfunctioned, he broke into a mad run.

But Zhou Fei wasn't blind – of course she'd seen him.

With his tall frame, Xie Yun was already quite conspicuous in this crowd, and his sudden exit had only made him even more so. That abrupt movement at the doorway caught Zhou Fei's eye – the figure that had just darted out seemed very familiar. She immediately hurried down the stairs without a second thought. She cast her eyes up and down the street upon reaching the doorway, but that person was already nowhere to be seen.

Such lightning-quick reflexes, and such phenomenal qinggong – Zhou Fei was now confident that fellow was Xie Yun. Her heart started racing madly for some reason, although her footsteps slowed.

Her foot on the inn's threshold, Zhou Fei tightened her grip on her sabre. She took a deep breath, counting to ten in her head slowly and expressionlessly. Then she decisively turned back into the inn and headed up the stairs. Pulling Li Yan aside, she said: "Lend me that Five Bat Token of yours."

When Xie Yun was pushing his qinggong to its extremes, he was so fast that even the seasoned pugilists on these streets only saw a figure whiz past them – it could've been a dog, a person, or even an object hurtling past them. After dashing past a narrow alleyway, he cautiously looked over his shoulder. All he saw were bustling crowds of people, but Zhou Fei hadn't come after him.

She hadn't seen him after all.

While Xie Yun heaved a sigh of relief, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed too. Analysing this emotion, he decided that it was like when a child who'd just grown into adulthood knew that he shouldn't continue receiving cash from his elders on his birthday and would politely reject it, but when his elders really did as requested, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

It was disappointment that the other party hadn't persisted a little more, or pushed just a bit harder.

Shaking his head at himself with a derisive smile, Xie Yun sighed: "What a contemptible sentiment." He pulled his hat lower over his face as he walked slowly forward, contemplating that bunch of familiar faces which he had taken in at a glance just now – the Feathercloud Troupe was here, as were the Twin Simian Furies, and these were just those who were out in the open. Who knew how many others were secretly gathered in Yongzhou at present? Huo Liantao had thrown a party that was far larger than he himself could have imagined, and he was probably fumbling to cope with this assortment of guests right now. Indeed, if it weren't for that diagram of rippling water on the invitation, how could a mere Huo Clan attract this many expert pugilists, some of whom had long since retired?

And as for 'Sea Blends Into Sky', one might expect Huo Liantao to be entirely ignorant of it. But how could the inquisitive Zhao Mingchen, who kept a keen ear to the ground, not know about this?

This cousin of Xie Yun's was still fairly young, and quite the schemer. Xie Yun could easily figure out what he might be thinking – when Zhao Mingchen was trapped in Huarong City, he had realised that while he had initially thrown his weight behind Huo Liantao, the man was altogether too dumb for his purposes. So he now wanted to reshuffle the deck of power in the martial arts world, and seize this opportunity to infiltrate it. He was merely using Huo Liantao to muddy the waters, and would promptly discard him after that.

These privileged young royals born into the halls of power often spent their days on such plots, instead of considering how to improve the lives of the people under their rule.

Zhao Yuan was currently in his prime, and still had yet to choose a crown prince. But as his many sons started to grow older, so did their ambitions – some of them had wholeheartedly supported their father's reforms, and some had tried all ways and means to curry favour with the powers within the palace walls, while those who had not come of age were secretly establishing relations with various ministers and senior officials of the imperial court on the pretext of seeking their advice and instruction. And then there was Zhao Mingchen, who had taken a less orthodox path in an attempt to come out tops – everyone knew that when the Jian Yuan Emperor fled south all those years ago, he had been escorted by a group of highly-skilled pugilists, and that this was how the Later Shao Dynasty had been established in the South.

So as Zhao Mingchen was making tactical moves in the imperial court to bolster his position, he had at the same time been making friends all over the martial arts world in a clumsy imitation of his father.

He didn't know that some things in this world just could not be meddled in.

But then again, what was Fei doing here?

Before Xie Yun saw Zhou Fei, all these things were clearly laid out in his mind. He might have seemed to come here on a whim, but he actually had a carefully-laid plan – although he hadn't factored in Zhou Fei, who wasn't a part of this plan at all.

Xie Yun subconsciously rubbed his hands together in an attempt to generate a little bit of warmth, no matter how paltry. Following the twists and turns of this winding alleyway, he took a long and circuitous route back to that inn which Madame Cirrus had entered, as he valiantly strove to bring his runaway thoughts back on track.

As this affair concerned 'Sea Blends Into Sky', Madame Cirrus would certainly be at the eye of the storm, so he should follow her closely.

But Zhou Fei was there too…

Pinching the bridge of his nose to ease his growing headache, Xie Yun realised that no matter how hard he tried, he was simply unable to usher Ms Zhou out of his head. So he promptly succumbed and allowed his thoughts to revolve around her, thinking to himself: Why would Mistress Li agree to let her come here?

It never occurred to him that Zhou Fei might have come here specifically to look for him. Because firstly, Xie Yun didn't believe that this Little Miss Directionally-Challenged, who couldn't find her way back home even if her life depended on it, would be capable of finding him; and secondly, he had come here by chance. If he hadn't seen the water ripple diagram on that invitation, he could very well be basking in the sunny climes of the southern frontiers by now.

Xie Yun started to regret this change of plans somewhat – what did the Zhaos' affairs still have anything to do with him? Yet he had been masochistically set on meddling in this, landing him in his current predicament. Just as he was beating himself up inside, he heard a roadside hawker call out to him from his food stand: "Good Sir, how about a warm bowl of noodles? It's piping hot, and would get you nice and toasty from the inside out – you look like you could use it."

Xie Yun's train of thought was swiftly interrupted by those three magic words: 'nice and toasty'. Having just traversed the streets and alleyways of this city several times over in the cold and damp winter, Xie Yun felt like his very joints had started to sprout icicles. He was in most urgent need of a piping hot bowl of soup to thaw these icicles. As he had frequently endured much suffering in his life, he would rather not subject himself to any more discomfort than was necessary. At that hawker's siren call, he immediately trotted over to that food stand.

The hawker greeted him with delight, uncovering a pot of boiling soup and fluidly dumping the noodles into the pot.

Xie Yun lowered his head and ventured further forward, before pausing in his tracks – he realised that this wasn't an itinerant hawker. There was actually a little noodle shop behind this food stand, but because there had been so many visitors to this city over the past two days, there was no more space inside the shop for diners, so the owners had set up a makeshift stand outside to accommodate more.

Xie Yun stole a glance at that hawker who was merrily cooking away. He was looking down at the pot of noodles, using a long chopstick to stir its contents. His mouth was busy as well, firing a series of questions at Xie Yun: "Any dietary restrictions? Are you fine with a little sourness? Or a little spiciness? Do you prefer your noodles to be on the saltier side or the blander side? Firm or soft?"

Xie Yun narrowed his eyes as he said slowly: "No preferences."

That hawker was standing in front of his pot, facing Xie Yun, while his back was towards the main street.

Most hawkers would certainly not let whatever they were doing with their hands get in the way of calling out to potential customers on the street. And they certainly would not focus all their attention on just one customer, unless they had no intention at all of attracting another!

Xie Yun immediately looked up, his eyes just so happening to meet those of a coachman huddling on a carriage at a corner of the street.

That coachman hadn't anticipated this sudden glance in his direction, and looked away guiltily.

It was the Wayfarers' Union!

Xie Yun furrowed his brow – why did this bothersome gang still have their eye on him?

"Sir, your noodles are ready!"

Xie Yun smiled faintly at the hawker, pretending to get up and reach out for the bowl. But instead of doing so, he smoothly slid a few metres away.

That hawker exclaimed in shock: "Hey…"

This unexpected movement instantly drew the attention of the many pairs of eyes around them, and quite a few men started to approach Xie Yun. But Young Master Xie's qinggong was unparalleled. After unleashing his skills against the Big Dipper in the 48 Zhai, his qinggong seemed to have been elevated as well. It was as if his two long legs had been unshackled, and at this point he could practically float up to the heavens if he so wished – it wasn't so easy for him to be trapped in a little alleyway like this.

Those men from the Wayfarers' Union had evidently underestimated him. While he was only a few steps away from them, he remained just out of their reach.

Xie Yun effortlessly shook off these subpar stalkers of his, and headed straight for that coachman on the street corner. He had no intention of engaging in fierce combat, as his hands were folded behind his back. He shot that coachman a wide smile, which made the man's skin crawl.

Before Xie Yun could reach him, the coachman had already reached for a large net from within his carriage and flung it at Xie Yun's head. Xie Yun arched a brow, not looking the least bit impressed by this. To the coachman's astonishment, in the very instant that the net came down on Xie Yun, instead of being trapped he had used some bizarre technique to 'climb' up the net that was hurtling through the air!

The coachman's jaw dropped –

Raising his arm, Xie Yun's long and wide sleeve started billowing in a wind of his own making. With a mere wave of his hand, this souped-up fishing net that was a signature of the Wayfarers' Union gently floated from him like a drifting cloud, pushed about half a foot away by the force emanating from his palm. And as the coachman continued staring at him in amazement, this was all the time Xie Yun needed to gather his strength again in midair and push off the net with the tips of his toes, wriggling free of it entirely!

Xie Yun briefly landed on the roof of a nearby house, before leaping off it and disappearing from view!

While the Wayfarers' Union prided itself on its wide and all-knowing network, Xie Yun had just slipped right out of their grasp, which made them more determined than ever to seize him. This mission was disseminated to all of its people planted throughout Yongzhou City – numerous errand-boys, street vendors, labourers, and coachmen – who rapidly formed a massive and intricate human net across the city. As long as that fellow was still in Yongzhou City, even if he were to bury himself six feet under, they'd be damned if they didn't dig him out!

Xie Yun had landed in the backyard of someone's house. Casting his eyes around, he first flung aside the conical hat on his head, then reached into his pocket for two white strips of hair – these were made of an indeterminate material, of unknown human or animal origin, and looked very much like human hair.

He attached those two strips of hair to his head, which made it seem like his hair was going white at the temples. Then he pulled out those whiskers and prosthetic wrinkles that he'd used to transform himself into 'Thousand Years of Anguish' for Madame Cirrus, and gave himself a complete makeover in a few short minutes. Setting some money down on a stone bench, he grabbed a coarse and tattered robe being hung out to dry, as well as a wooden cane resting against the back door.

Xie Yun wrapped that coarse robe over his thick cotton jacket. Beneath the robe, this padded jacket morphed into a thick neck, broad shoulders and painfully hunched back. He narrowed his eyes into slits, bent his knees slightly outwards in a bow- legged stance, and stuck his neck out like a tortoise. Then he bent forward, leaning his entire weight on that wooden cane –

The fleet-footed young gentleman was gone. In his place was an old man who hobbled unsteadily on his feet, hair askew as he limped forward on his cane, yawning and bleary-eyed as if he had just awoken from a late-afternoon nap for his regular evening stroll. He walked right past those fellows from the Wayfarers' Union in hot pursuit of him, none of them any the wiser.

Those two whiskers on both sides of Xie Yun's mouth curved upwards in a gleeful smirk. Continuing to shuffle forward, he began moving back towards the inn, eager to see whether Madame Cirrus and Lady Monkey had started to have at each other already. The journey back was smooth and uneventful, as nobody would take a second glance at an old man plodding past. Reaching the front door of the inn, Xie Yun maintained his hunched posture while stealing a discreet glance inside. Zhou Fei was no longer on the stairs, while Madame Cirrus was currently partaking in a leisurely meal with her gang of ruthless female assassins. The Twin Simian Furies appeared to have left.

What happened just now? Xie Yun thought to himself. Has that pair of monkey-brained brothers actually learnt how to keep their head down for once?

Just as he was pondering this, someone suddenly came stumbling past, knocking into him from behind. Not wanting to get into any trouble, Xie Yun didn't wait for the person to speak before muttering in a hoarse and hoary voice: "Don't worry about it, don't…."

Before he could finish his sentence, something cold was pressed against his neck.

Xie Yun: "…"

He didn't panic, because he was pretty confident of escaping. Rather, he was quite intrigued that someone had actually managed to spot and seize him even after all the trouble he'd gone to disguise himself.

But when he turned his head, his jaw nearly dropped – the tip of the Mountain of Lost Springs was resting on the outer wall of the inn, while the hilt was in Zhou Fei's hand, with Xie Yun's neck in between. He was trapped.

"Old man," smirked Zhou Fei as she reached over to yank off one of Xie Yun's whiskers. "You're quite sturdy, aren't you – still standing upright after being rammed into like that – why do you still need that wooden cane?"

If one were to put on paper all the desperate, life-threatening circumstances that Xie Yun had encountered in his life, these stories would probably be enough to earn him several bags of gold. He often felt like nothing more than a supremely optimistic toad, who despite constantly jumping into pit after deathly dangerous pit, would always be able to view these experiences as the most entertaining of tales in the end, and after a good deal of embellishment and some redaction, spread them all over the country in the form of lucrative odes and operas.

Yet nothing else on earth had made him feel as trapped as he did right now.

He was like someone who had his eyes scalded by bright light after being in the dark for far too long, shrinking away from the light with fear and a little longing.

Xie Yun was pretty sure that he had been standing there frozen for an eternity. Then still in his ludicrous disguise, he placed a hand on the Mountain of Lost Springs. A thin layer of frost instantly started spreading from his pale fingers across that cold steel scabbard.

Pushing that long sabre aside, Xie Yun slowly straightened: "So it was you who sent those men from the Wayfarers' Union?"

Zhou Fei knew that she would never be able to catch up to this Xie fellow, not even if she grew another pair of legs. Having pursued him all the way from the Shu Mountains to Yongzhou, she'd had more than enough time to feel angry at him, and to ponder over all those questions she had a thousand and one times. So when it came to crunch time, she didn't let her emotions get the better of her. She'd immediately contacted the various branches of the Wayfarers' Union in Yongzhou City. The massive stage in Yongzhou was still being set, with the key actors still yet to emerge. So while the city was crammed full of people, things were still a little subdued, which meant that those shady thugs from the Wayfarers' Union were painfully idle at present. At the sight of Li Yan's 'Five Bat Token', all of them readily agreed to render their assistance.

However, if Xie Yun was so easy to catch, the capable Mr Bai would have done so a long time ago. Zhou Fei knew that he would most likely be able to escape, so she'd only enlisted the help of the Wayfarers' Union as a diversionary tactic. She knew that it was highly unlikely that Xie Yun had come to Yongzhou simply out of boredom. Since he'd been tailing the Feathercloud Troupe, he must be here on some important business, and so Zhou Fei deduced that he would definitely return to their inn.

Once Xie Yun knew that he was surrounded by the pervasive eyes and ears of the Wayfarers' Union, he would be sure to come back here in disguise. And since he was in disguise…given the kind of person that scoundrel was, he probably wouldn't even try to hide.

This was actually a very crude tactic that mountain dwellers often employed to hunt rabbits. As these folks who had never learnt qinggong were not as fast as these rabbits, they would split themselves into two teams to catch them: the first team would chase after the rabbit with shouts and screams, scaring it into running frantically away, and right into a large net that had been set up beforehand. The other team would be lying in wait there. Just when the rabbit had run right into the net, and was lying there in a daze, they would swiftly and ruthlessly knock it out with large sticks.

Zhou Fei had intended to try her luck and similarly lie in wait here. It didn't matter if she didn't manage to seize Xie Yun today, since she could always brazenly stick to Madame Cirrus throughout this 'Conference of Heroes Against the North'. There would surely be a chance to seize that scoundrel.

She'd been waiting by the door of the inn for quite a while now. Whenever she spotted a suspicious character, she would cautiously approach him to see if it was Xie Yun – and then she finally saw those familiar little whiskers. Xie Yun's disguise was actually far less elaborate than she'd imagined. He'd reused some of those things that were plastered on his face previously, combining them with some other random bits and pieces to put together a completely new look!

Such a ragged disguise was the complete opposite of how one might expect a prince to look.

Seeing the stony expression on Zhou Fei's face, Xie Yun's eyes darted furtively around him, rapidly trying to find an escape route. Then in a leisurely drawl, he said: "If I'd known that those tramps were sent by you, I certainly wouldn't have been this careless. I don't get caught this easily. Hey little beauty, this doesn't count as winning fair and square – why don't we have another round…"

As he'd expected, Zhou Fei thrust her sabre at him in response. He bent forward while still mid-sentence, deftly avoiding that blow, before swiftly dashing into the little alleyway behind him.

How dare he run!

Zhou Fei felt her blood pressure surge.

She'd run all over like a headless chicken just trying to find him, caught in the ceaseless flow of refugees. From the Shu Mountains all the way to Yongzhou, she'd turned Xie Yun's every word and action over and over in her mind, even attempting to wring a clue or two from the fantastical story of 'A Jackdaw's Cry'. She'd had a whole heart-ful of worries on his behalf, but as she wasn't accustomed to sharing these with others, she had no choice but to keep them bottled up inside. Yet after she'd gone through so much to finally seize him here, he had the cheek to flippantly say 'neh neh, too bad, I've lost this round but let's have another', and proceed to bail!

Zhou Fei took two large strides forward and thrust her sabre in front of Xie Yun, blocking his path. And then she did something she'd been planning to do for a long time now – roll up her sleeves to give him a good beating.

Seeing that determined glint in her eyes, Xie Yun quickly squawked: "Hey, we haven't seen each other in months, why are you hitting me on sight!"

In the span of time taken for him to say that, the two of them had already exchanged seven or eight blows.

This was the first time Zhou Fei was actually getting a taste of Xie Yun's martial arts. Unlike anyone she'd ever encountered before, Xie Yun moved with incredible 'lightness'.

The top pugilists she knew included Mistress Li at home, as well as people like Shen Tianshu and Duan Jiuniang outside. By some strange strokes of fate, Zhou Fei had been granted the opportunity to spar with all of these renowned seniors, all of who had something in common: every single one of them possessed the imposing aura of a true master. Just their mere presence was oppressive. Even if they were tracing an innocuous wooden stick through the air, there was something lethal about that simple motion. This was why people often described such top pugilists as having the ability to 'wield mere flowers and leaves as weapons'.

But Xie Yun was completely different.

Zhou Fei couldn't be sure if he was going easy on her; it felt like she was fighting a buoyant ball of cotton. When she hacked her sabre towards him, he was able to deflect it effortlessly, such that even the Snow-Breaking Sabre, with its ability to split mountains and part seas, was unable to latch onto him. He didn't move quickly – rather, each motion of his possessed a singular sort of rhythm, which seemed a beat faster than even the minutes and seconds. He seemed to have a deeper comprehension of the Snow-Breaking Sabre than even this legitimate successor herself. Before Zhou Fei had fully executed one move, he was already prepared to counter her next one.

When confronted with him, the Mountain of Lost Springs, which had backed Kou Dan into a corner, was reduced to a 'cloud' that he easily parted with his hands. The more Zhou Fei fought on the more frustrated she got. With a furrow of her brow, her sabre suddenly changed course, morphing from an orthodox sect's 'fearsome mountain beast' to a 'rabid dog unleashed'. She seemed to have abruptly abandoned all the moves and styles of the Snow-Breaking Sabre, wildly hacking and slashing her sabre without any thought or technique to it. If her sabre had not been sheathed, it would seem like she was set on slicing him into a million pieces. Each move of hers was more than triple its previous speed, every blow as swift as the rushing wind, almost approaching the speed of lightning – a rabid version of Yang Jin's Thirteen-Stroke Lone Goose Sabre!

Xie Yun's deliberately slow and controlled rhythm was rudely broken by her wild strokes. Taken aback, he thought to himself: Was she really so angry?

But he soon realised that her 'Thirteen-Stroke Lone Goose Sabre' actually incorporated the 'Breaking' move from the Snow-Breaking Sabre. While her strokes might seem completely arbitrary, each move was in fact carefully calculated.

It occurred to Xie Yun that this was the key to the Snow-Breaking Sabre's 'Inconstant' style – while it might take a thousand and one different external forms, at its core it never deviated from its essential principles. It could absorb everything under the sun, yet regardless of the passage of time, or the earth's tectonic shifts, its internal compass remained uniquely strong and true.

That's amazing, thought Xie Yun to himself with no small amount of admiration. Then growing serious, he flung his sleeves out, which billowed as if filled with wind, and abruptly brought his hands together. Zhou Fei felt a powerful current of internal strength surge towards her, so intense that it didn't seem like it could belong to a person of Xie Yun's age. It easily trapped her within it, like invisible walls closing in on her.

Xie Yun clasped the Mountain of Lost Springs with his bare hands, frost spreading uncontrollably up the scabbard from his palms like an unruly vine, leaving icy tendrils all across it.

While Zhou Fei was approaching mastery of an extraordinary technique, she ultimately still lacked sufficient power. Her weapon that was clamped in his hands could not be thrust forward nor withdrawn, forcing the two into a stalemate. Unable to make any moves, she was so mad that she wanted to pull her sabre from its scabbard and make this scoundrel shed some blood at least. But once her gaze fell on that thickening layer of frost, Zhou Fei paused. Still holding the other end of the sabre, she lowered her eyes, those long eyelashes of hers obscuring them.

Xie Yun could have seized this opportunity to run, but when he looked at her face, his feet became rooted to the spot.

Zhou Fei said: "At that pavilion in the Ink-Washing River, you told me that 'Bone-Deep Frost' was one of the greatest poisons in this world. Whoever was poisoned by it would start feeling a cold spread from deep within his bones. When he dies, his entire body would seem to have been submerged in ice…"

Xie Yun finally came to his senses upon hearing this, and abruptly withdrew his hands.

But Zhou Fei didn't go after him, slowly lowering her sabre to the ground instead. Exhaling deeply, she raised her eyes again to fix them on Xie Yun, asking: "How did you know so much about it?"

Xie Yun really wanted to chuckle and deliver a snappy wisecrack, but just as the smile reached his lips, it stiffened for some reason, and even his wisecrack sounded dry and humourless. He said awkwardly: "Perhaps I'm omniscient, and know all the strange secrets there are on this earth."

Zhou Fei asked again: "Then when you were fighting Gu Tianxuan, and Cao Ning said 'Don't you value your own life', what was that about?"

"Ha," Xie Yun let out a bark of laughter. "My dear girl, every single word that your enemy utters on a battlefield is intended to affect your morale. Who knows what kind of mind games he was trying to play! Did you really believe him?"

Zhou Fei fell silent. These two had always been in a constant state of either bickering or scuffling, and could be counted on to squabble incessantly whenever they were together. Even when Mr Bai had revealed the identity of 'Prince Duan', the two of them hadn't been this uneasily silent around each other. Xie Yun desperately tried to find something to say to break the silence: "The 48 Zhai is so close to the frontlines, I'm surprised that you could spare the time to attend this ridiculous Yongzhou convention…"

Zhou Fei shot him an inscrutable gaze. Xie Yun's heart thudded in his chest, and his throat tightened. He found it impossible to continue with his trivial pleasantries.

"I haven't seen my father in more than four years," said Zhou Fei lowly. "I sneaked out of the 48 Zhai, following the barest of clues that the Wayfarers' Union could provide, just to find…to find…and you dare ask me how I spared the time to attend this…convention?!"

Xie Yun froze yet again. The frightening thought "she's here for me" surfaced tremulously in his mind, against his better judgment. He involuntarily shivered at this, and felt panic start to spread within him.

All those sentiments which he had valiantly suppressed and concealed were like little tendrils poking through cracks in the rock, stealthily sprouting into massive vines that had persistently entwined themselves round his soul – that soul which he'd thought had long since risen above all worldly entanglements, ready to float off into the ether at any moment. An overwhelming feeling of helplessness that he'd never experienced before weighed down on him, freezing that silver tongue of his solid.

Xie Yun stood there like one entranced for far too long, until Zhou Fei's patience reached its limits. Her gaze growing cold, she said stiffly: "I'm here because of that water ripple on Huo Liantao's invitation, of course. This time last year, 'Sea Blends Into Sky' was a mysterious whisper only known to a handful of people – even my mother might not have known what those ripples meant. But in just a matter of months, many different parties have already begun angling for it. This invitation from Huo Liantao also seems calculated to make as big a splash as possible, so it's fairly certain that there are hidden forces at work which conspired to make this convention happen. Now that even the Big Dipper knows the 48 Zhai possesses two of the tokens, how can I not come out here to investigate? Did you think we would just passively wait to be sucked into this maelstrom?"

All of what she'd said sounded completely calm and sensible, yet as she said it she only started to feel angrier and angrier. She felt even worse now, and her eyes started to redden against her will. As she found her vision starting to blur with tears, all the frustration and despair she had been bottling up inside finally burst forth. She whipped her head away from him, turning on her heel and striding off without another word.

Xie Yun instinctively reached his hand out towards her, grabbing her by the wrist.

Zhou Fei's sleeves were rolled up slightly, and their thin fabric provided little insulation. When his hand closed round hers, she felt like a block of ice had touched her skin, and the two of them shivered simultaneously.

Xie Yun said: "Fei, I…"

Just then, they heard a loud commotion in the distance.

All of a sudden, every single one of the beggars and tramps who had been squatting lazily along this alleyway sprang to their feet. Those from the Wayfarers' Union who were loitering here also exchanged wary looks. A bunch of black-clad men marched haughtily into Yongzhou City, bearing a massive coffin on their shoulders.