A Deadly Secret

Di Yun saw as more and more people gathered around and knew that his chances of escaping were slim to none. He raised his blade and said: “Get out of my way!” With his left underarm supported by a paddle, he headed eastward. The bystanders on the streets shouted and dispersed in all directions.

The four officers yelled: “Perverted monk, where do you think you’re going?” They boldly ran after him. Di Yun tilted his blade slightly and with the flip of his wrist he wounded the arm of one of the officers. The officer said: “This murderer resists arrest! This murderer resists arrest!”

Shui Sheng prompted her horse to move away. Wang Xiaofeng followed through with his horse. He unleashed his horse whip and twirled it around Di Yun’s blade then flung it away. Di Yun did not have any strength on his hand so the blade flew away instantly. Wang Xiaofeng stretched his left arm forward and grabbed him by the collar, picked him up and said: “Perverted monk, you have committed many crimes in Lianghu, you do not deserve to live!” Then with his right hand he unsheathed his sword with a flash intending to behead Di Yun.

The bystanders cheered in unison: “Excellent! Excellent! Kill this perverted monk!”

Di Yun was suspended in midair and could not resist in any way. He sighed deeply to himself and thought: “I am destined to be treated with injustice, there is nothing that can be done.” He saw Wang Xiaofeng’s long sword was already raised and he laughed bitterly. “Brother Ding, it is not that I did not try, only that I am much too unfortunate.”

Suddenly, from the distance came an old and withered voice that said: “Stay your hand! Do not hurt him!” Wang Xiaofeng turned around and saw a monk dressed in a black robe. This monk was extremely old and his face was covered with wrinkles. The texture and color of the monk garment he wore was exactly the same as Di Yun’s. Wang Xiaofeng’s expression changed for the worse as he knew that this person was a blood sabre monk from the Dark Qinghai Cult. Then followed that he raised his sword to slash Di Yun’s neck, intending to first kill the perverted monk, then deal with the older monk. The tip of the sword was within a foot of Di Yun’s neck, when suddenly he felt his right elbow became numb, he had already been hit at an acupoint by a hidden weapon. The sword on his hand fell forward. Although there was not much energy to this fall, the edge of the sword was still sharp, and left a scar on Di Yun’s left cheek.

The old monk’s figure was like that of the wind, he came close and with one palm he knocked Wang Xiaofeng off his horse. With his left hand he grabbed Di Yun and with the help of his right leg he got on top of the yellow horse. Usually, when someone gets on a horse, they set their left foot on the left stirrup and then use their right leg to climb on the horseback. However, this old man did not jump or use the stirrup, he simply lifted his right leg and got on the saddle. He moved the horse towards Shui Sheng’s direction.

When Shui Sheng heard Wang Xiaofeng’s cry of alarm, she immediately reined her horse. Wang Xiaofeng said: “Biaomei, get away!” Shui Sheng hesitated then turned around with her horse, but the old man had already caught up with the yellow horse. He put Di Yun behind the white horse’s saddle and released, with the intention of throwing Shui Sheng off the horse. However, Shui Sheng already readied her long sword and prepared to stab at his head. When the old monk saw her beautiful appearance he stared blankly and said, “Very pretty!” and with his arm he sealed the acupoint on her waist.

Shui Sheng’s sword missed its target and she felt as if she had no energy left in her entire body and at once the sword fell on the ground. She was startled and frightened. She wanted to get off the horse but felt numbness around her waist and she could not move her legs.

The old man pulled the reins of the white horse with his left hand and with both legs he coerced both the white horse and yellow horse, the sounds of jingling bells could be heard as he got away.

Wang Xiaofeng was on the ground and yelled: “Biaomei! Biaomei!” He looked helplessly as her cousin was captured by the two perverted monk; he knew the consequences would be severe. However, his entire body was numb, and even though he exhausted all the energy in his body, he could not even move an inch.

He heard the officers yell: “Capture the perverted monk!” Another said: “The evil blood sabre monk has escaped!” Another said: “They are denying arrest!”

Di Yun was on the horse and the ride was shaky and unstable. Naturally he grabbed onto something, it felt like a soft tentacle. He looked down and saw that what he grabbed was Shui Sheng’s garment on the back of her waist. Shui Sheng was startled and reprimanded: “Evil monk, let go of me!” Di Yun was also startled and immediately released his hold and grabbed onto the saddle. But he sat behind Shui Sheng and the two of them could not help but make bodily contact. Shui Sheng shouted: “Let go of me! Let go of me!” The evil monk was fed up with her complaints and extended his hands to seal her speech acupoint. From then on, Shui Sheng did not utter another word.

The old monk was on the yellow horse and constantly found himself staring at Shui Sheng’s face and body. He praised: “Very beautiful! Extraordinary! This old monk has been blessed with good fortune!” Although Shui Sheng could not speak, she could still hear. She was so afraid of his words that she was spooked out of her mind and nearly passed out.

The old monk followed the road heading westward, trying to find the most secluded place. After travelling some distance, he felt that the jingling noises of the luan bells on the horses were hurting his ears and may also lure people to chase after them, so he ripped off each gold bell one by one from the horse. These bells was made from gold and silver threads and hung around the horse’s neck, he pulled it all away and put it in his bosom piece by piece.

The old monk did not allow the horses to rest and continued to travel until night. They reached a riverbank on top of a hillside by a precipice. He looked all around and saw that the area was desolate and without buildings, so he carried Di Yun down the horse and let him rest on the ground. Then he took Shui Sheng down as well, and then pulled the two horses under a huge tree. He looked at Shui Sheng in great detail and sneered: “Wonderful! This old monk has good fortune!” He sat down at the direction of the river, closed his eyes and began to channel his energy.

Di Yun was sitting opposite of Shui Sheng and thought: “There were sure many strange occurrences today. Two benevolent people wanted to kill me, and this old monk saved me. This old monk most likely belongs to the same clan as Bao Xiang, so he is definitely not a good person. If he violates this young lady, what am I to do?”

The sky was gradually getting darker and the sounds of the river flow and wind blowing against palm trees could be heard; the nocturnal birds began chirping. Once in a while when he lift his head he could see the old monk with the expression akin to that of a corpse, and his heart started beating faster. He looked to the side and saw a corner of silk clothes exposed, Shui Sheng had passed out. He wanted to speak out to the old monk several times, but upon seeing his solemn expression while channelling his energy, he did not dare to disturb him.

After a long time, the old monk stood up gently and raised his left foot; the sole of his foot facing upwards while his left foot remained on ground. Both his hands spread out to the bright moon above the mountains. Di Yun thought: “Where have I seen this position? Right, it was from Bao Xiang’s little booklet, there was this odd diagram.” When he saw the old monk stood this way like a statue without the slightest sign of movement. After a while he heard a shout, the old monk jumped up and turned his body around. Both his hands on the ground and with a push, the top of his head on the ground and his two hands stretched evenly, his two legs against each other in the air.

Di Yun thought this was interesting and took out the booklet from his bosom. He searched for the diagram and under the moonlight he saw that it was exactly the position of this old monk. He realized: “This must be the cultivation method of their sect.”

When he saw that the old monk had his eyes closed and his complete attention focused on his training, with each and every stance becoming more intense, he knew that it would be some time before his training would be completed. He put the booklet back in his bosom and thought: “Although the old monk saved my life, he belongs to an evil sect and harbours malicious intentions toward the young lady. I should take the chance to escape with the lady on horse while the monk is focused on his training.”

He knew that this endeavour was extremely risky, but he could not allow a benevolent lady like Shui Sheng to be taken advantage of. At once he turned around and quietly crawled away. Back in prison he used to train with Ding Dian a lot; he knew that during training, whenever one was meditating like that, one would have to focus their complete attention and their senses would be reduced. As long as this old monk is focused on his training, he should be able to rescue the lady without being noticed.

When Di Yun turned around, his broken leg hurt so much that it was unbearable. He could only use the energy of his body on his hands and slowly crawl in the grass. Fortunately the old monk indeed did not notice. His head was lowered and the moonlight precisely shone on Shui Sheng’s face. She opened her eyes and saw a pair of round eyes in front of her, she was very afraid. Di Yun was afraid of alerting the old monk so he did not speak up, but with a gesture indicated that he was here to rescue her.

Di Yun extended his arm to help her up. He pointed to the horses by the tree with the intention of escaping with her. Shui Sheng felt weak all over and did not know what to do. If Di Yun had recovered from his leg injury, he could have carried her, but he could barely manage to get there by himself, there was no way he could take her with him. The only way was to wait for her acupoint to unseal itself, she did not know how to unseal her own acupoint. All he could do was give her gestures, pointing at the various pressure points in her body, hoping that she would understand how to unseal her acupoint.

When Shui Sheng saw that he was pointing at various acupoints in her body, she could not help but feel ashamed and resentful. “This evil monk must be trying to torture me with some weird techniques. As soon as I am able to move, I will ram my head against the wall to prevent their harassment.”

Di Yun saw that her expression was strange and thought: “Most likely she doesn’t understand what I’m doing.” But besides having her unseal her acupoint, there was no second option to escape. However he could not say a word, and hinted: “Young lady, I am only trying to help you escape. Please forgive my rudeness.” And at once he extended his hand and massaged several parts of her back.

He massaged her back several times, but it did not unseal her acupoint in the least bit. But Shui Sheng’s was alarmed and became even more angry. Her cousin Wang Xiaofeng had practiced martial arts together under her father since they were small, they could be considered childhood sweethearts. Her father had long suggested to betroth her to her cousin. The two of them travelled the realm together and treated each other with utmost respect, they did not even hold hands. When Di Yun touched her like this, tears began to fall from her eyes.

Di Yun was startled by her reaction. “Why is she crying?” Hmm, it must that when I touched her sealed acupoint it caused her pain, that’s why she cried. I will try to unseal the acupoint on her waist instead.” As he said this he moved his hand to the back of her waist and gently began to knead it. Shui Sheng began to cry even more, and Di Yun became anxious and perplexed. “So it turns out that the acupoint on her waist is causing her pain as well, then what should I do?” He knew that females valued their sanctity the most, he did not even dare to look at her chest or legs or neck, much less touch it. “I have no good way of unsealing her acupoint and if I try arbitrarily, that could have negative consequences. I can only carry her downhill and attempt to escape.” At once he held both her arms intending to carry her on his back.

Shui Sheng was extremely furious at his actions and nearly fainted several times. When she saw him move his hands, she thought he wanted to remove her clothing, she was so mad her breath was stuck in her chest and would not exhale. Di Yun put her arms together and was about to move her body when the congested breath of air rushed out of her chest; her mute acupoint was unsealed and she immediately shouted: “Villain! Let go of me! Don’t touch me!” When she shouted so abruptly, Di Yun was startled. He let go of her and she fell on the ground. He could not balance himself and fell on top of her.

Her shout also caused the evil monk to awake at once. He opened his eyes and saw the two of them on top of each other, and heard Shui Sheng yell: “Evil monk, just kill me! Let go of me!”

The old monk grinned: “Little scoundrel, why so impatient? You dare taste your senior’s ladies?” He came forward and grabbed Di Yun from behind, moved back a few steps and put him down on the ground and sneered: “Very good! Very good! I admire the courage of young men such as yourself. Even though your broke one of your legs, you do not care about the pain, you only want woman! Wonderful! Wonderful! You have guts! Your style suits my appetite.”

Di Yun’s intentions were misunderstood by the two of them. He did not know whether to laugh or cry. He thought: “If I speak the truth, the evil monk can easily kill me in one strike. I should improvise and find another way to escape with the lady.”

The old monk said: “You are the newest disciple of Bao Xiang, are you not?” He did not wait for Di Yun’s answer and continued: “Bao Xiang must like you a lot, he even gave you his blood sabre monk garment. Did he give you the Blood Sabre Sutra?”

Di Yun thought: “I wonder what this Blood Sabre Sutra is?” He trembled and took out the yellow booklet from his bosom. The old monk browsed through it and gave it back to him. He gently patted him on the head and said: “Very good! What is your name?”

Di Yun replied: “My name is Di Yun.”

The old monk replied: “Very good! Has your teacher taught you the techniques of self-cultivation?”

Di Yun replied: “He has not.”

The old monk said: “Hmm, that is not a problem. Where is your teacher now?”

How would Di Yun dare to tell him that Bao Xiang was not his teacher, much less tell him that he was already dead? He only uttered: “He… he is travelling on a ship.”

The old monk asked: “Has your teacher told you the name of your grand-teacher?”

Di Yun replied, “No.”

The old monk replied: “My name is the ‘Blood Sabre Elder’. You little scoundrel have won my delight. If you follow your grand-teacher, I can promise that you can get your hands on any beautiful woman you want in the world.”

Di Yun thought, “So he is Bao Xiang’s teacher,” and asked “They called you the ‘evil blood sabre monk’, grand… grand teacher, we belong to this sect?”

The Blood Sabre Elder replied: “Hehe, that little scoundrel Bao Xiang sure is tight with words. He did not even tell of our clan’s history to his beloved disciple. We are a branch of the Dark Qinghai Cult called the Blood Sabre Clan. Your grand-teacher is the fourth generation leader of the clan. You should focus on practising your martial arts. Who can say? Maybe the position of sixth generation leader will fall into your hands. Hmm, so your leg is broken. No big deal, I will fix it for you.”

He inspected the Di Yun’s injury carefully and adjusted his leg tendons, then he fetched a porcelain bottle from his bosom and produced some medical powder and smeared it on his wound. “This medicine is produced by our clan and it is used to treat these kinds of injuries; within a month your broken leg should fully recover. We will go to Jingzhou tomorrow, your teacher will be there as well.”

Di Yun became startled. “I cannot go to Jingzhou.”

After the Blood Sabre Elder finished bandaging Di Yun’s wounds, he turned to look at Shui Sheng and sneered: “Little scoundrel, this little girl is pretty… not bad… truly not bad. She declares herself what ‘Twin Knights of Bell Sword’. Her father Shui Dai belongs to a righteous sect and considers himself to be a top and renowned figure in the martial world, but he overestimates his capabilities and dares to cross paths with the Blood Sabre Clan. Yesterday, he killed one of your martial uncles. Damn it! He would not have guessed that I have now captured her beloved daughter, hehe. We will tarnish the reputation of her father. Let us strip this girl of all her clothes and put her on the horse and take a tour around the city. Let everyone see what the daughter of the great Hero Shui really looks like.”

Shui Sheng’s heart began to beat at an alarming rate and she nearly vomited. She thought: “The young monk is vicious, but the older monk is even more vicious! How can I kill myself to preserve my chastity and my daddy’s prestige?”

Suddenly the Blood Sabre Elder laughed: “As soon as you speak of Cao Cao, Cao Cao has arrived[1]! People are here to save her!”

Di Yun felt pleased and asked: “Where are they?”

The Blood Sabre Elder replied: “They are within five li. Hehe, there are 17 of them in total.”

Di Yun listened closely for any sounds and he could faintly hear the sound of horses approaching from the southeast direction. But the distance was so great that even these sounds were barely audible, it was impossible to distinguish the number of riders in total. But the old monk only needed to listen once and was able to point out exactly how many people there were. His attentiveness was startling.

The Blood Sabre Elder said: “Your broken leg has been applied with medicine, within six hours you cannot move, otherwise you will be crippled. However, within the distance of one or two hundred li I did not hear of any profound people. These 17 people are coming after me on horses, I will kill them all.”

Di Yun was unwilling to let him kill members of righteous sects, so he hurriedly said: “If we just stay here and remain quiet, they may not be able to find us. They are the majority, grand… grand teacher, you should be more careful.”

The Blood Sabre Elder was delighted by his remark and said: “You little scoundrel have a good heart, it is indeed hard to come by. Your grand-teacher I really like you.” He reached for his waist and pulled out a flexible steel sabre. The blade of the sabre trembled violently like that of a serpent. The moonlight reflected the gloomy red color of the edge of the blade; the distinct hint of blood could be seen, it was quite disturbing.

Di Yun shivered and asked: “This… this is a blood sabre?”

The Blood Sabre Elder replied: “On the night of the full moon, this precious blade must be used to behead people as an offer of sacrifice, otherwise its sharpness will diminish and would be unfavourable to its owner. Tonight is the night of the full moon and these 17 people are coming just at the right time to be sacrificed for my blade. Oh precious sabre, tonight you will be able to eat your fill of human blood.”

Shui Sheng listened as the sound of horses gradually drew closer and she rejoiced. But when she heard the Blood Sabre Elder’s words she felt guilty, as if anyone who came would meet certain death. However, she did not believe it entirely and felt concerned. She wondered: “Did my daddy and Biaoge come too?”

After a while, the moonlight shone as horses approached up the mountain path. Di Yun counted the number of people and it indeed totalled 17. But the 17 riders were in travelling in great haste and rapidly passed through the sloping path of the mountain, not bothering to come up the mountain to take a look.

Shui Sheng raised her voice and yelled: “I am over here! I am over here!” When the 17 riders heard her voice, they immediately turned around.

One man shouted: “Biaomei! Biaomei!” It was none other than Wang Xiaofeng. Shui Sheng wanted to cry for help again when the Blood Sabre Elder, with a flick of his finger, sent a piece of rock flying her direction and sealed the speech acupoint on her body.

The 17 people got off their horses and got together for a discussion. The Blood Sabre Elder suddenly reached for Di Yun and helped him up. He said in a very clear voice: “The fourth generation clan leader the Blood Sabre Elder and the sixth generation disciple Di Yun of the Blood Sabre Clan of the Dark Qinghai Cult are here!” Then he bent over and grabbed Shui Sheng’s clothes from behind and shouted: “Shui Dai’s little girl has become my grand-disciple Di Yun’s eighteenth concubine! Whoever wants to drink at their wedding feast can come up here! Haha! Haha!” He intentionally displayed his profound internal energy; his laughter vibrated across the valley and could be heard from far away. All 17 riders were overwhelmed with shock and turned pale.

Wang Xiaofeng saw that his cousin was at the hands of the evil monk without any ability to resist and even heard him say that she had become the “eighteenth concubine of his grand-disciple Di Yun”. He was afraid that she had been violated and his insides began to burn at the thought of this. He roared loudly and with rushed up the hillside with his long sword in hand. The other 16 all shouted: “Kill the evil blood sabre monk! Rid the realm of this villain! Such a savage and perverted monk cannot be forgiven!”

Di Yun watched as he knew a battle was about to ensue. He felt completely awkward and embarrassed and thought: “These people treat me as a monk belonging to the Blood Sabre Clan. Even if I had a hundred mouths I would not be able to justify myself. I can only hope that they can kill the old monk and rescue Lady Shui, but… but… if the evil monk dies, then I will perish as well.” On one hand he wished that the heroes of the Central Plains would kill the monk, but on the other hand he wanted the monk to win as well. He did not know which side to root for.

He glanced over at the Blood Sabre Elder and only saw him laugh coldly, not in the least bit worried about the overwhelming majority. He carried a person in each hand with the blood sabre across his lips, giving off a sinister appearance. When the majority was within a distance of 200 feet or so, he gently put Di Yun aside, being careful not to damage his legs. After another 100 feet or so, he put Shui Sheng beside Di Yun, still biting on the blood sabre with both his hands pushing against his waist. The night wind blew against his oversized monk garment.

Wang Xiaofeng shouted: “Biaomei, are you alright?”

Shui Sheng wanted to yell out for her cousin, but how could she speak out? But as she saw her cousin was getting closer and closer, she felt a mixture of emotions; happiness, worry, regret, and gratefulness. All she wanted to do was be embraced and cry heartily, she wanted to explain to him the suffering and humiliation she had been through.

Wang Xiaofeng focused his complete attention on finding his cousin, looking in all directions. He slowed down his pace and saw seven or eight people caught up to him. Under the moonlight he saw the Blood Sabre Elder up at the highest part of the hill in a fierce composure. When the majority reached within 50 or 60 feet, they all stopped at once. The two parties opposed each other, then with a loud shout, two men rushed forward together. One wielded a gold whip while another wielded twin sabres.

The two men rushed forward several dozen feet. The one who wielded the twin sabres was agile and quickly arrived behind the Blood Sabre Elder, one on each side. They shouted loudly and attacked together in unison. The Blood Sabre Elder turned his body to evade the twin sabres, dodging left and right; his blood sabre still remained in his mouth. Suddenly, with his left hand he grabbed the handle of the sabre and with a slash he cut the head of the gold whip user in half. After he killed this man, he immediately put the sabre back in his mouth. The one wielding the twin sabres was extremely frightened and sad, his twin sabres danced around like snowflakes as he rushed forward. The Blood Sabre Elder intercepted the two sabres with his bare hands , then unexpectedly with his right hand he took the own sabre out of his mouth and with one slash, he cut his opponent from the top of his head down across to his waist.

The majority was startled at this performance and retreated several steps. They saw the sabre filled with fresh blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Although they were all afraid of the Blood Sabre Elder, their hearts were still filled with desires of revenge. With a loud shout, four more people attacked from the left and right sides. The Blood Sabre Elder ran westward and the four of them shouted in pursuit. They followed for a few dozen feet and the speed of each individual could be differentiated as the Blood Sabre Elder came to a halt. Two people attacked from the front while two attacked from behind. The Blood Sabre Elder turned around and rushed forward and with a red flash, the two people in front of him were killed immediately by his sabre. The two people behind him hesitated for a moment before they were immediately killed by a slash across the neck.

Di Yun hid behind the bushes and saw that the monk had already killed six people. His craftiness and technique was very violent, it was truly unfathomable. He thought: “With the way things are going, the remaining 11 people will be killed in no time at all. What can I do?”

Suddenly he heard someone shout: “Biaomei! Biaomei! Where are you?” It was Wang Xiaofeng of the Twin Knights of Bell Sword.

Shui Sheng was lying beside Di Yun. Because her speech acupoint was sealed she could not speak out, but in her heart she called: “Biaoge! I am over here!”

Wang Xiaofeng scurried around searching through bushes relentlessly. Suddenly the mountain wind fluttered and revealed a corner of Shui Sheng’s garment. Wang Xiaofeng shouted: “She’s over here!” Shui Sheng was so happy that she shed tears, her entire body was trembling. Wang Xiaofeng shouted: “Biaomei!Biaomei!” He rushed forward and embraced Shui Sheng tightly. When the two of them reunited under such circumstances, formalities and etiquette was hardly a concern.

Wang Xiaofeng asked: “Biaomei, are you alright?” He saw that Shui Sheng did not reply and became suspicious. He put her down and noticed that her feet were on the ground and she was facing upward. Wang Xiaofeng knew the technique of sealing acupoints but was not proficient at it, though he did practise the fundamentals. He immediately extended his hands and reached for the three acupoints located on her waist and back, releasing them at once.

Shui Sheng shouted: “Biaoge! Biaoge!”

When Di Yun saw Wang Xiaofeng approach, he knew that his life was in jeopardy. He slowly crawled away as Wang Xiaofeng released her acupoints. Shui Sheng heard the rustling sounds of bushes and recalled the humiliation that the vicious monk gave her. She pointed at Di Yun and said to Wang Xiaofeng: “Quick, kill that vicious monk for me!” As soon as he heard this, Wang Xiaofeng unsheathed his sword at once and rushed towards Di Yun. When Di Yun heard Shui Sheng’s cries, he knew that he was in trouble. He did not wait for the sword to approach him and quickly rolled away. Fortunately, he was on an incline and took the opportunity to roll downhill.

Wang Xiaofeng followed and tried to stab Di Yun. Just as he was about to reach him, he suddenly heard a loud voice as his vision was blurred by a red flash. In extreme urgency he reacted with the nine stances of “Peacock Spreads its Tails” and his sword danced like a ray of light as he stroke in self-defense. He heard the sound of jingling bells, the clashing sound of sword and sabre like a string of pearls. In an instant, it had collided more than 30 times.

Wang Xiaofeng’s swordplay had already received the true teachings of his teacher Shui Dai. This technique of “Peacock Spreads its Tails” tossed and turned relentlessly and consisted of nine stances in total. He had practiced this thoroughly during his training. However, at this moment it was a matter of life and death, and his opponent’s stances were executed with extreme speed, how could he simply block every stance as it came his way? Therefore, he could only execute the nine stances out of a sense of urgency and necessity. The Blood Sabre Elder attacked him 36 times with his sabre, each strike faster than the last. Unexpectedly, all his attacks were deflected by his opponent.

The other fighters watched and were dazzled by this brilliant display of speed. At this time, of the 17 people, nine were already killed by the Blood Sabre Elder. Including Shui Sheng, only nine people remained. Everyone’s hands were drenched in cold sweat and they all had the same thought: “The Twin Knights of Bell Sword live up to their reputation. Only he is able to withstand the lightning-fast attacks of the Blood Sabre Elder.”

In actuality, all the Blood Sabre Elder had to do was reduce the speed of his attacks, and within a dozen stances or so, Wang Xiaofeng would most certainly lose his life. However, the Blood Sabre Elder did not consider this at the moment, and his opponent’s technique of self-defense was merely a result of extremely well-practised swordplay. He thought: “Hmph, little fellow. Let us compete. Let’s see who’s faster?” And with that he increased the speed of his attacks.

The others wanted to jump in to assist to kill the Blood Sabre Elder, but the speed of the two fighters was much too fast, how could they find an opening to attack?

Shui Sheng was worried for her cousin’s safety. Her arms became sour and her legs became numb. She could not wait any longer. From a nearby corpse she grabbed a long sword and rushed forward to attack. Whenever she and her cousin would join forces against an opponent, their attacks were coordinated very well. Wang Xiaofeng focused on obstructing the Blood Sabre Elder’s attacks while Shui Sheng aimed to attack her opponent’s vital areas.

As the Blood Sabre Elder could not defeat Wang Xiaofeng in several dozen stances he became impatient. Suddenly, he let out a huge roar and with his right hand he brandished his blood sabre and with his left hand he grabbed his long sword. Wang Xiaofeng was startled and increased the speed of his attacks, hoping to sever his fingers. But he did not expect that the Blood Sabre Elder’s left hand was not afraid of his sword and even managed to reduce more than half of his sword stances. At this point, Wang Xiaofeng and Shui Sheng were surrounded by perils.

One of the old men amongst the remaining fighters saw that things turned for the worse and knew that tonight the Twin Knights of Bell Sword would lose their lives. Under the assumption that they would all die today, he shouted in desperation: “Everyone, we will fight together to defeat this evil monk!”

Suddenly, from the northwest direction a shout could be heard: “Luo—hua liushui!” Then from the northeast direction someone shouted: “Luohua—Liushui!” The two words “luo hua” was not finished when from the southwest direction another voice said: “Luohua Liu—Shui!” These three people came from three different directions, their voices were loud and profound and melodious; each tone was different, but it was full of energy and one could tell that they had profound internal energy.

The Blood Sabre Elder was startled. “Where did these three experts come from? Judging by their voices, the martial arts of each individual are not below mine. If the three of them fight together, it would be difficult to handle.” He tried to come up with a plan to meet the attack while his sabre stances did not slow down in the least bit.

All of a sudden, another voice was heard from the southern direction, shouting: “Luohua Liushui—“ The sound of the “shui” character was extended and relentlessly traveled to their direction like the expanse of the Yangtze. This voice was closer than that of the other three.

Shui Sheng was delighted. “Daddy! Daddy! Come here quickly!”

All the fighters in the group were delighted and shouted: “The Four Elders of Jiangnan are here! Luohua Liushui!” Ha—“ They could only utter a “ha” when they were immediately cut down by the blood sabre, fresh blood spurting from their stomachs.

The Blood Sabre Elder heard as another person was approaching and it was Shui Sheng’s father. He suddenly recalled: “My disciple Shan Yong once told me of the greatest martial artists in the Central Plains. Apart from Ding Dian, there is what is known as the Four Marvels of the South and the Four Freaks of the North. The Four Freaks of the North are called ‘Fenghu Yunlong[2]’ while the Four Marvels of the South are called ‘Luohua Liushui’. At that time when I heard this I told him to get lost; a nickname of ‘Luohua Liushui’, how can they have any sort of decent background? But now that I hear the echoes of their voices, it seems that they do have a bit of tricks up their sleeves.”

He did not come to a decision yet when the four men from the distant all yelled out “Luohua Liushui!” from all four directions, the vibration of their sounds echoed in the valley. The Blood Sabre Elder heard that these four voices were some distance apart from each other, the furthest one within a distance of five li. If he were to finish off the remaining fighters and the four of them team up against him, it would be very hard for him to escape. He thrust his lips and whistled: “Luohua Liushui, I will kill you until you are Luohua Liushui![3]” With a flick of his finger he aimed for Shui Sheng’s sword. She could not keep a good hold of her sword and it was flicked out of her hands and cast into the distance.

The Blood Sabre Elder ordered: “Di Yun, get ready to mount the horse. We have to get out of here.”

Di Yun could not immediately comply with his demand. He felt a sense of difficulty in his heart. If he were to escape with him, he would be digging an even deeper hole for himself of never being able to prove his innocence. Yet if he remained here, he would most certainly be killed without so much as a chance to explain himself.

He heard the Blood Sabre Elder call out again: “Grand-disciple, get on the horse!”

Di Yun began to have second thoughts. He reasoned: “The most important thing is to preserve my life. Have I not been falsely accused enough times in my life already? Why should I still care what others think of me?” By the time the Blood Sabre spoke out the third time, he agreed at once. He picked up a short spear on the ground and used it as a crutch and made his way to the horses by the tree.

A club-wielding fat person yelled: “Oh no! The evil monk wants to run away. I will go and chase him.” He lifted his club and rushed forward to attack Di Yun.

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed at his remark. “Hah, if you chase after him, I will chase after you!” With a swipe of the blood sabre, along with the club, the fat person was sliced into four pieces. The others saw how violently this person died and cried out in terror. The truth was that the Blood Sabre Elder wanted to take the opportunity to scare away the remaining fighters. He extended his arms and carried Shui Sheng and ran to the direction of Di Yun.

Shui Sheng shouted: “Evil monk, let go of me!” She began pounding his back with her fist. Although her sword techniques weren’t bad, her fists were powerless, and furthermore, the Blood Sabre Elder was a man of strong build, so he hardly felt her attacks. With one stride of his legs he could cross a distance of five feet. In no time at all he was beside Di Yun.

When Wang Xiaofeng executed the nine stances of “Peacock Spreads its Tails” in a daze, he could not immediately withdraw his attack, and executed the stances of “Brocade Feather Spreads East”, “Jade Feathers Pick West”, “Colorful Sun Sets South”, and “Morning Wind Returns North” in succession. When he saw Shui Sheng being carried away, he scurried forward, the long sword in his hand remained brandished relentlessly.

The Blood Sabre Elder set Di Yun on top of the yellow horse and put Shui Sheng in front of him. He whispered: “Whatever these four devils are called, they are formidable opponents and can’t be taken lightly. This little girl is our hostage, you cannot let her get away.” As he said this he got on the white horse and rode east.

The sounds of the men chanting “Luohua Liushui” drew closer and closer, sometimes it was chanted by one person, while sometime two or three or four chanted altogether.

Shui Sheng yelled: “Biaoge! Biaoge! Daddy! Daddy! Save me!” However, she could only watch as her cousin once again trailed behind the horse. The yellow horse and white horse of the Twin Knights of Bell Sword were prized steeds picked from Dayuan amongst thousands of horses. During peaceful times the two of them were arrogant, always bragging about how the speed and strength of their two steeds could not be matched by a third horse in this world. Who would have thought that these horses would now be used by their enemies? These creatures were ignorant and could only gallop forward. The faster the horses were, the farther Wang Xiaofeng trailed behind.

Wang Xiaofeng saw that he could not catch up to the horse, he could only yell out, “Biaomei! Biaomei!”

One shouted “Biaoge!” while the other shouted “Biaomei!” their voices filled with immense sorrow. When Di Yun heard of this tragedy, he could not bear to keep Shui Sheng on the horse and wanted to knock her off, but upon recalling the Blood Sabre Elder’s words of “These opponents are formidable and cannot be taken lightly. This girl is our hostage, you must not let her get away” he knew that if he released Shui Sheng, the Blood Sabre Elder would be extremely furious. This monk was incredibly vicious and ruthless, for him to kill someone would be no different than slaughtering a chicken. He further knew that should Shui Sheng’s father and the other heroes catch up, he would lose his life for sure.

He hesitated and did not know how to act. Upon hearing Shui Sheng’s sad voice calling for her cousin, his heart became sour. “The two of them are deeply in love, yet they were separated by force. Yet me and my martial sister… sigh, me and my martial sister, did we not suffer the same fate? However, the way she treats me, can it be compared with the way Lady Shui treats her cousin?” As he thought up to this point, he grieved deeply and thought, “Go then!” and pushed her off the horse.

Even though the Blood Sabre Elder was focused on running away, he still paid attention for any activity behind him. When he no longer heard the cries of Shui Sheng, followed by an “Aiyo!”as she fell on the floor, he knew that since Di Yun had a broken leg, he could not keep good hold of her, and immediately turned the horse around.

Shui Sheng fell on the ground, but immediately jumped up and continued running towards Wang Xiaofeng. The two of them were separated a distance of over five hundred feet; one was travelling from west to east while the other was heading east to west and they drew closer together. As they ran, one yelled out “Biaoge!” while the other yelled out “Biaomei!” It was truly a sight of happiness that could not be described.

The Blood Sabre Elder smiled faintly and reined the horse after her. He saw Wang Xiaofeng and Shui Sheng were now only separated by a distance of about two hundred feet and increased his pace.

Di Yun was startled and prayed: “Run faster! Run faster!” The remaining fighters all shouted, “Run faster! Run faster!” as they saw the Blood Sabre Elder chasing after her, sabre in mouth.

Shui Sheng heard as the sound of horseshoes drew closer. The two of them ran as fast as they could and the distance between her and Wang Xiaofeng was ever closer. She ran so fast she felt that her heart was about to explode; her knees were bent and weak and felt as if she would slip at any time, but she managed to endure and continued to run.

All of a sudden, she felt the breath of the white horse right behind her, and she heard the Blood Sabre Elder sneer: “You think you can get away?” Shui Sheng extended her hands forward to grab Wang Xiaofeng. The two were within a distance of twenty feet when the Blood Sabre Elder grabbed her by the shoulder.

She cried out in alarm and could not hold the tears in her eyes, when all of a sudden a familiar and affectionate voice called out: “Sheng’er, don’t be scared! Daddy is here for you!”

When Shui Sheng heard this, she knew that her father had arrived. She was so delighted that her spirits abruptly increased and she gathered up the strength in her legs and with all her might, she leapt forward several dozen feet. Originally, the Blood Sabre Elder had already caught her by the shoulder, but unexpectedly, she got away. Wang Xiaofeng pushed forward and the two of them held their left hands together. He thought: “Heaven has pity, teacher arrived just in the nick of time, we no longer need to be afraid of this evil monk.”

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed coldly and unleashed his blood sabre. Wang Xiaofeng hurriedly rushed forward to block with his own sword, but all he could see was a sparkling red flash heading towards him and making a turn. It followed the momentum from the edge of his sword and slashed downwards, the tip of the sabre aiming towards his fingers. Had Wang Xiaofeng not immediately released his sword, his hand would have been crippled immediately. This move was incredibly fast; his palm stuttered as the long sword flew out of his hands toward his opponent.

The Blood Sabre Elder flicked the sword westward with his left finger. The sword pierced in the direction of one of the old fighters. With the blood sabre on his right hand, he rushed forward to chop down Wang Xiaofeng. Wang Xiaofeng had no choice but to release his hold on Shui Sheng in order to avoid the attack. The Blood Sabre Elder’s left arm made a turn and in one fell swoop he once again grabbed Shui Sheng and put her on the saddle. He did not bother to turn the direction of his horse and rushed forward to attack the other fighters at the scene.

The remaining fighters who watched him rush forward all yelled out at once and split to two sides. The Blood Sabre Elder laughed as he cut one of them down, then circled once with his horse and rushed towards Di Yun.

All of a sudden, a grey flash approached from the left, the long sword reflected by the dazzling moonlight, a cold and threatening sword flash heading to his chest. The Blood Sabre Elder countered with his own sabre. The two weapons clashed and vibrated violently, the web between his thumb and forefinger felt slightly numb. The Blood Sabre Elder thought: “Very profound internal energy!” At this time, another long sword approached from the right. The stance was somewhat unusual; the tip of the sword rotated in a circular motion and he could not see clearly which direction his opponent intended to strike. The Blood Sabre Elder was startled as he thought: “The renowned Taiji Sword practitioner is here.”

Channelling energy to his right arm, the Blood Sabre Elder too brandished his sabre in a circular motion. The two weapons clashed. Ting! Ting Ting! Ting Ting Ting! The weapons sparkled upon contact, splashing in all directions. His opponent complimented: “Excellent sabre techniques!”

The Blood Sabre Elder looked to the side and saw a Taoist dressed in a yellow gown and replied: “Your swordplay is remarkable as well!”

The person on the left hand side shouted: “Let go of my daughter!” On one hand he stroke out with his sword while with the other he attacked with a palm, two forces unleashed simultaneously.

From afar, Di Yun saw that the Blood Sabre Elder had held Shui Sheng captive once again and was now being attacked on both sides. The man on the left hand side was old and majestic, his appearance slivery white, giving off an elegant and delicate appearance. This man said “Let go of my daughter!” so naturally he must be Shui Sheng’s father. He saw that every time the Blood Sabre Elder blocked a stance, his body would tremble slightly, which suggested that his internal energy was slightly inferior. Di Yun saw another two men were approaching up the hill. Their movements were quick as the wind, obviously extremely powerful fighters. Di Yun thought: “Once the other two arrive as reinforcements and the four of them attack at once, there is no way the Blood Sabre Elder can handle it, he will most certainly die. I should run for my life while I still can.” But he reconsidered: “If not for him, I would have died by the sword of Wang Xiaofeng a long time ago. For me to only care about myself would be being ungrateful; a much shameless and despicable act.”

The Blood Sabre Elder shouted, “Take your daughter back!” and threw Shui Sheng high up in the sky over Shui Dai’s head, then rushed to Di Yun.

This move came as a surprise to everyone. High up in the air, Shui Sheng cried out in alarm and the onlookers all exclaimed at once.

Di Yun saw as Shui Sheng flew towards his direction, the momentum strong and swift. If he did not support her, she would most likely fall on the ground and sustain injuries, so he opened his arms to catch her. The force of the fall was quite strong. Fortunately, Di Yun was still on the horse and a good portion of the force was alleviated by the horse. When the Blood Sabre Elder threw Shui Sheng, he had already sealed her acupoint, so all she could do was cry out in alarm without any way to retaliate. She yelled: “Little monk, let go of me!”

The Blood Sabre Elder attacked Shui Dai twice with the sabre, then fiercely attacked the old Taoist with another two strikes of the sabre. These attacks were reckless without any intent of self-defense, it was extremely severe. He shouted: “My good son Di Yun, get away now! You don’t have to wait for me!”

Di Yun was at a loss and did not know what to do. He heard as Wang Xiaofeng and the other fighters rushed forward, declaring “Kill the little perverted monk!” while the Blood Sabre Elder shouted again: “Run away! Run away!” Immediately, he reined the horse and rushed outward. Originally, the Blood Sabre Elder and he intended to head east, but under such extreme urgency he had no time to think and headed west instead.

The sword of the Blood Sabre Elder increased in speed the more he attacked, circular movements of red flashes enveloped around his body. He laughed: “I have to spend time with your good daughter now, not an old fellow like you!” He soared into the air and landed squarely on the white horse.

Shui Dai was anxious to save his daughter and was unwilling to tangle with him. At once, he executed the lightness martial arts “Rising Duckweed Passes through the Water”. His body felt as if it was floating on water, rushing rapidly towards Di Yun. However, the horse Di Yun was riding was a remarkable steed purchased that he had purchased for five hundred taels of silver many years ago; the speed of the horse was unmatched. Apart from the white horse that the Blood Sabre Elder was currently riding, in the present age there is unlikely to be a horse which could compete. Even though there were two riders on the yellow horse, Shui Dai could still not overtake them.

Shui Dai shouted: “Stop! Stop!” Although the horse recognized his voice, Di Yun had a strong hold on its reins and it could not stop easily. Shui Dai declared: “Vicious little monk, if you do not get off this horse, this old man will cut you into 17 or 18 pieces!”

Shui Sheng yelled out: “Daddy! Daddy!”

Shui Dai felt the pain in his heart as if it was being cut apart, he yelled: “My child, don’t be scared!”

In an instant, Shui Dai had chased the horse for over a li. Although Shui Dai’s lightness martial arts were impressive, he was after all getting old and did not have as much stamina. The yellow horse ran farther and farther away from him. Suddenly, a shout was heard, a blade striking him from behind. He flipped his hand over to counter the Blood Sabre Elder’s attack with his sword. A gust of wind swept past him; the Blood Sabre Elder laughed heartily as the white horse galloped into the distance.

The Blood Sabre Elder and Di Yun ran for a good while. When the Blood Sabre Elder saw that they were much too far away for their enemies to catch up, he was afraid of overworking the horse and ordered Di Yun to hold its reins and walk slowly. He could not find the words to praise Di Yun’s good conscience. He knew that the situation was critical yet Di Yun did not leave him behind.

Di Yun smiled bitterly and gave a sideways glance at Shui Sheng. He saw that her expression was filled with fear and hatred and knew that she loathed him greatly. He decided that he would never be able to explain himself at this point, so he thought: “You can think whatever you want. Call me a vicious and perverted monk. Curse me to your heart’s content.”

The Blood Sabre Elder said: “Hey, little girl, your father’s martial arts is really not bad. Hehe, but your grandfather I have scored a victory over him. He exerted all his strength but still could not catch me.” Shui Sheng glared at him in contempt but did not reply. The Blood Sabre Elder continued: “Who is the one who uses a sword? Which member of ‘Luohua Liushui’ is he?” Shui Sheng decided that no matter what he asked, she would not pay any attention.

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed: “My grand-disciple, what is the most valuable asset of a woman?”

Di Yun was taken aback by his question and his heart skipped a beat. He thought: “Oh no! The old monk wants to tarnish the lady’s purity? How can I save her?” He replied: “I don’t know.”

The Blood Sabre Elder said: “The most valuable asset of a woman is her face. Since this little girl won’t talk to me, I will cut across her face horizontally seven times and slash vertically eight times. This technique has a name, it is called ‘Seven Horizontals and Eight Verticals’. Hehe, don’t you think it’s great?” As he said up to this point, he pulled out the blood sabre from his waist and held it firmly in his hands.

Shui Sheng had long cast away her life. She no longer harboured any hope of returning alive, but the thought of her faultless face being disfigured by the monk sent shivers down her spine. But she thought that if she were to be disfigured, she would likely be able to keep her purity, which could be considered a fortunate event amongst unfortunate events.

The Blood Sabre Elder flashed the sabre beside her face a few times and threatened: “I ask you: Who is that old Taoist? If you don’t answer me now, I will slash you across the face! Answer me!”

Shui Sheng spat in disgust and said: “Just kill me!”

The Blood Sabre Elder slashed with his right hand, a flicker of red light flashed in front of her as it swiped down her face.

Di Yun let out an “Ah!” and turned his head around, not daring to look. Shui Sheng passed out immediately. The Blood Sabre Elder burst into laughter and urged his horse forward. Di Yun could not help but turn around to look at Shui Sheng. He saw that her face was unaffected without a single scar and was delighted. He knew that the Blood Sabre Elder’s sabre techniques had reached the stage of being able to do whatever he pleased with the precision of a thousandth of a point. The edge of the sabre barely grazed her cheeks and only managed to cut off very miniscule strands of hair on her temple, her skin was unaffected.

Shui Sheng eventually woke up, tears dropping out of her eyes. When she saw Di Yun’s smile, she became even more furious and scolded: “You… you take joy in calamity and delight in disaster… you… you are really an evil person.” She had originally intended to scold him with a much harsher phrase, but she was not used uttering profanities so she could not immediately come up with something malicious to curse.”

The Blood Sabre Elder raised his sabre again and said: “If you don’t answer, I will slash you again.”

Shui Sheng decided that since she had already been slashed once, it would not make a difference even if she was slashed a few more times, and replied: “Just kill me now! Kill me now!”

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed maliciously. “Do you think it’s that easy?” As he said this he swiped the blood sabre across her face once again.

This time Shui Sheng did not pass out. She felt the sabre sweep across her face yet she did not feel any pain, nor was there any blood dripping from her wound. She realized that the monk only meant to scare her and that her face remained intact. She rejoiced and exhaled a breath of relief.

The Blood Sabre Elder said: “My clever grand-disciple, what do you think of your grandfather’s two strikes?”

Di Yun replied: “Your sabre technique is extremely profound, truly impressive!” He really meant this from the bottom of his heart.

The Blood Sabre Elder asked: “Do you want to learn it?”

Di Yun thought: “Just when I could not come up with a way to protect the girl’s chastity…. if I learn the techniques of this old monk, as long as he teaches me without any malicious intentions, I may be able to save her. But to do this I must get on his good side.” He replied: “Your grand-disciple shows utmost respect for your sabre techniques. If you teach me several stances, in the future, if I encounter petty foes like her cousin, I will not be bullied, so as to prevent grandfather’s reputation from being tarnished.” In his whole life he had hardly told a lie, but at this point in order to save the girl, he could not help but feel corny and his face flushed red when he called him “grandfather”.

Shui Sheng scolded: “Bah! Have you no face? You are shameless!”

The Blood Sabre Elder was delighted and laughed: “My profound blood sabre techniques cannot be learned in such a short time. Very well, I will begin by teaching you the stance of ‘Slicing Paper, Scraping Tofu’. When you practice, find one hundred pieces of tissue and fold it into a group and put it on the table. Slash horizontally across the pile, slicing the first piece of paper without moving the second. Then slice the second piece of paper without moving the third. Continue to do this until you finish all 100 pieces.”

As Shui Sheng was still a brash youngster, she could not help but interrupt and scoffed: “Yeah right!”

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed: “You think I’m bluffing? We can try it for ourselves.” He reached for her head and pulled out a strand of hair.

Shui Sheng felt a slight pain and asked: “What are you doing?”

The Blood Sabre Elder ignored her and placed the strand of her on the tip of her nose and began reining the horse. The acceleration caused Shui Sheng’s body to curl up and recline in front of Di Yun’s horse. She felt a slight tickle as the strand of hair was placed on her nose. She did not know what he was trying to do, and was about to open her mouth to blow away the hair when the Blood Sabre Elder said: “Don’t move! Watch carefully!” He reined the horse and turned it back around, the horse slightly rubbed against the other horse as it passed through.

Shui Sheng saw a flash of red light and her nose felt a slight cool sensation, following which the strand of hair placed on her nose disappeared. Then she heard Di Yun exclaim: “Amazing! Amazing!” The Blood Sabre Elder extended his blood sabre and she saw the strand of hair placed firmly on the edge of the blade. Both the Blood Sabre Elder and Di Yun were bald, so this strand of hair definitely belonged to her.

Shui Sheng felt both startled and impressed by this display of brilliancy. She thought: “This old monk’s martial arts is really impressive. Had his sabre been raised higher by even half an inch, the strand of hair would not have been sliced from my nose. If the sabre was lower by half an inch, then my entire nose would have been cut off. Furthermore he was riding a horse, which makes his feat is over a hundred times more impressive than simply practicing on a stationary target.”

Di Yun intended to get on the Blood Sabre Elder’s good side and wanted to utter words of flattery, but he was clumsy and slow with words. He tossed and turned and could only say: “Your sabre technique is very good! I have never seen something as impressive before.” Shui Sheng had personally witnessed the technique of the Blood Sabre Elder, and even upon hearing the compliments of Di Yun, she did not feel it was excessive. However, she thought that since he was quite despicable for stooping to such low levels of flattery only to get on his grand-teacher’s good side.

The Blood Sabre Elder turned his horse around toward Di Yun and said: “As for the part about ‘Scraping Tofu’, you must place a piece of tofu on top of a wooden board and scrape it into thin pieces with your sabre. A two inch long tofu must be scraped into 20 equal pieces, each piece completely intact. If you can do this, then you have successfully completed the preliminaries.”

Di Yun said: “That is only the preliminaries?”

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed: “Of course! Think about it, what is harder: to slice a piece of stable and stationary tofu, or to slice off a strand of hair on the girl’s nose while galloping on your horse?”

Di Yun flattered: “Grand-teacher is naturally gifted, such a feat cannot be replicated by the average person. If your grand-disciple I can learn even a tenth of your skills, I would be completely satisfied!”

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed out loud while Shui Sheng scolded: “Fulsome! Despicable!”

At first, it was not easy for an honest person like Di Yun to give such excessive compliments of flattery, but once the first phrase was uttered, the rest followed naturally. However, the Blood Sabre Elder did indeed possess martial arts abilities that could not be matched by the ordinary person, so these compliments were not necessarily false. It’s just that Di Yun was naturally not the type of person to say these kinds of things.

The Blood Sabre Elder said: “Your martial arts aptitude is not low. If you put in the effort, you can definitely complete this. Well then, give it a shot!” As he said this he pulled another piece of hair from Shui Sheng and placed it on top of her nose.

Shui Sheng was startled and immediately blew away the piece of hair. She complained: “This little monk does not even know the technique, how can you simply let him try?”

The Blood Sabre Elder said: “If he does not practice, how will he learn it? If he does not get it the first time, he will try it a second time. If he does not succeed the second time, then he will try ten times!” As he said this, he pulled out yet another piece of hair and placed it on top of her nose and passed the blood sabre to Di Yun, saying: “Give it a try!”

Di Yun took the blood sabre and give a glance at Shui Sheng, her face full of resentment and her eyes full of fear. She knew that Di Yun had never practiced this type of sabre technique. If he were to attempt to replicate what the Blood Sabre Elder did, the best case scenario would be that her nose would be sliced off; in the worst case scenario, her entire head would be sliced in half. She thought: “Maybe this is not so bad. Just let the vicious little monk kill me, it is much better than having to suffer their humiliations.” She held on to this thought and no longer feared her impeding death.

Di Yun did not dare to strike so rashly, so he asked: “Grand-teacher, how much energy do I need to use for this attack?” f𝔯𝒆𝚎𝚠𝑒𝚋𝓃૦νℯƖ.co𝘮

The Blood Sabre Elder answered: “The lower back channels energy to the shoulder and the shoulder channels energy to the arm. Your arm must be without energy and your wrist must be without strength.” Then he explained what he meant by “the lower back channels energy to the shoulder”, and how “the waist channels energy to the arm”. Then he fetched the blood sabre and demonstrated what he means by “overcoming power without power” and “exuding strength without strength”. As Shui Sheng listened to his profound martial arts philosophy, she could not help but nod in approval.

Di Yun listened attentively and nodded repeatedly. Then he said: “Unfortunately, your grand-disciple I was wronged in the past, my scapula was pierced and my tendons have been severed. I cannot exert any strength in my arms.”

The Blood Sabre Elder asked: “Why was your scapula pierced? How are the tendons in your arm severed?”

Di Yun replied: “Your grand-disciple I suffered many injustices during my time in prison.”

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed heartily; their horses next to each other. He asked Di Yun to undo his shirt and expose his shoulder. Indeed, he saw that Di Yun’s shoulder was subsided, his scapula on both sides had a hole pierced through by an iron chain. The wound did not close yet and furthermore, all the fingers on his right hand were sliced off and the tendons in his arm were cut off. In terms of effectiveness in practicing martial arts, it could be said that he was useless. And even more, his leg had been trampled over by a horse, although it did not wound him internally. The Blood Sabre Elder could not help but laugh at the sight of this. Di Yun thought: “I have suffered so much, yet you still find a way to be amused.”

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed: “Gee, how many women did you harass? Haha. Little child was horny and luscious without a care for his own well-being and failed in one of his attempts, am I right?”

Di Yun replied, “No.”

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed: “Be honest now! The reason you were in prison was because of women doing you injustice, am I right?”

Di Yun was stumped for words but he thought: “I was framed by the concubine of Wan Zhenshan who said I stole money and wanted to kidnap her, so it is indeed true that women caused me injustice.” He clenched his teeth and angrily replied: “Correct. This ***** caused me so much pain. The day will come when I take my revenge.”

Shui Sheng could not help but scold: “You have done so many terrible deeds yet you say other people implicate you. Of all the shameless people in this world, you… you little monk must rank at the top.”

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed: “You wanted to call him a ‘little horny monk’ but you could not utter the word ‘horny’, am I right? This little doll has some nerve. My child, why don’t you strip off all her clothes and expose her completely? We will show her how ‘horny’ we really are, let’s see if she ever dares to insult us again?” Di Yun could only vaguely agree to his demand.

Shui Sheng scolded: “Little thief! Do you dare?” At this moment she could not move a single muscle in her body. If Di Yun really did what the Blood Sabre Elder asked him to, how could she get away? The words “you dare” were uttered as a desperate attempt to intimidate him.

Di Yun watched as the Blood Sabre Elder gave a dirty laugh while he stared at Shui Sheng constantly. He thought: “How can I make him change his mind about harassing the girl?” Then he asked: “Grand-teacher, your grand-disciple I am completely crippled, how can I still practice martial arts?”

The Blood Sabre Elder said: “How is it not possible? Even if both your legs and arms were crippled, you can still practice the techniques of my Blood Sabre Clan.”

Di Yun replied: “That is good to hear!” He said this with utmost sincerity and joyousness.

The two of them discussed together and eventually rode their way to a large road. Suddenly, the sound of gongs could be heard followed by an entire band of instruments; a group of escorts for a bride was heading their direction. There were about 40 or 50 people in total surrounding a marriage sedan. Behind the sedan a man was draped in red silk with flowers, appearing fresh and bright. That person was the groom and he was riding a white horse.

Di Yun pushed his horse to the side to make way. He was worried that they would all be killed by the Blood Sabre Elder. The majority yelled: “Hey! Get out of the way! What are you doing? Stinking monk, this is a happy occasion, if you don’t move away, would you not be wishing bad luck upon us?”

The Blood Sabre Elder rushed forward and stopped 20 feet in front of the escorts. He pushed against his waist with both hands and asked: “Hey, that bride of yours, is she pretty?”

From the group of escorts emerged a large person who fetched a pole from the sedan and declared: “You bald bastard, are you tired of living?” This pole was even thicker than his arm and was over 10 feet long. The man held it sideways with both hands and demonstrated impressive power.

The Blood Sabre Elder looked at Di Yun and said: “Look closely at this technique.” Then he moved forward and unleashed his blood sabre which slithered like a serpent and went past the sedan pole, then he put the sword back it its sheath and laughed.

Amongst the bride escorts one yelled out: “You old bald thief! Are you blind? Now’s not the time for your prayers!” This person did not even finish reprimanding him when the big man approached and, with sedan pole in hand, let out an alarming scream. Cracking sounds were heard in succession; the sedan pole was cracked in half and fell on the ground. What he held in his hand was only two pieces of several inch thick wooden block. It turns out that in that instant when the Blood Sabre Elder attacked, the ten feet long sedan pole was already sliced into more than a dozen pieces.

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed out loud and unsheathed his blood sabre once again. Immediately, he rushed forward and cut the large man into four pieces and declared: “You should feel honoured to let me take a look at the bride. Why are you so worried?”

When everyone saw how vicious this man was in broad daylight, they were completely terror-stricken. The braver ones shouted back before running away. More than half of them felt their legs tremble as they dispersed in four directions. Some people were so scared that they pissed or shit themselves on the spot without even moving.

The Blood Sabre Elder swung his blood sabre and cut down the curtains in the front of the marriage sedan. He grabbed the bride by the chest with his left hand and pulled her out. The bride screamed and yelled for help but could not struggle free. The Blood Sabre Elder raised his sabre and pricked in front of her face. The bride was so frightened she turned ghostly pale. When he saw that this bride was only 16 or 17 years old with an ugly appearance and the figure of a child, he spat out in disgust on her body and yelled: “Such a clown of a girl, how dare you become a bride!”

Di Yun had acted the role of the blood sabre monk all along, firstly because he was afraid, and secondly because this old monk did save his life so he was grateful. But when he saw how he could be so vicious even against people he had never met before, he felt resentful and angry. He shouted: “You… you… how can you wilfully slaughter the innocent like this? What have they ever done to you?”

The Blood Sabre Elder turned his head and laughed: “I have always loved slaughtering innocents. If only the guilty can be killed, how many people are guilty in this world?” As he said this, he raised his sabre and with one slash, splattered the brains of another escort.

Di Yun rushed forward with his horse and demanded: “You… you must not kill anymore.”

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed: “Little child, you are afraid of seeing blood aren’t you? Then what use are you?”

At this precise moment, sounds of approaching horses could be heard; over a few dozen people were approaching from afar. One shouted: “Blood sabre monk, let go of my daughter and we will let the matter drop, else even if you escape to the remotest of places, I will chase you to the ends of the earth!”

The sounds of horses were still somewhat distant, yet Shui Dai’s voice was clear and distinct. Shui Sheng was delighted and yelled, “Father is here!”

Another four people were heard chanting at once: “Luohua Liushui! Ah—Shuiliu Hualuo! Luohua Liushui! Ah—Shuilui Hualuo!” The voice of each person was distinct; somewhat old but powerful and majestic. The sounds were drawn out and reverberated through the air. In terms of internal energy, they were each profound in their own way.

The Blood Sabre Elder creased his eyebrows and yelled: “Bastards of the Central Plains, trying to overwhelm me with the majority!”

He heard Shui Dai reply: “Even if your martial arts were higher, it would be a disaster to face the Four Marvels of the South ‘Luohua Liushui’ at the same time. Let go of my daughter. An honourable man is true to his word, I will not pursue you.”

The Blood Sabre Elder contemplated: “I had just witnessed the martial arts of Shui Dai and that old Taoist. In a one-on-one battle, I do not have to fear. If they attack two-on-one, I will lose most the time and have no choice but to escape. If they attack three-on-one, I will lose miserably without even a chance to escape. If all four of them attack, I will die without a burial site. Haha, these bastards of the Central Plains, how can their words be trusted? If I keep this little doll with me as hostage I would still have some leverage, but if I let her go, they will have complete control of the situation!” At once he whipped Di Yun’s horse to speed westward. He gathered his internal energy and yelled out: “Old Shui, two monks of the Blood Sabre Clan have become your son-in-law. The fourth generation clan leader has become your son-in-law, and the sixth generation disciple is your son-in-law as well. The father-in-law chases the son-in-law. Excellent! Excellent!”

As soon as Shui Dai heard this, he felt as if his heart was about to explode of anger. He already knew that the vicious monks of the Blood Sabre Clan were notorious for committing adultery and arson and murder. With the two monks together with her daughter, not even considering the possibility that what the Blood Sabre Elder said was true, even if it was a hoax he would still be overwhelmed with vast and limitless obscenities. For the daughter of a renowned hero of the Central Plains of several dozen years to suffer such a fate, if he did not swear to slash the two blood sabre monks into ten thousand pieces, how could he ever have any face again? He immediately pursued with his horse.

At this point, besides the three elders Lu, Hua, and Liu who shared the name of the ‘Four Marvels of the South’ with him, there were additionally another 30 or so fighters consisting of experts, constables, or fighters of various societies. In recent times, the many vicious monks of the Blood Sabre Clan had turned the heaven and earth upside down with their deeds; without even a care to separate right from wrong, they offended members of both righteous and criminal societies. When the various martial artists of the martial world were notified, they were outraged and acted as reinforcements, not only to help Shui Dai rescue his daughter, but also to kill the two vicious monks of the Blood Sabre Clan. There was no one in the martial world who did not detest these blood sabre monks.

The majority journeyed together to chase after the monks. Whenever they reached a small town they would switch horses and continue pursuit. They ate and drank while riding and pursued in great haste. Although the Blood Sabre Elder tried to act leisurely, sitting on the horse in high spirits, they would only stop by a restaurant to replenish themselves and take a short rest, they did not dare to spend the night. Because the various fighters of the martial world were in hot pursuit, Shui Sheng managed to retain her chastity over the days.

After many days, they had pursued from Hubei to the borders of Sichuan. The martial artists of Lianghu and Bashu had always been on good terms, so when they received the news, they joined the pursuit as well. When they reached the area of Yu Province, the heroes in that area, although were not personally involved in this affair, decided that the battle was a guaranteed victory and decided to get in on the action to meet new friends as well as to look honourable and brave. By the time they crossed Yu Province, there were at least two or three hundred people chasing them. The martial artists of Sichuan were wealthy and had large quantities of horses and supplied the majority with rations. However, by the time these martial artists received the news, the Blood Sabre Elder, along with Di Yun and Shui Sheng, had already headed westward and they could not intercept in time.

When the martial artists of West Sichuan heard that the monks passed through, they expressed their sympathies to the majority and sighed: “If we knew this beforehand, we would have obstructed their path and not let those two perverted monks escape at any cost, as well as rescue Lady Shui.”

Shui Dai expressed his thanks but in his heart he resented: “What’s the use of speaking this trash? Judging by your capabilities, do you honestly think you can stop the two monks?”

By now, the chase had lasted over 20 days. Several times, the Blood Sabre Elder had to change his path to cast away his pursuers, but from amongst the majority there was a horse thief from Guandong who was adept at pursuit. No matter where the Blood Sabre Elder twisted and turned, he would still be able to follow relentlessly. However, because the Blood Sabre Elder kept changing his course, the majority was reduced as they branched off in different directions. Furthermore, he had reached the ranges of Mount Chong in Western Sichuan. The majority knew that the Blood Sabre Elder was planning to return to his home in Qinghai. Should he be successful, there would be many blood sabre monks compounded by a clique of traitors and obscene friends, their power would be quite formidable. If that were to happen, even if the warriors of the Central Plains battled against them, it would be a case of the fierce dragon being unable to overcome the local serpent, the outcome of the battle would be indecisive.

After another two days it suddenly started to snow. At this time they had reached the border area of Western Sichuan and continued to travel west towards Qinghai. This location was in the range of the Bayankala Mountains, the terrain was high and steep and the ice and snow caused the roads to be slippery and wet. The cold was felt to the bone and even breathing proved to be difficult. Unless one had especially high internal energy, one would feel weary all over and would have no choice but to rest for several hours.

However, the majority that chased after them could all be considered formidable people who had made a name for themselves. No one dared to show any signs of weakness for fear of ruining their reputation. Nonetheless, in the past few days the majority had been reduced greatly, with many suggesting that they abandon the pursuit altogether. Over half of the group had returned home, especially members from Eastern Sichuan and Central Sichuan, there were also some honourable and strong men from wealthy families with decent martial arts who could endure the suffering. Others saw that the terrain was dangerous and used that excuse to fall behind. Furthermore, some people simply sneaked out of the majority and ran home.

One mid-afternoon, as the majority chased them to a precipitous road by the mountain, they saw a yellow horse lying dead on a pile of snow. It was the yellow horse of Wang Xiaofeng. Shui Dai and Wang Xiaofeng cheered: “The villain has lost one of his horses! If we make haste, the perverted monk won’t be able to escape!” The majority was delighted and inspirited by this news and cheered loudly as they pursued. However, amidst their cheers they saw on the mountain peak on the west side a large pile of snow was slowly coming down.

One old man from Western Sichuan shouted: “No good, an avalanche is coming. Everyone get away!” He did not even finish speaking when the distinct thunderous sound of snow rushing down from the mountains gradually increased in volume.

The majority was confused: “What?” “What’s the big deal about an avalanche?” “Everyone get away!” “Faster!” “Faster!” “Let’s cross this mountain ridge first and then talk!”

In a moment, the faint thunderous sounds of snow became rumbling roars deafening to the ear. The majority became scared. At first the avalanche was still quite some distance away and gradually fell from the peak downward. Along the way there was a lot of snow accumulated which hindered their path, the force of the avalanche increased to half the mountain. If the entire mountain were to erupt like a raging tide, the consequences would be unthinkable.

It had long been the case that many people in the group had ran away, but now when they heard the thunderous sounds of an approaching avalanche, it felt as if the sky was about to fall on them, they became so frightened and lost all courage. Many turned their horses and sprinted away. Some horses were so shocked it could not even move, and their riders had no choice but to get off and exercise their lightness martial arts to escape.

However, the speed of the avalanche was much quicker than that of horse or human, in a split second it had already tumbled down the mountain. The ones who were too slow were immediately buried by an ocean of snow and their cries could not even be heard. Even if their martial arts were higher, there would be no chance for them to escape.

The remaining people crossed the hillside and saw that the accumulation of snow caused by the avalanche hindered their path but did not accumulate further. Everyone ran their separate ways dozens of feet before stopping. When they saw the snow was rising like an exploding mountain flash flood or a bursting dam, in a flash the entire mountain path and valley was covered in snow, towering several dozen feet tall, the ground became steep like the mountain peak.

The majority felt blank and discussed amongst themselves and said that the two blood sabre monks were strung through and filled with evil and were likely buried by the avalanche and decided that although it was a happy occasion, they died too easily without punishment for their deeds, and even worse, the flower and jade-like Shui Sheng had to suffer the same fate. There were some people that expressed their sympathy for those who died in the avalanche. However, as the survivors just escaped a natural disaster, their thankfulness and delight greatly exceeded the pain they suffered from the loss of their comrades.

In a panicked state, it was counted that 12 people were missing, including the ‘Twin Knights of Bell Sword’ Wang Xiaofeng and the four members of ‘Luohua Liushui’. Shui Dai cared greatly for his daughter and Wang Xiaofeng missed his lover dearly so naturally they were at the front of the pack in pursuit. The other three marvels followed in account of their friendship with Shui Dai and did not lag behind. It was hard to imagine that despite the peerless martial arts of the Four Marvels of the South, they were buried by the avalanche on the snowy mountain between Sichuan and Qinghai.

The majority sighed and decided it was time to go home. It was agreed that the snow—over a thousand feet tall—would not melt before the summer of next year. If the family members of the deceased wanted to reclaim the corpses, they would have to wait over half a year.

Some people also held onto a thought that they dared not speak out: “The Four Marvels of the South and the Twin Knights of Bell Sword were the most renowned martial artists over many years, strutting around with insufferable arrogance. They deserved to die!”

*****

The Blood Sabre Elder ran westward with Di Yun and Shui Sheng. Their enemies accumulated but he was not far from his nest in Qinghai. However, as the result of travelling endlessly for days compounded by wind and snow as far as the eye could see and the mountain range was rugged, even if the two horses were more powerful, it would not have done them any good. One day, the yellow horse died on the side of the road and white horse was crippled on one leg and knew that it would soon suffer the same fate as the yellow horse.

The Blood Sabre Elder creased his eyebrows and thought: “I could escape by myself without difficulty, but my grand-disciple is crippled on one leg and cannot move easily. And if I let them take this beautiful doll, that would be such a pity.” As he thought up to this point he became enraged and turned around at once. He held Shui Sheng in his arms and wanted to tear off her clothing.

Shui Sheng shouted in alarm: “What… what are you doing?”

The Blood Sabre Elder scolded: “Your daddy I will not take you with me, do you understand?”

Di Yun shouted: “Grand-teacher, our enemies are approaching!”

The Blood Sabre Elder yelled: “Why are you so troublesome?” Suddenly, the sound of a distinct trembling noise could be heard from the top of his head. He looked up and saw that the accumulated snow on the mountain peak was about to fall on them.

The Blood Sabre Elder was from Qinghai and had seen many vicious avalanches in the past. Even if he was ten times more perverted, he would not dare to go against this natural disaster, and shouted: “Let’s go! Let’s go!” He looked around and saw that only the southern valley had a mountain peak that may not be affected by the avalanche. In such a critical situation, he had no time to think and pulled the white horse towards the southern valley. Even though he was undisciplined and out of control, he too turned pale at the sight of this. The valley on the mountain peak on the side was also accumulated with snow. The snow could not withstand the vibrations and started the avalanche, causing the peaks in all four directions to come down as well.

The Blood Sabre Elder used his lightness martial arts to travel while Di Yun and Shui Sheng travelled on the half-crippled white horse making its way to the valley. At this time, the sound of the avalanche increased in volume. The Blood Sabre Elder looked at the mountain peak on the side and realized that their fate could only be submitted to the will of heaven. There was nothing he could do. If the snow on that mountain peak were to come down as well, then it would be all over.

Then the avalanche came to halt. In only the span of time it took one to drink a cup of tea[4], the Blood Sabre Elder, Di Yu, and Shui Sheng were deathly pale and stared at each other blankly, their eyes revealing extreme fear. Shui Sheng did not even remember that only a while ago she wanted to kill herself to prevent herself from being humiliated by the monks, she only knew that at this point circumstances were different and she had no choice but to rely on the Blood Sabre Elder and Di Yun for support in order to escape this disaster.

All of a sudden, a small piece of rock slipped down from the mountain peak. Shui Sheng was startled and yelled out in alarm. The Blood Sabre Elder immediately covered her mouth with his left hand and gave her two hard slaps with his right hand. Both cheeks of Shui Sheng were immediately swollen red.

Fortunately, this mountain peak was facing south and was affected the most by sunlight and the snow was not thick. After that piece of rock fell from the peak, there was no more activity and the avalanche gradually halted. The Blood Sabre Elder withdrew his hand from Shui Sheng’s mouth and together with Di Yun breathed a sigh of relief. Shui Sheng covered up her face with both hands, not knowing if she should be relieved, angry, or afraid.

The Blood Sabre Elder reached the mouth of the valley and inspected before returning. An angry expression stretched across his face as he sat down on a large piece of rock without saying a word. Di Yun asked: “Grand-teacher, what is the situation outside?”

The Blood Sabre Elder reprimanded: “What? It is all your fault!”

Di Yun did not dare to question him further as he knew that the situation was not good. However, after a long while, he could not help but ask: “Is our enemy guarding the entrance to the valley? Grand-teacher, you don’t have to worry about me, you can leave by yourself.”

In his whole life, the Blood Sabre Elder associated with treacherous and malicious people. Not only has he never made a friend he sincerely cared for, even his very own disciples like Bao Xiang, Shan Yong, or Sheng Di, who although treated their teacher with utmost respect on the outside, it was nothing but mutual deception. Their relationship consisted of nothing more than personal gain at the expense of others. At this point, when he heard Di Yun tell him to leave by himself, he could not help but feel gratified and revealed a smile on his face. “My good child, you really have a good conscience! It is not the case that our enemies are guarding the entrance, just that the accumulation of snow has sealed the entrance. The snow is several hundred feet high and several thousand feet wide. There’s no way we can get out of here before the snow melts next season. And what is there to eat in the valley? How can we survive until spring?”

As Di Yun heard this, he realized that the situation was critical, but at least the most dangerous crisis had already passed, so that was fortunate. He said: “Don’t worry, the boat will be straight by the time it reaches the bridge. Even if we starve to death, it is better than being tortured to death by our enemies.”

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed: “My good child, you speak true words!” Then he fetched the blood sabre from his waist, stood up, and walked towards the white horse.

Shui Sheng was startled and yelled: “Hey, what are you doing?”

The Blood Sabre Elder grinned: “Take a guess.”

Obviously, Shui Sheng already knew that he wanted to kill the white horse for food. But the white horse grew up with her and she treated the horse as her best friend, and shouted: “No! No! The horse is mine, you can’t eat it.”

The Blood Sabre Elder replied: “After I’m done eating the horse, I’ll eat you next. Your daddy I can even eat human flesh, what does a horse mean to me?” 𝘧𝑟𝘦𝒆w𝚎𝙗nov𝘦𝗹.𝐜o𝓶

Shui Sheng said: “I beg you, please don’t hurt my horse.” Without any other options, she turned to Di Yun and pleaded: “Please beg him to not kill my horse.”

Di Yun could not bear to see her pitiful appearance, but desperate times call for desperate measures, there really is no other choice. After they eat the horse, they will probably have to cook and eat the saddle as well. He was unwilling to look at Shui Sheng and turned his head around.

Shui Sheng cried: “I beg you, please don’t kill my horse.”

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed: “Very well, I won’t kill your horse!”

Shui Sheng was delighted and said, “Thank you! Thank you!” But at that same moment she heard the sound of something drop on the ground; the Blood Sabre Elder had already sliced off its head, fresh blood spurting in all directions. Shui Sheng had already become weary after the chase, and now she was so shocked that she passed out.

After a while, she woke up to the aromatic smell of roasted meat. She had been starving for a long time, and her natural instinct was to be delighted that there was food. But as she became more conscious, she remembered that it was her most beloved horse being cooked. As she opened her eyes, she saw Di Yun and the Blood Sabre Monk sitting on top of a rock, each eating away at a large piece of cooked yellow meat. On the side was a fire and on top of a thick firewood dangled a horse leg being roasted on the fire. Shui Sheng was overcome with grief and cried out silently.

The Blood Sabre Elder laughed and asked: “You wanna eat some too?”

Shui Sheng cried: “You two vicious fellows killed my beloved horse. I… I will definitely take my revenge!”

Di Yun felt very apologetic and said: “Lady Shui, there is nothing to eat in this snow valley. If we don’t eat the horse, we will starve to death. If you are looking for a good horse, in the future when we get out of this place, you will be able to find one.”

Shui Sheng cried: “You are a little vicious monk who pretends to be a good person. You are even worse than the older monk. I hate you. I hate you!”

Di Yun was at a loss for words. If he did not eat the horse he would have suffered starvation. He thought: “You can hate me all you want, but there’s no way I’m not eating this horse.” As he said this, he opened his mouth and swallowed a piece of horse meat.

As the Blood Sabre Elder chewed on his piece of horse meat, he fixed his gaze on Shui Sheng and said: “The taste is not bad, really not bad. Hey, in a few days when we cook the little doll to eat, she may not be as aromatic as the horse.” He thought further: “After I eat the little doll, I will have no choice but to eat my beloved grand-disciple as well. This person is kind-hearted, what a pity. Meh, to save him for last could be considered doing him a favour.”

After the two of them finished their horse meat, they added more branches to the fire and slept on the rock. Amidst his dreams, Di Yun heard the continuous sobs and sniffles of Shui Sheng. He felt a slight pain in his heart as he thought: “She cries continuously over the loss of her favourite horse, yet I am alive in this world and nobody cares about me. When I die, I won’t even be able to compare to a beast. Nobody would shed a tear for me.”

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[1]In reference to Cao Cao, a renowned ruler during the Three Kingdoms period.

[2]風虎云龍; literally Wind Tiger Cloud Dragon

[3]A play on words, the original text, 落花流水, when translated means “to be utterly defeated”. So he is mocking them by saying he would beat them until they are utterly defeated.

[4]The time it takes to drink a cup of tea is the time it takes before the tea gets cool, around 10-15 minutes.