《The Tang Sect Crisis》 Prologue (1) This story has something to do with cats. So before the story begins, let¡¯s talk about cats. (2) Cats are distrustful by nature and very curious. Cats are the mortal enemies of mice, and at least part of the reason that humans love cats so much is because they are so good at catching mice. When a cat shows its might, mice flee for their lives. That¡¯s the best thing about cats. A cat¡¯s movements and postures are so graceful and are about seven-tenths arrogant. And so some say that cats are elitist and conceited. But there¡¯s a pitiable aspect to cats. It¡¯s not every cat that leads a happy life. When a cat is sick, its heartless owner often abandons it. And so some people are vagabonds, and some cats are vagabonds too. Be it person or cat, a vagrant life is solitary and lonesome. In the world outdoors, wind and rain are hard to avoid. When the wind and rain comes, people and cats alike will feel even more lonely. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á The story is about to begin. This story contains cats. That¡¯s Water Cat and Cat Shell. Water Cat isn¡¯t a cat. And Cat Shell is not a shell. They are both people, but they are both like cats. Not fortunate cats, but vagrant cats. (3) The story will now begin. As the story opens, rats are running amok. And it¡¯s no wonder, because around this place, there are truly very few cats. CH 1 Chapter 1 How Strange! The Nine Killers¡¯ Deathly Appearance (1) What kind of place is ¡°this place¡±? The answer would disgust you at the sight of it. This place was called Evil Valley. Evil Valley was originally called Safe & Sound Valley, and for the past 2,000 years all the way up to two years ago it was always peaceful. But now all that had changed. Ever since Great Person Sha came to Safe & Sound Valley it ceased to be safe and sound. No one ever called it Safe & Sound Valley again, because Safe & Sound Valley had become a hotbed for evil. Sha Dashan¡¯s surname was Sha and his name was Bu¡¯e (not evil). He liked people to call him a ¡°great person¡±. And so those who liked to play up to the powerful all called him Great Person Sha. But what good things did Great Person Sha do? Nothing. Wouldn¡¯t even give a single copper coin to a beggar. Whenever he saw a beggar he would have two of his men kick the beggar out far away. So for two whole years, there were no more beggars in Evil Valley. There were no poor people in Evil Valley? It looked that way, because if these poor either left or were killed by Great Person Sha. There had originally been 325 households here, but now there was not even a tenth of that left. Bu the inns here went from just one to more than six in just two short years. Before when there was only one inn, the rooms were used to raise mosquitoes. But now even the mosquitoes seemed to have been driven away by the liveliness, as these six inns were usually packed full. These six inns never competed for business, because they all had the same boss. That boss of course was Sha Bu¡¯e! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á What did Evil Valley have to attract so many guests here? Gambling dens? Newly constructed grand taverns? Or Flower Blossom Loft, full of beautiful young courtesans? Yep, these were all major factors in Evil Valley¡¯s ¡°abnormal prosperity¡±. But there was a fourth reason, which was that here there were nine people who sold themselves. As long as you could pay the price, these nine people would do anything for you. Even if you wanted to assassinate the old man majestic thearch himself, as long as you could pay, they would absolutely not so much as frown or shrink back. Because their lives simply didn¡¯t belong to them. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Late at night, all was silent. Experience told Old Tian that in the nest three days there would be a rainstorm. The weather recently had been too hot and stuffy. Old Tian wasn¡¯t fat, but he disliked heat even more than Fatty Wang in the kitchen. Old Tian was the shopkeeper of Golden Lotus Tavern. The Golden Lotus had been open for eighteen months and all that time he had seldom gone outside. But this evening, while business was booming, he suddenly left the Golden Lotus. No one knew. The tavern¡¯s waiters only knew that when he went out he would repeatedly mop the sweat from his forehead with a piece of cloth. It was too hot, so it was unavoidable that he¡¯d sweat profusely. But if the waiters had known that his sweat was ice cold, then they would know that something was definitely a bit wrong with Old Tian. Was something a bit wrong with Old Tian? No. Not a bit wrong, a lot wrong. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á For the people who lived here, even if they suddenly came into money they would never patronize the Golden Lotus. First off, they loathed Sha Bu¡¯e to the extreme, and at the same time, the Golden Lotus was where Sha Bu¡¯e¡¯s men assembled. Old Tian didn¡¯t look like a man of the martial world on the outside, but in Evil Valley, everyone knew that he was Sha Bu¡¯e¡¯s most trusted old general. Old Tian¡¯s surname actually wasn¡¯t Tian. It was Miao, and his given name was Jiutian (nine fields), and in the jianghu his nickname was the Old Burning Sky General. In dealing with foes, his favorite method was attacking with fire. The number of people he had burned to death was more than the number of hairs in his goatee. Naturally, people were terrified at the sight of a person like him. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Flower Blossom Loft was not far from Golden Lotus Tavern. But on the way from the Golden Lotus to Flower Blossom Loft, Miao Jiutian¡¯s heart jumped at least 900 times. But once he stepped foot in Flower Blossom Loft, his heart seemed to stop beating at once. Because he saw a face, a face that was usually affable but had now become like a block of ice, or like a red-hot sheet of iron. No matter whether you felt the face was like ice or like a sheet of iron, it was a stifling feeling either way. Too cold or too hot were equally unbearable. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á The face that Miao Jiutian saw was of course Great Person Sha¡¯s face. Sha Bu¡¯e¡¯s face ordinarily was ¡°not evil¡± (bu¡¯e). But with the expression on his face right now, even if eight ferocious lions pounced on him they¡¯d all be bitten to death one after the other. A person who could devour even a lion of course could eat a person, and not just that but eat him and spit out the bones. Miao Jiutian wasn¡¯t stupid. Of course he knew that given Boss Sha¡¯s mood, he was looking to eat somebody up to vent his anger. That thought made Miao Jiutian hear his heart thumping again. Actually his heart had never stopped beating, it was just that seeing Boss Sha just then made him somewhat overcome with vertigo, so he just now heard his heart beating. Miao Jiutian¡¯s renown among the jianghu was not puny, but in the face of Sha Bu¡¯e, Old Burning Sky General¡¯s power and prestige was completely swept away. In Evil Valley, everyone thought he was Sha Bu¡¯e¡¯s most trusted ¡°great general¡±. But Miao Jiutian knew full well his position in Sha Bu¡¯e¡¯s eyes. Without a doubt, Sha Bu¡¯e did trust ¡°Old Tian¡± well enough, but if you think that made him Sha Bu¡¯e¡¯s most capable right-hand man, then that would be underestimating Sha Bu¡¯e. Just like a big tree and Miao Jiutian was merely one of the roots, and that root was above ground so that everyone could clearly see it. Still, it was not at all the main root. The root that really supported the whole big tree was thicker and stronger and buried underground where no one could see it. You could say that Miao Jiutian, the Old Burning Sky General, was just a curio displayed outside an antique shop. The real valuable antiques were forever stored in the shop¡¯s most secret area inside! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Boss Sha of course knew martial arts, and was in fact a masterhand among masters. But very few people knew just how good the martial arts were that he kept hidden within. That¡¯s because Boss Sha rarely fought. Of course, in the past two years there had been some who had come to Evil Valley looking to cause Boss Sha trouble, but Boss Sha had only fought himself one time. The others were handled by his two golden-garbed bodyguards he kept by him. Boss Sha always had two golden-garbed bodyguards armed with jewel-encrusted sabres hanging from their waists. Their personalities could only be described with three words. They always seemed to be ¡°set to kill¡±. Even when they were eating, they were gnashing their teeth, as if they held a deep, personal grudge against even their plain rice. Miao Jiutian would never dare have dealings with people like that, much less offend them. Behind their backs people called them ¡°gods of plagues¡±. But those who called them gods of plagues would soon really be seeing the God of Plagues. Because these two were not only cruel and merciless, they had especially long ears. People talking behind their backs could hardly avoid them hearing it. They rarely spoke, but they regularly killed with their sabres. Miao Jiutian only knew their names. The older one, around 35-36, was surnamed Chou, named Tiejun, and the one around two or three years younger was surnamed Fang, named Xi. Aside from their names, Miao Jiutian also knew: Their sabreplay was such that they could at any time easily cut his head off. When Boss Sha lost his temper, they often killed people on his behalf. Miao Jiutian felt his head was in somewhat ¡°imminent danger¡±. Even though he was advanced in years, he didn¡¯t want to die yet. But in a split second everything before him seem to go pitch-black. In the pitch blackness, innumerable souls of the wrongly accused called to him, and innumerable hands burned by fire were reaching out to strangle his neck¡­ He had a terrified look on his face, but he soon learned that this was all a hallucination. Hallucinations can¡¯t kill people. But if Sha Bu¡¯e wanted to kill him, it would be easier than sneezing. Don¡¯t think that sneezing is an easy thing to do. Sometimes when you have a cold, when you want to sneeze but can¡¯t, it¡¯s not a satisfying feeling. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Sha Bu¡¯e didn¡¯t sneeze, but he suddenly heaved a long sigh. Miao Jiutian¡¯s face went a little green. Not just a little pale, but a little green. His face had long ago paled, not a trace of complexion in it. Sha Bu¡¯e heaved his long sigh, then said slowly to Miao Jiutian, ¡°Do you want to see their bodies?¡± Miao Jiutian nodded. Right now the only way he could express himself was by nodding. Sha Bu¡¯e said, ¡°Their bodies are in Biling¡¯s room. In Biling¡¯s room? Miao Jiutian was surprised. Biling was Flower Blossom Loft¡¯s most popular courtesan. Sha Bu¡¯e added, ¡°Biling¡¯s sick today. She¡¯s in her room resting.¡± Biling really was sick, terribly sick. She was suffering from lovesickness, and the one she longed for was a handsome, carefree and aloof vagabond. There are many kinds of vagabonds. In the present day martial world the most resoundingly famous vagabond was of course the Snowblade Vagabond Long Chengbi. But she wasn¡¯t longing for Long Chengbi but for a vagabond who had experienced an even more vagrant life than Long Chengbi. Sha Bu¡¯e sympathized with her. He knew that longing was by turns bitter and sweet, but in the end it was a bit more bitter and painful. He didn¡¯t want her to suffer too much, so he had her take a ¡°Departing Elixir¡± pill. Within ten days she would ¡°depart.¡± ¡°Departing¡± meant ¡°depart for the Western Paradise¡±. (2) Miao Jiutian had seen Biling before, but he had never been in her room at Flower Blossom Loft before. That was simply a place he shouldn¡¯t enter. Biling wasn¡¯t promiscuous. Her face was delicate and pretty as a daffodil growing among pebbles. Biling had been at Flower Blossom Loft for a whole year, but it was said that there was only one guest who could be enter her curtain. This person was by no means old, no wrinkles on his face at all, yet he looked much more mature than an older man. Biling hadn¡¯t forgotten this man. Miao Jiutian hadn¡¯t forgotten either. This person¡¯s name was weird. He was called Water Cat. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Water Cat. Did that mean a cat in the water, or was Shui (water) his surname and his name was Mao (cat)? Miao Jiutian didn¡¯t know. But he thought that this person called Water Cat ought to be called Gold Cat. He had so much gold leaf on him it was like the hairs on a cat¡¯s body, he could carelessly squander hundreds of pieces of gold leaf without batting an eye.1 He tipped people at least ten pieces of gold leaf. Evil Valley was a place you could spend money like water, but Water Cat was the first of his kind to be so generous. But that wasn¡¯t the most shocking thing. The most shocking thing was the silver drafts he carried. In addition to his gold leaf, his silver drafts struck people dumb.2 The first silver draft of his that Miao Jiutian saw was for 9,000 taels of silver. 9,000 taels of silver was not a small amount. But Water Cat surprisingly said to Miao Jiutian, ¡°I give this to you as a small token of my kindly feeling.¡± Miao Jiutian knew what was up. He knew that Water Cat wanted to find the Nine Killers in the valley. He wasn¡¯t wrong. Water Cat¡¯s second silver draft note appeared before his eyes at once. It was a silver draft for 180,000 taels of silver. Water Cat told him plainly, ¡°I want nine killers to go kill someone.¡± Miao Jiutian took him at once to the cashier¡¯s office. ¡°Kill who?¡± Water Cat just said two words: ¡°Cat Shell.¡± ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Just those two words from Water Cat and Miao Jiutian had that feeling of ¡°an old man¡¯s eyes blurring, old ears muffled¡±. What sort of person was Water Cat, and moreover what was Cat Shell? Clamshell, turtle shell, he had heard of these before and had seen them personally, but a cat shell¡­ Water Cat might be surnamed Shui (water) and named Mao (cat), but there was no way there was someone surnamed Mao (cat) and named Ke (shell). Was it just a given name without a surname? But with all the good auspicious words there were like Shou (longevity) or Gui (esteemed), they didn¡¯t use those but instead Cat Shell? Or maybe Cat Shell was just a nickname? That would be even more baffling. What did Cat Shell represent? But since Water Cat was willing to spend 180,000 taels to buy the nine killers¡¯ lives and have them go kill Cat Shell, how could Miao Jiutian refuse? The lives of the nine killers belonged to Boss Sha, but Boss Sha had long ago gave the order that the nine killers were to be under Miao Jiutian¡¯s jurisdiction, and that all ¡°business¡± was to be conducted by Miao Jiutian. Boss Sha wouldn¡¯t get involved. Boss Sha¡¯s only stipulation was that for every time each killer was dispatched, Boss Sha would take back 10,000 taels of silver from Miao Jiutian. So Miao Jiutian had long ago agreed with these killers on a set price. No matter which of these killers the client wanted to hire for a hit, Miao Jiutian would take 11,000 taels! 10,000 of that was for Boss Sha, and the other 1,000 was for the killer and Miao Jiutian to split. Even though Miao Jiutian¡¯s cut was far far less than Boss Sha¡¯s he was still satisfied. He wasn¡¯t a person who spent money without restraint, and he had put some money aside to save. He even had plans to retire from the jianghu. But he never expected now to be at such a crossroads. He had accepted the two silver drafts equaling 189,000 taels, and it had all been cashed, but today Boss Sha¡¯s nine killers were brought back in a horse carriage. They had been sent to kill Cat Shell. Water Cat had given some information to Miao Jiutian detailing where Cat Shell was currently living, as well as a portrait of Cat Shell. It was a detailed drawing, including a clear depiction of every minute feature of Cat Shell¡¯s face. Water Cat had asked Miao Jiutian if this information was enough to have Cat Shell killed? Miao Jiutian nodded. But the result was that Cat Shell was not dead, but rather Boss Sha¡¯s most trusted and favored nine killers all came back lying down. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Biling¡¯s suite was suffused with a nauseating smell. This smell was heavy and awful like the stench of a coffin. Nine killers were now nine corpses. The corpses didn¡¯t smell. Their bodies had been smeared with a yellow, fragrant powder. Miao Jiutian looked at the nine bodies woodenly. Boss Sha though was coldly looking at him, as if he were looking at the tenth corpse. ¡°This deal was one you accepted.¡± Miao Jiutian took a deep breath, then after a long pause said, ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°But they all came back to see my lying down!¡± Boss Sha¡¯s ten fingers were flexing, making cracking sounds. Miao Jiutian couldn¡¯t argue with that. When Boss Sha lost his temper, any argument was absolutely uncalled for. The suite suddenly became frighteningly quiet and still. Boss Sha suddenly lifted one of the bodies and asked Miao Jiutian, ¡°Can you tell where the fatal wound is?¡± Miao Jiutian took a good look. His first impression was that the killer had experienced a great fright just before death, his face frozen in frightful flight. It was ghastly. This killer¡¯s name was Mai Dasha. His specialty was smacking someone once in the back of the head, the famous signature move of the bygone Yan Kong of Ghost Domain Mountain, called Deadly Ghost Hand. Yan Kong had been dead for more than 80 years. He had only one disciple during his lifetime, but that person too had been deceased for 60 years. Mai Dasha was only 32, but somewhere he had learned the wicked Deadly Ghost Hand martial art. Miao Jiutian had once seen Mai Dasha use his Deadly Ghost Hand to kill someone. Mai Dasha¡¯s hand seemed able to suddenly grow one or two spans at any time and strike at the back of someone¡¯s head from an unimaginable angle. Not even the head of a black bear could withstand the force of this smack. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Miao Jiutian looked and looked, but still couldn¡¯t tell where the fatal wound was. Boss Sha suddenly twisted his hand. The body flipped over. Miao Jiutian had been looking at Mai Dasha¡¯s face, but now he was looking at the back of him and the back of his head. The back of his head was gone. There was only a terrible bloody hole left! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á In that split second, Miao Jiutian took three steps back one after the other. ¡°The Deadly Ghost Hand!¡± he cried out. Boss Sha sneered and put down Mai Dasha¡¯s body. ¡°That¡¯s right, the Deadly Ghost Hand.¡± Then Boss Sha lifted another body. Miao Jiutian gasped. This one was Shao Wuxin. Shao Wuxin used a Heartpiercing Gimlet. this gimlet was only a span long, but that was more than enough to bore out a person¡¯s heart. This Heartpiercing Gimlet was not made of metal but instead was carved from an extremely hard piece of peachwood. This wooden gimlet was inconceivably hard, so much so that even a famous sword or precious sabre might not be able to cut it. Miao Jiutian almost cried out in alarm when he saw Shao Wuxin¡¯s body. Boss Sha sighed to himself. Miao Jiutian was old. He used to have such courage he could kill people like they were flies, but that courage seemed to have faded away with the passing years and vanished. Miao Jiutian saw that in Shao Wuxin¡¯s chest was sticking out his signature weapon¡ªthe Heartpiercing Gimlet. The Heartpiercing Gimlet had not bored Cat Shell to death, but Shao Wuxin instead. CH 2 Chapter 2 Saving Oneself with Lifesaving Soul Returning Pills (1) Nine killers, nine different fatal wounds. Miao Jiutian simply looked at it dumbfounded. Because they had all been killed with their own special martial art or by their own signature weapon. Miao Jiutian simply couldn¡¯t believe this was real. But it was as real as could be. Boss Sha¡¯s face was taut. He suddenly said slowly, ¡°Now you have seen it clearly!¡± Miao Jiutian nodded. Boss Sha said, ¡°How would you say they died?¡± Miao Jiutian sighed. It was a good while before he said, ¡°They seemed to have committed suicide?¡± ¡°Suicide?¡± ¡°Yes, Who else but themselves could use nine completely different martial arts to kill them all at the same time?¡± Boss Sha was silent. A while later, he asked plainly, ¡°Why would they kill themselves?¡± Miao Jiutian couldn¡¯t answer. Maybe there was no one in the world who could use nine completely different martial arts to kill them, but what could explain them committing suicide? Boss Sha¡¯s face suddenly straightened up. He said coldly, ¡°No matter how they died, in any case they are dead.¡± Miao Jiutian shivered. Boss Sha suddenly turned around and slowly walked out of the suite. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Boss Sha left. But Chou Tiejun and Fang Xi were still standing there in the room. Miao Jiutian knew what Boss Sha had in mind. The nine killers were dead, so there was no longer any use for Miao Jiutian. Plus, the way Boss Sha saw it, Miao Jiutian had committed a grievous error. When his underlings committed an error, Boss Sha usually didn¡¯t forgive them. He was absolutely not a ¡°great person¡±. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Chou Tiejun and Fang Xi¡¯s sabres were not drawn. Nor did they launch a surprise attack on Miao Jiutian, because they knew that Miao Jiutian knew what he had to do. Miao Jiutian did indeed know. He knew that given the circumstances, the most comfortable path for him was for him to destroy himself. He really did not want to commit suicide in this room full of dead bodies, but there was no better alternative for him to choose. He knew how good Chou Tiejun and Fang Xi¡¯s martial arts was. Even one on one, Miao Jiutian was not anywhere close to their match. People value being self-aware. Miao Jiutian in any event was self-aware. So he finally raised his right hand and abruptly slammed it into his forehead. But just as his hand made contact it was immediately clamped onto tightly by a hand. Miao Jiutian was stupefied. The one who had clamped onto his hand was Chou Tiejun. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Chou Tiejun¡¯s face looked like it always did, set to kill. Anyone who saw his face would think of a headsman at the execution grounds. He really did have the face of a headsman. Miao Jiutian suddenly showed displeasure and said angrily, ¡°Chou, don¡¯t push me too far, Boss Sha just wants this old fellow to die. You mean to tell me this old fellow can¡¯t die a bit more pleasantly?¡± Chou Tiejun sneered, ¡°An old fool like you doesn¡¯t deserve a good end.¡± Miao Jiutian clenched his teeth. ¡°You and I have no enmity, no grudge¡­¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± ¡°You mean there really is enmity between us?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Please tell me.¡± Blue veins bulged in Chou Tiejun¡¯s face. He also clenched his teeth and said, ¡°You killed a buddy of mine.¡± Miao Jiutian was taken aback. ¡°Who did I kill?¡± Resolutely and decisively, Chou Tiejun spat out a name. As soon as the name was out of his mouth, Miao Jiutian was dumbfounded. But even more at a loss was Fang Xi. Because what Chou Tiejun said was, ¡°You killed Fang Xi!¡± (2) Had Miao Jiutian really killed Fang Xi? Of course not. Fang Xi was still alive, was even standing there in the room. Could this Fang Xi be an impostor? Absolutely not. Even if Miao Jiutian had had his doubts, Fang Xi certainly didn¡¯t. Because this Fang Xi was the genuine Fang Xi, naturally he knew that he wasn¡¯t ¡°counterfeit goods¡±. But why did Chou Tiejun say that Miao Jiutian had killed Fang Xi? For the moment, Miao Jiutian didn¡¯t understand, and Fang Xi didn¡¯t either. But Fang Xi understood it soon. Because the five fingers of Chou Tiejun¡¯s other hand suddenly ferociously poked into Fang Xi¡¯s throat! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á No savage scream, nothing to alarm anyone outside the suite. That claw attack was really swift. Not just swift but merciless. This claw attack was absolutely unavoidable, and it was also incurable. A clawed hand punching through a throat, one strike and Fang Xi was put to death. Fang Xi¡¯s legs were kicking blindly. But Chou Tiejun quickly subdued all of his acupoints, and so Fang Xi didn¡¯t scream, didn¡¯t struggle but died standing up. Miao Jiutian was simply stunned at the sight. He¡¯d never seen such an incredible claw attack, nor did he understand why Chou Tiejun had suddenly killed Fang Xi. Chou Tiejun slowly released his hand clamped around Miao Jiutian¡¯s and said, ¡°Fang Xi is dead, but it wasn¡¯t you who killed him. The murderer was me.¡± Miao Jiutian took a deep breath and said, ¡°Who are you?¡± Chou Tiejun¡¯s set to kill face suddenly became gentle. ¡°I¡¯m of course no Chou Tiejun, but the mask I¡¯m wearing is made from Chou Tiejun¡¯s skin.¡± Miao Jiutian believed what he said. If he hadn¡¯t used Chou Tiejun¡¯s real face to make the mask, how could he have fooled Boss Sha¡¯s eyes? This person had saved Miao Jiutian¡¯s life and simultaneously killed Fang Xi. He certainly wasn¡¯t Chou Tiejun. The real Chou Tiejun was already dead. But who was this impostor Chou Tiejun? ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡°You need not worry about who I am.¡± Miao Jiutian nodded. The fake Chou Tiejun said, ¡°So long as you agree to my one stipulation, I guarantee I can get you out of here alive.¡± Miao Jiutian nodded again. He seemed incapable at the moment of doing anything else besides nodding. And no wonder, his mind had been befuddled by a succession of unexpected events. And he¡¯d been scared stiff by the fake Chou Tiejun¡¯s claw attack. Just like Boss Sha had said, Miao Jiutian was less and less courageous. The fake Chou Tiejun continued, ¡°I know you have a few Lifesaving Soul Returning pills. If you want to keep living a few more years, you¡¯d better get them out.¡± Miao Jiutian was once again stupefied. He did indeed have a few Lifesaving Soul Returning pills, but how did this fake Chou Tiejun know that? But he had no time to think about that. At any rate his life was in this person¡¯s hands. Even if he wanted the old majestic thearch¡¯s jade imperial seal he¡¯d obediently hand it over, not to mention some Lifesaving Soul Returning pills. He immediately handed over a gray medicine bottle to the fake Chou Tiejun. The fake Chou Tiejun pulled the stopper and looked inside and looked satisfied. Even though his face was fake, the expression revealed on his face was no different at all from anyone else¡¯s. Only now did Miao Jiutian suddenly think of Widow Su. Widow Su was a flirty woman of Evil Valley. She¡¯d only been living here for sixteen months. Only Widow Su knew that Miao Jiutian had Lifesaving Soul Returning pills. Widow Su was a woman addicted to gambling. She had bought a house not to large and not too small in Evil Valley just so she could place high stakes bets. She was most likely gearing up for a ¡°protracted battle¡± with the gambling dens. Widow Su didn¡¯t just gamble, she was also fond of food and drink. She was a regular at Golden Lotus Tavern, and she always sat at a table near the counter. She and Miao Jiutian often chatted. Miao Jiutian was already very old, but he had a good impression of Widow Su. Gradually, Miao Jiutian got to the point he¡¯d tell her anything. Only now did Miao Jiutian how dangerous that was! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á But back to the original topic. If Miao Jiutian hadn¡¯t had those Lifesaving Soul Returning pills, it was doubtful whether the fake Chou Tiejun would have come to his aid. He was sorry to have to give up those Lifesaving Soul Returning pills, but when he considered it was for his own life, he didn¡¯t feel it was a serious loss. If he had really ended his life just then, even if he had had 10,000 Lifesaving Soul Returning pills, what good would it have been? After getting the Lifesaving Soul Returning pills, the fake Chou Tiejun said, ¡°Though you have something of a name among the jianghu, as far as we are concerned, you¡¯re just a nobody not worth mentioning.¡± That wasn¡¯t something Miao Jiutian liked to hear. Even so, it was the truth. The fake Chou Tiejun said, ¡°But I never go back on my word. Since you so straightforwardly handed over the Lifesaving Soul Returning pills, it¡¯s my responsibility to safeguard your life until Sha Bu¡¯e is no longer able to do evil.¡± Even though the fake Chou Tiejun said that, Miao Jiutian was still uneasy. Of course he knew what kind of place Flower Blossom Loft was, and with Boss Sha here, even if the fake Chou Tiejun wanted to take him and charge out of there, that would be no easy task. Sure enough, Miao Jiutian was not mistaken. Before they could rush out, Boss Sha had already rushed in. (3) Boss Sha, who all day long had had an unpleasant look on his face, now suddenly was smiling cheerfully. He looked like a hunter who had just caught a big, plump deer. The color once again drained from Miao Jiutian¡¯s face, not a trace of complexion. Boss Sha said casually with a laugh, ¡°See what you two have done, actually killing Fang Xi.¡± The fake Chou Tiejun smiled indifferently. ¡°Fang Xi¡¯s sabreplay is pretty good. Too bad he was a bit dumb.¡± Boss Sha nodded. ¡°So when you got him with your Five Poisons Claw, he didn¡¯t quite believe his eyes.¡± The fake Chou Tiejun said, ¡°But even if I hadn¡¯t tricked him, he still might not have been able to dodge my claw attack.¡± Boss Sha was still smiling. But the murderous look in his eyes was becoming more and more obvious. ¡°The past few days I¡¯ve been suspecting something.¡± The fake Chou Tiejun said plainly, ¡°You suspected I was not the real Chou Tiejun, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What flaw did you notice?¡± ¡°Five days ago you ate a dish of carp simmered with ginger and scallions that the kitchen chef cooked up.¡± ¡°You mean that on such a hot day the real Chou Tiejun would never eat carp simmered with ginger and scallions?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not the carp, or the ginger.¡± The fake Chou Tiejun suddenly figured it out. ¡°He didn¡¯t eat scallions?¡± Boss Sha smiled again. Maybe he thought that smile would make people think he was smart. ¡°Little Chou would eat anything, but if you wanted him to eat scallions, he¡¯d sooner eat pig shit.¡± The fake Chou Tiejun sighed. ¡°Since you already suspected I was impersonating Chou Tiejun, why did you allow me to stay close to you? Weren¡¯t you afraid I¡¯d assassinate you?¡± Boss Sha gave a thin smile. ¡°You didn¡¯t want to kill me, your main target was the Lifesaving Soul Returning pills.¡± The fake Chou Tiejun said, ¡°Looks like you really know a lot.¡± Boss Sha said, ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, you are that Water Cat!¡± ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Water Cat! The name was not the least bit scary, but once Miao Jiutian heard those two words, he inexplicably felt a sense of terror. Was this person really Water Cat? The fake Chou Tiejun sighed. ¡°If I were Water Cat, how would you deal with me?¡± Boss Sha said, ¡°I keep two leopards in the rear garden. Right now they¡¯re both pretty hungry.¡± The fake Chou Tiejun sneered, ¡°You¡¯re going to feed me to the leopards?¡± Boss Sha said plainly, ¡°If you¡¯re afraid of leopards, I can change my mind and feed your corpse to the dogs.¡± After saying this, Boss Sha once again turned and slowly walked out of that horrible suite filled with dead bodies. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á After Boss Sha left the suite, the first thing Miao Jiutian asked the fake Chou Tiejun was, ¡°Are you really Water Cat?¡± The fake Chou Tiejun didn¡¯t answer, but instead used a skillful technique to easily remove his skin mask. Behind the face was another face. This face looked eight or nine years younger, and much more dashing and debonair. Miao Jiutian gasped deeply. This person really was the one who had cost him so much and gotten his own ¡°neck covered in blood¡±, Water Cat.¡± ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á After Boss Sha left the room, the suite suddenly ceased to exist. Had the room run off? No. A suite can¡¯t run off, but the four walls of this room suddenly sank into the floor. The walls were gone. What had once been a room had suddenly become part of a main hall. Not the greater part, but just a small part. Water Cat and Miao Jiutian were in the center of the main hall, and on all four sides there were 40 sabres and 40 purple-garbed warriors. Besides the 40 purple-garbed warriors, Water Cat also saw three people sitting on the east end of the main hall. The one in the middle was Boss Sha. To his left was an old man, thin as a bamboo pole, wearing a long, wide-sleeved gown. To his right, strictly speaking, was only half a person. It was an old one-eyed, one-eared cripple with only a left hand and a right leg. He was known in the jianghu as ¡°All-over Incomplete¡± Dugu Yi! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Dugu Yi had defects all over and was really old. He ought to have die in the martial world a long time ago. Even though he was an old cripple, his evil deeds were a major headache for the masterhands of Sixleaf offices throughout the prefectures of the Central Plains.1 Two years ago, Dugu Yi had singlehandedly killed over 30 people outside Mystic Spirit Abbey in Gulingzhou, killing a group of rich merchants who had come to the abbey to worship and stealing a load of priceless treasures. This case was really too shocking, and Sixleaf had at least five masterhands known as ¡°Amazing Constables¡± who went all over looking for him. No one could find him. Because no one knew that he had sought refuge with Boss Sha. Water Cat glanced at Miao Jiutian. Miao Jiutian¡¯s gaze had lost its luster, as if he had calculated all possibilities and found no way to make it out of here today alive. But Water Cat still looked composed, and his composure was seven-tenths arrogance and conceit. ¡ªCats are elitist, and conceited. This ¡°Water Cat¡± was no exception. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á This evening, the happenings in Evil Valley were really too sudden, and really unexpected. Flower Blossom Loft was a place for vagabonds to seek pleasure, but now even a person ¡°full of vigor¡± would not dare step foot inside. The 40 purple-garbed warriors¡¯ sabres were suffused with a dazzling cold aura. Could Water Cat take them all on at once? Miao Jiutian was not optimistic. If it were just seven or eight people, then Water Cat might have a chance to break out and escape. But one against 40, plus three top masters watching with hungry eyes on the side, under the circumstances, who could break out of this tight net of annihilation? Unless a miracle happened, Water Cat and Miao Jiutian were bound to be buried in Flower Blossom Loft tonight. Such was Miao Jiutian¡¯s thinking. As was Boss Sha¡¯s. But as for the ever-composed Water Cat, what was he thinking? (4) Catty-cornered about 20 staves away from Flower Blossom Loft there was a big old dilapidated house. This owner of this big house had lived there ever since he was born and had never taken a step off the place. He was not the former ruler of Safe & Sound Valley, but he had always enjoyed unusually lofty prestige in the valley. Sha Bu¡¯e never killed him, hoping to use his position to speak well of him to others on his behalf. The owner of the big old dilapidated house was surnamed Zhou, named Xian, and was almost 70 years old. Sha Bu¡¯e didn¡¯t have Zhou Xian killed, and he never snatched his house from him, but Zhou Xian never once said anything good about Sha Bu¡¯e to anyone. Luckily even though he said no word of praise, he didn¡¯t say anything bad either. Sha Bu¡¯e forced himself to bear it. He knew this old Zhou sooner or later would die by his hands. Zhou Xian didn¡¯t know martial arts. But he had a son who did, and whose Groundsweeping Sabreplay was pretty good. Once Sha Bu¡¯e learned of this, he was even more eager to kill Zhou Xian. Not just kill Zhou Xian, he wanted even more to kill his son, Zhou Dingbiao. Sha Bu¡¯e¡¯s plan was to first kill Zhou Dingbiao, then deal with Zhou Xian. But two months ago, Zhou Dingbiao went up north on a bear-hunting trip. Sha Bu¡¯e did his best to be patient and wait for Zhou Dingbiao to return, then kill the two of them. But up to now, Zhou Dingbiao had not returned, but there were two people who appeared to be nearly drunk out of their minds who were staying at Zhou¡¯s place. These two had already drank a lot. Zhou Xian had never seen anyone down so much wine in so short a time. These two altogether had drank 15 jugs of wine totally 105 catties. That was enough wine for them to comfortably take a bath in. But they didn¡¯t waste the 15 jugs of wine, their capacity for liquor was really astonishing. But when the third drunkard suddenly came in from outside the Zhou residence, they stopped drinking at once. If you think these two drunkards were drunk out of their minds, you would be very wrong. Without a doubt, they were both considerably tipsy, but they were nowhere close to being drunk out of their minds. When the third drunkard stepped foot in the Zhou residence, they recognized at once who it was. In fact, you didn¡¯t necessarily need to be sober to recognize who it was. Even if these two really did drink themselves into a stupor, they would still be able to rely on their hazy impression to make out who this third drunkard was. For one simple reason, because the third drunkard was so fat that if you had Zhou Xian stand next to him, he would be more than twice as wide. This big fatty was also a big drunkard. He was none other than the eldest young master of the Tang family of Hangzhou, the number-one drunkard in the world, Tang Zhuquan. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á These two drunkards had drank over 100 catties of wine between them, but for Tang Zhuquan that was nothing special at all. There was already about 100 catties of wine sloshing around in his big belly. Maybe some will think that this is impossible. No matter how good someone is at holding their liquor and no matter how big their belly is, there¡¯s no way someone could drink 100 catties of wine. A normal person¡¯s weight is no more than 100 catties. Yep, drinking 100 catties of wine is by no mean an easy feat. Especially drinking 100 catties and then still being able to walk around, that¡¯s even more rare. If there was only one person in the world who could do such a thing, that person was without a doubt Tang Zhuquan. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á When Tang Zhuquan arrived at the Zhou residence, his exceptionally large jug of wine was already empty. A wine jug with no wine was the most boring thing in the world for Tang Zhuquan. It was like a charming, dashing playboy unable to find a woman, or a great poet inspired to write poetry but unable to find his ink and writing brush. But once he strolled into the Zhou residence, he pointed at the two drunkards and scolded, ¡°How can you two be in the mood to drink at a time like this?¡± ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Of the two drunkards, one wore a blue gown, the other a gray robe. The bluegowned one had a sabre at his waist. The grayrobed one had a sword in hand. The sabre was a precious sabre, the sword a famous sword. Anyone in the jianghu who saw either one of them would lose the color in their face. Because this was the Snowblade Vagabond Long Chengbi¡¯s Blizzard Blade and the King of Assassins Sima Xue¡¯s Righteous Blood sword! Long Chengbi was here, Sima Xue was here, and Tang Zhuquan, the eldest young master of the Tang family, was also here at the Zhou residence. What heaven-and-earth shaking events were about to transpire in Evil Valley? ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á The first words out of Tang Zhuquan¡¯s mouth was to ask how Long Chengbi and Sima Xue could be in the mood to drink. Long Chengbi didn¡¯t answer. He just asked Tang Zhuquan, ¡°Has Cat Shell come here too?¡± CH 3 Chapter 3 South Sea Apsara Tiger and Poison Tiger (1) Cat Shell. Surprisingly, Long Chengbi also knew that there was someone who went by the name of Cat Shell. Not just Long Chengbi, but Sima Xue and Tang Zhuquan knew as well. But in the jianghu, no one had ever heard of Cat Shell. Or at least very few had, such as Water Cat, Miao Jiutian, etc. Just what kind of person was Cat Shell? Before Sha Bu¡¯e¡¯s nine killers had died, had they seen Cat Shell, and had they really died at Cat Shell¡¯s hands? ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Tang Zhuquan gently set down his large wine jug and sighed. ¡°Cat Shell comes and goes like a ghost. Aside from Water Cat, it would be difficult for anyone to find him.¡± Long Chengbi gave a leisurely smile. ¡°Good thing I¡¯m not trying to find him. Anyway, that¡¯s their family matters.¡± Tang Zhuquan frowned. He suddenly heaved a long sigh. ¡°Of the Tang Sect of Shu, the only one your old man admires is Cat Shell!¡± Cat Shell was from the Tang Sect of Shu!1 Sima Xue suddenly smiled faintly. ¡°Recently my business hasn¡¯t been doing so well, People looking for a killer seem not to be much interested in me.¡± Tang Zhuquan was taken aback. ¡°You¡¯re the world¡¯s number one killer, how can you have no business?¡± Sima Xue didn¡¯t answer, because Long Chengbi answered for him first, ¡°Because he¡¯s too expensive, a lot of people can¡¯t afford him.¡± Tang Zhuquan said, ¡°Your old man remembers you once had it out with an old fiend for just ten taels of fine silver, why are you all of a sudden changing the price willy-nilly? Now every life is worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.¡± Long Chengbi laughed. ¡°You¡¯re wrong to blame him.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Besides raising the price a little, the main thing is there¡¯s no worthy targets. Take two months ago, the Evil Gentleman of North Lu wanted to hire Sima Xue to kill an old hero who¡¯d already retired from the jianghu. How could he accept that kind of job?¡± Tang Zhuquan. The Evil Gentleman is not an easy customer to get along with. Are you afraid of trouble by refusing him?¡± Long Chengbi said, ¡°The one looking for trouble isn¡¯t Sima Xue, but the Evil Gentleman.¡± Sima Xue sneered, ¡°The Evil Gentleman pressed me three times to go kill that old hero. My response was to offer him my sword into his throat.¡± Tang Zhuquan clapped his hands and laughed. ¡°That¡¯s a good stab!¡± His laugh suddenly cut off, then he asked seriously, ¡°Are you here in Safe & Sound Valley on business?¡± Sima Xue shook his head. Tang Zhuquan said, ¡°You didn¡¯t accept a job?¡± Sima Xue shook his head again and said plainly, ¡°It¡¯s not that I haven¡¯t accepted a job, I shook my head to say that this is no longer Safe & Sound Valley. It¡¯s now called Evil Valley.¡± Tang Zhuquan was at a loss. Long Chengbi smiled casually. ¡°Evil Valley is where evil people assemble. There will be no lack of people who ought to be killed here.¡± Tang Zhuquan said, ¡°You mean he¡¯s prepared to kill for free?¡± Sima Xue shook his head a third time. He said, ¡°The one who wants me to kill for him is very wealthy.¡± Tang Zhuquan put his head in his hands and nodded over and over. Long Chengbi stared at Tang Zhuquan¡¯s fleshy face. ¡°What are you nodding like that for?¡± Tang Zhuquan said, ¡°Your old man understands something.¡± ¡°Understands what?¡± ¡°Sima Xue sometimes will kill for free or just lower the price in order to help someone deal with a particularly difficult devil, but the wealthy are definitely an exception.¡± Sima Xue smiled indifferently. ¡°When wealthy people hire killers they generally don¡¯t haggle over the price. The most important thing is if you can do it cleanly and quickly and properly.¡± Tang Zhuquan said, ¡°Who¡¯s the target you have to kill this time?¡± Sima Xue said, ¡°That¡¯s a secret.¡± Tang Zhuquan said, ¡°Your old man doesn¡¯t blame you. Those in your line of work naturally have rules to follow.¡± Sima Xue said, ¡°But I can tell you this secret.¡± Tang Zhuquan said, ¡°Why?¡± Sima Xue said, ¡°Because the power and influence of the person I have to deal with is really immense. I¡¯m gonna need a few helpers.¡± Tang Zhuquan said, ¡°Even if you didn¡¯t tell me, your old man knows who it is who hired you, and also who it is you have to deal with.¡± Sima Xue¡¯s were half-open as he said slowly, ¡°He¡¯s Tang Jian.¡± (2) In the jianghu, if someone were to mention the name Tang Jian, there are not very many people who would know who that is. But if you change ¡°Jian¡± (arrow) to ¡°Sixth Lordson¡±, then you could easily scare the less courageous people to death.¡± Tang Jian was Six Lordson Tang, one of the Three Great Poison Kings of the Tang Sect of Shu! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á The Tang Sect of Shu was an illustrious major school among the jianghu. But this sect¡¯s reputation was not at all good. In the jianghu, people treated this major clan-style sect with ¡°fear¡± and not ¡°respect¡±. There were quite a few sects and gangs in the world that were famous for their use of poisons. In the past 200 years especially there had been more and more masters adept at using poisonous hidden weapons and poisons. This was not something worth congratulating. The character of many in the jianghu was becoming more and more sinister, their methods for killing more and more diabolic. Tang Jian did not have a very good reputation in the jianghu. At least part of the reason for that was because he belonged to the Tang Sect of Shu, and was even one of the Three Great Poison Kings. The Three Great Poison Kings of the Tang Sect of Shu were the three most capable users of poisons. Tang Jian¡¯s specialty was arrows. These were sleeve arrows, the arrowheads dipped in a rare poison, extremely deadly. But this wasn¡¯t what Tang Jian was best at. But he was best at was furtively, surreptitiously getting poison into other people¡¯s bodies undetected. When it came to poisoning ability, Tang Jian was without a doubt unrivaled in the martial world. The better one was at poisoning, the more people kept a respectful distance. Therefore, Tang Jian didn¡¯t have many friends. Even even the friends he did have he couldn¡¯t fully trust. Sima Xue could be considered his friend. They had drank a few cups of wine together before. Sima Xue wasn¡¯t worried about Tang Jian slipping poison into his wine. He knew that even though Sixth Lordson Tang was a master poisoner, he would never just randomly poison his friends. Sima Xue and Tang Jian weren¡¯t very close, but it was true that Tang Jian took to Sima Xue at once. Tang Jian wasn¡¯t mistaken in choosing his friend. Sima Xue also hadn¡¯t misjudged Tang Jian. Now, Sima Xue had taken a job, and his employer was Tang Jian! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Who did Tang Jian want Sima Xue to kill? Tang Zhuquan didn¡¯t have to guess anymore. He knew that this evening a lot of shocking things were going to happen. Shocking things did indeed happen. Besides Flower Blossom Loft, something even more hair-raisingly terrifying happened at Biling¡¯s place. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Biling was ¡°sick¡±. Anyone who swallowed the ¡°Departing Elixir¡± would surely fall ill. Within ten days if an antidote was not administered, the person¡¯s illness would never have any hope of a cure. Boss Sha¡¯s goal in forcing Biling to take the ¡°Departing Elixir¡± was not to take her life. If he wanted to kill her there were at least 30 or more ways he could do it. Of these 30 or more ways, the most brutal and quickest method of killing could make the corpse turn into a puff of white smoke in an instant. But Boss Sha didn¡¯t adopt these methods. He adopted an ¡°irritatingly slow method of killing¡± and forcing her to take the ¡°Departing Elixir¡± was the best method. His chief aim wasn¡¯t to kill Biling, but to use her as bait. He wanted to catch Water Cat alive. And if he couldn¡¯t catch him alive, he at least ought to be able to tear his body to pieces. Boss Sha¡¯s calculations were accurate. He knew that once Water Cat knew that Biling had taken the Departing Elixir, he would for sure find her the antidote. it seemed that Boss Sha had a very jealous heart. He liked Biling, but morning and night Biling yearned for another man, giving rise to Boss Sha¡¯s murderous intentions¡­ That¡¯s what it all looked like on the surface. But in fact this was not quite so. Because Boss Sha had long since ferreted out Water Cat¡¯s true identity. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Who was Water Cat? And who was Cat Shell? Actually, neither Water Cat nor Cat Shell were ¡°cats¡±. They were ¡°tigers¡±. The Tang Sect of Shu had two ¡°ferocious tigers¡±. One of these two ¡°ferocious tigers¡± was younger, but his jianghu experience was well beyond his years. He was Tang Jian, the Sixth Lordson of the Tang Sect of Shu. Sixth Lordson Tang¡¯s alias was South Sea Apsara Tiger. Though he was born in Shu and grew up in Shu, from the ages of 21 to 25 he was among the islands of the South Sea, doing a number of eyebrow-raising things. At least eight groups of roving bandits on the sea during these years were quietly eliminated by Tang Jian. Sometimes Tang Jian didn¡¯t use poison at all, relying only on his martial arts to smash open their bandit heads. But sometimes he used all manner of rare, strange poisons to cleanly kill all the bandits in one night. Why was Tang Jian taking out these bandits? No one knew. But Boss Sha was clear on the whole story. Because these eight groups of bandits just so happened to all have thrown in under the banner of the same mysterious organization. The power of this mysterious organization was immense, but very few people knew who its leader was. Boss Sha of course knew, because he was a member of this mysterious organization, and in fact he held a high rank in the organization and had direct contact with the head chief. This mysterious organization had the same name as Evil Valley. The Evil Sect! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Evil! With the two words Evil Sect you could well imagine what kind of perverse organization it was. Those with a slight sense of justice would never like the word Evil. But for the chief of this organization to disregard universal condemnation in selecting ¡°Evil¡± for his sect¡¯s name, you can well imagine what kind of wicked person he must be. Who was the head of the Evil Sect? Why was Tang Jian set against this organization, the Evil Sect? ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Tang Jian was Water Cat. But who was Cat Shell? Was Cat Shell in Evil Valley? Yes. Cat Shell was already in Evil Valley, and he was right outside Biling¡¯s chamber door. (3) Water Cat wasn¡¯t a cat but a tiger. And Cat Shell? He of course was also a ferocious tiger, and had enjoyed tremendous fame among the jianghu long before South Sea Apsara Tiger Sixth Lordson Tang was even born. He was also a member of the Tang Sect of Shu, and has status was even greater than Sixth Lordson Tang¡¯s. In his youth he was called Lil Poison Tiger. When he was all grown up, Lil Poison Tiger had become Big Poison Tiger. And now? Now he was 72 and had of course become Old Poison Tiger. But Old Poison Tiger didn¡¯t like the sound of the three words Old Poison Tiger, so he gave himself a different nickname. He called himself the Tiger Stripe Heavenly King. He had a Tiger Stripe Sabre which he had sent someone to the capital with a huge sum of money to hire the master sword forger Zhang Zhifeng to make. It had taken 15 years to forge and refine it into a sharp weapon. Though he was a ¡°poison tiger¡±, his Tiger Stripe Sabre was not dipped in poison. The Tiger Stripe Heavenly King was currently one of the Three Great Elders of the Tang Sect of Shu. His seniority surpassed that of even the sovereign of the present-day Tang Sect, Tang Baixiao. Tang Baixiao was the 31st head of the Tang Sect, and the youngest leader of the Tang Sect in its history. The Tang Sect was a huge clan with mostly brothers and uncles, so naturally there would be some jostling for position. After Tang Baixiao became the 31st head of the Tang Sect, the biggest difficulty he faced wasn¡¯t from the outside world, but from within the Tang Sect clan. He was caught up in a number of disputes and quarrels. The Tiger Stripe Heavenly King was Tang Baixiao¡¯s paternal junior cousin, named Tang Yu. When Tang Yu was a boy someone mockingly called him ¡°Tang Yu¡± (pond fish). Tang Yu was only eight years old then. But at eight years old, Tang Yu committed the first killing of his life. The one who mocked him was an armed escort of the Green Grove Escort Agency of Hebei. Though he was an armed escort, in fact he was a scoundrel. It was his habit to mock others. He knew that the Tang Sect of Shu was not to be trifled with, but he saw how young Tang Yu was and didn¡¯t worry about him. But this armed escort was mistaken. Tang Yu was pale and pudgy back then, beloved by all, but he didn¡¯t like this armed escort at all. Tang Yu had traveled with his father Tang Zheng to Hubei to attend a banquet. After the banquet was over, Tang Yu suddenly went up to the armed escort and whispered, ¡°Big Sis wants you to go to the woodshed in the rear garden and wait for her.¡± The armed escort beamed in delight when he heard that. Turns out that besides Tang Yu and his father, Tang Juese also went with them to the banquet. Tang Juese was Tang Yu¡¯s only elder sister. She was a natural beauty. This armed escort was sex-crazed and had surprisingly been making eyes at Tang Juese all night. You could call that extremely reckless. Tang Yu¡¯s father noticed it, but because it was his old friend¡¯s wedding reception, he pretended not to notice. But Tang Yu saw it clearer than anyone. The armed escort went to the woodshed in the rear garden in high spirits. He thought Tang Juese really had arranged to meet him here. He was wrong. Tang Juese had no idea about any of this. As soon as the armed escort entered the woodshed, his back suddenly felt numb. His acupoint had been struck. He never dreamed that the one who struck his acupoint was none other than they eight-year-old ¡°Pond Fish¡±. Even though Tang Yu was young, his acupoint striking skill was quite good. Now he gave a small demonstration of his skill and it worked like a charm, delighting him to no end. When the armed escort saw that the one who had struck his acupoint was actually young little boy whose breath still smelled of breast milk, he was exploding with rage. He still didn¡¯t know that he was facing imminent catastrophe but still violently threatened Tang Yu. He said, ¡°If you don¡¯t unseal my acupoint, I¡¯ll wring your neck!¡± Tang Yu calmly stated flatly, ¡°Instead of getting strangled by you, I¡¯d rather poison you to death. That¡¯d be much safer.¡± He slowly took out a poisoned needle and waved it in front of the armed escort¡¯s face a few times. The armed escort was scared stiff. This poisoned needle wasn¡¯t one of the Tang Sect of Shu¡¯s hidden weapons, but was the armed escort¡¯s own personally concocted Five Poisons Needle. After Tang Yu had struck his acupoint, he had used his quick hands to snatch a few poisoned needles off the armed escort. Tang Yu was young, but his acupoint striking and pilfering skills were brilliant, and this was far outside the armed escort¡¯s expectations. Tang Yu waved the Five Poisons Needle in front of the armed escort a few times, then lightly pricked the back of his the armed escort¡¯s hand. The armed escort¡¯s face paled. Tang Yu smiled faintly, and pointedly opened the woodshed¡¯s wooden door, then closed it behind him and went to join Tang Zheng and his big sister in the horse carriage that that took back to Shu. The armed escort was an inveterate wrongdoer, but he never imagined his death would come at the hand of a little eight-year-old child. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á That was Tang Yu¡¯s first kill. Even though that was decades ago, Tang Yu still remembered it clearly. During the subsequent decades he killed countless people, especially during his prime adult years. But he comforted himself with the knowledge that he never killed innocents, even though his killing methods were extremely diabolic. In the Tang Sect, he was a person with a strong sense of righteousness and justice. But not everyone in the Tang Sect was this way. Tang Yu¡¯s chivalrous acts were not supported by all within the Tang Sect. In the Tang Sect, Tang Yu had quite a few supporters, but he also had quite a few detractors. Among those especially was Tang Zhi. He disliked Tang Yu the most. He believed that Tang Yu was plotting to seize power, wanting to create a new force within the Tang Sect. Tang Zhi was younger than Tang Yu, but he was now already 70. Tang Yu had always been opposed and looked down on by Tang Zhi because Tang Yu¡¯s original surname was not Tang. In the Tang Sect, he was Tang Zhi¡¯s paternal cousin. But Tang Yu was originally an orphan. He had been adopted by Tang Zheng and had become a member of the Tang Sect. tang Zhi¡¯s father, Tang Xi, did not get along with Tang Zheng. When it came down to Tang Zhi and Tang Yu¡¯s generation, the conflict was even more incisive. Time and time again Tang Zhi provoked Tang Yu, but Tang Yu took it and didn¡¯t react. This was the Tang Sect of Shu¡¯s crisis. Tang Zhi accused Tang Yu of having a treasonous heart, and he started a rumor that Tang Yu had planted his own flag on the outside on the sly and was attempting to establish his own hegemony. This was no small crime. But the head of the Tang Sect, Tang Baixiao, was not stupid. He knew full well what was going on. Even though Tang Zhi¡¯s power and influence within the Tang Sect was immense, Tang Baixiao didn¡¯t play up to him, but on the contrary, he did all he could to inhibit Tang Zhi¡¯s misbehavior in and outside of the clan. A heaven-and-earth shaking storm was forming in the Tang Sect of Shu. This would be the darkest period in the Tang Sects many centuries of history¡­ CH 4 Chapter 4 The Twelve Uglies of the Central Plains (1) There was a small pond in front of Biling¡¯s place. The pond water in the dark looked like ink. Tang Yu didn¡¯t like writing, and he didn¡¯t like ink. And so he didn¡¯t like seeing this pitch-black as ink pond in the dark. Actually, even though the pond was small, its water was incredibly clear and beautiful. Tang Yu stood at the edge of the pond and saw a tealgowned person sitting on the opposite end of the pond. He was sitting there quietly by the water¡¯s edge, seemingly asleep. But Tang Yu could see that his eyes weren¡¯t completely closed, and his right hand rested on a sword hilt. By his posture, he seemed ready to kill at any time, or that someone could be coming to kill him at any time. Who was this person? Why was he sitting outside Biling¡¯s bedchamber? Could he be one of Boss Sha¡¯s men sent to keep an eye on Biling? Tang Yu quickly dismissed that theory. Sha Bu¡¯e¡¯s men would never be someone like this, and this person was by no means an ordinary swordsman. (2) Tang Yu couldn¡¯t resist walking up to him. The first thing he said to the tealgowned man was, ¡°Are you hear to keep an eye on Biling or to protect her?¡± The tealgowned man sighed and said slowly, ¡°Sir, your nose doesn¡¯t seem to be working. Do you not smell that pungent stench?¡± Tang Yu laughed. ¡°This old fellow¡¯s nose might not be as acute as a dog¡¯s, but it has smelled the reek of blood.¡± ¡°Yep, that¡¯s the smell that human blood gives off.¡± ¡°be it human blood, dog blood or pig blood, the smell is pretty much the same.¡± ¡°Nope!¡± The tealgowned man said coldly, ¡°Human blood stinks worse than dog or pig blood.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Tang Yu smiled faintly. ¡°Why does Your Excellency say that?¡± The tealgowned man said coldly, ¡°I¡¯m not willing to expound on that. Anyway, Biling¡¯s room has already become a place strewn with dead bodies.¡± Tang Yu sighed. ¡°Was it your work?¡± The tealgowned man said, ¡°There were twelve of them altogether. I investigated it earlier. All twelve of them are arch villains who eat people up bones and all.¡± Tang Yu said, ¡°You know who they are?¡± The tealgowned man said, ¡°They are the Twelve Uglies of the Central Plains, masterhands of the dark path recruited by Sha Bu¡¯e two years ago.¡± The Twelve Uglies of the Central Plains?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Tang Yu looked uncertain. ¡°With Your Excellency¡¯s sword in hand, you could manage to kill all twelve of them?¡± ¡°No.¡± The tealgowned man suddenly stood up slowly. ¡°My swordplay could take on the twelve of them, but to kill them all at once, I¡¯m powerless to do that.¡± Tang Yu¡¯s eyes flashed cold. ¡°In that case, Your Excellency must have had some helpers?¡± The tealgowned man nodded. Tang Yu asked, ¡°Who were they?¡± The tealgowned man said, ¡°Not that, it was just one person.¡± With that he reached out and pointed over to the woods off to the left. An old man in a gray robe strolled out from the woods. The graygowned old man had a pinewood red-tasseled spear in his hand. The spear shaft was straight, and the graygowned old man¡¯s back was as straight as the spear shaft. Tang Yu¡¯s eyes lit up and he blurted out, ¡°Old Tang of Hangzhou?¡± The graygowned old man laughed and said in a clear voice, ¡°Tang Yu, you haven¡¯t forgotten me!¡± The graygowned old man was none other than Old Tang, the old patriarch of the Hangzhou Tang family. Tang Yu hadn¡¯t forgotten Old Tang. They were not only distant cousins, in their younger days they had roamed the jianghu together and done a number of earth-shaking, eyebrow-raising things. Now they were together again. Though they were meeting in the dark, daybreak would soon be upon them¡­ CH 5 Immortal Among Ghosts (1) The darkest hour past and in the east it was beginning to be suffused with a fishbelly white. Tang Yu looked at the tealgowned man for a long time before saying, ¡°If this old fellow is not mistaken, Your Excellency must be Wei Kongkong.¡± The tealgowned man revealed a faint smile. ¡°I am indeed Wei Kongkong.¡± Tang Yu nodded. ¡°Good! A young hero sure enough, terrific.¡± Wei Kongkong said, ¡°Senior flatters me.¡± Tan Yu said, ¡°This is Evil Valley, and an important place for the Evil Sect. Anyone who thinks about coming here to cause trouble had must have a lot of guts and be willing to brave unpredictable dangers.¡± Wei Kongkong said, ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of danger. A newborn calf is usually this way.¡± A newborn calf?¡± Yang Yu laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t be so modest, this old fellow might be meeting you for the first time, but I have heard of your deeds throughout the jianghu.¡± Old Tang dry coughed. ¡°To tell the truth, this old fellow used to not have a very good impression of him, but recently I have changed my view considerably.¡± Tang Yu said, ¡°Wei Kongkong of course is the chivalrous Great Head Chopping Xia, how could you be prejudiced against him?¡± Old Tang coughed again but didn¡¯t answer. Tang Yu said, ¡°Tang Jian and Sha Bu¡¯e and his bunch of bastards have made a real mess of things in Flower Blossom Loft.¡± Old Tang said, ¡°What do you think his chances are?¡± Tang Yu said, ¡°Not good.¡± Old Tang¡¯s complexion changed slightly. ¡°Since you know his chances aren¡¯t good, what are you standing there for?¡± Tang Yu smiled faintly. ¡°Even though Tang Jian¡¯s chances aren¡¯t good, that¡¯s if he¡¯s fighting the battle alone.¡± Old Tang said, ¡°You mean he has helpers?¡± Tang Yu said, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Your son, and the the King of Assassins Sima Xue.¡± Old Tang frowned. ¡°Just those three are probably not enough to be sure of victory.¡± Tang Yu smile again and said slowly, ¡°Besides them, there¡¯s also that person you really dislike helping them as well.¡± Old Tang was taken aback. But he was already pretty sure who it was, he just didn¡¯t say. His guess was correct. There was one who he always felt was really unreliable, the Snowblade Vagabond Long Chengbi. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Biling was still in her room. Even though the Twelve Uglies of the Central Plains who had been ¡°protecting¡± her were now the Twelve Corpses, she still hadn¡¯t left this room strewn with dead bodies. She was waiting for someone. The one called ¡°Water Cat!¡± (2) The Flower Blossom Loft battle was incredibly violent. Tang Jian and Miao Jiutian were beset by peril on all sides by Boss Sha¡¯s men. But just at their most perilous moment, Sima Xue¡¯s Righteous Blood sword first took out two purple-garbed warriors close to Miao Jiutian quick as lightning. If Sima Xue had gotten there one step later, Miao Jiutian would probably have been turned into mincemeat by their blades. Righteous Blood shined and Boss Sha¡¯s expression turned ugly. He¡¯d seen Sima Xue before, and he¡¯d seen Righteous Blood. And he¡¯d also seen Sima Xue¡¯s swordplay. Once Sima Xue got into the fray, he immediately ordered Dugu Yi to go take care of the King of Assassins. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á No matter how you looked at it, Dugu Yi was an old cripple. He was called ¡°Incomplete All-over¡± and that looked to be completely true. There was probably not another freakish monster like him in all the jianghu. But Sima Xue didn¡¯t underestimate this monster. Dugu Yi still had a left arm and a right leg. His gait of course was really not a pretty sight. But even if his gait were ten times uglier, no one would dare slight his ability to kill/ Even though he only had one eye, that eye blazed with a radiant gleam, enough to collapse the nerve of the most strongwilled person. He¡¯d learned the Spellbound Dharma, and though he had not thoroughly perfected it, he had reached a stage where he could mess with one¡¯s mind. But his eye wasn¡¯t putting his Spellbound Dharma on Sima Xue today. Some people thought the Spellbound Dharma relied only on the eyes, but those people were entirely mistaken. Dugu Yi didn¡¯t use his Spellbound Dharma on Sima Xue because he knew that it wouldn¡¯t likely have much effect. If the Spellbound Dharma was enough to subdue Sima Xue, then he would have died a long time ago. Dugu Yi didn¡¯t underestimate Sima Xue, just like Sima Xue didn¡¯t underestimate him. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Dugu Yi¡¯s gait might not look good, but his speed surprised even Sima Xue. Sima Xue quickly backtracked three spans. Dugu Yi cackled, ¡°King of Assassins, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re afraid of this old cripple?¡± Sima Xue shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of you, I¡¯m afraid of Righteous Blood in my hand.¡± Dugu Yi sneered, ¡°You¡¯re afraid Righteous Blood will cut off this old fellow¡¯s head?¡± Sima Xue said, ¡°I¡¯m not Wei Kongkong, my sword rarely cuts people¡¯s heads off, but if it should divest you of your one remaining leg, that wouldn¡¯t be too good.¡± Dugu Yi said coldly, ¡°I hear your Venomous Snake Swordplay is pretty good?¡± Sima Xue said, ¡°The Venomous Snake Swordplay is indeed pretty good, but I use many different styles of swordplay to kill people. I don¡¯t necessarily use only the Venomous Snake Swordplay.¡± Dugu Yi said, ¡°Hmph! Whether you use the Venomous Snake Swordplay or not, Your Excellency¡¯s venomous character is not hard to imagine.¡± Sima Xue said, ¡°Oh! What¡¯s venomous about me?¡± Dugu Yi said, ¡°This old fellow heard that you and Sixth Lordson Tang are good friends.¡± Sima Xue said, ¡°So what if we are?¡± Dugu Yi sneered, ¡°The saying is true, like attracts like. Sixth Lordson Tang is a venomous person who is good at using rare poisons, so a friend of someone like that must be like a snake and a rat living in the same den.¡± Tang Jian and Sima Xue looked at each other. Sima Xue said plainly, ¡°People who spit blood on others have red collars themselves. Mr. Dugu Yi must have attained the highest realm of the Dao.¡± Dugu Yi said coldly, ¡°It¡¯s not spitting blood, it¡¯s a fact.¡± Sima Xue was silent. Tang Jian also said nothing. Just then there was a pause in the purple-garbed warriors¡¯ offensive, but the atmosphere was tense and pointed. Everyone could feel the murderous aura pressing in close, enveloping the entire room. Boss Sha was still seated in the east of the main hall. To his left, the old man, skinny as a bamboo pole, wearing a long, widesleeved gown, had the same expression as before, that of a block of wood. He was by no means a block of wood. A block of wood would never give off such a relentless murderous aura. But his hands looked like they could kill everyone in the world at any time, including himself. Even though the atmosphere in the main hall was tense, this widesleeved thin old man seemed not to notice. Who was he? Sima Xue didn¡¯t know, and neither did Tang Jian. Not even Miao Jiutian recognized the thin old man and had never seen him before. But Long Chengbi, who had come with Sima Xue to Flower Blossom Loft, recognized the thin old man. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Long Chengbi and Sima Xue had come to Flower Blossom Loft together. In addition to Long Chengbi, Tang Zhuquan came strolling in as well, carrying his large wine jug with him. Actually, saying he strolled in is not right. Even though he was calm and unhurried, and simply languid, his steps were not a bit slower than Long Chengbi¡¯s or Sima Xue¡¯s. Tang Zhuquan saw the two people seated in the eastern part of the main hall and he recognized one of them at once, Evil Valley¡¯s Boss Sha. But who was the other thin old man? Tang Zhuquan immediately asked Long Chengbi, ¡°Who¡¯s that old guy beside Sha Bu¡¯e?¡± Long Chengbi said, ¡°He¡¯s Du Duo.¡± ¡°Du Duo?¡± Tang Zhuquan¡¯s eyes widened to double their original size. ¡°The not like an immortal, not like a ghost, but also like an immortal and like a ghost, the Immortal Among Ghosts Du Duo?¡± Tang Zhuquan¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t loud, but the thin old man seemed to hear him clearly. He suddenly cast a cold eye on Long Chengbi and Tang Zhuquan. ¡°I am indeed the Immortal Among Ghosts Du Duo.¡± Tang Zhuquan chuckled. ¡°Your old man heard that you died 15 years ago in the Qilian Mountains.¡± Du Duo laughed coldly. ¡°The Six Greats of Qilian did master the Six Harmonies Golden Sabre Formation, but catching this old fellow in it is just some wishful thinking.¡± Tang Zhuquan said, ¡°In that case, the legend that you and the Six Greats of Qilian went down together is just a rumor?¡± Du Duo said, ¡°The Six Greats of Qilian are completely finished, but this old fellow is not.¡± Long Chengbi sighed faintly. ¡°Not like an immortal, not like a ghost, but like an immortal and like a ghost, Mr. Du, you must have mastered your Thirteen Sprite Sword?¡± Du Duo sneered, ¡°You all will know soon enough if this old fellow has mastered his Thirteen Sprite Sword or not.¡± As soon as the word ¡°not¡± was out of his mouth, Du Duo had already fluttered out of his chair, looking like a strange colored cloud drifting along. Whoosh. Before he arrived his sword arrived. Du Duo¡¯s sword was surprisingly gray. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Within Flower Blossom Loft, the paused battle once again resumed. Miao Jiutian was extremely skilled in setting fires, but when it came to genuine martial arts, he was not as good as Tang Jian or anyone else. But there was nothing he could do right now outside of openly betraying Boss Sha. Basically, his ¡°betrayal¡± was forced. Under the circumstances, he was in a really bad position. But he had already handed over the Lifesaving Soul Returning pills to the fake Chou Tiejun, and the fake Chou Tiejun had guaranteed him then that he would keep him safe. The fake Chou Tiejun was Water Cat, and Water Cat was Sixth Lordson Tang Jian. Tang Jian hadn¡¯t forgotten his promise. With powerful foes waiting for an opportunity to strike all around them, he was doing his best to protect Miao Jiutian¡¯s life. If not for Tang Jian¡¯s valiant effort, Miao Jiutian would have died long ago at the blades of the purple-garbed warriors. These purple-garbed warriors¡¯ sabreplay was exceedingly ferocious. Even though their martial arts wasn¡¯t the best, their courage couldn¡¯t be beat, and they attacked continuously, like an overwhelming tidal wave. But if he only relied on Tang Jian, then it would be difficult for Miao Jiutian to escape disaster because there were just too many adversaries. It would not be easy at all to kill their way out of there. Especially since there was not only the purple-garbed warriors, but also the masters Sha Bu¡¯e, Dugu Yi, and Du Duo watching hungrily from the side. But Tang Jian had confidence. Because Long Chengbi and Sima Xue were here in Evil Valley, and were in fact at Zhou Xian¡¯s place. He was convinced that Sima Xue and Long Chengbi would be here soon. Now, they finally had arrived just in time, and the eldest young master of the Hangzhou Tang family, Tang Zhuquan, had come with them. Even though the Tang Sect of Shu and the Tang family of Hangzhou rarely had contact with each other, Tang Jian had worked together once with Tang Zhuquan back when he was tearing it up in the South Sea, killing a group of pirates till their bodies littered the ground, not sparing a single one. If there was one person in the Tang family of Hangzhou worth Tang Jian¡¯s concern, it was definitely Tang Zhuquan. Likewise, the only one in the Tang Sect of Shu who Tang Zhuquan was concerned with, was probably only Sixth Lordson Tang¡ªTang Jian. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á The Tang Sect of Shu¡¯s great storm had begun and the Tang family of Hangzhou, which had rarely ever had contact with the Tang Sect of Shu, had been drawn into the midst of this terrible storm. Between these two Tang houses there was after all some relation. No matter what, Old Tang was not the kind to just watch them in danger and not step in to help. Tang Zhuquan wasn¡¯t either. Even though the Tang Sect of Shu¡¯s power and authority always remained in their own people¡¯s hands, Old Tang and his son hoped that the one to fall would not be Tang Yu, Tang Baixiao, and Tang Jian. Because they represented the side of righteousness in within the Tang Sect of Shu. If they fell, the Tang Sect would become even darker and more unimaginable than before. (3) Dugu Yi may have only had one leg and one arm, but his martial arts was made people feel it was unbelievable. Sima Xue honestly didn¡¯t want to fight him. Fighting with that kind of person was not a happy matter, because if you didn¡¯t kill him he would kill you. But facing an ¡°Incomplete All-over¡± person as his name suggested like this old cripple, Sima Xue found it a bit hard to attack. Who says killer have no feelings? Even the King of Assassins Sima Xue had his softhearted moments. Good thing that Sima Xue had a profound understanding of people like Dugu Yi. Dugu Yi seemed pitiful on the surface, but he was by no means in need of others¡¯ sympathy. If you sympathized with him, he might very well send you to your death with a strike of his palm for no reason at all. And the evil deeds he¡¯d committed among the jianghu outnumbered that done by those with all four limbs by a wide margin. Therefore, Dugu Yi would never let Sima Xue off lightly, and Sima Xue need not take pity on this treacherous, savage old cripple. Dugu Yi was never polite. When he struck it was five claw strikes through the heart. Five clawed fingers striking five times in succession, every grasp enough to gouge Sima Xue¡¯s still-beating heart out. Sima Xue dodged to the side. Dugu Yi cackled and suddenly bent his left elbow and drove it toward Sima Xue¡¯s midsection. It looked as if he had completely forgotten that his opponent was the King of Assassins Sima Xue, and had forgotten that Sima Xue¡¯s Righteous Blood sword was already drawn. A person with a clearer mind would never advance in attack like this given the circumstances. Was he so bold to be so sure that Sima Xue¡¯s Righteous Blood wouldn¡¯t be able to cut his left hand off? ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Dugu Yi was not stupid. His mind was clearer than anyone¡¯s. Of course he hadn¡¯t forgotten who Sima Xue was, and he understood full well what kind of sword Righteous Blood was. Given the circumstances, if Sima Xue slashed, it would be very dangerous. But Dugu Yi¡¯s real strike was not his elbow, but his left leg. Left leg? Wasn¡¯t he missing his left leg? Yes, his left left had been cut off at the knee, but under his left knee stump was hidden a weapon that was impossible to defend against. It was a section of knife blade half a span long that could suddenly explode out from his knee stump. Whoosh. The blade nearly sliced Sima Xue¡¯s belly open. It was an extremely insidious slash. At the same time, it was an exceedingly venomous slash, as the blade had been dipped in 18 different poisons. Anyone who was cut by this blade would certainly be off to see King Yama at once. Therefore, the left elbow thrust at Sima Xue was a feint. But the poisoned knee stump blade nearly took Sima Xue¡¯s life. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Dugu Yi really was a difficult to handle monster. But Sima Xue was very calm. He knew that facing an ¡°Incomplete All-over¡± person was much more difficult than dealing with any completely intact person. The two of them came together in an instant and as quickly separated, Dugu Yi laughing coldly all the while. They moved as nimble as fleeing rabbits, but when they were still they were like two mountains. Two completely unmoving mountains, three equally cold, unfeeling eyes facing each other. They had only exchanged a few moves but beads of sweat were already forming on their foreheads. From very swift movements in the blink of any eye became complete stillness, as if even their breathing has ceased. Normally only when masters traded blows did this rare phenomenon occur. Neither of them had won, and neither had lost. Their stillness was actually movement. What they moved was not their hands, but their eyes, even to the point of every fingerwidth of muscle on their bodies. Besides using their eyes to search for the other¡¯s weak points, they seemed to be using an invisible sense of touch to probe out which weak point was the weakest. Know oneself and know the enemy and you will win 100 battles out of 100. But knowing yourself and knowing your enemy is easier said than done! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Even though there were several purple-garbed warriors near Sima Xue and Dugu Yi, as well as Sima Xue¡¯s friends, none of them got involved. They had their own ¡°battle situations¡±. Except for one purple-garbed warrior. He craved achievement. He saw that Sima Xue standing there blankly in the middle of the main hall as if his acupoints had been struck. He was thinking that if he suddenly slashed at Sima Xue and ended him, then it would be a great, meritorious contribution. He was a very arrogant bladesman. Of the 40 purple-garbed warriors, he¡¯d always considered his sabreplay to be the best. He had always wanted a chance to prove it. Now, this looked like a great chance. He was a utilitarian, and loved fishing in troubled waters. Sima Xue was the King of Assassins, so this fish was by no means a small one. This purple-garbed warrior had decided to take this big fish by surprise. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Three eyes continuously searching the other¡¯s body. This was extreme stillness after extreme activity. At the same time, it was the harbinger of the next wave of extreme activity. Even though all around them it was pandemonium, like 900 crabs fighting each other, they seemed detached from it, not the least bit affected by the goings on of the outside world. The ever-still Dugu Yi suddenly nodded his head slightly, and his only eye showed a gleam of admiration. This person was as wicked as could be, yet he was a master. Heroes recognize heroes. Dugu Yi began to admire Sima Xue a bit. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Admiration, for others, was a peaceful thing. But for Dugu Yi, ¡°admiration¡± was a bit different. He felt admiration for them, but actually, in his heart he did not want to admit it. The more he admired someone, with very few exceptions, the more he usually longed to get rid of this admiration. Dugu Yi¡¯s thinking was a bit strange. He believed that rather than admire someone else, why not simply admire himself? So long as he could get rid of this admiration he felt for someone else, he could present that admiration to himself. This was a very mysterious, strange, and extremely perverse way of thinking. You couldn¡¯t totally call it jealousy, but it did have some jealousy to it. People in general wouldn¡¯t think this way. It was an intolerable way of thinking. But Dugu Yi was that kind of person. His gaze became more and more dark and calculating. And a look of pride suddenly emerged on Sima Xue¡¯s face. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á The saying is true that ¡°A cocksure army is doomed to defeat.¡± Was Sima Xue really suddenly looking cocksure?¡± No! He was not at all an arrogant person. Sometimes he was wild, but that wasn¡¯t the same thing as arrogant. Right now he was using the strategy of luring the enemy into an ambush. But Dugu Yi was an old fox himself and didn¡¯t fall for it. He wouldn¡¯t change his battle strategy because of any of his enemy¡¯s poses, just like a master of weiqi would never seek to devour his opponent¡¯s stones and thereby fall into a trap. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Sima Xue failed to make Dugu Yi fall for it, but the merit-seeking purple-garbed bladesman thought this was an extremely rare opportunity. He always thought he was good at seizing opportunities. A person who was good at seizing opportunities of course shouldn¡¯t let a good opportunity pass him by. Therefore, he no longer hesitated but stabbed at Sima Xue¡¯s back. His sabre thrust was ferocious. It looked as if Sima Xue¡¯s back would soon be run through with a big hole in it. But Sima Xue was still like a block of wood, not even his sleeve rustled. The purple-garbed warrior was secretly delighted. His thrust was quick, but just as the point of his sabre was about to pierce Sima Xue¡¯s clothes, the purple-garbed warrior¡¯s blade suddenly went clang and broke. The broken piece of blade shot like an arrow up into the roofbeam. The blade lodged into the wooden roof beam with a whung. And the purple-garbed warrior also shot like an arrow. Not upward, but backward, staggering back eight staves! Eight staves was not a short distance. The purple-garbed warrior really did stagger back eight staves, and once he came to a stop he pitched over at once onto his back. Dugu Yi¡¯s eye gleamed. He saw a sabre, a sabre he would never forget as long as he lived! CH 6 Sima Xue¡¯s Sword Goads Sha Bu¡¯e (1) From the heavens above to the earth below, there were definitely not many who could pull off such an amazing sabre slash given the current circumstances. From the heavens above to the earth below, there were very few whose sabre could make Dugu Yi¡¯s heart pound like that. It was Long Chengbi¡¯s Eight Dragons Sabreplay and the sabre given to him by Old Blizzard, the Blizzard Blade. Ancient bronzecolored hilt grasped in Long Chengbi¡¯s hand. He seemed to be gripping the hilt tightly, yet at the same time he seemed to pay it no mind at all, just casually holding it in his hand, then casually waving it out in a slash. But this sabre slash suppressed all the lamplight in Flower Blossom Loft. Sima Xue was still as before, as if he had no intention of striking at all. But suddenly, a blade snowwhite as silver hidden in its scabbard became a red awn of light arcing, and in one strike was at Dugu Yi¡¯s throat. An incredibly ruthless sword sword strike! Once struck, one move turned at once to five patterns. Swish! Swish swish swish swish! Dugu Yi¡¯s face suddenly became woodenly expressionless. He didn¡¯t parry, and he didn¡¯t counter, he just used his lightness skill and darted to the left and evaded to the right. For all his only having one leg, his lightness skill was unimaginably fast. Sima Xue¡¯s five patterned swordplay missed one after the other. Like a strange bird Dugu Yi suddenly circled around an pounced on Sima Xue from behind. His lone hand swiftly shot out like an arrow, in his hand an ox-tendon rope. This rope whooshed, whipping around toward Sima Xue¡¯s neck. Sima Xue brought his sword back and cut. Sword and rope clashed and the incredibly sharp Righteous Blood was unable to cut the rope in two. Dugu Yi¡¯s wrist was strong. He pulled back and the rope brought Sima Xue and his sword back with it. This was a close quarters battle. Sima Xue¡¯s reaction was not at all shabby. Dugu Yi¡¯s move was outstanding and strange, but the King of Assassins after all was the King of Assassins, the speed with which he adapted was faster than any ordinary man of the martial world could match. In that split second, his left hand put to use his consummate ¡°Finger Shadow Sword¡± technique. The Finger Shadow Sword was a finger technique, but also a sword technique. His finger acted as a sword. At the same time, Dugu Yi¡¯s ¡°Flower Up the Sleeve¡± hidden weapon skill launched swiftly at Sima Xue¡¯s chest. This moment for them would decide their life or death. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Dugu Yi had been diligently practicing his Flower Up the Sleeve hidden weapon skill for no less than 30 years. Those thirty years of practice were not spent in vain, especially at such short distance, it was a sure thing. But Dugu Yi miscalculated one thing. Sima Xue¡¯s sword had been tied up by his rope, and Righteous Blood could not cut the rope, but Righteous Blood was still in Sima Xue¡¯s hand, and Sima Xue definitely still have the strength to control Righteous Blood. Thirty-two very fine weapons swarmed out like plum blossoms at Sima Xue¡¯s chest. But Righteous Blood suddenly quivered like an agile snake, and the 32 unknockdownable weapons were in the blink of an eye knocked down. And at the same time Dugu Yi¡¯s face went as white as a sheet of paper. Thirty years of arduous training popping like an air bubble in his opponent¡¯s sword screen. It was simply impossible. Still, the impossible had happened. And Sima Xue¡¯s Finger Shadow Sword went thunk and lodged deep into Dugu Yi¡¯s throat. Blood spurted out. At the same time, Tang Zhuquan laughed loudly, ¡°Nice finger technique! Nice sword technique! What a King of Assassins, you fuckin¡¯ killed the shit out of him!¡± But Dugu Yi couldn¡¯t hear any of it. He could only hear the sound of his own punctured throat. He was known as ¡°Incomplete All-over.¡± Dugu Yi, who lacked an eye, an ear, and had only one arm and leg, but he could still survive, could still do evil. But with a punctured throat, he could only obediently be on his way. His way was the road the the Yellow Springs, a direct route to the Office of Hell in the Netherworld¡­ (2) Dugu Yi ¡°went on his way¡±. Boss Sha¡¯s eyes widened. He looked at his dead body, then looked at Sima Xue¡¯s sword. He wasn¡¯t frightened. He just felt angry. He suddenly shot to his feet. He looked like he wanted to swallow Sima Xue whole. But he quickly sat back down again. Sima Xue smiled coldly. ¡°Boss Sha, no need to be angry, and don¡¯t think about running away. You can¡¯t.¡± Boss Sha said coldly, ¡°We¡¯ll see if the one who can¡¯t run away is you or I!¡± As he spoke he forcefully waves his hand and the purple-garbed warriors of Flower Blossom Loft immediately swarmed on Sima Xue like ants. The purple-garbed warriors had already lost over a dozen, but the twenty or so left were seasoned, ferocious bladesmen. Besides the purple-garbed warriors, the most attention-grabbing was of course the one who was not an immortal, not a ghost, but like an immortal and like a ghost, the Immortal Among Ghosts Du Duo. Du Duo was standing in the middle of the fight, but all this time he had not made a move. Even when Long Chengbi cut down that purple-garbed warrior with his blade, he had only stood off to the side and watched, not stepping in to help. Long Chengbi wasn¡¯t all that surprised. Du Duo was never one to care about the lives of others. Not to mention one trivial purple-garbed warrior, even if a thousand purple-garbed warriors died in front of him, he would not care one bit. What he most cared about was how to kill the Snowblade Vagabond Long Chengbi with his sword. In his heart he held a secret/. This secret, not even Boss Sha knew. The head of the Evil Sect had enjoined Du Duo that if he could kill Long Chengbi, he could take over Sha Bu¡¯e¡¯s position. The head of the Evil Sect was a great ambitious cutthroat of the martial world. He was a person with vaulting ambition, and he wanted to deal with many more people besides the Snowblade Vagabond Long Chengbi. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Boss Sha didn¡¯t run. He had no need to run, and he didn¡¯t want to run. He wanted to see if Du Duo¡¯s Thirteen Sprite Sword could defeat the Snowblade Vagabond Long Chengbi. Tang Zhuquan also wanted to sit down quietly and enjoy the battle. But these purple-garbed warriors were recklessly holding him up. Tang Zhuquan¡¯s temper was not good to begin with, and now it flared up even more. ¡°Y¡¯all are a bunch of blind fools, not paying attention to who your old man is but just rushing in to your deaths!¡± Every time he cursed them another one fell to his finger. The Tang Family Five Supreme Finger Technique was just the thing to deal with these purple-garbed warriors. Till the eighth purple-garbed warrior fell to his finger, then the ninth had no courage to charge at him. But neither did he have the guts to retreat. In the Evil Sect, retreating was an unforgivable crime. Since he couldn¡¯t advance and couldn¡¯t retreat, what was he to do? In the end, he chose another opponent. He brandished his sabre at Sima Xue and attacked. But Tang Zhuquan was not to be pushed around, so how could the King of Assassins be easy to deal with? The purple-garbed warrior only now deeply regretted his greedy plan to seek profits and join as a disciple of the Evil Sect. He had been a lone bandit, normally looting, raping women, doing many such ¡°fine things¡±. But for some reason he had thrown in with the Evil Sect and become the deputy squad leader of the purple-garbed warriors. As deputy squad leader of the purple-garbed warriors, his martial arts of course ought to be pretty good. And it¡¯s true that it was pretty good. But now it was also true that he was really out of luck. Anyone who encountered Sima Xue¡¯s sword would be really out of luck. Tchh! The deputy squad leader choosing Sima Xue as an opponent was not smart at all. But even if he were a hundred times smarter, what other choice did he have given the circumstances? The tchh sound was the sound of Sima Xue¡¯s sword piercing his heart. A crisp, sharp sound. A crisp, sharp sword thrust. And so scream the purple-garbed deputy squad leader made when he fell was also crisp and sharp. Boss Sha¡¯s complexion changed again. The situation had been very favorable to him, but favorable had gradually changed to fairly unfavorable. Yet he still sat in his chair, not the least bit ready to leave it. He suddenly glanced at Tang Jian as if to say, ¡°It¡¯s still too early to say who will win!¡± Tang Jian¡¯s heart suddenly jerked. It seemed that Boss Sha still had more capital to ¡°wager¡±. But was his capital all placed on Du Duo and these purple-garbed warriors? (3) The purple-garbed warriors¡¯ martial arts was pretty good, but this time they had run into masters among masters. Add in Dugu Yi¡¯s death and their momentum had taken a big hit. The purple-garbed warriors fell one by one. Only a few of the 40 remained, and they could no longer function at all. Boss Sha¡¯s only hope rested on Du Duo¡¯s sword. But Du Duo could only deal with Long Chengbi, and even if he won, there was still Tang Zhuquan, Sima Xue, Tang Jian, and Miao Jiutian. Who was going to get rid of them? Just then, Tang Jian was approaching step by step toward Boss Sha. His pace was not quick, but he quickly was standing before Boss Sha. Boss Sha stared at him and suddenly sighed. ¡°Sixth Lordson¡¯s martial arts is pretty good, but compared to this sect¡¯s headmaster, it¡¯s far inferior.¡± Tang Jian smiled faintly. ¡°This lordson right now is not facing your headmaster, but you¡ªMr. Sha Bu¡¯e!¡± Boss Sha gave a dry cough. He still sat comfortably in his chair with no intention whatsoever of standing up and fighting. He just said coldly, ¡°If you think I¡¯m an easy person to deal with, you are sorely mistaken.¡± Tang Jian said, ¡°But how much do you know about this lordson?¡± Boss Sha asked, ¡°Your Excellency is good at poisoning.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, perhaps you¡¯ve already fallen prey to my poison.¡± Boss Sha shook his head. ¡°You need not threaten me. Sixth Lordson¡¯s poisoning ability is superb, but if you want to kill this chairperson, it won¡¯t be so easy.¡± Tang Jian frowned. ¡°Rare for you to be so confident.¡± Boss Sha said indifferently, ¡°If this chairperson wasn¡¯t even this much confident, how could I be worthy of occupying this chair¡­¡± Before he¡¯d finished, Boss Sha¡¯s chair suddenly dropped. Tang Jian¡¯s poisoned sleeve arrows shot out at the same time. Zip! Zip! Zip! Zip! Zip! Zip! Zip! Seven poisoned sleeve arrows zipped like streaming stars toward Boss Sha. But all seven missed. Boss Sha, who had been sitting in the main hall, dropped down along with his chair into the floor. Of course there was a trap door in the floor. Tang Jian didn¡¯t give chase. He didn¡¯t give chase, but an iron plate suddenly came up from below. Boss Sha¡¯s counterattack launched from underground. Tang Jian¡¯s seven arrows hadn¡¯t hit Boss Sha, but after he dropped below the floor, an iron plate sprang up and shot 70 arrows at Tang Jian! This was Boss Sha¡¯s counterattack. You give me seven arrows, I¡¯ll give you back ten times as many. ¡ªYou didn¡¯t need to hit with all seventy arrows, just one was enough. ¡ªEnough to take your ¡°cat life¡±! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Cat life! Tang Jian was Water Cat, and was also South Sea Apsara Tiger. But be he cat or tiger, those 70 arrows would not be easy to dodge. Tang Jian was skilled at using arrows, but he wasn¡¯t an arrow god. Even if he were, it¡¯d still be hard to avoid getting hit by one of them. Arrows were unfeeling. Should just one of those arrows hit the mark, Sixth Lordson Tang would immediately become Dead Lordson Tang. Tang Jian didn¡¯t want to die. As long as the Evil Sect still existed, he did not want to die. So he used a short sword to knock down all 70 arrows. To be able to knock down all 70 arrows given under these circumstances would really raise some eyebrows. But Boss Sha, who had just dropped below ground, not suddenly dashed back up. He didn¡¯t dash back up emptyhanded, but had taken an eight-span golden spear from down below with him. This golden spear was eight spans long and astonishingly powerful. But this eight-span golden spear could suddenly extend three more spans and become a strangely-shaped eleven-span spear. Zip! Such a fast spear. Tang Jian knocking 70 arrows down one after the other would get blocked up, but Boss Sha¡¯s offensive followed close behind, leaving him no time at all to catch his breath. Seventy arrows couldn¡¯t defeat Tang Jian, but the spear thrust was right on the mark. The spear tip passed through Tang Jian¡¯s right shoulder and a rain of blood sprayed out. Tang Jian took a breath and not only didn¡¯t retreat, he rather reached out with one hand and grabbed hold of Boss Sha¡¯s golden spear. Boss Sha shivered. He¡¯d wounded Tang Jian with the spear, but he never expected that after being injured, Tang Jian would still be so bold and powerful. Boss Sha shouted and tried to pull the golden spear from Tang Jian¡¯s hand. But Tang Jian¡¯s wrist was stronger than Boss Sha anticipated. Boss Sha¡¯s forehead was beginning to bead with sweat. The shaft of the golden spear had been warped by Tang Jian¡¯s wrist strength. The one straight-as-a-brush golden spear had surprisingly been warped into a bow. Boss Sha might as well just abandon the golden spear and get ready to use the strength of his palms to deal with Tang Jian. But Tang Jian¡¯s fist came faster than his palm. Boss Sha flitted left and right but could not avoid the punch. Wham! A muffled sound as Boss Sha was punched. The punch hit him square in the face and his legs started to wobble. Tang Jian shouted in rage and his short sword exploded forward. Boss Sha¡¯s expression immediately turned to astonishment. He cried out in alarm. Not even he could believe that he could let out such a terrified holler. Tang Jian was wounded, but he followed close and countered, making Boss Sha unable to parry. A heartless sword thrust ended Sha Bu¡¯e¡¯s repulsive life. Du Duo¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change, as if he didn¡¯t care one bit if Boss Sha died. Indeed he did not care. Boss Sha¡¯s death in action to him was not only not bad news, it was a good thing. Now all he had to do was get rid of the Snowblade Vagabond Long Chengbi! (4) Du Duo¡¯s face was normally ice cold and overcast, but when Boss Sha went down, he suddenly smiled. Long Chengbi was stunned. He never thought that Du Duo could look so relaxed. He said slowly, ¡°Sha Bu¡¯e is dead! Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re not the least bit sad about his death?¡± Du Duo laughed. ¡°How do you know if this old fellow is sad or not. You want this old fellow to cry out loud?¡± Long Chengbi had nothing to say to that. Du Duo¡¯s sword was drawn. The tip pointed not at Long Chengbi, but at the tip of Du Duo¡¯s own toe. But the sword¡¯s swordlight could at any time penetrate Long Chengbi¡¯s skin, or his throat. No one could slight the sword¡¯s power, not even Long Chengbi. A sword didn¡¯t intrinsically possess the word ¡°power¡±, but ¡°power¡± came from the sword wielder¡¯s hand. So long as the sword wielder had power, the sword had its own life, its own power. This was not some profound mystery but something everyone ought to understand. Du Duo stood there unflappable, but standing anywhere within five staves of him put one¡¯s entire life under the blade of his sword¡¯s control. But what Du Duo lacked was a noble spirit. He was not a righteous person and he had no righteousness, only wickedness. An out-and-out wicked person¡¯s sword in hand of course became out-and-out wicked. But Long Chengbi was the exact opposite. Though he was a vagabond, standing before Du Duo he was like a god before a demon! You mean this was a supernatural war?¡± ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Long Chengbi had no purpose for coming to Evil Valley. He wasn¡¯t after anything, had no schemes. He only knew one thing. The Tang Sect of Shu was divided. Despite the Tang Sect of Shu¡¯s bad reputation among the jianghu, Long Chengbi didn¡¯t want such a huge clan to split up over internecine strife. Because he knew that there was no lack of wicked, sinister people in the Tang Sect, there were also some Tang people who stood on the side of righteousness. Long Chengbi and the Tang Sect of Shu had never had any dealings with each other, but the Hangzhou Tang House¡¯s Tang Zhuquan was his old buddy. And the Hangzhou House of Tang¡¯s Second Miss Tang Zhujun was his sweetheart he yearned for day and night. The Tang Sect of Shu¡¯s affairs now involved the Hangzhou House of Tang. Given the circumstances, how could Long Chengbi stay out of it? But even if there weren¡¯t such complicated matters present, Long Chengbi would still take action against the Evil Sect. He was a vagabond. A specializing in dealing with jianghu scum, a defying the powerful and influential, a fearless to all dangers or hardships, an even more fearless in the face of death Snowblade Vagabond. The ¡°fine deeds¡± committed by the Evil Sect over the past two years had gotten to be a bit too much. CH 7 Chapter 7 Long Chengbi Firmly Fells Du Duo (1) Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Strike after strike, Du Duo suddenly launched his attack. Three sword thrusts, then three more. Six strikes in a row, each one set to kill, and carrying an air of wickedness. Long Chengbi laughed coldly and his sabre blasted out. He would never show weakness toward Du Duo. The sword was like a sudden downpour, the sabre was a continuous blur, the two of them soon bogged down in a fierce battle. When masters traded blows, the the majority of the moves and patterns were crisp and sharp. But it was so strange, Long Chengbi and Du Duo¡¯s battle looked like a couple of hoodlums brawling. Everyone watching would best describe it by the word ¡°chaotic.¡± Was it Du Duo¡¯s swordplay that was chaotic? Or was it Long Chengbi¡¯s sabreplay that was no up to standard? Neither! Du Duo¡¯s sword wasn¡¯t chaotic, and Long Chengbi was not at all lacking in standards. Everyone only saw that the fight was incredibly chaotic and messy, but actually it was a fierce, suddenly swift and suddenly slow battle. The two of them were inextricably locked together, neither knowing what the result of the fight would be. The Evil Sect was in a poor position, but the significance of Du Duo¡¯s battle could not be denied. No one could tell how many moves they¡¯d exchanged. Time slipped away little by little. Their fight took a full two double-hours! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á It was a very long night. And a very long battle. Sabre and sword went back and forth, not pausing for a moment. For a battle that everyone thought was chaotic to actually be able to last two double-hours was something that no one could have anticipated. Not even Long Chengbi or Du Duo had anticipated it. A well-matched contest made people watch with bated breath. It was almost light out. Just then, Du Duo suddenly let got of his sword and launched an attack. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á The gray sword shined in Long Chengbi¡¯s eyes. Long Chengbi¡¯s eyes in that split second seemed to turn gray. Du Duo¡¯s Thirteen Sprite Sword came on again and again who knows how many times. Long Chengbi¡¯s inability to defeat his opponent was because had never been sure of the flaws in his opponent¡¯s moves. Long Chengbi distinctly saw at least two moves in the Thirteen Sprite Sword that were flawed. But these flaws still did not allow him to brandish his sabre and attack them. Why not? This was Long Chengbi¡¯s shrewdness. Du Duo¡¯s Thirteen Sprite Sword altogether had thirteen moves, but up to now he had only used twelve of them. In other words, Du Duo¡¯s best move had not yet been displayed. Undoubtedly, there were flaws in his twelve moves, but behind those flaws was an incredible thirteenth Sprite Swordplay move backing them up. That swordplay move was baited steel hook, a candy-coated poison! This was Du Duo¡¯s final stake of capital. This stake could not only save his life, it could lure his enemy in to be killed. The Thirteen Sprite Sword was an extremely sinister swordplay. If Long Chengbi got the slightest bit careless, he would fall into a point of no return. Long Chengbi¡¯s sabreplay on the surface looked to be chaotic and messy, but was in fact was very rhythmic and marvelously patient, never getting reckless, causing Du Duo to lose his cool a bit. It was not an easy thing to make Du Duo lose his cool. That¡¯s how strange Long Chengbi was. Sometimes he was quite unruly, unable to bear the smallest trifles, seemingly very irritable. But sometimes he was incredibly patient, surprisingly so. When masters traded moves. awing someone with a feat of strength was a masterstroke, but gaining the advantage by countering was an even better strategy. Long Chengbi didn¡¯t underestimate Du Duo. The mastery of this not an immortal, not a ghost, but like an immortal and like a ghost Immoral Among Ghosts¡¯s swordplay was certainly no trivial matter. But Long Chengbi was not defeated by the Thirteen Sprite Sword. Du Duo finally unleashed his fiercest strike. This flying sword attack was accompanied by thirteen poisoned needles. He truly was a frightening killer. Even if Long Chengbi could dodge the sword, he might not be able to avoid the thirteen poisoned needles. And right after the sword and the thirteen needles quick as lightning came a silent, yet incredibly gentle palm strike! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Flying Sword! Poisoned Needles! Silent Palm! Du Duo put all of his skill into that move. Even Tang Zhuquan¡¯s breathing seemed to stop in that split second. Could Long Chengbi avoid this three-chain attack? ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á The sword was fast, but Blizzard Blade was definitely not slow. The strange, gray sword was knocked away by Blizzard Blade. The thirteen poisoned needles were also swept away by Long Chengbi¡¯s blade like a clay ox entering the sea, gone without a trace forever. But there was still the palm strike. It was a soft, gentle, silent, yet able to turn a stone stele to powder vicious palm strike. And the direction it was unleashed in was really unbelievably strange. But Long Chengbi¡¯s lightness skill had also reached the realm of perfection, and in the blink of an eye he disappeared before Du Duo¡¯s eyes. Du Duo was no ordinary person. Even though he couldn¡¯t see Long Chengbi, but with his sense of hearing he could hear Long Chengbi run around behind him at indescribable speed. Du Duo suddenly screamed. His palm strike was soft and gentle as could be, but his scream was even more ear-piercing than a wolf¡¯s howl. As he screamed, Du Duo suddenly unleashed a backhanded thrust with his sword. He¡¯d already lost his sword, but there was another sword hidden in his scabbard. It was a hiltless sword. Though lacking a hilt, but one end was blunt. Du Duo grasped the blunt end and used the incredibly sharp pointy end to thrust a backhanded stab at Long Chengbi¡¯s back. This move was both brilliant and strange. The name ¡°Immortal Among Ghosts¡± was well-earned. This stroke was the final move of the Thirteen Sprite Sword. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á It was a really fast thrust! The blade suddenly made a whizzing sound as layer upon layer of a screen of sword enveloped Long Chengbi¡¯s neck. Du Duo put all of his strength into this sword stroke. It was also the final strike of Du Duo¡¯s life. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á It was a drastically-changing stroke. But Blizzard Blade in Long Chengbi¡¯s hand was now wielded with the most astonishing power. Long Chengbi was using the Eight Dragons Swordplay move called ¡°Dragon Sweeps the West Wind¡±. The murderous aura in his face was awe-inspiring. After two double-hours of fierce fighting, he did not look the least bit fatigued. He exuded an invincible might, his sabre like a whirlwind or mountainous waves, swiftly sweeping up Du Duo¡¯s blade. The sword net in from Du Duo¡¯s hand suddenly slackened totally, exposing a gap. The gap didn¡¯t look very large. But it was enough for Blizzard Blade to thrust into Du Duo¡¯s heart. Bright blood shot out like a waterfall. Du Duo backed away in a panic. But even if he had backed away ten times faster it wouldn¡¯t have changed anything. ¡ªBlizzard Blade was already ruthlessly lodged in his heart. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Du Duo took ten steps back in succession. He backed almost all the way outside of Flower Blossom Loft. He raised his head and looked up. It was daybreak. It had been a really long battle. He had killed countless people in his lifetime, and now he had finally gotten what was coming to him. Long Chengbi looked at him and heaved a long sigh. ¡°The Thirteen Sprite Sword truly lived up to its reputation.¡± Du Duo gave a sad smile. ¡°Long, you have real skill. In the future , if there¡¯s an opportunity, this old fellow would like to duel with you again¡­ That last ¡°again¡± was never spoken, because his life vanished from his bleeding heart. (2) The battle of Flower Blossom Loft had really been violent. while Long Chengbi was going all out to defeat Du Duo, he did not look a bit tired. But once Du Duo fell, he truly did feel tired. Du Duo certainly had been a powerful adversary. Long Chengbi even felt that his victory was in some part luck. If Du Duo¡¯s backhand sword stroke had been a bit quicker, it was really doubtful that Long Chengbi could have defeated him. But in fat, Du Duo had exhausted his strength. He had exhausted his strength for his swordplay, and exhausted his strength for his life. He would never again have the opportunity to ¡°duel¡± with Long Chengbi. In this fight, the three masters Boss Sha, Dugu Yi, and Du Duo had all died in battle, and the Evil Sect had suffered a serious setback. It looked as if Evil Valley might revert back to Safe & Sound Valley. Yes, Evil Valley did revert back to Safe & Sound Valley. But the Evil Sect still existed. This horrible organization had always threatened the Tang Sect of Shu, and threatened the safety of the entire martial world. The Evil Sect¡¯s headmaster was Tang Zhi. Tang Zhi was already very old, but his ambition had not aged. He had never given in to Tang Yu or to Tang Baixiao. He believed that he was the the true ruler of the Tang Sect of Shu. Therefore, he conspired to defect and established the Evil Sect elsewhere. He was the bane of the Tang Sect. And the bane of the entire martial world of the Central Plains. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Tang Jian fought bravely and was wounded. But the price he paid was worth it. He had not only killed Sha Bu¡¯e, he had obtained the Lifesaving Soul Returning pills. The Lifesaving Soul Returning pills were the only medicine that could get rid of the Departing Elixir¡¯s rare poison. Biling was the woman he most loved, and he didn¡¯t want to lose her. He couldn¡¯t lose her. After Long Chengbi put Du Duo to death under his sabre, several people showed up outside Flower Blossom Loft. It was Tang Yu, Wei Kongkong, and Old Tang, the old Hangzhou patriarch. Besides these three, there was also a woman with a sickly appearance. She was Biling. Sha Bu¡¯e had forced her to take the Departing Elixir. His goal was to draw out his enemy. Now, his strategy of drawing out his enemy was a success. The enemy was here. Too bad Sha Bu¡¯e never anticipated that once his enemy arrived he would kill several top masterhands of the martial world and made the Evil Sect suffer an unprecedented ¡°catastrophe¡±. As far as the martial world was concerned, it was best if all of the Evil Sect¡¯s villains died. But now, that was more or less the case. After Biling took the Lifesaving Soul Returning pills, it was effective at once. This time, Sha Bu¡¯e had miscalculated. He never anticipated that as a consequence of drawing out the enemy he would be opening the door for the wolf to enter. The one destroyed wasn¡¯t Tang Yu and Tang Jian, but the people of Evil Valley, and himself. CH 8 Chapter 8 The Evil Sect Headmaster Leads a Group to Steal Goods (1) Although it was abnormally blazing hot outside, in the shade of the willow trees there were intermittent waves of unspeakable coolness. This was peerlessly beautiful Hangzhou. Hangzhou was not only beautiful, the locals were simple and honest, and they weren¡¯t all as obstinate like Old Tang, the Hangzhou Tang family patriarch. Old Tang maybe have been unbearably obstinate, but he was a beloved figure in Hangzhou. For decades now the Hangzhou region had been fairly peaceful. Not even petty thieves were common here, much less major bandits of the jianghu. The reason was very simple: because Old Tang detested evildoing like an enemy, and his martial arts was incredible, so what ordinary people would dare to commit a crime in Hangzhou and provoke Old Tang? Old Tang wasn¡¯t a Sixleafer. In fact, he rarely had dealings with catchquicks1. But the catchquicks were grateful to Old Tang, because so long as the old man was in Hangzhou, there would be fewer problems in Hangzhou compared to everywhere else. That¡¯s generally speaking. Were there any exceptions? Of course there were. For instance on this sweltering summer afternoon, in Hangzhou¡¯s Shady Grove, a shocking thing happened. An armed escort troop passed by this way. Responsible for transporting the goods was the Han Family Escort Agency of Suzhou. The Han Family Escort Agency could not be considered a famous escort agency, because its chief escort head, Han Xiang, was not a famous person. He had founded the Han Family Escort Agency only three years ago. Since the chief head escort was not famous, his armed escort agency naturally would not be much noticed among the general jianghu population. But sometimes one¡¯s fame and one¡¯s actual ability are two different things. The more well-known a person was, generally the more skilled he was. But there were many overrated people in the world not worth their reputations. These people only had their name, but their true ability didn¡¯t live up to it. On the contrary, there were many people who were unknown nobodies, but they could actually be called crouching tigers and hidden dragons. Han Xiang was such a person. He was 63 years old, all things considered, a fairly advanced age. Many people when they reached 63 would be planning for retirement. But Han Xiang only founded the Han Family Escort Agency after his 60th birthday. But since Han Xiang was an unknown in the jianghu, the escort agency that he founded didn¡¯t attract much notice. For the past three years, the Han Family Escort Agency¡¯s business had not been very good. But Han Xiang didn¡¯t care at all. If business was good, great, if not, fine, he still led a leisurely life. His only nickname in Suzhou was Boneshatter Claw King. But the nickname Boneshatter Claw King didn¡¯t really fit him. It was a really savage nickname, with an incredibly murderous air. But no matter how you looked at him, Han Xiang didn¡¯t seem like that kind of person. He just looked like an indecisive elderly gentleman. So Boneshatter Claw King was not a resounding nickname among the jianghu. The vast majority of the martial world didn¡¯t know what sort of person the Boneshatter Claw King Han Xiang was really was. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Strangely though, even though it was called the ¡°Han Family¡± escort agency, no one else in the entire company aside from Han Xiang was surnamed Han. The deputy escort head of the Han Family Escort Agency was a stonehearted butcher. He slaughtered cattle and sheep without batting an eye. But no one had ever seen what he was like when he killed people. Just like Han Xiang, he had no name in the jianghu. His weapon was an ordinary butcher knife, and his name was similarly ordinary: Liang Ping. How many Liang Pings were there in the world? Liang Ping didn¡¯t know, but he knew there were a lot. Because he had once killed someone named Liang Ping. These two Liang Pings were both genuine Liang Pings. The only bad thing was that although they had the same surname and the same given name, and they were both from the same village, they both also happened to like the same woman. In the end, Liang Ping killed Liang Ping, and after the murder took place, she threw herself down a well and killed herself. There were too many tragedies like this in the world. Not just too many, but too common. But was Liang Ping a common person? (This refers obviously to the still-living Liang Ping.) ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Besides Liang Ping, the Han Family Escort Agency also had four armed escorts with pretty good martial arts, as well as a dozen or so able-bodied runners. On this sweltering hot summer afternoon, the Han Family Escort Agency was passing through Hangzhou with a load of goods. What kind of goods? Besides Han Xiang and Liang Ping, no one knew. Han Xiang had come out to personally escort this delivery. The Han Family Escort Agency¡¯s business wasn¡¯t great, and Han Xiang had a lot of free time, but he still never personally accompanied a delivery. This was Han Xiang¡¯s first time out, so this delivery was obviously really important. But just how important? The escorts didn¡¯t know, and the runners sure didn¡¯t know. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Hangzhou¡¯s Shady Grove was certainly a pretty place. It was a road that was not too long and not too short, and though it was an unusually hot day, a cool breeze blew through Shady Grove that was so refreshing. Han Xiang rode a jujube-red steed, and in his left hand he held an eight-span, eight-fingerwidth long greatsabre pointed downward. If his face had been ¡°red as jujubes¡±, then he would have looked nine-tenths like Guan Yunchang. In Shady Grove, the grass was like a green carpet, and butterflies danced and bees flew. It was a very beautiful place. But just then, this beautiful place suddenly turned into a horrible, blood-reeking slaughterhouse. (2) Twelve blackclothed killers suddenly emerged from Shady Grove and blocked the way in front of the escort troop. They all wore masks. But these masks were only halfmasks. They covered the left side of their face but left the right side completely exposed. This kind of mask was not only rare, but more horrible and more strange than any other kind. Because these halfmasks were a deathly pale white. But the exposed half of their face was simply not like a human¡¯s face at all. The right side of their face had been scorched, even their eyebrows completely burned off. These twelve with the exposed half of their face scorched had twelve iron spears. Liang Ping raised his knife and roared, ¡°Outta the way!¡± The twelve strange blackclothed people didn¡¯t get ¡°outta the way¡±, but instead closed in on the escort troop. The situation couldn¡¯t be clearer: these mysterious blackclothed people were here for them. Han Xiang sighed faintly and cupped a hand over his fist. ¡°Everyone, what can I do for you?¡± The twelve blackclothed people seemed to be mute for no one answered. But the twelve spears all at once pointed at Han Xiang and closed in three more spans. Han Xiang said, ¡°If you all keep on this way, this old fellow will have to be impolite.¡± There was an angry look on his face. The twelve blackclothed people still said nothing. But not far off from an octagonal wayside gazebo there suddenly emerged an old man dressed in clothes white as snow and with a face that was as sallow as a candle. The sallowfaced old man dry coughed twice and suddenly said plainly, ¡°Chief Han, is travel-worn and weary, why is that?¡± Han Xiang didn¡¯t respond. He just kept sizing up the sallowfaced old man. After a while the old man said, ¡°An honest person doesn¡¯t lie before others. To be honest, we¡¯re here to steal goods.¡± ¡°Steal goods?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The sallowfaced old man slowly walked out from the gazebo. ¡°Set aside the goods and this old rotter can spare your lives.¡± Han Xiang¡¯s face sank. The sallowfaced old man said plainly, ¡°Chief Han, this old rotter knows this is your first time out on an escort, so I¡¯ll give you an out, don¡¯t refuse a toast only to have to drink a forfeit. If your first escort mission were to be your final one, that would be too bad.¡± Han Xiang said evenly, ¡°I was already knew you were up to no good, but I never imagined you¡¯d dare to strike here.¡± The sallowfaced old man chuckled. ¡°You know who this old rotter is?¡± Han Xiang laughed coldly. ¡°Who else but you would have his sights set on me?¡± The sallowfaced old man said coldly, ¡°You¡¯re not stupid, but founding the Han Family Escort Agency was simply uncalled-for.¡± Han Xiang said, ¡°The Han Family Escort Agency is a splinter in the Evil Sect¡¯s eye, naturally you would think it¡¯s uncalled-for.¡± The sallowfaced old man said angrily, ¡°Insolence.¡± Han Xiang¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. He sneered, ¡°Even if you managed to rob these goods, it won¡¯t do you any good.¡± The sallowfaced old man hmphed. ¡°Whether it does any good or not is this rotter¡¯s business, you don¡¯t need to worry about it.¡± Han Xiang said coldly, ¡°if you want to steal these goods you¡¯ll have to take my head off first.¡± The sallowfaced old man¡¯s expression suddenly turned dark. ¡°You think this chairperson wouldn¡¯t do it?¡± ¡°Old rotter¡± suddenly became ¡°this chairperson¡±, and the sallowfaced old man¡¯s manner also seemed to suddenly become overbearing. Who was this sallowfaced old man? Others might not be clear on that, but there was someone else in Shady Grave who was. That would be a whiteclothed man with the gold sabre on his belt. Who was he? ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á The whiteclothed man was surnamed Xu. He was one of the Three Marvelous Xia of the Martial World, as famous as Long Chengbi, Wei Kongkong, Healer Valley¡¯s Valleylord Xu Qiaozhi. Healer Valley had always been the most sacred, most mysterious place in the jianghu. No matter what kind of wound you contracted or wound sustained, as long as you were still alive, Healer Valley had a way to help you recover. In Healer Valley there were over a dozen doctors continuously researching herbs and medical techniques, and their skill in treating illnesses had already be said to have reached the realm of perfection. Why was Xu Qiaozhi in Shady Grove? The reason was simple: because he had been following the Han Family Escort Agency on this trip the whole time. The sallowfaced old man was none other than the headmaster of the Evil Sect, Tang Zhi! CH 9 Chapter 9 A Load of Worthless Goods (1) The dispute between Tang Yu and Tang Zhi had gradually expanded and had become a great crisis for the Tang Sect of Shu. Tang Yu and the old patriarch of Hangzhou, Old Tang, were not very close, but they were aligned on the same side. As for Old Tang, Tang Zhi naturally had a deep hatred for him. In order to expand his power base, over the last few years Tang Zhi had recruited many masterhands of the dark path to join his Evil Sect. His main goal was to strike at Tang Yu and Tang Baixiao. Old Tang was also one of his targets. But this matter also involved Healer Valley¡¯s Valleylord Xu Qiaozhi. Actually Xu Qiaozhi didn¡¯t have much interest in the Tang Sect of Shu¡¯s dispute. He was the master of Healer Valley, so he was busy enough as it was. But Tang Zhi had his sights set on Healer Valley. Even though Healer Valley and the Evil Sect minded their own business, in recent years Healer Valley¡¯s miracle doctors had saved the lives of many people who had been wounded by Evil Sect members. If it had been some other gang, Healer Vally might not have been blamed. Healer Valley was a sacred place. Healer Valley¡¯s doctors were a great benefit to the martial world and had long ago won the support of the martial world. Not just the righteous among the martial world, even dark pathers held Healer Valley in great esteem and had more words of praise for it than slander. Healer Valley was a peaceful place. The people of Healer Valley rarely got involved in jianghu disputes and rarely roamed the jianghu. Really it was only Xu Qiaozhi would had any activity in the jianghu. Xu Qiaozhi after all was a young man, and he had two friends who were constantly getting in trouble. These two ¡°trouble making¡± friends of course were Long Chengbi and Wei Kongkong. Sometimes even though Xu Qiaozhi hadn¡¯t offended anyone, there would still be people who came for no reason to seek revenge against him. This was blowback from trouble Long Chengbi and Wei Kongkong had made on the outside now falling on Xu Qiaozhi. These people had been driven a bit mad by Long Chengbi or Wei Kongkong and later when looking for them to get revenge, but some of them didn¡¯t have the guts to find them, and some simply couldn¡¯t find them, so they just went to Healer Valley to find Xu Qiaozhi instead and put Long Chengbi¡¯s and Wei Kongkong¡¯s debt on his head. This all seemed pretty absurd and ridiculous. However, jianghu grudges were often tangled like this. Not everyone clearly distinguished their grudges. In the jianghu everyone stressed clearly distinguishing ones grudges, there were even more who confounded right from wrong and often acted on impulse, making a complete mess of things, and so the enmities and disputes incurred grew bigger and bigger. This was quite unjust. But jianghu people often liked to make trouble for themselves and thus ended up giving themselves an unjust outcome. Jianghu people. Ah! Weren¡¯t they just a bit too pitiful? ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Jianghu people had their pitiful side. But jianghu people also had their times worth being proud of. Especially the miracle doctors of Healer Valley. They were not just profoundly skilled doctors, they were also master martial arts adepts. Healer Valley¡¯s number one miracle doctor, Shi Jiugong was one of these outstanding talents. His medical sill was boasted to be number one in the martial world of the Central Plains. But his irritable temper and eccentricity also made him one of the ones who ¡°walked alone in the jianghu¡±. There was a time when he wouldn¡¯t treat anyone¡¯s ailment. But right now, the Shi Jiugong who refused to treat anyone had changed. He¡¯d become very enthusiastic. As long as the person was worth treating, he would not give it a second thought bu treat the patient¡¯s ailment right away. Claiming his medical skill as number one in the world was no exaggeration. Forget the others, just using the Great Head Stealing Xia Wei Kongkong as an example, he had once been seriously wounded, and if not for Shi Jiugong¡¯s sublime medical skill, Wei Kongkong would have ¡°departed¡± long ago. But Wei Kongkong hadn¡¯t died. He didn¡¯t want to die, and Shi Jiugong was not about to let him die. Shi Jiugong hoped that Wei Kongkong could do his best to live longer, at best till he was 800. He hoped that Wei Kongkong¡¯s sword would chop off more jianghu scum¡¯s heads, the more the better! It wasn¡¯t because Shi Jiugong was ruthless and just wanted more and more murders to just keep taking place, it was because in the past century the martial world of the Central Plains had become much too ¡°fucking ridiculous¡±! How had the martial world of the Central Plains become so pestilent, such a hot mess? The main reason could be summed up in twelve words: ¡°A demonic aura far and wide, dholes and wolves hold the power!¡± ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Over the past two years the miracle doctors of Healer Valley had treated a number of people¡¯s injuries, and some of those had been harmed by the Evil Sect. Healer Valley didn¡¯t go after the Evil Sect, didn¡¯t even say a word about their criminal acts. They did their best not to invite trouble. These doctors were all elderly. They didn¡¯t go looking for trouble not because they were afraid but because their work was already very demanding. Healer Valley¡¯s doctors didn¡¯t revile the Evil Sect, but Shi Jiugong was an exception. He was an old eccentric who feared nothing and no one. Shi Jiugong had an intense dislike for the Evil Sect, even beating two of their warriors to death with his fists. Those two Evil Sect warriors really did have it coming. When Shi Jiugong bombarded them in the top of the head with his fists, they weren¡¯t even wearing any pants. They had been engaged in debauchery, teaming up to gang rape a mentally challenged girl. When Shi Jiugong saw that steam nearly came out of his nostrils. His fists didn¡¯t hold back, but bombarded their skulls like huge boulders. His two fists went to town on them, and he did so in the utmost secrecy. The Evil Sect looked into it, but couldn¡¯t find out who had beaten these two unlucky warriors to death. Even though the Evil Sect couldn¡¯t find the culprit, Tang Zhi was already becoming more and more dissatisfied with Healer Valley. Tang Zhi investigated over and over and learned that Xu Qiaozhi and the Tang family of Hangzhou was friends, and his murderous intent rose. He decided he had to deal with Healer Valley, had to attack Healer Valley. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á The twelve halfmasked blackclothed people were all Evil Sect slaves. Their minds had been destroyed by a drug, rendering them idiots. But they had not lost their martial arts. Tang Zhi used their martial arts to do evil among the jianghu, and it had not happened overnight. Xu Qiaozhi saw it clearly. Tang Zhi¡¯s martial arts was incredible, plus these twelve dimwitted masked blackclothed people, and his strength grew. Could Han Xiang resist him? ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á The goods that the Han Family Escort Agency were transporting this time you could say were completely worthless, but you could also say they were priceless. Turns out this load of goods was a load of rare, strange herbs. Xu Qiaozhi had hired dozens of veteran herb collectors to go deep into the mountains and remote highlands, undergoing untold hardships to pick these medicinal herbs. These herbs were not worth a single copper to someone who didn¡¯t know medicine. But for the miracle doctors of Healer Valley, these herbs were priceless treasures. Tang Zhi was actually very well-informed. Once he learned that the Han Family Escort Agency was transporting this load of goods, he began to deploy his plan. The plan¡¯s goal was to rob the load of medicinal herbs. The Han Family Escort Agency this time had received a very important job. These herbs meant life or death for a number of patients. No one other than Tang Zhi would want anything unfortunate to happen to these herbs. As the valleylord of Healer Valley, Xu Qiaozhi was very concerned about these herbs! So he made the arduous trip to Suzhou and followed behind, protecting the load of herbs in secret. Sure enough, the mission ran into trouble. Tang Zhi attacked the Han Family Escort Agency in Hangzhou¡¯s Shady Grove. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Liang Ping¡¯s temper had never been good. When he saw the twelve idiot blackclothers he felt an indignation difficult to pacify. But he was not a person who couldn¡¯t distinguish right from wrong. He could see the dull expressions on these twelve people. They were obviously being controlled by Evil Sect drugs. This kind of enemy was the most difficult to deal with. They weren¡¯t necessarily evil people, they might even be chivalrous people. Of course they wouldn¡¯t willingly submit to Tang Zhi¡¯s command, so he had to use this despicable method. This kind of enemy was difficult to kill, but also difficult not to kill. Fighting at close quarters, if you didn¡¯t kill them, someone else would spear you to death. But now the Han Family Escort Agency was faced with a problem. Could they handle the twelve blackclothers¡¯s spear formation? ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Though there was a cool breeze blowing through Shady Grove, the temperature here seemed to be hotter than outside. Tang Zhi had an enigmatic smile on his face as he stood their as if nailed to the ground with his hands behind his back. He suddenly issued a strange whistle. At the sound of the whistle, the twelve blackclothers charged at the Han Family Escort Agency people like madmen. Though their minds weren¡¯t clear, their formation was shipshape and tidy. Who would dare slight such a force? But Han Xiang¡¯s greatsabre stopped them in their tracks. Han Xiang¡¯s nickname was the Boneshatter Claw King, but the hard work he¡¯d put into his greatsabre was by no means less than what he¡¯d put into his ten fingers. When his greatsabre came out, the sunlight through Shady Grove seemed to dim. At the same time, Liang Ping¡¯s butcher knife began showing off its might. These two blades, one large, one small, could put people to death all the same. But the twelve blackclothers¡¯ spear formation was extraordinarily tight. These two blades were mighty, but they couldn¡¯t break up the spear formation. Tang Zhi¡¯s face was expressionless. His gaze wasn¡¯t set on the battle, but on a copse of willow trees. That was precisely where Xu Qiaozhi was standing. (2) Xu Qiaozhi didn¡¯t like to outdo anyone, but he also didn¡¯t like to remain half-hidden. He had always considered himself straightforward and upright. And he really was straightforward and upright. But though he wouldn¡¯t just go out looking for trouble, when trouble came to him he would never shrink back. Tang Zhi wanted to rob these herbs, so it was of course Xu Qiaozhi¡¯s responsibility to stop him from doing that. Xu Qiaozhi stood there naturally and easily. Tang Zhi finally got a good look at his face behind the willow tree. But his gaze quickly went to the gold sabre hanging from Xu Qiaozhi¡¯s belt. He smiled indifferently. ¡°Is that Valleylord Xu gracing us here with his presence?¡± ¡°That indeed is me.¡± Tang Zhi¡¯s eyes seemed to light up considerably. ¡°This chairperson has heard that Your Excellency is the valleylord most fond in all of Healer Valley¡¯s history of wandering about outside. It seems that rumor is true.¡± Xu Qiaozhi shook his head. ¡°My lowly self is not wandering about.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Tang Zhi sneered. Xu Qiaozhi¡¯s eyes flashed. Slowly, he said, ¡°People with nothing to do but loaf about all over the place can be said to be wandering about, but I don¡¯t have nothing to do at the moment and am definitely not loafing about all over the place, so how can I be said to be wandering about?¡± Tang Zhi pondered this, then after a time suddenly said, ¡°Hangzhou is a beautiful place, but even the most beautiful place will become repulsive when it¡¯s stained with the reek of blood.¡± Xu Qiaozhi smiled coldly. ¡°Not just repulsive, but evil.¡± ¡°Repulsive¡± and ¡°evil¡± suddenly seemed to be the same thing, but the connotation was different. For instance, a person could have a repulsive appearance, but that repulsiveness was not evil. Yet evil could occur in the most good-looking, most beautiful person. Tang Zhi was not good-looking and certainly was not beautiful. Even if he were younger, his appearance would not be complimented. But that wasn¡¯t evil. True evil wasn¡¯t shown in the face, but resided in one¡¯s heart. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Evil. Tang Zhi was a person who had an indissoluble bond with the word ¡°evil¡±. Some said that the Tang Sect of Shu was an evil family. But that was not fair. Without a doubt, the Tang Sect of Shu excelled in the use of poisons and was famous throughout the world, but not everyone¡¯s heart was as venomous as their poisons. For instance the current head of the Tang Sect, Tang Baixiao. He did not at all have a venomous heart. Tang Jian was known as one of the Three Great Poison Kings, but his poisonings were restricted to evildoers. As for Tang Yu, he all the more upheld righteousness. Consequently this serious conflict with Tang Zhi had unfolded. Tang Zhi had expanded his power outside of the Tang Sect of Shu with a twofold objective in mind. His first objective was to dominate the martial world. His second objective was to get ready to use overwhelming force to go back to the Tang Sect of Shu and known down Tang Baixiao and rule the Tang Sect. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á The twelve blackclothers were already engaged in a bloody, hair-raising battle. Two of the Han Family Escort Agency¡¯s escorts also used spears. But theirs weren¡¯t long spears but a pair of short steel spears. A short steel spears was small, but its killing power was not at all inferior to any long spear. But these escorts¡¯ short spears just could not get close to the twelve blackclothers. Sploch! One of the escorts was stabbed in the chest. His blood was dark red. His eyes also became dark red. Xu Qiaozhi¡¯s complexion altered slightly. The twelve were not clearminded, but the spearplay they used was deadly. And only people like them could use such a ferocious spearplay heedless of their own lives. Tang Zhi suddenly eyed Xu Qiaozhi. ¡°You ought to be able to see now who will win this battle?¡± Xu Qiaozhi said, ¡°I can¡¯t see, not can I hear what you are saying.¡± Tang Zhi said, ¡°This chairperson doesn¡¯t want to kill you. So long as you leave, I guarantee you will be safe and sound.¡± Xu Qiaozhi laughed coldly. ¡°Why do you want to run me off? You think I¡¯m the only one who will defend these herbs?¡± Tang Zhi kept a straight face and suddenly heaved a long sigh. ¡°Since you insist on dying here, this chairperson has no choice but to grant you your wish!¡± Just as he spoke those last words, a puff of thick purple smoke suddenly shot out of his left sleeve. Xu Qiaozhi quickly stepped back. Tang Zhi laughed coldly, ¡°Heh! So you do fear death.¡± Xu Qiaozhi didn¡¯t open his mouth to speak, because if he opened his mouth he would immediately inhale the noxious fumes. Xu Qiaozhi had seen this kind of noxious cloud before. Anyone who breathed in these noxious fumes would have his head turn into a mass of pus and blood. Because this was the Tang Sect¡¯s most vicious poisonous gas, called ¡°Head Melting Ten Scent Fog¡±. Tang Zhi gave a thin smile and said, ¡°Even if you step back quicker, there¡¯s only one road you can back down.¡± Xu Qiaozhi knew of course what road he was talking about. The road to the Yellow Springs, the road to death that led straight to Fengdu City! But Xu Qiaozhi wasn¡¯t frightened. He remained so composed, so calm. In Shady Grove, everything was enveloped in a murderous aura, and the pungent stench of blood began to waft about in all directions. It was a hot summer afternoon, so everyone¡¯s blood and sweat that flowed was scorching hot. (3) A li to the northeast of Hangzhou was an ancient temple. There were no monks in the temple, no nuns, just an old husband and wife. Though the temple wasn¡¯t far from Hangzhou, there was not much incense burned here. Every year there were very few pilgrims who came to this temple, and this couple led a hard life. Why was that? As a matter of fact, there was a coffin home1 opposite the temple. It was a terrifying corpse inn. The coffin home wasn¡¯t old, rather it had been built by an old squire a few years ago. The temple didn¡¯t get much incensed burned there, but the leased farmstead was quickly full of ¡°guests¡±. Ever since the coffin home filled up and had ¡°no vacancies¡±, the place had had a ghostly atmosphere. They said that in the middle of the night it was still haunted. The coffin house originally had two night watchmen. But only one night watchman was left, because the other one had died three months ago. He had been strangled to death by one of the coffin home ghosts. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á A coffin home was originally a ¡°residence¡± for the dead. This ¡°residence¡± of the dead was haunted, and this was not something that very many people would sat was preposterous. Despite the fact that many people didn¡¯t believe in the supernatural, the belief in ghosts was spoken on good grounds, and there were many who claimed to have personally seen ghosts. In short, there were those who believed in hauntings, and those who didn¡¯t. Now, one of the two night watchmen was dead, and had been strangled to death by a ghost. If he hadn¡¯t been strangled to death by a ghost, then how had his neck been wrung so bad it looked like rotten tofu?¡± Allegedly, only a ghost had that kind of strength, and that a person was not able to do that. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á ¡°Allegedly¡± is sometimes reliable, but sometimes it was utter nonsense. Which ¡°allegedly¡± was this? In Hangzhou, the vast majority believed that the old night watchman had really been strangled to death by a ghost. But there were exceptions. For instance, Old Tang. He didn¡¯t believe for a second in the rumor that the night watchman had been strangled to death by a ghost. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Old Tang was back. He¡¯d heard of this story before he returned to Hangzhou. Old Tang was obstinate, so he didn¡¯t believe a word about a ghost strangling someone to death. He was called the Patriarch of Hangzhou, nearly everything in and outside of Hangzhou was under his jurisdiction. Though he was not an official, there were not many who would dare disobey anything he said or ordered. Why was he so anxious to get back to Hangzhou from Evil Valley? Turns out he suddenly received a secret missive from the Beggars Gang informing him that masterhands of the Evil Sect were gathering in batches in Hangzhou. Clearly, Tang Zhi was readying to attack the Tang family of Hangzhou. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Hangzhou was Old Tang¡¯s hometown and was the place he loved most. Anyone who intentionally infringed on a single clump of dirt of piece of wood in Hangzhou would have to deal with him. Tang Zhi was his clan relative, but a clan relative like that was worse than a stray dog. Internal strife in the Tang Sect was a foregone conclusion. Old Tang hadn¡¯t wanted to get drawn into it, but for the sake of Tang Yu and Tang Baixiao, he felt he really couldn¡¯t stay out of it. Luckily Old Tang wasn¡¯t a spineless person. He wasn¡¯t afraid of Tang Zhi, and he wasn¡¯t afraid of ghosts! And so the first thing he did when he got back to Hangzhou was go catch a ghost! CH 10 Chapter 10 Devil and Immortal Spiders (1) The setting sun grew dim, the curtain of night was about to fall. In the blurred and boundless twilight, the old temple seemed even more quiet and still. Behind the temple there was a small house made of stone bricks with a little chimney on the roof belching out puffs of black smoke. Where there¡¯s smoke there¡¯s fire. Now was the time to make a cookfire, and there was nothing out of the ordinary about there being someone in there cooking. Yes, someone really was cooking. The husband and wife couple who watched over the temple were people, not gods or immortals. They of course would not be ¡®avoiding the food of common mortals¡±. But what were they planning to eat tonight? For sure no one could easily guess what, because the dishes they ate were not fit for human consumption. What they were preparing to eat was a jar of venomous spiders. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á There¡¯s nothing so special about spiders. But there are many kinds of spiders. Some spiders are common, they appear before you all the time, even end up crawling on you. Some spiders are not only common, they don¡¯t present any threat to humans whatsoever. But there are some spiders that are very rare. Even if you put all your heart and soul into finding them, they still won¡¯t be easy to find. Of course, even if you don¡¯t find spiders disgusting, they aren¡¯t lovable either. The vast majority of people avoid spiders whenever they see one, or smash them. But who would go looking for spiders? But this old couple were spider hunters. They had spent no less than a decade to find 999 devil spiders! It was no easy feat to find 999 spiders, and devil spiders were especially hard to find. Devil spiders were extremely ugly. Spiders, those small little critters, were not good-looking to start with, and this spider was the ugliest of uglies. Anyone who saw one would feel nauseated. But this husband and wife couple regarded devil spiders as the most valuable treasures. This spider was often found in just one place. Coffins. Not empty coffins either, but corpse-filled coffins. They didn¡¯t eat mosquitoes, didn¡¯t eat flies, because these spiders didn¡¯t even have much interest in making webs. They only liked sucking the blood from corpses¡¯ heads. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Were these spiders venomous? Strange to say, they actually were not venomous. If one bit you there wasn¡¯t much to worry about. These spiders weren¡¯t venomous. But what about 999 devil spiders plus a an immortal spider? ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á If devil spiders are the ugliest spiders in the world, then immortal spiders are the exact opposite. Its much larger than a devil spider, its color more dazzling and extraordinarily gorgeous. It¡¯s like the empress of spiders, colorful and mysterious, its bearing noble and haughty. Compared to other spiders, the immortal spider deserves to be haughty. Because it¡¯s not only has a multicolored exterior, at the same timer it¡¯s also the most venomous of venomous spiders. Though they were all spiders, they were not friendly with other spiders. Spiders often fought, and often there were ¡°murder cases¡± because of these fights. Even husband and wife would fight. If the husband didn¡¯t eat up the wife, the wife would take the husband as a snack and slowly eat it up. Spiders were savage creatures. The immortal spider even more so. It had the special ability to be able to methodically swallow up another spider without even having to fight it. It could spray a mist. A sort of ¡°instant kill spray¡±, a rare poison that no vicious spider could withstand. But devil spiders were an exception. Though they don¡¯t release venom whenever they bite someone, devil spiders do have a natural resistance to toxins. Immortal spiders can kill any kind of spider, can even kill any large animal, but they are at their wits¡¯ end with devil spiders. Devil spiders regularly have it out with immortal spiders. They were natural enemies. Sometimes devil spiders would be bitten to death by the immortal spider, but the immortal spider was not a surefire winner. Sometimes they made mistakes and were assaulted by the devil spiders and were defeated. In the world of small critters, defeat often meant death. How could it not be the same with humans? ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á 999 devil spiders plus one immortal spider were placed into a wine jar. Wine jars were for holding wine. This wine jar was no exception. Though there were a lot of spiders in it, there was also wine. Spiders couldn¡¯t drink wine. Even if they could, there was so much wine it would kill them just the same. Because they were drowned to death in by the wine. This husband and wife couple was in their little house eating supper. What they were eating was spiders cooked in wine. The wine was fragrant to begin with, but wit the spiders added the fragrance disappeared completely and turned into a an unpleasant stench. But the old couple ate it with gusto. The old man drank wine and ate spiders, then scooped up two mouthfuls of white rice and swallowed it all. The old woman put on a happy face. ¡°After we¡¯ve mastered the Devil-Immortal Spider Dharma, who in the Tang Sect would dare fight with us?¡± The old man said plainly, ¡°Yep, not even Tang Zhi¡¯s might will be suppressed by us.¡± The old woman drank wine and ate spiders. They ate with relish. Their expressions were wicked and cheerful. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Just as the old couple were eating spiders and drinking wine, the Battle of Shady Grove concluded. The Han Family Escort Agency put everything it had into the battle. But Tang Zhi had planned for this and was determined for his Shady Grove plan to work. Han Xiang didn¡¯t have a resounding reputation in the jianghu, but Xu Qiaozhi had not misjudged him. He really was a martial arts master. And then there was Liang Ping. His skill with a knife was equally strong. But unfortunately the Evil Sect was much stronger. In addition to the twelve halfmasked blackclothers, there were also dark path masterhands lying in low in the grove who suddenly came out to fight. The battle was extraordinarily violent. In the end the Han Family Escort Agency suffered its first critically serious setback. Han Xiang was wounded. Liang Ping fought bravely but was tragically speared to death. Not one of the four escorts managed to survive. More than half of the runner were also killed. Only as remaining few fled in disorder. Xu Qiaozhi fought hard against Tang Zhi for more than a 100 moves, but in the end he couldn¡¯t defend anymore and was hit with a palm strike. It was a poisoned palm and its poison had already begun to take effect. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á After drinking a jar of wine, sounds of ¡°Your fuckin¡¯ granny¡¯s a bear¡± lingered This was the House of Tang. Not the Tang Sect of Shu but the Hangzhou House of Tang. The Tang family father and son went back to Hangzhou at the same time but soon parted company once again. Old Tang went to go catch ghosts. Tang Zhuquan was interested in ¡°catching ghosts¡± as well, but Old Tang ordered him to return home at once, because the Tang family needed Tang Zhuquan to hold down the fort. Tang Zhuquan went back to the Tang residence with Long Chengbi and Wei Kongkong. They had just got back home when Xu Qiaozhi and Han Xiang arrived, wounded. Han Xiang was crestfallen. He just kept saying over and over, ¡°Finished, finished.¡± Tang Zhuquan looked at him. Han Xiang said again, ¡°Everything¡¯s finished.¡± Tang Zhuquan couldn¡¯t help but roar, ¡°If you want to be finished then might as well go hang yourself now, or go fall in a well or slit your wrists. Don¡¯t stay here and suffocate you old man to death!¡± Han Xiang¡¯s expression was wooden, as if he had no reaction to that at all. His his ¡°finished¡± did cease. He had three wounds on his body, the one on his left leg from a spear jab was the worst. The speartip had nearly broken his femur. Xu Qiaozhi reclined in an armchair, his face deathly pale. Tang Zhuquan had his hands behind his back, pacing back and forth,. Suddenly he clenched his teeth and said, ¡°Shi Jiugong, that old cu¡­¡± He only said it partway, then stopped. Actually he wasn¡¯t ¡°saying¡± it, he was ¡°cursing¡± it. What he wanted to curse was, ¡°Shi Jiugong, that old cuck, why isn¡¯t he here yet?¡±1 In fact, Shui Jiugong had been on his way to Hangzhou to reinforce Xu Qiaozhi, but as luck would have it, the horse he was riding suddenly fell ill. Shi Jiugong could have gotten there already even without using his lightness skill, but he was an ¡°enthusiastic doctor¡± and had to treat his horse before he hurried on to Hangzhou. So he was late and Xu Qiaozhi was wounded. By the time Shi Jiugong arrived at the main hall of the Tang residence, Tang Zhuquan was in the middle of cursing him. But once Shi Jiugong suddenly showed up, Tang Zhuquan stopped himself. Shi Jiugong hmphed and glared at Tang Zhuquan. ¡°If this old fellow is an old tortoise then you¡¯re the son of a tortoise, you tortoise egg¡­¡± Tang Zhuquan couldn¡¯t help but fume, ¡°Alright alright, what else you got?¡± Shi Jiugong went ¡°Bah¡± and kept on cursing him, ¡°By the looks of you I¡¯d say you¡¯re simply a pile of tortoise shit!¡± Tang Zhuquan brandished his fist and nearly came to blows with Shi Jiugong. But then his expression suddenly relaxed and dropped the fist that wanted to beat someone up. ¡°Your old man isn¡¯t going to squabble with you.¡± Tang Zhuquan was panting with rage. ¡°Hurry up and treat Valleylord Xu. If anything happens to him, your old man guarantees you¡¯ll crawl out of here with your leftovers!¡± Not walk out of here but ¡°crawl¡± out.2 This mouth on the Tang family¡¯s eldest young master sometimes really made his belly explode with rage. Although Shi Jiugong¡¯s belly didn¡¯t explode, his eyeballs nearly bulged out of his head. Had Xu Qiaozhi not been wounded, the first one Shi Jiugong would have dealt with would have been Tang Zhuquan. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Xu Qiaozhi had been hit by a poisoned palm, and hid injury was not slight. If he had not had several miracle drugs on him and if his medical skills had not been proficient, he might have died in Hangzhou. But he was still in a dangerous state now. Luckily Shi Jiugong had finally arrived. When Shi Jiugong examined Xu Qiaozhi¡¯s injury, he couldn¡¯t help but heave a long sigh. Tang Zhuquan couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Is his life in danger?¡± Shi Jiugong said coldly, ¡°Valleylord Xu is infinitely blessed, how could his life be in danger?¡± Tang Zhuquan hmphed but said nothing. Long Chengbi couldn¡¯t help but laugh to himself. Xu Qiaozhi¡¯s injury was not slight, yet with Shi Jiugong here, there was always a way to save him. Because of this, the enmity between the Evil Sect and Healer Valley would of course grow deeper and deeper. The Evil Sect would not let Healer Valley off, and Healer Valley would also strike back at the Evil Sect in retaliation. (2) With the sun set, the night was as black as the the black coffin inside the coffin home. This black coffin had only recently placed inside the coffin home. Till now it had been brand new. But the dead person inside the coffin suddenly vanished after its second day at the coffin home. Turned to a zombie? No, this corpse hadn¡¯t undergone any changes aside from soon decaying. The body had been ousted and then put into a neighboring coffin. In other words, this black coffin didn¡¯t have a body in it, and another coffin had two bodies stuffed in there. Whose work was this? In fact it was the masterpiece of the only remaining coffin home night watchman. He had only one aim in emptying out this black coffin. He fancied this coffin and took over this coffin as his resting place. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Whether or not there were ghosts in the coffin home was one thing, but the night watchman¡¯s actions were really on another level entirely. He slept during the day and slept in the coffin. At night he crawled out of the coffin and walked back and forth throughout the coffin home like a spirit. Coffin home night watchmen were generally alcoholics. They were used to being surrounded by death, but wine gave courage and made the time pass quicker. It¡¯s easy for a tipsy person to kill time. Maybe their sense of time was flushed away by the alcohol. But this coffin home night watchman never drank alcohol. For sure he didn¡¯t drink strong liquor, but not even a drop of weak, watered-down wine would touch his lips. He only liked to drink tea, brewed with local mountain spring water. The night watchman was called He Kuan. His appearance was ordinary. He looked like any regular old man. But was He Kuan a regular old man? Of course not. His hands were pitifully emaciated, yet could wring someone¡¯s neck at any time, and the flesh of the victim¡¯s neck would resemble rotten tofu afterwards The other coffin home night watchman had been strangled to death by He Kuan. That old night watchman didn¡¯t know martial arts, but he never dreamed that He Kuan was a hidden martial world masterhand! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á He Kuan¡¯s real name of course was not He Kuan. His original surname wasn¡¯t He, but Tang. He was the former head steward of the Tang Sect of Shu, Tang Zhengbang. Tang Zhengbang¡¯s nickname was ¡°Poison Spirit.¡± If the Tang Sect of Shu had not had Tang Zhengbang in the family, the clan¡¯s reputation within the jianghu would be much better than it currently was. Regrettably, there were very few people as adept at using poisons as Tang Zhengbang was who didn¡¯t have a venomous heart. Not only the Tang Sect of Shu, every major family of the jianghu had similar situations. But once Tang Baixiao became the head of the Tang Sect of Shu, Tang Zhengbang suddenly mysteriously vanished. No one knew why he had disappeared. Only Tang Zhi knew. Tang Zhengbang and Tang Baixiao could not coexist in the clan. They were too prejudiced against each other. Tang Zhi didn¡¯t lose the chance to use Tang Zhengbang. He found Tang Zhengbang and did his best to persuade him to join the Evil Sect. Tang Zhengbang agreed. There were two others who joined the Evil Sect in addition to Tang Zhengbang, a couple who had earlier left the Tang Sect of Shu. They were the old couple at the temple. ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á It was not far from the Tang House of Hangzhou. Tang Zhi had long since deployed his huge plan. His speedy deployment was multifaceted. He would not let this opportunity pass by, and he would not let off anyone who opposed him. In his mind, there were only two kinds of people in the world: ¡ªThose who weren¡¯t friends were enemies. He only had one principle in dealing with enemies: ¡ªEither you die or I die. His ultimate ideal was: ¡ªKill all dissenters, I alone am supreme. The Evil Sect had been established with his own hands. In using the word ¡°evil¡± in his sect¡¯s name it was not hard to imagine how wildly bold he was. The old husband and wife couple eating spider wine behind the temple, when it came to seniority, were not below Tang Zhi. The old man was Tang Zhi¡¯s younger cousin, called Tang San. Tang San was just one year younger than Tang Zhi. But Tang San¡¯s wife, Mo Huizhen, was older than Tang Zhi. Tang San¡¯s marriage had been vehemently opposed by the old head of the Tang Sect of Shu. But opposing it had done no good. Tang San was a very rebellious person. He was not afraid of anyone. In the past, the old head of the Tang Sect had opposed his marriage to Mo Huizhen because Mo Huizhen was a demoness of the greenwood. She had committed many crimes and used savage methods to do them that made people bristle with anger. Even though the Tang Sect of Shu¡¯s reputation in the jianghu was not good, the old head of the Tang Sect still stood by his view. He believed that a bad reputation could be rehabilitated. He was prepared to change the jianghu¡¯s impression of the Tang Sect of Shu within the next 30 years. But his ideal was never realized as he died suddenly sick on his deathbed. Tang San didn¡¯t get along well with people in the Tang Sect of Shu. He didn¡¯t just not get along with them, he was nasty toward them. He really was a very difficult person to get along with. In the end, he and his wife left the Tang Sect and ventured out in the world. They had once formed their own underworld gang. But this gang was not successful. Five years after it was founded, it was dealt a heavy blow by the Eight Major Schools of the jianghu, and Tang San and his wife were seriously wounded. For many years Tang San and his wife had been unable to practice martial arts and their skill had regressed considerably. Until a few years ago when their condition took a turn for the better, but they had already squandered several years. Tang Zhi never overlooked anyone who was useful to him, so he recruited them again and had them join the Evil Sect. The old temple was a branch of the Evil Sect established near Hangzhou. On the surface it looked as if people rarely came around there. Aside from the dead at the coffin home there was just the old night watchman and the old couple in the temple. But in fact this was not the case. Behind the temple and the coffin house there was a mysterious cave that harbored many Evil Sect masterhands! ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á Tang San and his wife may have joined the Evil Sect, but they hadn¡¯t forgotten about the gang they had established before. They were like Tang Zhi in that they did not abide by the laws. Over the last decade, they had been searching all over for devil spiders and immortal spiders and had finally completed production of their spider wine. This was their only way to cultivate their Devil-Immortal Spider Dharma. Their cultivation of the Devil-Immortal Spider Dharma was a secret. A very big secret. They could absolutely not let Tang Zhengbang know, and they really couldn¡¯t let Tang Zhi know. Tang Zhengbang¡¯s heart was venomous, but Tang Zhi¡¯s was even more venomous. And Tang San and his wife¡¯s? How could they be good people? ¡Á ¡Á ¡Á The spider wine was all drank up. Not only was the wine gone, the 999 devil spiders and the immortal spider were parceled out and now in Tang San and his wife¡¯s stomachs. Tang Sang and his wife smiled cunningly. The Devil-Immortal Spider Dharma was a supremely evil, supremely poisonous martial art. One month from now, they would have it mastered. Cultivating this martial art was not too difficult. The hardest part was just finding the spiders. Just as they were smiling proudly at each other, there was a sudden booming knock on the door. Tang San¡¯s face sank. He immediately rushed outside and fumed, ¡°Who is it?¡± Around the corner came an ice-cold laugh. The person said coldly, ¡°I¡¯m your neighbor. ¡°Tang Zhengbang?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± A spirit-like person slowly walked out from around the corner. He had two thick ropes in his hands. This person had no color in his face at al, but his lips were a dark bloodred. It sure enough was Tang Zhengbang! The ropes in Tang Zhengbang¡¯s hands were pulling two heavy objects. They were coffins. Two battered, old coffins that were beginning to mildew. There were several words written on the coffins.