Chapter 223: Green Childhood Romance

Xu Fengnian grabbed a handful of loess and gravel, then looked up towards Beiman.

Regardless of praise or slander, the Wu Family Sword Mound has always remained aloof, ignoring the martial arts world. It is a very strange place, where fewer than ten outsiders have been able to enter or leave over the past century. The two successive Sword Gods, Li Chungang and Deng Tai'a, are the most famous, while other swordsmen who went there to hone their skills stayed within the Sword Mound for life, "worshipping the sword" according to Wu family rules. The Wu family's disdain for the martial world naturally stems from their strong foundation. It's not just the immense prestige from the "Nine Swords Breaking Ten Thousand Cavalry"; Wu family descendants cannot simply rest on these past glories for two centuries. Even someone as arrogant as Li Chungang does not deny that the Wu family, through centuries of continuous accumulation by countless brilliant swordsmen, has indeed reached the pinnacle of sword momentum, ascending step by step to heaven. Xu Fengnian remembered that on his way back to Beiliang, the old man in the sheepskin coat said that after years of dormancy, the Wu family would eventually produce a swordsman who would synthesize all their great achievements. As for whether Wu Liuding could uphold the family's heavy legacy, old man Li was not optimistic. Instead, he thought the female sword attendant, who carried the ancient 'Plain King' sword on her back, had greater potential. In addition, the Wu family's sword-nurturing technique is also highly renowned. With a single breath, one can 'ascend Kunlun' and wield a sword remotely; both its killing efficiency and the demeanor it imparts to top swordsmen are exceptional.

At the time, the greedy Crown Prince inwardly criticized Deng Tai'a for not seeing things through like a truly good person; he only gifted a sword without leaving the incantation for nurturing flying swords. Upon returning to Beiliang, he consulted Li Yishan, the peerless national scholar. Li Yishan selected a long-dusty and cobbled-together manual from the fourth floor of the Tide-Listening Pavilion. Only then did Xu Fengnian learn that the Wu family's secret for nurturing swords was not difficult to master initially, summarized in four words: "Blood-fed, spirit-born." The real challenge lay in the unyielding perseverance required, never relaxing for a single day. Forging swords was like refining elixirs, with precise timing for their completion. However, unlike elixirs that could be enjoyed immediately upon completion, each secret sword, once forged with intricate rituals, was imbued with spiritual energy, resembling a living creature. The owner would nourish them with blood. Due to subtle differences in the sword's blade patterns, the timing and location of feeding varied for each sword. Deng Tai'a's twelve flying swords were successively forged according to the twelve Earthly Branches and twelve two-hour periods. If the Crown Prince had only one flying sword, feeding it once a day would not be troublesome. But with three or four flying swords, it would be quite a chore.

Before leaving, Deng Tai'a, with a slightly "gloating" tone, had Qing Niao inform the Crown Prince: if a flying sword was not nurtured for one day, a hundred days of previous effort would be wasted. If not nurtured for three days, the flying sword would completely lose its spiritual energy, becoming no different from scrap metal, with no hope of ever taking a head again.

As for how many flying swords the Crown Prince actually took? Heaven knows.

Liu Nirong likely had genuinely important matters to discuss, which was why she reluctantly approached the Crown Prince. Looking down at the back of the man wearing a saber, she spoke in a cold tone: "In the future, if you encounter a problem that the Fish Dragon Gang cannot resolve, one that would cause significant loss to your goods, would you intervene?"

Xu Fengnian let the coarse gravel slip through his fingers. Without turning his head, he thought for a moment before slowly saying, "I would."

Liu Nirong sneered, "So, you're saying that last night at the inn, you had the ability to single-handedly protect that carriage of General's Mansion goods, even after the Fish Dragon Gang was treated as bandits and wiped out?"

Xu Fengnian shook his head, "I didn't say that."

Liu Nirong, seemingly holding a grudge like a petty woman, huffed, "Once the goods are delivered and payment is settled, our Fish Dragon Gang wants absolutely no further involvement with the General's Mansion."

Xu Fengnian turned his head, looking up at the poised woman with attractive long legs, and smiled. "Regardless of any grudges you may harbor, I want to tell you that you actually did very well that night. With a gang leader like you, the Fish Dragon Gang in the future could be as strong as having three or four deputy leaders like Xiao Qiang. However, what I admire most about you isn't that you led from the front, fighting desperately against the Daoma Pass soldiers. It's that after recognizing Xiao Qiang's true nature, you could still continue to play along. Hmm, just like after recognizing me, you're still willing to come close and exchange a few words with a scoundrel like me, despite my callous nature. Although your words aren't very pleasant, I estimate that before you left Lingzhou, you definitely wouldn't have done this. You would have already decided to have no dealings with me for the rest of your life, right? This is probably why the old gang leader Liu had no choice but to take on this business. As for me, I've walked the jianghu for a few years longer than you. I've witnessed many fights between unreachable gods, and for a long time, I agonized daily over a few coppers. I'm presuming to tell you this: if you truly want the Fish Dragon Gang to grow stronger, you must be like a copper coin – square inside, round outside."

Xu Fengnian indeed made a rather presumptuous gesture, taking a copper coin from his money pouch and tossing it to Liu Nirong. Shamefully, she remained motionless, allowing the coin to fall to the ground. Xu Fengnian muttered "Wasteful woman," stretched his back, picked up the coin from the muddy ground, wiped it clean, and put it back into his money pouch. Liu Nirong seemed not to have expected that this man named Xu would retrieve the coin. Seeing his vulgar and stingy commoner's demeanor, which he didn't even try to hide, she momentarily didn't know whether to mock him or despise him. However, deep down, her aversion to this high-ranking lackey, who had always observed the Fish Dragon Gang with cold detachment, lessened. At least she now knew this fellow could still speak a few humane words and possess some human touch.

Wang Dashi watched Liu Nirong standing and Young Master Xu squatting from a distance. There was no jealousy or resentment in his eyes towards the woman he admired, who seemed to be drifting further away. The young man merely wiped his face and secretly grinned foolishly.

Liu Nirong hesitated for a moment and asked, "Do you use a saber?"

Without waiting for Xu Fengnian's reply, Liu Nirong quickly said to herself, "Consider that I didn't ask."

It seemed she also knew she had asked a rather childish and laughable question.

Xu Fengnian chuckled, clapped his hands, and stood up. He wasn't worried about any slip-ups from Huangfu Ping's side; the term "Spring Thunder" would definitely not leave Daoma Pass. Furthermore, since the Crown Prince dared to venture alone into the perilous Beiman, and was expected to proactively seek out dangerous situations, he naturally possessed some unknown tricks up his sleeve. Speaking of navigating the jianghu, the Crown Prince really couldn't claim to be a novice anymore. He met Liu Nirong's gaze, narrowing his eyes as he said, "Can't I just wear a saber for show? Think about it: if everyone, like you, assumes I'm a saber master, then when we clash in a fight, and they see I don't draw my saber, those with less jianghu experience might inevitably feel contempt. The result? I'll beat an old master to death with my bare fists. That's called a blind spot, and it's also a form of jianghu treachery."

Liu Nirong looked utterly bewildered.

The journey to Liuxia City in Beiman proceeded fairly smoothly. However, when the Fish Dragon Gang spotted several horse bandits in the distance, they still broke out in a cold sweat. These "locusts" on the border, specializing in extorting merchants, likely weighed the situation and decided that the Fish Dragon Gang was too hot to handle, so nothing came of it. This brought Liu Nirong a sense of relief.

For the Fish Dragon Gang, they could no longer afford even the slightest loss. The casualties at the inn had already overwhelmed Liu Nirong. Since these were legitimate members who had formally joined and apprenticed with the gang, it wasn't simply a matter of compensation. For any family in an era of peace and prosperity, a death was a monumental tragedy, and there was no way to avoid their distraught families coming to the Fish Dragon Gang. Furthermore, a poor start to their mission was highly detrimental to the Fish Dragon Gang's reputation. Liu Nirong knew, without even thinking, that after the bodies were transported back to Lingzhou, rival gangs and sects of similar strength would surely be secretly rejoicing.

Therefore, encountering any further setbacks in the Beiman Dynasty outside Beiliang would truly leave them helpless and abandoned. This assignment, secured through connections with the General's Mansion, would have been for naught. Fortunately, Zhou Ziru brought two chests containing a full three thousand taels of silver. Although Liu Nirong found it distasteful, she knew this money was an an indispensable emergency fund for the Fish Dragon Gang, which was metaphorically "on fire." As for the horse bandits who remained static and merely observed from a distance, Xiao Qiang's thoughts were straightforward and not without reason. He argued that while horse bandits were fierce and individually could rival any dynasty's elite cavalry, the largest groups of border bandits only numbered fifty to sixty riders. Ordinary roving bandits had at most twenty horses. Each time they launched a full-scale raid, if they couldn't secure substantial profits, it might not be worth the effort. A group of border desperadoes, gathered for profit, would disperse just as quickly. How then would they dare to contend to the death with the Fish Dragon Gang, which was still relatively well-armed and strong? Furthermore, the Fish Dragon Gang had only one carriage of goods. Compared to many escorts with over ten carriages, the scale was too small. It wasn't enough "meat"; it was a "chicken rib"—valuable enough to tempt, but not substantial enough to risk for. Major bandit strongholds would scorn it, and small roving bands couldn't swallow it. This, ironically, made them safer.

However, the reticent Gongsun Yang proposed a different view, warning them to be wary of these desperate outlaws colluding to rob them. At first, Liu Nirong dismissed this, but half a fortnight later, when she saw a second and third small group of horse bandits trailing them from a distance, she finally realized something was amiss.

Stopping for the night, the Fish Dragon Gang lit more than a dozen bonfires, not only for warmth but also to intimidate wild animals in the wilderness.

The stars hung low over the vast plains, a magnificent sight.

Wang Dashi helped Xu Fengnian build a fire, and they sat together. "The slow bird starts early," and diligence is key. The young man had finally managed to memorize the 600-character boxing incantations through sheer rote learning. A few days earlier, Xu Fengnian had even found time to go to a secluded spot and demonstrate the boxing stances to Wang Dashi several times. Now that the Wudang Mountain Headmaster was no longer present, this set of boxing forms quickly developed into two styles: the Old Form and the New Form. The Old Form had 108 stances, pure in essence but relatively complex and obscure. Even the old Taoist priests who first practiced boxing with the young Headmaster in the Taiqing Palace square might not have fully grasped its essence. Thus, a new Wudang Taoist named Li Yufu, truly exceptionally gifted, managed to simplify and refine it into 64 stances, known as the New Form. This earned high praise from several of the most senior grandmasters. Unfortunately, Xu Fengnian was demonstrating the original Old Form. Wang Dashi was already struggling to memorize the incantations, let alone perform the stances. Fortunately, Xu Fengnian did not dislike his clumsy, half-baked apprentice. He taught with immense patience. Seeing Wang Dashi constantly feeling guilty and frustrated, he smiled and told the young man, "Cultivating martial arts is like water dripping on stone; if you can't master it in ten years, then just honestly practice for a lifetime." Only then did the young man feel relieved.

Xu Fengnian was sparring with Wang Dashi, exchanging moves back and forth.

The cow-riding coward once cupped a sparrow in his hand; its talons found no purchase, so it fluttered in his palm but could not fly.

After teaching a section, Xu Fengnian took a drink of water and added a few dry branches to the bonfire.

He glimpsed the young man gazing dazedly at Liu Nirong in the distance.

Xu Fengnian inexplicably thought of the flying sword in his sleeve, Qingmei.

Love, the green plum of the heart.Even in old age, one remembers youthful awkwardness.

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