Chapter 288: Rain Stops, Gathering the Spring and Autumn

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*Zongheng* by Fenghuo Xizhuhou

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***

A finger plucked the second string, snapping it. The taut string sprang up, leaving a faint trail of blood across her fair palm before dripping onto the Jiao Wei guqin. As the blood fell, the sudden downpour resumed with a crash.

Barely ten paces from her, Xu Fengnian stretched out an arm. The vibrating Spring Thunder short sword, embedded in the wall, was poised to be drawn. But just as Spring Thunder emerged an inch from its sheath, Xu Fengnian lost the qi to control the dagger. Instead, the blind zither player slightly bent her middle finger, and Spring Thunder recoiled into its sheath, piercing completely back into the wall. Xu Fengnian, whose qi sea had exploded, was enveloped in a crimson mist. After landing, he popped the Two Zen Golden Elixir, a gift from the Dragon Tree monk, into his mouth. With a tap of his foot, he stumbled forward, his sleeves sweeping as nine flying swords surged out simultaneously. The female zither player snorted coldly, hooking a string with her left thumb and index finger. With an upward flick, the nine flying swords were instantly entangled and twisted by dozens of silver threads, sparking and hissing. Her right hand, in an unusual move, struck out with a left-hand technique. Xu Fengnian's abdomen felt as if it had been hit by a heavy object, like a tree trunk smashing into a door. His entire body flew backward, landing on the bluestone slab.

At this critical moment, a black-clad figure, like a civet cat foraging in the night, scaled the wall and dropped down. Wielding a simple blade, he instantly appeared beside Xu Fengnian and swiftly brought the blade down towards his head.

The strike came down, but it was incredibly weak, certainly incapable of severing Xu Fengnian's head. Xu Fengnian had braced himself with both hands, his body bending, and spun in a wide circle close to the cold stone slab. From his sleeve, the Golden Lure, originally intended for the Finger Profundity zither player, shot out, piercing through the assassin's eye socket and into his skull. The assassin, who had barely appeared, died instantly.

Killing and being killed always happen in the blink of an eye.

Before Xu Fengnian's body even hit the ground, the alley wall burst open. A second burly black-clad man, taking a more direct approach, smashed through the wall and swung an axe at his waist!

Without his hands or feet touching the ground, Xu Fengnian rotated sideways. The axe, swung with full force, missed and split a large bluestone slab. After standing up, Xu Fengnian leaned his shoulder against the black-clad assassin—a sticky rather than a direct collision, simply to prevent the astonishingly strong man from recovering his strength. Xu Fengnian then extended a palm, placing it on the assassin's temple, taking small, alternating steps forward. During this process, he seized the opportunity to quickly gather the chaotic, surging Grand Huang Ting energy. With a single push, his momentum increased while the assassin's diminished, sending the axe-wielding strongman crashing into the wall. His head smashed into the mud wall, creating a large crater. How could Xu Fengnian give him a chance to retaliate? His left hand delivered an inch-force punch precisely to the assassin's waist, while his right hand held the man's head, dragging it across the wall, leaving a shocking smear of blood. After letting go, the assassin's entire face was a bloody mess, seeping into the mud, a dead man.

Xu Fengnian killed two people in just six or seven breaths.

This time, he was truly exhausted and spent. If the blind female zither player hooked and snapped another string, Xu Fengnian would surely die.

As her fingertip touched the string, her expression subtly changed. Instead of snapping the string, she plucked it, and the Jiao Wei guqin lifted from her lap and flew backward.

With a thud.

The guqin cracked in mid-air.

Xu Fengnian sighed, leaning against the wall. He felt some regret; such an opportunity would not come again.

***

**Before the Rain**

At that time, Xu Fengnian rose from the fortune teller's stall under the old willow tree and saw a sturdy boy of fifteen or sixteen blocking the middle of the street. Dressed in rags, holding a broken porcelain bowl, he looked like a rogue beggar determined to pester for copper coins. The boy grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, and quietly spoke two words in Beiliang dialect: "Xu," "Wu."

Xu Fengnian continued forward. The boy followed him backward, grinning playfully in the eyes of others, but with remarkably clear eyes. He quietly said, "My master was 'Xu' among the Twelve Earthly Branches, responsible for secretly monitoring Su, Zhao, and Qi. I'm a local orphan here, taken in by my master as an apprentice when I was young. Three years ago, my master died of old age. Following his last wish, I went to Beiliang, intending to inherit his mantle as 'Xu,' but the Great General didn't agree. Instead, he made me 'Wu' among the Ten Heavenly Stems. Some time ago, I received news from another Earthly Branch dead soldier that the Crown Prince might be coming, so he told me to pay more attention."

Xu Fengnian made a gesture of pulling out a piece of broken silver, but didn't immediately drop it into the bowl. To outsiders, it might have looked like he was counting loose copper coins and was a bit reluctant to part with the silver.

The boy quickly said, "Two groups of assassins have arrived in the city. One group of three, not particularly skilled. The other is a female devil carrying a zither, named Xue Songguan. She ranks fifth among the Ten Great Devils of Beimang and is second on the assassin rankings—very tricky. I'm good with a Six-Stone Bow; within three hundred paces, I can harm a Vajra physique, but with such power, I can only shoot one arrow a day. Your Highness, should we kill her or avoid her? I'll follow your command."

Xu Fengnian dropped the broken silver into the bowl and said without hesitation, "Kill."

The boy feigned delight at the sight of money, smiling brightly, and asked, "But Your Highness, she's a Finger Profundity master; she won't be easy to kill."

Xu Fengnian walked on, speaking with an impatient expression, as if shooing away a fly. He said flatly, "I'll attract her attention. If nothing unexpected happens, the group of three will stab me in the back while I'm fighting Xue Songguan. If I can't kill her, I'll definitely save strength to kill them. At that time, you just need to shoot an arrow from three hundred paces away."

The scruffy boy chuckled mischievously, "Crown Prince, do you need to gamble this big? If you die, I won't be able to live either."

Xu Fengnian smiled, "Gambling isn't always about small stakes for big returns. Such stingy gamblers lose nine out of ten times."

The boy's eyes lit up; he seemed to strongly agree with this point.

Xu Fengnian chuckled, then, like a quirky and capricious dandy, extended his foot, lightly kicked the boy away, and retrieved the broken silver from the bowl.

The dumbfounded dead soldier boy watched the dashing figure, swallowed, and uttered two words: "Stingy!"

***

**Now, in the Rain**

The woman, now without her banana-leaf style guqin, swayed forward slightly, stopping her tremor. The blind zither player spat out a mouthful of blood and reached behind her back to pull out a dark iron arrow. The sharp arrow had only pierced an inch into her back, not seriously harming her internal organs.

A long spear shot through the wall from within, aiming for Xu Fengnian. Unexpectedly, the female devil threw out the iron arrow, piercing the assassin's head. Xu Fengnian easily dodged the spear tip, looked curiously at the Finger Profundity zither player who had first killed and then saved him, and then waved his hand.

The archer boy, who had been shooting from three hundred paces away to hide his tracks, now that he was exposed, leaped agilely like a leopard across the rooftops, closing the distance to a hundred paces. He drew his bow like a full moon, aiming at the female devil.

With a signal from his master, the boy wasn't in a hurry to shoot. Moreover, if the first arrow didn't succeed, it was uncertain whether a second arrow could inflict a fatal wound on the zither player. Besides the iron arrow on his string, he only had one left in his quiver.

She slowly stood up and said, "Xu Fengnian, or should I say, the Crown Prince of Beiliang? When I was in Longyao Prefecture, someone first paid five hundred jin of gold for your death, and later, someone else paid six hundred jin of gold for your life."

Xu Fengnian nodded and said, "Only eight or nine people in all of Beiliang know the route of my travels this time, so many can be ruled out as suspects. Now it seems either Chu Lushan or Ye Xizhen wants my life. Lu Qiao'er certainly has five hundred jin of gold, but Ye Xizhen might not. But things are unpredictable; heaven knows what the truth is. As for who paid for my life, it must be my master, Li Yishan. Why did you accept the second payment of gold and still try to kill me?"

She said matter-of-factly, "There's always a principle of 'first come, first served.' I told myself that if you could survive after three strings snapped, I would no longer try to kill you."

Without Xu Fengnian needing to do anything, the boy decisively shot an arrow, snapping one of the five strings lying quietly on the bluestone slab.

Xue Songguan, who seamlessly juggled being a devil and an assassin, asked, "I'm no longer trying to kill you. Are you going to kill me?"

Xu Fengnian, his face contorted from the overwhelming pain of his qi surges, said, "If you don't fight back, I'll kill you!"

Her lips twitched symbolically, which could be considered a dismissive smile.

Xu Fengnian sat cross-legged, finally finding time to absorb the essence of the Two Zen Golden Elixir.

The boy Wu jumped along the rooftops and walls to Xu Fengnian's side, cautiously looking at the female devil whose guqin he had destroyed.

She, however, simply carefully picked up the guqin fragments and strings, cradling them cautiously in her arms, and then sat on the stone steps, lost in thought.

The heavy rain gradually ceased.

Old Master Zhao Dingxiu walked out of the courtyard gate, accompanied by the blacksmith. The blacksmith went to collect the bodies. The Old Master glanced at the zither player who had risen and was bowing respectfully, then at the young man meditating at the foot of the wall, and the boy holding the bow. He sighed, "I heard everything you said. Guests are here; come inside, all of you."

The blind zither player entered the small courtyard first, not forgetting to pick up the small umbrella leaning against the doorway.

An incense stick's worth of time later, Xu Fengnian stood up, pulled Spring Thunder from the wall, and then walked into the courtyard with the boy Wu.

The room, besides Su Su lying unconscious in a chair, contained the Crown Prince of Beiliang, the dead soldier Wu, the former official of Western Shu, Zhao Dingxiu, and the female devil Xue Songguan—a truly absurd collection of people.

The Old Master glanced at Xu Fengnian, "Every family has its own troubles. I didn't expect Beiliang, with its three hundred thousand united iron cavalry from back then, to be in such disarray now."

Xu Fengnian took off his outer robe and chuckled, "Contentment with small gains refers to being moderately wealthy. With a vast domain and great power, especially after complete stabilization, the Zhao emperor couldn't do anything to Beiliang, and Beimang was almost helpless against the three hundred thousand iron cavalry. When everyone has nothing to do, there will always be various internal conflicts."

The Old Master sneered, "The Crown Prince certainly has a broad mind."

Xu Fengnian sat on the threshold, leaning against the door pivot. "I nearly left my life here just to deliver a message to you. Is this the hospitality of Western Shu's survivors?"

The former Spring and Autumn Grand Confucian said coldly, "Don't forget that Western Shu was trampled by your Beiliang army."

Xu Fengnian waved his hand and said, "Even if the Beiliang army hadn't destroyed Western Shu, South Liang or West Liang would have done such a historically significant thing. But South Liang or West Liang wouldn't have spared your Western Shu Crown Prince. Every word I say now causes me piercing pain, so can you please stop beating around the bush?"

The Old Master narrowed his eyes and said, "Do you believe I can have someone lop off your head with a single sword stroke?"

Xu Fengnian pointed at the blind zither player. The woman, whose back was to him, intuitively said, "Xue Songguan has already accepted six hundred jin of gold. If Master Qi tries to kill him, I will intervene."

Xu Fengnian smiled, "Old Scholar Zhao, what do you say?"

The Old Master snorted coldly.

Xu Fengnian said, "The restoration of Western Shu will not be in old Western Shu. Eight hundred li further south, there are the Eighteen Tribes of Nanzhao. You should unify them before talking about restoration. Beiliang has hidden pieces there that can be at your disposal."

The Old Master's eyes sharpened.

Xu Fengnian directly stated, "There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. I'll take a deposit first. I hear that Master Qi has been secretly forging swords for the past twenty years. Whether the sword is complete or just a sword blank, it must be given to me."

The Old Master's hair stood on end in anger, and he cursed, "Get out!"

Xu Fengnian rolled his eyes and said, "Zhao Dingxiu, don't play innocent after getting a bargain. Let alone a sword, I bet if you had a granddaughter and heard there was hope for restoration, wouldn't you offer her up with both hands?"

The Old Master was so furious his lips turned purple. It was a good thing he didn't practice martial arts; otherwise, he would most likely have grabbed a weapon and fought this little bastard to the death.

The blacksmith, returning to the courtyard, calmly said, "That Spring and Autumn sword, you can take it."

Xu Fengnian was momentarily stunned.

The blacksmith looked at Xu Fengnian, and with an uncharacteristic bright smile, said, "The alley fight was vigorous and full of spirit. I've been listening to your words; you didn't say more than ten words when fighting. I know you're a straightforward person, and I like that, just like my old master, our Sword Emperor of Western Shu. When he killed, he killed, no unnecessary chatter. I imagine this Spring and Autumn sword won't be disgraced in your hands."

After saying this, the blacksmith became even more decisive. He stomped his foot in the courtyard, and a sword box burst from the earth and stood upright.

Even before leaving its box, the sword qi soared into the heavens!

***

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Xuanxuan, I love you.More posts are welcome.Is no one here?Is the Crown Prince practicing swordsmanship?Wasn't that umbrella already destroyed?Reply to Qinxinjian_dan_well: The umbrella that was destroyed was the one the Crown Prince was holding.And 4 more replies,Censored by Baidu again!! Damn.

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Luckily it was censored, otherwise I wouldn't be pseudo-front row.Page 1 of 1Replies: 2

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