Chapter 585: Standing Ground

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*The Sword in the Snow* on Zongheng, Author: Fenghuo Xizhu Hou

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Floor 1, 2014/03/30 19:53

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Fenghuo Xizhu Hou

Lu Haiya left the monotonous banquet of abundant wine and meat; it still offered nothing new. It seemed that if the martial figures didn't drink large bowls of wine and eat large chunks of meat at a banquet, they would lose face. The so-called feast at Talisman Mountain merely added tortures like "Thousand Cuts of Fish Scales" or "Large and Small Sandalwood Torture" as entertainment. In Lu Haiya's eyes, these were initially startling and novel, but over time, they became less appealing than the simple tea and light wine shared among gentlemen, which left a more lasting aftertaste. Just now at the banquet, the executioner was Shen Li, who had re-emerged in the martial world. It was a specialty of the young bladesman with a monkey squatting on his shoulder. Their methods were similar, the only difference being that one used his hands while the other wielded a blade.

No one at Talisman Mountain felt any hidden concerns about this jailbreak. As for the county registrar of Bishan, whose name no one even bothered to remember, he was even less worth mentioning. Lu Haiya was helpless about this, as Talisman Mountain and Immortal Coffin Cave had no superior-subordinate relationship; neither could command the other. The top-tier masters they could each field were roughly equivalent, and their overall combat strength was evenly matched. The fact that they had coexisted peacefully for over a decade was ultimately due to the balanced power of their respective masters, Mi Fengjie and Zhang Juxian. Lu Haiya didn't particularly like Zhang Shangshan, Zhang Juxian's only daughter, but he wasn't repulsed by her either. If he could just casually marry her, Lu Haiya wouldn't mind having such a clever woman to warm his bed. But she was Zhang Juxian's darling, and Lu Haiya was dedicated to martial arts, aiming to reach the pinnacle of the martial world. He didn't have the spare energy to navigate the complex human relationships and pitfalls of Talisman Mountain. The top figures at Talisman Mountain were formidable individuals; marrying her would be like embracing a hornet's nest, and perhaps even his hard-earned efforts at Immortal Coffin Cave over the years would be ruined.

Lu Haiya walked down a narrow alleyway, just wide enough for two people to walk abreast. Sunlight streamed from above, drawing a clear dividing line on the alley walls. Trailing far behind was the woman with the unusual name. As expected, a pair of lonely eyes was gazing at her from an even greater distance. Lu Haiya thought of his own situation and gave a self-mocking smile. Wasn't he also blinded by his involvement? Even if Fan Xiaochai was indeed exceptionally beautiful, he shouldn't have been so infatuated. But whenever he saw her slender waist with two hanging swords, he couldn't help but want to unfasten her extra swords, her extra clothes, leaving only that smooth, clean, curving waist. Under the clear moonlight, it would surely be beautiful. If all her clothes were removed, but she kept a pair of embroidered shoes, would she be even more beautiful? Lu Haiya narrowed his eyes, his breathing uncontrollably quickened. He clenched his fists, his fingers digging into his palms, and only then did he clear his head somewhat. As he left the banquet, the mountain steward said that Miss Chai had already moved into Green Core Courtyard. Lu Haiya didn't know why she had changed her mind, not waiting for Wei Jin to bring his "Sparrow-tail Blade" and "Bronze-rust Sword" for a fight at the Water-Fall Well. Was she afraid? Lu Haiya didn't believe it. If she were afraid of death, she wouldn't have ventured alone into Immortal Coffin Cave and fought to the death with the Cave Master of Sunken Sword Cave for over sixty moves, each one a life-or-death struggle, fraught with danger. Lu Haiya had never seen his sword-obsessed master so excited, as if an old jade craftsman had unearthed the most subtly flawed piece of beautiful jade in the world, just waiting for Mi Fengjie to do some minor carving. Lu Haiya seemed to recall an elder martial uncle mentioning this woman; she should be the legendary natural sword embryo, one of the very few in existence.

Lu Haiya arrived at the Green Core Courtyard, pushed open the gate, and knocked on the room door. A cold voice from inside asked, "Something wrong?"

Lu Haiya softly replied, "No."

No more sounds came from inside the room.

Lu Haiya silently left.

Inside, it was far from dusk. Fan Xiaochai waited until she was sure Lu Haiya had left the courtyard, then lit a candle. She then released her internal energy, rolled up her sleeves, rested a snow-white arm on the tabletop, and with her other hand, held the red candle, letting the melted wax drip, drop by drop, onto her overly pale arm where faint veins were clearly visible. Red and blue, the wax tears slowly cooled and then solidified after falling. Temporarily forcing her internal energy to dissipate, Fan Xiaochai was even weaker than an ordinary woman, as her skin became more sensitive and fragile. Yet, she endured this burning sensation with an expressionless face, seemingly even unsatisfied. She pulled open her collar, raised the red candle, and let the wax drip onto the inner curve of her smooth chest. Only then did she let out a long, faint groan. Leaning back in her chair, Fan Xiaochai straightened her neck and instinctively turned her head. In a daze, she saw the figure she had dreamed of dismembering with a thousand cuts. The woman half-closed her eyes. As a new drop of wax hit the full curve, and as she tilted her head to look at that hazy face, she suddenly felt an immense pleasure she had never experienced before. It was like the first time her palm was pierced by a sword after she had drawn her own blade – an unforgettable pain. Now, it was an unfamiliar yet equally profound exhilaration. In that moment, Fan Xiaochai stopped thinking about whether she wanted to live or die. She only thought of that figure, able to stare at her as she abused herself. Fan Xiaochai's delicate body suddenly trembled violently. Her long legs under the table suddenly straightened, and the figure in her vision became increasingly blurred.

Fan Xiaochai closed her eyes, panting heavily, and the red candle, burnt down halfway, fell to the floor from her hand.

She felt that as soon as she opened her eyes, that figure should disappear.

But a voice boomed in her ear like thunder, "Since you can't figure out whether you should live or die, why not just be lazy and drive yourself mad?"

Fan Xiaochai was startled awake, her internal energy instantly flowing again. She quickly smoothed her rolled-up sleeves, covered her collar, hiding her long-exposed cleavage, stood up, and retreated several steps. After barely calming her emotions, she was immediately struck as if by lightning, her alluring, misty eyes widening. "You can really leave your body and roam freely?!"

"Xu Fengnian" sat leisurely in the chair and sneered, "Is it strange that I can leave my body and roam freely? Isn't it stranger that you're clearly looking at me but unwilling to stop your seductive posturing?"

Fan Xiaochai turned her head slightly, shifting her gaze.

Xu Fengnian, who had truly achieved the "Heaven and Man in Harmony" realm described in Taoist texts, continued to laugh: "Come on, continue, have an encore. Haven't they always said there are only oxen that die from exhaustion, never fields ruined by plowing?"

Fan Xiaochai trembled with rage.

Xu Fengnian added fuel to the fire, "Done so soon?"

Fan Xiaochai's face turned from pale to green, like a high-quality white-based green jadeite.

Xu Fengnian suddenly raised a finger to his lips.

After all, Fan Xiaochai was a top-tier operative of the Fushui Society, so she quickly focused her gaze on the door.

The woman in the courtyard came and went. Based on her footsteps alone, Fan Xiaochai determined it was Zhang Shangshan, the muddled-headed one.

By the time Fan Xiaochai withdrew her gaze, the out-of-body presence had returned.

It was still about half an hour until the predawn light, when the sky turned fish-belly white. Fan Xiaochai, who hadn't slept all night, reached for the two blades beneath her pillow. When the footsteps in the courtyard drew closer and she heard a knock, Fan Xiaochai asked in a measured tone, "What do you want?"

After the uninvited guest knocked, there was no further sound.

Fan Xiaochai got out of bed, put on her boots, fastened her two blades, and opened the door. Seeing the back of someone squatting on the steps, she was completely bewildered.

Xu Fengnian said softly, "Come with me."

Fan Xiaochai had no objection.

The two began to ascend the mountain, one following the other.

Perhaps it was an unusually early dawn, or perhaps Xu Fengnian was unfamiliar with the terrain and took some detours. In any case, the two of them didn't reach the summit of Talisman Mountain to see the most magnificent sunrise from the best vantage point.

Fan Xiaochai felt like smiling but couldn't, so she just silently followed behind the figure.

Xu Fengnian simply stopped, standing half a *li* from the summit. He gazed at the distant horizon, and in his mind's eye, it was as if a massive golden carp was rolling out, lying across a celadon and white plate.

Fan Xiaochai looked eastward with him, but she didn't find the scene particularly spectacular.

Xu Fengnian said plainly, "I had originally planned to reach the summit, watch the sunrise, and then tell you some grand philosophical truths befitting the occasion. But since we missed it, never mind."

For the first time, Fan Xiaochai spoke calmly to the King of Northern Liang: "My entire Fan family died because of the Great General. Every wrong has its source, every debt its owner. I should have directed my spear at the Great General, not you, Xu Fengnian. Yet, I still sought revenge against you, simply because there was no other logic to follow. I never bother thinking about right or wrong. People fight for a single breath; if it weren't for that breath sustaining me, I would have died long ago in that medicinal pool of the Fushui Society. You should know that out of ten women who jumped in, nine and a half died, at most leaving half a life. That was just the first stage. Afterwards, out of the ten who survived with half a life, they massacred each other, and only one or two made it out alive. I don't even know how I survived these past two years."

Fan Xiaochai chuckled to herself, "It's just that I know I can't kill you. Right now, I still haven't given up hope, thinking that if I could strip your bones and flesh clean, dip them in salt and vinegar, they'd go perfectly with rice. I'd definitely eat several big bowls of rice in one sitting."

Fan Xiaochai gently stamped her foot on the ground and sighed, "Sometimes I get carried away with morbid thoughts. When standing, you only take up the space of two feet. When lying down, you take up more ground, and even more with a coffin. Heaven lets us be reborn and live a life here, yet we just die so easily, just like that. And before dying, we even curse heaven for being blind. Aren't we afraid of being reborn into the wrong life next time? Since there's no hope in this life, we can't possibly ruin the next one too."

Fan Xiaochai turned her head and asked, "Am I talking too much? It's probably a bad habit I picked up from reading too many dead books, right? No wonder I always like to talk while torturing people when I kill them."

Xu Fengnian was silent for a moment, then said flatly, "I have plenty more candles in my room."

Fan Xiaochai's cheeks immediately flushed and burned, just like the dripping red wax from the previous day.

Soon, everyone on Talisman Mountain knew about a young county official who wasn't afraid of death. He spent his days idling, wandering aimlessly around the mountain. It wasn't that bandits didn't find him an eyesore and thought about giving him a knife in an alley to finish him off. But the first brave man who had such a thought and acted on it inexplicably lost his head as he drew his blade. By the time the registrar walked out of the alley, that bloody head rolled down the slightly sloping ground and bumped into his heel. Immediately afterwards, several men heard the terrible news and their eyes turned red with rage. They swarmed to the scene. After two of them were cut in half by a woman from outside the mountain, Zhang Juxian and Wei Jin, among other powerful figures, finally rushed over. They didn't explain the inside story. Outsiders only knew that under Master Wei's fury, he had arranged a life-or-death battle with this female devil named Fan in five days, but during this period, no one was allowed to attack the registrar. Thus, rumors spread. Some said this young official was the devil's lover, that he had given up his future for her, and was determined to enter the mountain to become a pair of desperate lovers. Others said the female devil and the registrar were childhood sweethearts, that she was a direct disciple of a top-tier Northern Liang gang, and upon learning her promising lover had been abducted to Talisman Mountain, she had fought her way all the way there in a fit of rage. Still others claimed they were siblings separated for many years, and so on. In short, there were countless strange and bizarre theories, each more outlandish than the last.

As the life-or-death battle approached, those on Talisman Mountain looked at the young registrar as if he were already dead.

At dawn on this day, Xu Fengnian walked alone to the mountain peak. The wind and rain were gloomy, and there was no morning glow.

Xu Fengnian had been greatly disappointed by the outcome of the battle where several cavalry detachments besieged Jiang Fuding. He wondered if this time there would be any surprises.

Xu Fengnian inexplicably remembered a small gesture Fan Xiaochai made when climbing the mountain that day, and he also stamped his foot.

Talisman Mountain was already destined to have no foothold in Northern Liang.

So, in the unfolding map of the world, could Northern Liang continue to maintain its foothold?

Xu Fengnian spread his arms, encompassing heaven and earth.

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Floor 5, 2014/03/30 19:53

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