Chapter 769: Central Plains Have Never Lacked Heroic Spirit

A long-awaited reunion ended quietly and unceremoniously after both finished their wine. Surprisingly, the usually talkative Shen Chang-geng didn't utter a single word from beginning to end. It wasn't until the woman put her veiled hat back on and walked straight into the small town that he suddenly snapped out of his daze. He cautiously nudged Xu Feng-nian with his elbow and asked, "An acquaintance?"

Xu Feng-nian chuckled, "You could say that. She's never been a very likable woman."

Shen Chang-geng quickly sat up straight and earnestly said, "Someone so devastatingly beautiful, it's only natural if her temper isn't great. Honestly, a remarkable woman like that is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Don't miss out for the sake of pride! All that nonsense about 'brothers are limbs, women are clothes' – just listen to it and let it go. To actually believe it would be idiotic! If you ask me, it's 'hands can be broken, but clothes must stay on!' That's the real truth!"

Xu Feng-nian couldn't help but laugh, "I see you finding a stunningly beautiful wife in the future, and then you two will be an immortal couple roaming the martial world together."

Shen Chang-geng, looking wistful, rubbed his hands together and said, "May your words come true, may your words come true."

Suddenly, Xu Feng-nian saw a familiar figure carrying a sword case walking alone in the distance. He hesitated for a moment, then stood up, bid farewell to Shen Chang-geng, and led his horse away. As Xu Feng-nian repeatedly apologized, saying "Excuse me," and approached the solitary young man with the sword case, perhaps due to a sixth sense, the latter quickly turned to look. Upon seeing Xu Feng-nian, his expression was one of shock, as if he'd just seen his own ancestor float out of a grave. His originally striking aristocratic demeanor immediately crumbled, and he frantically scurried toward Xu Feng-nian. Had he not been afraid of his prostration being too shocking, this young man, whose case held four famous swords, would have already knelt down. Instead, with reddened eyes, he clasped his hands and whispered, "Zhang Chun-lin of Youyan Villa greets Benefactor!"

Before his life-or-death battle with Han Sheng-xuan, Xu Feng-nian had been snowbound and stayed at Youyan Villa with Wang Xiao-ping, Xuanyuan Qing-feng, and others. While fishing in a straw cloak there, he encountered a group of ethereal white-clad Qi practitioners. He had impulsively drawn his sword to help in an injustice, effectively saving Zhang Chun-lin's parents. Afterwards, he also took swords like Dragon Whiskers, Signal Fire, and Slender Waist. Now, Youyan Villa's fortunes had changed. With his inner turmoil resolved, Zhang Dong-ling and his wife had reopened their furnace to forge swords. More than ten peerlessly sharp famous swords had emerged, and the villa's reputation soared, establishing it as one of the new Ten Great Sects. As Xu Feng-nian's fame spread across the land, Youyan Villa, through subtle clues, had also deduced his hidden identity. Zhang Chun-lin, who already yearned for the martial world, naturally regarded Xu Feng-nian as a benefactor and an immortal. This time, he had left the protection of his parents' wings and departed the villa to search for the "Sword Immortal Senior" in Northern Liang territory—the one he had once mistakenly believed to be an old man with youthful looks but actually a hundred years old. He wished to personally thank this young vassal king of the Northwest Frontier on behalf of his parents and the villa. As for the plan he had buried deep in his heart, which he hadn't even told his parents, it only grew stronger with every step of his journey.

Xu Feng-nian joked, "Back then, I had a full head of white hair to fool people. It's impressive you could still recognize me, Young Master Zhang."

Zhang Chun-lin blurted out instinctively, "Even if you turned to ash, I'd still recognize you!"

The young master of Youyan Villa then froze, wishing he could slap himself twice to relieve his frustration. He was incredibly flustered. Xu Feng-nian merely smiled, then casually asked, "Why are you alone?"

Zhang Chun-lin, blushing and unsure where to put his hands, replied, "I did make some acquaintances among the martial artists from prominent sects, but they gathered quickly and dispersed just as quickly. In the end, only two or three close friends remained. Unfortunately, as we approached this town, they had to travel with their sect elders. I really couldn't stand some of the established conventions, so I found an excuse to slip away."

Xu Feng-nian chuckled, "In the martial world, one inevitably has to adapt to local customs."

Not wanting to lecture someone his own age with such old-fashioned words, Xu Feng-nian quickly changed the subject. "The four swords in your case—besides the Rootless Sky Water I saw back then, are the three new ones all from the Dragon Rock Sword Forge?"

Zhang Chun-lin reached back and patted his sword case, grinning broadly. "Two of them were forged from the Dragon Rock Censer Forge, named 'Young Rhinoceros' and 'Monk's Hut'. The Water Dragon's Roar Sword Forge, which hadn't been opened for 120 years, also began operation late last year. Its blade is as clear as ice and snow, with a natural curve that subtly defies convention. To commemorate you, Benefactor, I boldly named it 'Frost Blade'. It does sound a bit odd, I'm afraid I've made you laugh."

About two hundred steps from the town entrance, tents lined the area, making it increasingly difficult to move forward. Especially with Xu Feng-nian inconveniently leading his horse, he naturally drew disapproving glances. Influenced by his simple and good upbringing, Zhang Chun-lin had always been a well-mannered and kind young man. However, seeing his benefactor apologize to others, the spirited young Zhang Chun-lin still felt a surge of indignation. While feeling it was unfair to his benefactor, he constantly reminded himself not to interfere with his benefactor's important matters. When Xu Feng-nian, alone with his horse, found it truly impossible to pass through the crowd, he said to Zhang Chun-lin, "I won't escort you into the town. I need to return to Liangzhou."

Zhang Chun-lin, once again dumbfounded, stood rooted to the spot. "Aren't you going in, Benefactor?"

Xu Feng-nian self-deprecatingly said, "I won't join this excitement. The border conflict is urgent. You've probably heard that Tuoba Pusa chased me all the way south. I need to rush back immediately."

Zhang Chun-lin looked as if he wanted to speak but hesitated, his face flushing from his ears to his neck. His eyes darted around, clearly engaged in an internal struggle.

Xu Feng-nian seemed to read his thoughts and laughed casually, "If you're thinking of joining the Northern Liang border army out of a desire to repay a debt, honestly, there's no need. Firstly, your Youyan Villa has given me swords twice already; you don't owe me anything. Secondly, men of the martial world grow old in the martial world, and border soldiers die at the border. That's how it's always been, from ancient times till now."

Just as Zhang Chun-lin was about to speak, two groups of people arrived as if on cue. Behind them was Shen Chang-geng, whom Xu Feng-nian had met by chance. The three people emerging from the town were Zhang Chun-lin's rarely-found kindred spirits. Their social statuses and temperaments were vastly different. So, when those three stood by Zhang Chun-lin, and the timid Shen Chang-geng stood by Xu Feng-nian, the two circles were clearly distinct. Even if the three young talents showed no hint of disdain, the short distance between them and Shen Chang-geng felt like an unbridgeable chasm. Xu Feng-nian felt no particular regret about this. Wasn't it the same during the winding stream gathering at Baoguo Temple in Jiangnan Path, where even the poor scholar Chen Xi-liang, despite sitting with renowned gentlemen of prominent families, faced such a disparity?

Although Zhang Chun-lin was close friends with those three peers, he had never revealed Xu Feng-nian's identity. When recounting the flying sword battle that took place on the villa's lake, Zhang Chun-lin only said he had met a Sword Immortal Senior, living incognito, with hair like frost, countless flying swords, and truly an immortal being.

Shen Chang-geng tugged on Xu Feng-nian's sleeve and whispered, "You're heading north? Why don't you take me along? Anyway, I'm no help here, nobody needs me to wave flags or cheer. I just want to see Northern Liang for myself. All along the way, I've heard many people say that the Northern Liang King's residence not only has an armory and Listening Tide Lake, but also thirty new steles behind the mountain. Before, I always only heard people cursing Northern Liang. This spring, I even heard that Northern Liang's Youzhou suffered a defeat, losing battle after battle—abandoning armor, scattered and broken, basically driven to their doorstep by the Northern Barbarians. Coming to the Western Regions this time, mainly passing through the northern part of Xishu Path near Northern Liang's Lingzhou, I realized some things might not be as I heard. I've become half-skeptical. What I heard with my own ears is different, and I want to see it with my own eyes. If I'm unlucky enough to encounter the Northern Barbarians charging in and get trampled to a pulp by horses, then so be it. But if, by any chance, it's not like that, when I return to Yanglu Commandery, I want to say things no one else has said."

Thousands of martial artists from the Central Plains had entered the Western Regions in three mighty contingents. Shen Chang-geng's group was in the middle, passing through the border of Xishu Path and Northern Liang Path. The group led by Huang Fang-fo took the Xishu Plank Road. The last group, guided by Liu Ni-rong of the Fish-Dragon Gang, who acted as a gracious host, passed through Lingzhou.

Xu Feng-nian looked at the grave and sincere Shen Chang-geng, shaking his head. "Don't go. People are dying every day at the border; there's nothing to see. Besides, beyond Northern Liang Pass, all areas are heavily guarded. You wouldn't even reach Tiger Head City in the far north of Liangzhou or Xiaguang City at the southernmost point of Hulukou."

Shen Chang-geng scratched his head and glanced back at the group of men in the distance whom he'd befriended after a dispute. "I casually mentioned to them that you're a local from Northern Liang. Somehow, when they heard someone could lead the way, they insisted on going to Northern Liang to experience it. They said since they're already in the Western Regions, it would be unthinkable not to go to Northern Liang, and they wouldn't be able to boast back home about seeing the 300,000 Iron Cavalry of Northern Liang. Heh, my problem is I just make up boasts on the spot. Now I'm in a tricky situation. How about you just take us to the southern border of Northern Liang, and we'll go on our own from there?"

Of course, Xu Feng-nian couldn't dally for their sake or slow his pace to Tiger Head City. He could only shake his head again. "If it weren't for the current situation, a year or even half a year ago, it wouldn't have been a problem to take you not just to the southern reaches of Northern Liang, but even beyond Liangzhou Pass to see the frontier scenery."

Shen Chang-geng wasn't annoyed. He clapped Xu Feng-nian on the shoulder and laughed heartily, "No worries, no worries. I'll let them know. Alright! Consider it that you owe me a round of drinks, how about that?"

Shen Chang-geng turned and jogged a dozen steps away, then suddenly turned back and asked, "Oh right, if I ever make it to Northern Liang, how do I find you for a drink?"

Just as Xu Feng-nian was about to speak, Zhang Chun-lin looked at the somewhat belated Shen Chang-geng and chuckled, "What a coincidence! I'll also be heading to Liangzhou soon. If you don't mind, shall we travel together?"

Shen Chang-geng was a bit stunned. He tentatively asked, "Wouldn't that be a bother for you?"

Zhang Chun-lin smiled charmingly and proclaimed cheerfully, "I guarantee we'll feast on large cuts of meat and drink big bowls of wine all the way! How about it?!"

Then, with a somewhat mischievous grin, Zhang Chun-lin turned to his three friends. "Chen Zheng-yong, Qi Tui-zhi, Cai Yong-jia, what do you say? Do you dare, as we agreed beforehand, to come with me to the Liangzhou border once this matter is settled?"

Chen Zheng-yong, the most graceful and elegant of the three, smiled faintly. "Why wouldn't I dare?"

The young man with the most prominent look of arrogance on his face crossed his arms. "If I dare to personally fight and kill barbarians on the battlefield, why wouldn't I dare go to Liangzhou? If that vassal king truly had the heroic feat of personally leading troops to Hulukou, and if there's a stele for Xu Feng-nian among the 300,000 steles on Qingliang Mountain, then I, Qi Tui-zhi, wouldn't mind leading his horse for him in the future!"

Another scholarly-looking young man in a Confucian robe chuckled, "I'm fond of young ladies from Rouge Commandery, and such. As for fighting battles, I don't particularly enjoy it, but I'm not afraid."

Xu Feng-nian smiled, bid them farewell, and led his horse away.

Chen Zheng-yong glanced at Zhang Chun-lin, who seemed lost in thought, and quietly asked, "Who was that? You weren't this distracted even when we met Immortal Lady Liu of Jiagu Terrace."

Zhang Chun-lin chuckled, "You'll know in due time."

Just as Xu Feng-nian rode away from the crowd, galloping north, the woman, no longer in purple, stood atop a tall building.

And what this woman then said, in the late spring of Xiangfu Year Two, spread throughout the land.

At that moment, she stood with her hands clasped behind her back, like a female emperor facing south.

Six bloody heads lay near her feet.

"There was a fellow, just now by your side, who has secretly headed north. If I'm not mistaken, he's rushing to Tiger Head City, where a million Northern Barbarian troops are at the city gates."

"This man likely just fought someone from northern Western Regions all the way to southern Western Regions. They battled each other for nearly a month, covering over a thousand li, and he didn't win, which is why he's too ashamed to face anyone."

"His opponent is named Tuoba Pusa!"

"I'm not interested in the Liang-Mang War, nor do I have any particular fondness for him or Northern Liang. Besides, I'm just a 'woman' in that man's mouth. Going into battle and killing enemies has always been a man's business. What concern is it of Xuanyuan Qing-feng... what business is it of mine?!"

"There are nearly four thousand people present, over three thousand seven hundred of them men. Apart from the sixty-two from the Fish-Dragon Gang, there isn't a single person from Northern Liang."

"This Qingming Festival, in Northern Liang, there's a place called Qingliang Mountain. In the forest of steles behind the mountain, 36,872 names have already been carved. As for the Northern Barbarians, nearly 100,000 of them have died in Liuzhou, Liangzhou, and Youzhou!"

At this point, she kicked the six heads at her feet off the roof, one by one.

"I, Xuanyuan Qing-feng, have already slain these six demons. You have nothing to worry about. So now I'll ask you one question: Northern Liang has only two million households, yet over thirty thousand people have already died. How many have died in battle in our Liyang, in our Central Plains? How many dare to die in battle?"

"If I'm not mistaken, since the reforms at the end of the Yonghui era, our Liyang Dynasty, apart from Northern Liang Path, has twelve other paths, sixty-three prefectures, and over two hundred seventy commanderies."

"A full million Northern Barbarian able-bodied men are already at the border. Where are the men of Liyang?"

Inside and outside the small town, there was a deathly silence.

The woman on the rooftop scoffed, her laugh grating and harsh.

Finally, a clear voice resounded loudly from an inn within the town, "Wei Chi-du-quan of Kuai-xue Mountain Villa, Hanlin Commandery, Qingzhou, Jing'an Path, is here! I volunteer to go to the border!"

The woman on the rooftop laughed uproariously, "How strange! It's actually a woman!"

Then someone at the town entrance proclaimed loudly, "Zhang Chun-lin of Wuzhou, Dongyue Path, is willing to die beyond Northern Liang Pass!"

"Chen Zheng-yong of Taohua Commandery, Jiangnan Path, is here!"

"Qi Tui-zhi of Songzhou, Huainan Path, seeks only death!"

"Cai Yong-jia of Xiangfan City, Qingzhou, dares to fight to the death at the border!"

A slightly weaker, yet even more poignant and heroic voice followed, "Shen Chang-geng of Yanglu Commandery, Jiangnan Path, is here!"

"Xue Tao of Wenxian Commandery, Bazhou, Southern Frontier Path, is here!"

Voice after voice, they rose and fell, ceaseless, as if without end.

Far to the north of the small town, a lone rider halted, but he never turned back.

This young man who dared to slay dragons, who dared to battle Tuoba Pusa across a thousand li, at this moment, dared not even look back.

Northern Liang guarded the Northwest Gateway.

Behind him lay the Central Plains.

Northern Liang's Iron Cavalry were unmatched under heaven.

Their spearheads had pointed north for a full twenty years.

Yet, this was not the Central Plains as most Liyang civil officials saw it. The true Central Plains, when had it ever lacked heroism?

The lone rider then spurred his horse into a furious gallop.