Wu Lin Wai Shi

[Han Solo]

Just to find out, do people even read this? heck, its stupid to translate for no one..

This is the GL story that i just have to read, and i thank you for translating it.

Han Solo

[siegefried]

ok guys, appreciate it. please give me a bit more time to balance my life out. haha. i have to figure out how to balance work and hobbies. i'm running on only 4-5 hours of sleep per day, sometimes whe i have the time to translate a short bit, my eyes start to close...

[fastclock]

Thanks for translating....
Keep on...!

[bobbywu]

thank you for translating, i read as well

[siegefried]

sry ppl, i promise to post on sat. cos i really took up too many things...

[JigSta]

ooooh the thread lives! Thanks for the translations. I'm lapping it up

[siegefried]

Jin BuHuan had already put the cloak on, and only then did he point towards the northwest and said,"Both the grown lady and young girl went that direction, if you want to pursue, best hurry that way." Zhan YingSong replied,"Thanks!" and leapt onto his mount. With a whistle and a shout, the ten riders were moving as swiftly as the cloud northwards again.

Xu RuoYu knotted his brows as he watched, then shook his head and said,"Brother Jin has that young man's fur clothes, and now this cloak, don't you think that this is overkill?" Jin BuHuan replied," Not at all, not at all, no matter what I want, I will only be bothered at how little it is, never too much..... eh, weird, there's someone coming again...

Sorry people, was out on the streets selling just now. I will take this up tml.

[minutemanwayne]

Please continue to translate. Shen Lang is the shizznite.

[luna_rainbow]

Hi everyone...

*Hides*

Umm, yeah, I'm actually still alive >_> No excuses given for the hiatus, any would be unworthy. No promises given for future updates either. I have to work out where my original online version came from ^^;;;;

Wow, the last I visited was 03-04-04. I'm such a bum.

*Bows deeply* I'm really sorry about the unexplained absence.

Going through my old translation files, I've actually done more on chapter 2, without posting them up. I'll pick up from where the last translation done (by Siegefried) was, but if anyone wants it (to keep the styles consistent, or for a second interpretation) I can put the bit in between up as well. Thanks so much to everyone who's contributed to this translation and thread, and to anyone who reads it, at all.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xu RuoYu looked up and there were another dozen riders galloping close through the blizzard, some wearing velvet coats, others in riding gear. While they didn't appear as impressive as the previous dozen, but still metres away, someone was already calling, "The person standing there, could it be 'Jian Yi Yong Wei' Jin-daxia?" By the time he finished speaking, the horses were already in front of them.

Xu RuoYu thought to himself in surprise, "This person has very sharp eyesight."

The person who had spoken was short and white-haired, wearing a knee-length cotton robe. He was very inconspicuous, almost like a poor village scholar, but his eyes were alert and bright as star.

Jin BuHuan chuckled and said, "The only person who can see me from twenty metres away on horseback is 'Shen Yan Ying' Fang QianLi." [*Shen Yan Ying = godly-eyed eagle]

The short old man had dismounted and stroking his beard, laughed, "Long time no see, and the first thing Jin-xiong does is to give me a high hat, don't you think I might collapse under the pressure?"

Jin BuHuan's gaze swept around and said, "What a fine coincidence. Not only Fang-xiong, but Pu Tian Diao [*1] Li Ting Li-daxia and Chuan Yun Yan [*2] Yi RuFeng Yi-daxia are here too." [*1: Pu Tian Diao = sky sweeping condor; 2: Chuan Yun Yan = cloud crossing albatross]

A strong looking white-haired old man on the horse on the left, and the long-bearded tall old man on the right both dismounted and clasped their fists, smiling, "Jin-xiong, long time no see."

Jin BuHuan said, "People say that since HengShan, FengLin's Three Birds all retired to their homes. Are the three brothers here to admire the snow?"

The short old man Fang QianLi sighed and said, "Us brothers are born ill-fortuned. As soon as we stopped working, we became so poor we almost had to go without food, so we were forced to put up a notice and accept a few disciples in order to trick some money out of them. We struggled through a few years and finally taught our most senior disciple a few tricks, so we wanted to ease our old bones and give the practice grounds to them, thinking we could sit at home and wait for the money to come. Who knew..aye, last night some strange girl popped out from nowhere who had nothing to do with us and trashed the grounds, saying something like Qi-guniang can't stand these trickster's ways."

Jin BuHuan and Xu RuoYu looked at each other, half-angry and half-amused, thinking, "So that Qi-guniang is actually a professional troublemaker."

Fang QianLi sighed and said, "My few disciples were pretty useless and came crying to us after they got beaten us. Us three are useless, and our disciples are useless, but we still need to get even with her so we came out. Even if we lose our lives, we have to chase up that crazy girl and ask her why she crashed our living."

Xu RuoYu didn't wait for Jin BuHuan to talk and pointed to the northwest, saying loudly, "They went that way, go after them!"

Fang QianLi glanced at him and said, "And this is...?"

Jin BuHuan sneered, "This is Xu RuoYu, who specialises in blocking other people's fortunes, has Fang-xiong never met him?"

Fang QianLi hesitated, then smiled, "Xu RuoYu? Could it be 'Yu Mian Yao Qin Shen Jian Shou' Xu-daxia.." Clasping his fist, he added, "Thank you Xu-xiong for your instructions, we'll take our leave." Flipping onto his horse, they urged the horses into a gallop.

Jin BuHuan watched Xu RuoYu from the corner of his eyes, still sneering. Xu RuoYu forced a smile and said, "I(xiaodi) wasn't blocking your fortune, it's just that they weren't wearing a wind cape, and didn't look like they had too much silver, so might as well get rid of them quickly."

Jin BuHuan's sole eye blinked and he suddenly laughed, "If anyone else blocked my fortune, they would become my greatest enemy, but since it's Xu-xiong....haha, my own brother, what can I say?" Laughing loudly a few times, he pulled Xu RuoYu and turned to the northwest.

In surprise, xu RuoYu asked, "Why is Jin-xiong going that way?"

Jin BuHuan laughed, "With Zhan YingSong and 'Feng Lin San Niao' making way for us, they're going to have a hard time, why don't we go and watch the fun?"

Suddenly, behind a dry tree a distance a way, someone continued for him and said, "You might even be able to grab a fish while the water's murky and get some a bargain out of it, right?" Xiao Shou Lan Xin Nv Zhu Ge Hua SiGu appeared from behind the tree, with a lion-like man beside her who glared angrily at Jin BuHuan.

Jin BuHuan's expression flickered, but he immediately laughed, "I didn't think that the Lion today would turn into a leopard. You almost scared me with how noiseless you were." He was calling Qiao Wu's actions stealthy, but took a roundabout way of saying it.

Qiao Wu's face turned purple with anger, "You...You.." He was wordless with rage.

Jin BuHuan was even more pleased and laughing loudly said, "What is it that made the two of you come?"

Smiling faintly, Hua SiGu said, "We're only here to advise Xu-shaoxia, not to get tangled up with unscrupulous knaves."

Jin BuHuan pretended not to understand that she's insulting him, and laughed, "Hua SiGu has such a nice heart it is admirable..." Glancing at Xu RuoYu, he continued, "But Xu-xiong has been wandering JiangHu for a long time now, since when did he become a child that needs to be looked after? I(xiaodi) don't understand."

Xu RuoYu's face went bright red and he yelled loudly, "I(Xu-mou) will do thing according to myself, there's no need for your help."

Hua SiGu sighed lightly but before she spoke, Jin BuHuan already clapped his hands and laughed, "So Xu-xiong has his own ideas, so you two don't need to disturb him."

Xiong Shi Qiao Wu's fists tightened, but Hua SiGu pulled on his sleeve.

Jin BuHuan laughed, "Since when did you two become so intimate? You should be congratulated. When you get married, don't forget to call me for a cup of wine." In the midst of laughter, he dragged Xu RuoYu away.

Roaring angrily, Qiao Wu was about to lunge for them, but Hua SiGu refused to let go of him. From afar, Xu RuoYu laughed and said, "This pair is really a talented man and a beautiful girl..."

Stamping his foot, Qiao Wu said, "That beast is being ridiculous, don't listen to him."

Hua SiGu smiled faintly and said, "I don't look at things the way he does."

Qiao Wu raised his head and sighed, "Who would have known that a well-known WuLin fighter would be such a malicious knave......Oh."

Carried along the freezing wind was the sound of more hooves.

Hua SiGu murmured, "Could it be that more people are making trouble for that Zhu-guniang...."

Zhu Qi-guniang whipped the horse into flight and the Fire Child held with his life onto the shabby youth. The three of them were out half a mile within minutes. When the six men caught up with them, Zhu QiQi reined in the horse and glanced back with a smile, "As soon as you showed that hand, I knew no one was going to dare come after us."

Smiling tenderly, Zhu Qi-guniang said, "You saved her today, she won't forget you for it. Hey, say, can you forget Shen Lang?"

The Fire Child laughed, "No, of course not."

Zhu Qi-guniang smiled and said, "Not only her, but me neither."

The shabby youth Shen Lang sighed and said, "I'd rather the two of you forgot me quicker, if the two of you don't forget me, I'm going to get killed by you."

The Fire Child laughed, "Our miss is in love with you, why would she hurt you?"

Shen Lang said, "Okay okay, give me a break." His colour darkened and said, "Let me ask you, you're obviously not Hua XinXian, why do you want them to think you are?"

Zhu QiQi blinked and said, "Who said she's not Hua XinXian?"

Shen Lang smiled reluctantly and said, "If she was 'Demon in Palm', would Xu RuoYu still have a life left? If she was really 'going into the sky and into the earth', why would I have to block them for her? Qi-guniang, you've already fooled enough people and now you forced that problem on me for no apparent reason. TianFa-dashi is going to hate me to the bones now that I've blocked him."

Teh Fire Child chuckled and said, "Before I came, I heard our Qi-guniang saying how great Shen-gongzi is. Now that I see you, I finally know that Shen-gongzi is indeed extraordinary. That old man 'Wisest under the sky' isn't even worth putting Shen-gongzi's shoes on." As he spoke, he took the red mask off again and revealed the pale child face. On close examination, it was indeed a skin mask.

Wiping his face, he wiped the mask off and inside it was another child's face, but this was no mask. His cheeks were pale but rosy, like a delicious big apple, two large eyes darted around and as he smiled, there was a dimple on each side.

He bowed to Shen Lang and smiled, "I(xiaodi) am Zhu Ba. Dad calls me Xi-er, my sister calls me Little Naughty, other people call me Fire Child. Shen-dage can call me whatever you like, I'm in awe of you."

Even though Shen Lang had guessed the secret, he couldn't help being stunned. After a while, he finally heaved a sigh and said, "So you're a child from the Zhu family as well."

Zhu QiQi was shaking with laughter, "My precious little brother who gives even my fifth brother a headache. It's rare to see him in awe of anyone."

Shen Lang sighed, "You call this naughty? It's a conspiracy inside out. No one knows where Hua XinXian is, but you told your eighth brother to pull the strings until everyone believed he was Hua XinXian....aye! That 'Demon Flying Dragon' was so skilled that even someone like Qi Zhi was fooled."

Grinning, the Fire Child said, "Of the thirteen techniques I only know this one. The messy slapping is my own skill."

Shen Lang smiled helplessly and said, "Your messy slapping is going to kill people. If it wasn't for that, why would Qi Zhi be fooled......But let me ask you, what is the point of this decoy? Where's Hua XinXian? Since you dragged me into it, I need to know the whole thing."

The Fire Child said, "I can't explain it very well, let Qi-jie explain it."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Until next time...whenever that is.

(Someone please redirect me to a site that has the original text? ^^;; )

[TigerWong]

Nice to see ya again, Luna!

As for original text, will this do? http://www.qiqi.com/cgi-bin/bk2.pl?f...gulong&in=gl56

[zhouyu]

Welcome back,

I really appreciate you continuing. I really want to read more about Shen Lang, who everyone in the forum agrees is the best of the best in Gu Long's world.

[strife_au]

sliq sounds good gonna start reading <:

[Han Solo]

Welcome back luna.

This is the one GL story that i hope gets competely translated. Thanks for your work.

Han solo

[Han Solo]

Second Bump.

Anyone has contact with Luna_rainbow or are interested in translating this story?

Han Solo

[pokit]

As a matter of fact, I translated a couple of chapters of this story some time ago. I don't intend to continue this translation by the way.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zhu Qiqi lightly sighed. "Right, eight brother here is actually disguising to be Hua Ruixian so she can be somewhere else to do her thing. Then no one can guess who's actually doing... But you don't need to worry, Hua Ruixian isn't doing something that'll harm anyone. She only wants to make fun of that guy Lian Tianyun, to vent her anger from the old days."

Shen Lang scowled as he said, "Lian Tianyun is a very righteous and heroic person. He's the most righteous one among the three brothers. If Hua Ruixian has some resentment towards him, it must've been Hua Ruixian's fault."

"But this time, it's you who is wrong."

"You're protecting Hua Ruixian in all respects. You're even trying to make me believe that she hasn't killed anyone in the last ten years. But everyone knows seven years ago, more than one hundred and forty people died under her hands."

Zhu Qiqi let out a sigh. "These two things are actually the same thing."

"Can you speak a bit more clearly?"

"In the last eleven years, Hua Ruixian has never put a foot outside of the stronghold. Brother Ba is also eleven years old, why don't you ask him to see if I'm lying to you."

Fire Child acknowledged it by saying, "I grew up around her, how can she go anywhere?"

Shen Lang grimaced. "If she really hasn't left the Zhu family's stronghold in the last eleven years, then who killed those one hundred and forty people seven years ago?"

Zhu Qiqi again sighed. "I also find it strange. Not only those one hundred people were Hua Ruixian's enemies, the method used to kill them was also very similar to Hua Ruixian's palm skill. Also after that night when the seventeen people from the Cangzhou's Yujin family were killed, Lian Tianyun and Leng San went back a few times to the house to investigate and decided that the murderer is Hua Ruixian. When they said this, of course everyone in Wulin believed them. But on that night, Hua Ruixian was actually with us. So it's impossible for her to be in Cangzhou to kill those people."

The expression on Shen Lang's face changed as he said, "Alright, so all of you are trying to help her clear her name."

Zhu Qiqi sighed and said, "Hua Ruixian is known by her terrible reputation from the old days. So even if we say anything, it still doesn't carry as much weight as Lian Tianyun. And how can she make things clear by explaining herself?"

Shen Lang grimaced. "These words are right."

Zhu Qiqi explained, "Lian Tianyun didn't see what happened with his own eyes and he also doesn't have any concrete evidence, but he already judged her guilty. Not only Hua Ruixian felt wronged, even my brothers and sisters feel that she's been treated unfairly. So we want to teach Lian Tianyun a lesson, but unfortunately we were powerless to go against him. But now..."

She smiled captivatingly and then continued, "Now we've come up with a plan. Hua Ruixian is now going to lead Lian Tianyun to the back, then she's going to use her 'Sky Demon Shifting Technique' to make fun of him, and then she's going to show herself to him. Lian Tianyun is definitely going to be very confused, then he'll tell everyone he's seen Hua Ruixian. But Li Changqing and Qi Zhi just saw that my brother Ba is the little sky demon when he made all those noise at the reception hall. So who would believe what Lian Tianyun say? Lian Tianyun's words have always been precious and believable, and everytime he speaks, everyone believes him. But this time, even his own brothers won't believe him. Lian Tianyun is going to be really angry."

Their horses were walking slowly as the snow blew on their faces, but as they talked, they had again gone forward another half a li. Suddenly they heard someone chuckling from the top of a dried up tree beside them.

"He's not only angry, he nearly died from anger." This voice was grating, like an iron being dragged across a stone.

Shen Lang glanced over and saw a dried up tree covered with snow. There was no sign of anyone. But on careful inspection, there was a piece of snow on top of the tree that was now moving and lightly floated down. This person was wearing all red, and the face was really ugly. Not only the dress was the same as Fire Child's, even the body shape was similar, but this red gown person was wearing an overcoat of white fox fur. Just then when that person was hiding on top of the tree, this overcoat covered that person's body completely. Even if Lian Tianyun walked passed underneath that tree, he would never have discovered that person.

Shen Lang sighed. "This must be the 'Five Shades Protection Technique' of the 'Sky Demon Shifting Technique'. I've long heard of it. It's really widened my scope today."

Hua Ruixian, who was that red gown person, laughed. "Trivial matter. Actually this skill is learned from animals and some small insects, it's for people who can't actually fight or run fast. Master Shen praised it so highly, it makes granny here feels embarrassed." This 'Five Shades Protection Technique' was really a defensive skill derived from the animals and insects of the natural world. So what Hua Ruixian said was really true.

Zhu Qiqi smilingly said, "Didn't know you're here already. Finished your business already?"

"That Lian Tianyun is really suffering right now, I..." Hua Ruixian answered.

Suddenly, the blowing cold wind carried the sound of horses galloping. Zhu Qiqi scowled and asked, "Who's chasing us?"

"If it's not Zhan Yingsong, then it's Fang Qianli," Hua Ruixian said.

Shen Lang oddly asked, "Why would Zhan Yingsong and Fang Qianli chase you?"

Hua Ruixian chuckled. "This is our Miss Qi's little trick. There's no reason at all. She just saw that escort's banner isn't pleasing to the eyes, so she pulled it down."

Zhu Qiqi giggled. "But I didn't do it."

Fire Child's eyes were wide open as he shouted, "What if I did? That old fellow chased till here, does he want to get bashed up by Zhu Ba!"

"Yes, yes, you were just making trouble, but now trouble caught up with us. These brother and sister really matches each other. Master Shen, what do you think we should do?" Hua Ruixian laughingly said.

Shen Lang cupped his fist and said, "Everyone will prepare to fight here. But I'm going to take my leave."

He dismounted his horse and ran towards a sideroad.

Fire Child shouted, "Brother Shen, don't go!"

Zhu Qiqi's eyes had already turned red and she quietly sighed. "Let him go. Even though we saved his life once, we can't expect him to remember that we saved his life." Her voice sounded miserable like she was blaming herself. She sounded really pitiful.

Shen Lang stamped his foot stopping himself abruptly, and turned back. He let out a long sigh. "Auntie, what do you want me to do?"

Zhu Qiqi's face broke into a smile and she quietly said, "I want you... want you..." She was hanging her head down, smiling shyly and taking glances at him, while biting at her lips.

The wind and the snow were blowing furiously, and the horses were galloping closer and closer. But she actually didn't look worried at all. Hua Ruixian was somewhat worried though, she sighed and said, "Auntie, this isn't the time to be cute. Decide quickly if we're going to fight or run."

"Of course we're going to fight. Brother Shen is also going to help," Fire Child said.

Shen Lang slowly strolled around and hummed. "Fight?..." When he got in front of Fire Child, his hand suddenly shot out like the wind and lightly brushed the acupoint on his shoulder. Fire Child felt his whole body went numb. Shen Lang hugged his waist and put him on the horse that Zhu Qiqi was riding. With a backhand, he slapped the horse's buttock. With a long neigh, the horse was off.

The eight big men followed Zhu Qiqi's lead and whipped their horses to chase. Hua Ruixian waved her hand, and she was now standing on the back of one of the horses. The big man riding that horse immediately stopped to give the horse to her. But Hua Ruixian said, "Keep going, don't worry about me." She was standing on the horse but her body was light as a feather. That big man was startled and impressed at the same time, and he didn't dare not to obey.

Fire Child was immobilized by Shen Lang already, and he was now shouting loudly, "Let me down, let me down, if you don't let me down, I'll scold you."

Shen Lang smiled. "If you keep shouting, I'll shave your head and send you to Mount Wutai. You can become Reverend Tianfa's little monk there."

Fire Child's eyes were wide open as he stammered, "You... you dare?"

"Who said I don't dare? If you don't believe it, test it out."

Fire Child sucked in a breath of cold air and didn't dare to make anymore noises.

Zhu Qiqi laughingly said, "An evil person can only be handled by an evil person. Didn't realise that brother Ba would meet his adversary today."

Fire Child retorted, "He's my brother in law so he's not an outsider. What's the big deal if I'm afraid of him? Brother in law, don't you think I'm right?"

Shen Lang smiled helplessly, while Zhu Qiqi smiled tenderly. "Little ghost, stop wagging your tongue. Wait till I tear your mouth open."

Fire Child made a face and laughingly said, "Sister's mouth is scolding me, but her heart's feeling really happy."

Zhu Qiqi smiled tenderly and she turned around to smack him. But when she turned around, she ended up in Shen Lang's bosom.

Fire Child laughed loudly and he shouted, "Everyone look, sister is taking her advantage..."

At this time, they suddenly heard bellowing from far away carried by the blowing wind. Someone was madly shouting, "The hoofprints are still new. That crazy girl's people and horses must've gone through here not long ago."

The wind was blowing towards the northwest and they could hear the sound of the horses chasing them from far away. But the people chasing them were unable to hear the sound of their horses. Shen Lang hit the horse to hurry it up. Zhu Qiqi said, "They're no match for us, why are we running away?"

Shen Lang replied, "You're also not my match, why don't I just beat you up?"

Zhu Qiqi tenderly got angry. "Hmmph.... I asked you seriously but you're joking instead."

Shen Lang sighed and said, "I never joke around. When you know your wugong is ten times greater than your opponent, then you can't fight him."

"Why can't you fight him?"

"You unreasonably created this trouble. If we fight them again, wouldn't the friends in Jianghu laughed at us? Moreover, that Zhan Yingsong and Fang Qianli are not friendly people. If you really become their enemy, then later on your father will get dragged into this."

Zhu Qiqi captivatingly smiled. "Then, you're still going to do what I say?"

Shen Lang forced a smile and said, "The kindness of saving life, how can I dare not to repay it?"

Zhu Qiqi lightly sighed and cuddled Shen Lang tightly. She quietly said, "Alright, we'll run. No matter where we run, I'll always follow you."

Fire Child laughed squeakingly. "Aiyo, how sweet..."

Their party was going along the river to the west, from the fords near the Gansu city towards Qinyang. They figured out that they had managed to break away from their pursuers. Both people and horses were weary, and they could barely put another step forward. At this time, it was already at noon on the second day and the wind and snow was just like before. When they arrived at Qinyang, Zhu Qiqi was panting as she said, "Can't take it, can't take it, let's find a tavern to rest. This is awful."

Shen Lang said, "We can't rest here in case our pursuers catch up."

Zhu Qiqi bellowed at the top of her voice, "Our pursuers catching up? I don't care if our pursuers catch up, or if someone overtakes us! If they want to kill me, cut me, butcher me, I want to have a good sleep first."

Shen Lang scowled and mumbled, "What a pampered girl..."

"What did you say?"

Shen Lang let out a long sigh before saying, "I said we should rest well."

Fire Child made an ugly face and laughingly said, "That's not what he said. He said you're a pampered gi..." He suddenly stopped speaking and was now staring at the road in front, he was completely still.

At this time, they had already entered the city. They were now able to see the market street in Qinyang. Suddenly, there was a snake like procession going through the street. With a glance, they saw dozens of people wearing rough clothes wetted with sweat. This procession was carrying seventeen to eighteen coffins, and those people were walking perfectly straight. These big men's whole body were completely covered with soot and dirt, but all the coffins they were carrying were brand new, so much so that they weren't even painted yet. It was obvious these coffins had been hastily done. It seemed that there had been too many deaths in Qinyang city, so many that there wasn't time to make the coffins.

All the pedestrians on the sides of the street had stopped walking, but not one person actually took a look at this strange funeral procession. Some were looking down at the ground, some turned their heads the other way, and there were also those who entered the side's store to avoid the procession. It was as if looking at those coffins would bring disaster onto themselves. Fire Child was amazed and astonished at the sight. He was staring and couldn't take his eyes off them. After a long time, he let out a long sighed. "So many coffins."

Zhu Qiqi remarked, "Definitely not just a few."

Fire Child said, "What do you mean not just a few. It's simply too many. I've never seen so many coffins in the same funeral. Hey, hey, you've never seen it either."

Zhu Qiqi scowled. "It's very rare to see so many people dying suddenly. Looking at the people avoiding the funeral, could it be that there's an epidemic here?"

"If they died of an epidemic, they would've burned the corpses long ago."

"If it's not an epidemic, then it must've been revenge killing in Wulin and only then there would be so many dead. But the people escorting the coffins doesn't look like the heroes of Jianghu at all."

Fire Child replied, "That's why this is strange."

Hua Ruixian had been around for a long time. Even though she was still wearing a mask, this was to make people thought of her as just a naughty kid so that she didn't attract attention.

Zhu Qiqi turned around and asked her, "Have you seen these kind of things before?"

Hua Ruixian answered, "No matter what, this Qinyang is likely to be trouble. We should..." She had not said the word 'go' before Zhu Qiqi glared at her and said, "What do you want to do if it's trouble?"

Hua Ruixian answered, "Nothing." She lightly sighed and mumbled, "Troubled place, here comes the expert troublemaker... Aye, we'll see some trouble here."

Zhu Qiqi acted like she didn't hear it. As long as Shen Lang didn't say anything, she felt at ease. They waited for the coffins to pass before she promptly went through that street. The street was lonesome. Everyone was staying quiet and was lowering their heads. Even though the procession just then was really strange, not one person on the street was saying anything. It seemed like the big matter just then was a common occurance. But Zhu Qiqi didn't pay any attention to any of these as she went to look for a inn. She dismounted her horse and went inside one.

That inn was really big. It must certainly be Qinyang's biggest inn. At this time, the inn felt lonely and cold, and not a single person was in the front hall. It seemed that all the travellers who had come to Qinyang had all gone away. While those who had not reached the city had turned around far from here. This 'Qinyang' seemed to have turned into 'Ominous City'.

Zhu Qiqi woke up in the evening. Even though she had slept for half a day, her sleep didn't feel peaceful. In her dream, she kept hearing horses passing through the long street outside. As she woke up, other people wouldn't be able to sleep any longer. She hastily washed her hair and went to another room on a separate courtyard. Outside that room's window, she lightly called out, "Eight brother, eight..." She had not finished calling out when the window was pushed open. Fire Child was standing on the bed overlooking the window, and he was wearing a short red jacket. He laughingly said, "I knew you'd be awake."

"How about him?" Zhu Qiqi quietly asked.

Fire Child wrinkled his nose and said, "You slept so comfortably but I was miserable. I simply don't dare to close my eyes at all. I kept on staring at him. How can he go away? Have a look, he's still sleeping like a pig."

"Don't scold people." She looked around and saw the bed opposite. The quilt was stacked highly, and Shen Lang was still lying down. Zhu Qiqi laughed gently. "Don't let him sleep, wake him up."

Fire Child laughed. "Alright." He sommersaulted to the top of the other bed and bellowed, "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! DEMON GIRL WOKE UP ALREADY! WHY ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING?"

But Shen Lang was still sleeping soundly and didn't move.

Fire Child mumbled, "He's not a cow, he's really just like a pig..."

Suddenly he pulled on the quilt, and underneath that quilt was another quilt. Where did Shen Lang go?

Zhu Qiqi was alarmed and she quickly rushed in through the window. She threw all the quilts on the ground, flinged the pillow away, and stamped her foot. "Don't say other people are pigs, you are the pig. You said you didn't close your eyes, did he change into a fly and went out? ... .... Men, Men! Come quickly!..."

Hua Ruixian and the black clothed men all rushed in. "He's.... He's gone...." Zhu Qiqi had not finished saying this but her eyes were red already.

Fire Child was scolded by Zhu Qiqi, so he was now mumbling, "No shame, already grown up but still crying. Hmmph, this..."

Zhu Qiqi jumped up and shouted, "What did you say?"

"I said... I said he couldn't have gone far, so we'll just chase him and bring him back."

Zhu Qiqi hurriedly said, "Quick, quickly chase, chase and don't come back, I won't take your lives.... .... All of you go and chase him, what are you still doing here? I'm afraid... ... afraid we won't get him this time." Suddenly, she prostrated herself on the bed and weeped sorrowfully.

Fire Child sighed and despondently said, "Go chase..."

Suddenly, Shen Lang floated in from outside the window.

Fire Child was startled and happy at the same time. He quickly grabbed him and shouted, "This is good, what time did you go out? You made me get scolded."

Shen Lang smiled slightly and said, "You were dreaming of scolding Jin Buhuan so I went..."

End of Chapter 2

[pokit]

Chapter 3 The God of Death Draws His Bow at Night

Fire Child saw the guests in the eating hall were making remarks about Zhu Qiqi so he stared angrily at them. "Sister Qi, look at these lowlifes talking nonsense. You want me to beat them up to vent your anger?"

"What anger?"

Fire Child oddly asked, "Other people are talking about you, you're not angry?"

Zhu Qiqi captivatingly smiled. "Your sister is beautiful so people will act like that. If your sister were ugly, even if you ask other people to talk, they still wouldn't talk. These people always know about beauty and ugliness, unlike... " She casted a glance towards Shen Lang, "Unlike some people with open eyes but blind, and doesn't know whether other people looks beautiful or not."

Shen Lang acted like he didn't hear her. Zhu Qiqi chewed on her lips and she stomped on his feet under the table. Shen Lang was still smiling, not noticing her, as if he had not felt anything.

Fire Child shook his head and sighed. "Sister Qi is a bit weird. Things she should be angry with, she's not angry. Things she shouldn't be angry with, she got angry."

Zhu Qiqi retorted, "Little rascal, what do you care?"

Fire Child laughed. "Ok, ok, I'm afraid of you. Don't take your anger on me."

They heard the people talking were getting more vigorous, and their laughter was getting louder and louder. All of them was continuously looking this way. Fire Child scowled, suddenly he dashed out and brought those eight big men in. They stood behind Zhu Qiqi with a hardened expression and were looking very grim. They stared around the hall and the talking lessened by a lot.

There was a person sitting at the left corner who didn't make any noise or even moved slightly. Both of his eyes were ice cold, and he never blink as he stared at the door. It looked like he was waiting for someone, and his eyes were full of hatred. He was wearing a blue gown which had been washed till it was white. His pale face was bloodless, his chin had no beard, and he looked to be around twenty five or twenty six years old.

At this time, a person entered through the door. This person's appearance and stature was just like that of the blue gown youngster, but the gown he was wearing looked magnificent and expensive. This person also looked young but his mouth always carried a smile which made him looked very different to the youngster in blue gown. He took a few looks at Zhu Qiqi and Shen Lang, then he took a seat beside the blue gown youngster. He smilingly said, "Big brother, have you been here long?"

The blue gown youngster didn't move his eyes from staring at the door, while the splendidly dressed youngster seemed to know that he wouldn't get any answer. After he sat down, he just ate and drank by himself, but he also kept on looking at the door.

A few big men sitting at a round table were quietly looking at those two people. From among them, a person with a fierce expression was looking up and down at them. He had an arrogant attitude and he always looked down on other people. With a deep voice, this person said, "Are these two the Ding brothers who created a stir a few days ago?"

The person beside him was wearing a gorgeous gown, but his eyes looked like a rat. His appearance looked really similar to that of a wolf. He sniffed and smilingly said, "Brother Tie's eyes are really keen. Only one look, and you know who they are."

That fierce looking man scowled and said, "Didn't think these two people would come here. I heard these two brothers are obstinate. If the two of them stick their noses in this matter then it won't be easy to do."

That rat eyed man chuckle lightly and said, "Even if the Ding brothers stick their hands in, 'Divine Spear Rivalling Zhao Yun' Tie Shenglong, brother Tie, is here. So there's nothing to be afraid of."

Tie Shenglong followed this with a loud laughter as he turned his head around. Suddenly, he paused and stared at the door. He hissed, "The person who's really going to stick his hand in has come."

At this time, almost everyone was looking at the door. There was a man and a woman leading along a little girl. With big strides, they entered the hall. The two of them looked to be man and wife. The man had a bear shoulder and an ape waist, he looked really sturdy and strong. His two cheek bones were high, the corners of his mouth seemed to extend all the way to his two ears, and his appearance was scary. That woman's stature was elegant and graceful, and her jet black hair was piled like a cloud. Looking at her profile, she had a charming poise and graceful bearing, and looked very beautiful. But looking at the other side of her face, it was full of hibiscus powder and there was a knife scar about seven inches long extending from her eyebrow to the corner of her mouth. If she were born ugly then adding one more scar wouldn't make any difference. But on this smooth and beautiful face, this scar looked mysterious and frightening. Even though all the men in the hall were daring, they still trembled when seeing this face. Even though this husband and wife's appearances scared people, the little girl they were leading along was lively and looked beautiful and cute. Her face was round with big round eyes. She looked around and saw Fire Child. She suddenly made an ugly face at him, stuck her tongue out, and giggled.

Fire Child scowled. "This little rascal is mischievous."

Zhu Qiqi laughed. "You're not that much better compared to other people's little rascal."

Everyone in the hall was looking at this husband and wife, but they didn't even take a glance at the other people in the hall. This husband and wife just kept on fussing on their daughter asking what she wanted to eat or drink. It seemed that in the whole world, their daughter was the most important thing.

Zhu Qiqi laughed. "Amusing, amusing. There are more and more strange people here. Didn't expect this Qinyang town to be so lively."

Shen Lang said, "Do you know who these husband and wife are?"

Zhu Qiqi answered, "Do they know who I am?"

Shen Lang sighed. "Little miss, these two people's reputation is ten times bigger than yours."

Zhu Qiqi laughingly said, "Even the six big masters in Wulin are below me. Who are they?"

Shen Lang said, "You know there are lots of hidden dragons and crouching tigers in Jianghu. Even if all the talented people are all gone, there are still many strange hidden people we don't know of. Those Wulin's seven big masters just happened to get lucky and got together at the right time, so their reputation soared because of this. Also, how could there be no one stronger than them in Wulin?"

Zhu Qiqi laughed. "Alright, I can't beat you in talking. So who are these two people?"

Shen Lang answered, "I also don't know."

Zhu Qiqi angrily stamped her foot, and quietly said, "If there weren't this many people here, I would've given you a bite."

Suddenly, they heard a wild laughter coming from outside the hall. The laughter shook everybody's ears. Hearing the laughter, it seemed that there were more than ten people laughing together. The people in the hall were startled and they all quickly looked at the door. They saw seven to eight big men crowding a big fat monk as they walked in. These seven to eight big men were all wearing magnificent gowns, their footsteps steady, and their eyes bright. It was obvious they were famous warriors in Wulin, but they were being very respectful towards this monk. This big fat monk looked really repugnant, and even though they were in such a cold weather, he was only wearing a knee length Buddhist gown and a knee length trousers. His gown was opened showing his fat body, and when he walked, the fat on his body quivered. Zhu Qiqi was scowling as she looked at that monk.

Fire Child quietly said, "Sister Qi, what do you think this monk look similar to?"

A laughter escaped from Zhu Qiqi and she said, "Little rascal, people are eating here. Don't say that word, if I heard it, I won't be able to eat anymore."

Fire Child said, "If this fatso also know wugong, then that's really strange. He's already panting just from walking, how can he still fight?"

This fat monk and the seven to eight people who came with him actually had many friends. When the people in the hall saw them, they all stood up and greet them with a smile. But that husband and wife pair turned a blind eye, while those two brothers lowered their heads and only paid attention to their wine and meals. They had now stopped looking at the door.

Tie Shenglong pulled on the rat eyed's sleeve and quietly said, "Who's this fat monk? Do you know?"

The rat eyed man sneered, "As long as you have some reputation in Jianghu, there's no one that I, Wan Shitong, do not know. But I don't know who this person is."

Tie Shenglong said, "So you're saying this person is a nobody."

Wan Shitong hummed and said, "This... actually..."

Tie Shenglong suddenly scolded, "Bullshit, if he's a nobody then why would Qin escort, Wang escort, and the masters of the village be so respectful towards him? Wan Shitong, this time you're blind."

The hall was now fully packed and there was no more empty seat. The eight to nine waiters in the hall were all sweating profusely but they still served everyone promptly. But in that hall, only the laughter of that fat monk was heard and no other voice was heard as they were all drowned by his laughter.

Fire Child complained, "How annoying."

Zhu Qiqi said, "Really annoying, let us..."

Shen Lang said, "You're going to provoke him?"

Zhu Qiqi replied, "Don't you find this type of person annoying?"

Shen Lang answered, "Have a look. There are a few people here who find him annoying. There's those two brothers there, everytime they saw him, their eyes showed their hatred. The big brother already stood up a few times, but everytime, the little brother pulled him back down. Then there's those husband and wife. They didn't give him a look, but something's not right with their expressions. Also, that pagoda man over there is already jumping up and down wanting to test him out, but he's somewhat afraid... Sooner or later, these people will start to fight, then you'll have a good entertainment to watch. Why do you need to do it yourself?"

Zhu Qiqi sighed. "Alright... I always can't beat you in talking."

Suddenly that monk laughed and happily said, "They're here!"

The crowd took a look and saw two men in black gown wearing fur hats entering the hall. They took a look at the crowd with a frightened expression and then pushed their way through to that fat monk, and one of them respectfully said, "This servant is surnamed Yellow, his full name is Yellow Horse. He understands the matter really well. Within the city of Qinyang, he's the only one who can talk about that matter."

The fat monk laughed. "Alright, alright, give him a hundred silver taels first and let him be at ease."

Some people fished out some silver taels and threw it at Yellow Horse's feet.

Yellow Horse just kept on staring forward, and the fat monk laughingly said, "Speak well, and there'll be more rewards."

Yellow Horse let out a breath and said, "Little person Yellow Horse has been in Qinyang for more than ten years..."

The fat monk said, "Speak simpler, don't suck up." He then swept his eyes around the hall and again laughed. "Speak louder too, let everyone hear."

Yellow Horse coughed a few times, then loudly said, "The north side of Qinyang produces coal, but there's no one around Qinyang who digs coal. But a few months ago, around ten merchants came and bought all the land north of Qinyang. They also brought in more than a hundred workers from the outside. Last month on the fifteenth, they started digging, but after digging for half a month, they still haven't found any coal yet." Even though this person was talking about digging coal, Zhu Qiqi and Shen Lang knew that this matter was related to the misfortunes that had been happening in Qinyang for the past few days. So they listened attentively to his story.

Yellow Horse quietly stretched his foot out and stepped on the silver taels on the ground, the corner of his mouth showing his satisfaction. He continued, "But from the beginning of this month, which is four days ago, they haven't been digging coals. But they've discovered a stone monument at the foot of the mountain. Engraved on the stone monument were... were... eleven words..."

When he said this, his smile disappeared from his face and a look of dread appeared. So much so that even his voice quivered. "Those eleven words are: 'Further in from this stone, the sky will reveal its danger'." (Translator's note: Eight words in Chinese.)

The crowd exchanged looks with one another and their expressions were grim. That fat monk also stopped laughing and he said, "Besides these eleven words, what other drawings are on the stone?"

Yellow Horse thought for a while and answered, "There's nothing else. I heard that each stroke was made up of an arrow, and altogether there were seventy arrows which made up these eleven words."

The crowd happened to say at the same time, "Arrow?" They sounded amazed and surprised. It was obvious that no one could guess what these 'arrows' signified.

Yellow Horse gasped and continued, "Some of those diggers can read, so when they saw the stone monument they didn't dare to dig anymore. But those merchants were actually happy to see this stone monument, and they tripled the payment and told those diggers to keep digging. That same night, they found a stone gate inside the mountain. There were nine words on top of the stone gate: 'A step inside the gate, must die without mercy.' They used red wax to write these words, so red they scared people." (Translator's note: There are eight words on the stone gate in Chinese.)

The hall was deathly quiet, and only sound of breathing was heard. Yellow Horse went on, "When the diggers saw these nine words, they didn't dare to continue. Those merchants seemed to know they were going to encounter something like this, so they already bought some meat and wine earlier. They said those were bonus for everyone, when they were half drunk, the merchants told them to continue and everyone didn't care anymore what's written on the gate. They dug and managed to open the gate. They rushed inside, but on the second day... on the second day..."

That fat monk grimly asked, "What happened on the second day?"

Yellow Horse had cold sweat pouring out from his forehead, he tremblingly replied, "Everyone who entered the gate didn't come out on the second day. At noon, their wives and parents went to the pit and cried their hearts out. Those crying was even heard from inside the city. It was really miserable. Even I wanted to cry when I heard it, but... but there was no reply from inside the mine." He wiped his cold sweat with his shaking hand. After taking a couple of breath, he continued, "Finally some brave men went into the mine and found all those people dead inside the hall just beyond the stone gate. They couldn't see any injuries on their bodies, but the way they died was really scary. Their eyes were protruding out and their faces were still etched with fear. Those people didn't dare to take a second look so they ran out wildly. The family of those people who died wanted to go in but luckily many of them were persuaded not to. They picked out a few strong youngsters to go in and take out the corpses so they can bury them, but who would've thought... at noon on the third day, those people who came in for the corpses all died." Although he was just a trader in the market, his eloquence wasn't too bad. Everyone could imagine as if they experienced that terrifying event. After hearing this, all the brave people in the hall felt their hands and feet cold, their hearts were in fear. Most of them unconsciously took up their wine cups and gulped them down.

An thin old man with bright eyes was sitting next to the monk. He raised his cup and hesitated before finally saying, "Do you know how those coffin bearers died on the third day?"

Yellow Horse said, "... ..." He opened his mouth twice but no word came out. On the third time, he hissed and said, "At noon of the third day, some of them were eating, some were burning the fragrance for the dead, some were carrying water, some were writing, but it reached noon, all these people everywhere just suddenly died. They didn't jump up or uttered anything, they just dropped on the ground, twitched, and died."

That thin old man trembled. With a 'dang', he put his cup on the table and looked up at the roof. He mumbled, "At noon, how scary... how scary." Horror was seen in his eyes. With a 'pu', the wine cup was broken into pieces in his hand.

Zhu Qiqi quietly grabbed Shen Lang's hand on top of the table, her face had lost all colour. But Fire Child opened his eyes wide and said, "Could it be those people died of poison?"

The thin old man said, "That's right, poison... poison... Inside that stone gate must be full of poison. The poison must be spread when those people touched the stone gate or the stone wall, then the poison also got onto those dead bodies. After that, no one can live for more than twenty four hours... I haven't seen such a potent poison in the last twenty years."

That fat monk said, "How's the poison compared to the one you, 'Midnight and Noon Soul Snatching' Mo Xi, used?"

When the crowd heard this old man was the owner of the 'Midnight and Noon Soul Snatching Powder', which was the number three poison of the nineteen type of poisonous weapons, their faces changed colour.

Mo Xi grimly smiled. "The poison I use is like child's play compared to other people's."

The fat monk sneered and suddenly laughed wildly. "When people got sprinkled by your poison, they'll surely die. But when you look at this powder, it looks just like white sugar." He stopped laughing for a while before he severely said, "That entrance is sealed?"

Yellow Horse answered, "That demonic cave caused the death of more than two hundred people, who would dare to seal it? People from Qinyang city even change their travel route to avoid the area. If someone actually go near that demonic cave to have a look, he must have eaten a bear's heart, otherwise he must be insane."

The fat monk looked up and laughed loudly. "Everyone here wants to go there and have a look. So what you're saying is everyone here is crazy?"

Yellow Horse was startled and his countenance became grim. He immediately dropped down and kowtowed many times. He tremblingly said, "I don't dare, I don't... That's not what I meant."

The fat monk shouted, "Scram!"

Yellow Horse looked like he had escaped an execution. He walked on his knees for a distance before scrambling to run away, and forgetting about the silver taels on the ground. Fire Child sommersaulted and grabbed the silvers on the ground. He then tossed each silver on the ground in front of Yellow Horse. Fire Child then jumped back onto his chair and was giggling. "You shouldn't forget your hard earned silvers."

The crowd saw that he was still a kid but he was already showing such a convenient qinggong. The fat monk clapped and laughingly said, "Good kid, good qinggong, who taught you?"

Fire Child looked around and said, "My sister."

The fat monk said, "Good, good kid, what's your name?"

Fire Child replied, "I'm called Zhu Baye. Big monk, what's your name?"

That big monk laughed loudly and said, "Zhu Baye, Haha, good Zhu Baye. My Buddhist name is called Yixiaofo (Laughing Buddha), have you heard of it?" As he laughed, he got up from his seat and slowly walked to Fire Child. The fat on his whole body was constantly trembling when he laughed. It was really comical.

But Zhu Qiqi and Shen Lang didn't feel that it was funny. Yixiaofo had not reached their table yet but the two of them had prepared against his attack. Shen Lang's had placed his right hand behind Fire Child's back. Suddenly, Yixiaofo's swollenly fat body unexpectedly flew out. But he didn't rush at Fire Child, he instead rushed at the corner table where those two Ding brothers were. This was beyond the crowd's expectation. When they saw Yixiaofo attacked, it was fast as lightning, but the Ding brothers were also fast as lightning in their counter.

Ding Lei, the blue gown youngster, withdrew a step and kicked the table up. He then drew a refined flexible sword from his waist and shook it in front of him. Ding Yu, the splendid gown youngster, laughed wildly and said, "Good monk, we haven't come to look for you yet. Didn't expect you would come and find us first." The two brothers leapt quickly to the left and right opening a distance of seven feet between them.

Yixiaofo was flying through the air when he saw the table flying towards him, but he unexpectedly didn't try to avoid it or extended his hand to block it. He just kept on going with his head leading. With a thunderous sound, the table was shattered into pieces. Planks, cups, wines, and meals flew everywhere and came down like a rainstorm. In the confusion, Yixiaofo grabbed two table legs. With a shout, his two arms trembled and started sweeping the table legs powerfully at the Ding brothers. His stature was naturally big and his two arms were long, so along with the table leg, his reach was about ten feet. The whirling wind from the table leg was making all the candles in the hall to flicker. The Ding brothers were totally enveloped by his powerful attacks and it looked like they would not be able to escape. The crowd was alarmed by the ferocity of this attack. Some of them changed countenance, some were cheering, and there were also some who were secretly worried for the two brothers.

But the Ding brothers moved quickly and slid underneath his sleeve. If the two brothers were to retreat, they would be able to dodge the first attack, but they would still be under his following attacks. Even though these two brothers were still very young, their experiences were plentiful. Their accurate and quick judgement on what to do was a notch above everyone else. Actually in this brief instant, the average person would not be able to decide what to do, whether to retreat or dodge. So contrary to expectations, the two brothers slid underneath Yixiaofo's ribs to go behind him. They knew that it was difficult for him to use his power underneath his ribs, and it was actually the weakest point of his attack.

Yixiaofo was now in the middle of the air and the Ding brother had disappeared from his view. But right now he felt the palm wind attacking his back which was obviously the attacks by the Ding brothers, and without turning back, he counter attacked. When Yixiaofo started his attack, he was using his full power. So to pull the attacks back was just like trying to rein in a horse before a cliff, it was very difficult to do.

But this mad monk's wugong was also astonishing. He pulled his left hand back, his right leg kicked out to the left and his left leg slightly bent to kick out to the left. Such an enormous body actually rotated like a windmill. The table leg on his left hand, which he had withdrawn, wonderfully blocked Ding Lei's sword. While the table leg in his right hand was kicked at Ding Yu's shoulder.

Just before he used an unblockable powerful attack, but now this kick and block showed both offense and defense which was wonderful and rarely seen in Wulin. This move was really clever and it didn't lack anything. No one could believe how such an unwieldy body could use such a wonderful move.

The Ding brothers coldly laughed and flew out. By the time Yixiaofo landed, the two brothers were already far outside the door. They heard Ding Lei laughingly said, "If you want to fight then come out."

Ding Yu said, "He's already here, are you afraid he won't come out?"

From the moment Yixiaofo attacked till now, everything had happened in a blink of an eye. The movements of both sides were outside everyone's expectations. They all moved like lightning and every attack was the result of experience, techique, and intelligence. The crowd was looking astounded. When the voice of the Ding brothers disappeared, the crowd couldn't help applauding. Yixiafo was looking furious but he unexpectedly didn't go out to chase.

'Midnight and Noon Soul Snatching' Mo Xi sorrowfully said, "Ding Yu Dual Dragon Swords is still young but he's already famous. His reputation is well earned. Reverend, you should be careful."

Yixiaofo suddenly laughed madly towards the sky and said, "I don't care about those two little kids. I have to let them go today because of that important matter." His laughter suddenly stopped, looked around the room, and loudly said, "Everyone most probably has known about that matter. If anyone here didn't come for that matter then please leave. If you come because of the matter, please stay and we'll have a talk."

Zhu Qiqi coldly said, "What right do you have to make people leave?"

Yixiaofo squinted his eyes at her, then laughed loudly and said, "Since you said this, you probably didn't come here because of this matter."

Zhu Qiqi thought, "This person looks foolhardy and I didn't think he can think so deeply. What a fierce person." Even though she knew that he was a fierce person, she wasn't afraid of him in the slightest. She coldly laughed and said, "You thought wrong, I actually came just because of this matter."

As she said till here, she couldn't help casting a glance at Shen Lang. Yixiaofo's eyes had also shifted towards Shen Lang.

But Shen Lang was just lazily drinking his wine, shallowly sipping and tasting it. This hall had already been turned upside down, but he seemed not to have seen it at all.

Yixiaofo had never seen this kind of person before. He was stupefied, then with booming laughter he said, "Alright... alright..." Then turned around and went to a table on the side. "How about you?"

There were five big men on this table, and they rose up together. Their faces looked angry and one of them forcefully laughed. "Reverend deign to ask, where do ..."

He hadn't finished asking when Yixiaofo grabbed him. This big man saw the palm coming but he couldn't avoid it and he was lifted up and dropped on the table by Yixiaofo. Wine and meals bowls flew all over. The other four big men were startled and they angrily shouted, "You..."

They only uttered this one word when continuous sound of 'pa, pa' was heard. These four men's faces had been slapped twice on each cheeks and in a short time, their faces were swollen.

Yixiaofo laughed loudly and said, "Useless bums..." His laughter suddenly stopped and he severely said, "The more workers the better. But if useless people like you stick your hands in this matter, it will accomplish nothing, it will just mess things up... scram!"

The four people supported the other person and their ten eyes were looking at each other. Some were in blank dismay, some were sighing. One of them said, "Let's go." The five of them lowered their heads and went out.

Yixiaofo turned around and again went to another table. There were four men on this table and they were all staring at him. Their fists were clenched and their eyes were squinted ready for him. When they saw him come, the four of them suddenly shouted and suddenly rushed him. Each of their fists was aimed at Yixiaofo's head and face. Yixiaofo looked up and laughed. His left palm grabbed the gown of one man, while his right palm hit another man and made him spun around twice before falling down. As soon as the first one was hit, another man grabbed his belly and stooped down. The last remaining man was kicked flying away, and he unexpectedly was about to fall down on Shen Lang and Zhu Qiqi's table.

Shen Lang didn't turn his head and slightly moved his hand. That big man was lightly hit by him and flew over the table, and he unexpectedly landed softly on his feet. That person was also startled and happy. He turned around to look at Shen Lang. Shen Lang was still holding his wine cup and wasn't paying attention to anything else.

Yixiaofo grimaced, then with a loud shout he tossed the man he was holding in his left hand. The wind sound reverberated around the hall and the candles around were again flickering. Someone on a table on the side suddenly shouted and sent both of his hands out to grab that big man. His legs were staggering but his body was unmoved and stood tall like a pagoda. This person was 'Divine Spear Rivalling Zhao Yun' Tie Shenglong.

Wan Shitong was already applauding. Yixiaofo laughed loudly and said, "Tie Shenglong is Hebei's number one man. Looks like it's not an empty boast."

Tie Shenglong appeared happy and he was looking smug. He cupped his fist and said, "Didn't think Reverend knows my lowly name, I'm really ashamed."

Yixiafo said, "I will need brother Tie's help, but other people..." He swept his eyes across the hall and saw the crowd. They were afraid of his wugong, and seven out of ten people stood up and left the hall.

Yixiaofo laughed loudly and said, "The remaining ones must all be heroes, but I still want to try it out." He suddenly looked at Wan Shitong's face sharply.

Wan Shitong uttered a dry laugh and quietly said, “The two people sitting on the table next to the wall, the one wearing the purple gown is ‘Tongzhou’s Lord’ Huang Huahu, the one wearing the flowery gown is his adopted son ‘Little Overlord' Lu Guang. The ones opposite them are ‘Sprinkling Snow Double Sabres’ Peng Liren, ‘Mountain Shaking Palm’ Huangfu Song, ‘Unbounded Hatred’ Li Ba, 'Roaming Flower Bee' Xiao Muyun, the one smoking pipe is an expert in acupoints sealing from Lianghe, his name is Wang Er Mazi." He mentioned all these people name like he was familiar with them, and like there was no one who he didn't know.

Yixiaofo nodded and said, "Good, who else?"

Wan Shitong gasped a breath and said, "The two people on this table are 'Competition Marquis' Sun Tong, Hero Sun, and 'Silver Flower Dart' Sheng Lao, official Sheng. I am Wan Shichong, when other people called me, it became 'Wan Shitong'. The young lady sitting on the table over there, she's not 'Live and Wealth God' Prefecture Zhu's daughter, she's actually Jiangnan's Hai family's daughter. The others... those two people husband and wife, I don't recognise them."

Yixiaofo laughed loudly and said, "That's enough. You're really deserved to be called Wan Shitong (know it all). I'll need people like you in the future."

Wan Shitong was exulted. "Thank you Reverend ..."

Yixiaofo said, "Official Sheng, please have some wine." He suddenly slapped the table, and the wine cup on that table jumped up and flew over to Sheng Lao's face.

Sheng Lao slightly smiled and said, "Thank you for the wine." He extended his hand, took the wine cup, and gulped the wine down. This person was handsome, young, and had a refined quality. It seemed that he was a pampered master of a wealthy family, but his hand wugong was wonderful, and he was different from ordinary people.

Yixiaofo laughed loudly. "Good, good... Hero Sun, I'll salute you a cup too." He again slapped the table and a cup again flew towards 'Competition Marquis' Sun Tong.

This Sun Tong was also a handsome youngster, and his face carried an air of arrogance. When he saw the wine cup flying over, he didn't even extend his hand. Suddenly, he opened his mouth and bit down. He had actually stopped the wine cup by biting down on it. Sun Tong looked up and gulped the wine. A moment later, a cracking sound was heard as the wine cup was broken when he bit down on it. He had quick reaction, good eyesight, but his internal energy cultivation was still lacking by a few notch.

Sun Tong blushed and fortunately Yixiaofo was already nodding his approval. "As the saying goes, a handsome goose does not fly with dull birds. The four people sitting on that table really are heroes."

Sun Tong felt really lucky that he didn't point out his fault. But Yixiaofo again said in a whisper, "If your mouth is injured, quickly drink some wine to rinse it and don't let other people look at it."

Sun Tong smiled bitterly and lowered his head. "Thank you for your advice."

Yixiaofo looked up and laughed loudly a few times. His body suddenly turned over, and with the wind sound reverberating, he was now in mid air and he now had two chopsticks in his hand. At this time, he used 'Flinging Arrow Hand' and 'Two Dragons Fighting Over a Pearl' hand techniques to attack 'Little Overlord' Lu Guang's both legs.

Lu Guang seemed to panic, and it seemed to late for him to jump. Right now, the two chopsticks were about to hit his feet. Suddenly, both of Lu Guang's legs bent and the two feet were in mid air. The two feet straightened and those two chopsticks were kicked whirling five feet away. Lu Guang hurriedly extended his two palms and grabbed those two chopsticks while his body floated down back to the ground. He had in his mouth a piece of chicken, he was half-chewing and half smiling, "Thank you for the chopsticks."

But his face wasn't red and his breathing was even. He had shown with this move he had good eyesight, waist power, leg power, and hand power, and his qinggong was also good.

The crowd saw this and couldn't help to praise him inwardly. 'Tongzhou's Lord' Huang Huahu looked serious and his whole body was prepared waiting for Yixiaofo to test him.

Who would've thought Yixiaofo would laugh loudly and said, "The son is like that, how could the father be less?" As he strode away, Huang Huahu let out a sigh of relief and was secretly sweating.

They saw Yixiaofo strode towards 'Sprinkling Snow Double Sabres’ Peng Liren. He looked up and down at him and suddenly said in a deep voice, "Divide Huashan."

Peng Liren stared at him stupidly for some time before he got his meaning. Yixiaofo had actually told him of a move to attack him in order to test his sabre skill. Peng Liren had been immersed in the art of sabre for dozens of years already, and this was just like an official examination topic where he had to answer a question given to him. Peng Liren smiled and said, "The left uses Phoenix spreading its wings, the right uses snow covering the top door." This two moves were prepared for offense and defense and showed he deserved to have the reputation for using sabre.

Yixiaofo said, "Wu attacking cinnamon."

Peng Liren without hesitation answered, "Left uses jade belt covering the waist, the right uses crow transferring sand." These two moves were also one attacking and one defending, and didn't lose the essense of using dual sabres.

Yixiaofo said, "Attack clearly by stirring the grass to look for snake, viper advancing silently coming out of the hole."

This sabre move of 'Stirring the grass to look for snake' slashed back and forth and had many variations, but it wasn't that smooth. But 'Viper coming out of the hole' fiercely thrust and its speed was unmatched. This sabre move had an extremely good 'penetration' which was rarely seen in the art of sabre. Although these two moves looked similar, but the attack differed greatly. If the opponent couldn't tell the difference and missed by just a hair's breadth, the error would be grave.

Peng Liren thought for a while before slowly answering, "Left closes up, right uses wrist blossoming from underneath, if it hasn't clashed yet, then the two sabres would cross... is that finished?"

Yixiaofo said, "Alright, I'll also use wrist blossoming from underneath to attack you."

Peng Liren was stupefied and painstakingly thought for a long time before answering the counter method. But Yixiaofo was talking faster and faster, and three moves later, Peng Liren was sweating all over.

Yixiaofo continued, "I'm again using 'divide Huashan', you just used the move 'foundation of a dead tree' so this time you won't have enough time to use 'snow covering the top door'."

Peng Liren grimaced and twirled his beard around while pondering for a while. He finally let out a sigh and said, "Left uses 'Fragrant candle facing the sky', right uses 'turtle gate three waves of attack' to attack you."

Yixiaofo lightly said, "Alright... swipe my hand at your throat."

Peng Liren wiped his sweat and forced a smile. "I already attacked your lower abdomen, you must retreat. How can you use the move 'swipe hand at throat'?"

Yixiaofo said, "Other people can't, but I can... Have a look." Suddenly, he extended his hand and drew out the sabre hanging on Peng Liren's waist. With two slashes, he displayed the move 'divide Huashan', but the move had not been completed when he suddenly dashed forward stupidly. But his lower abdomen suddenly shrunk, his shoulder stopped moving and his legs also stayed still. His lower abdomen had actually been pulled back more than a feet away. Yixiaofo's sabre turned and really used the move 'swipe hand at throat' to attack. With a flash, the sabre had arrived at Peng Liren's throat. But when the sabre touched his skin, it stopped.

Yixiaofo laughed, "Then?"

Peng Liren was sweating profusely. He tremblingly said, "If Reverend really used this move, I won't have my head anymore."

Yixiaofo said, "But you shouldn't be distressed, looking at your sabre art, you're a first tier master in Wulin. If it were someone else, he would've died when I used the move 'wrist blossoming from underneath'."

'Clink', the long sabre was returned to its scabbard. He didn't look at Peng Liren anymore as he turned and walked towards Huangfu Song.

Peng Liren sighed in relief. Both of his knees felt weak and his whole body felt ice-cold. His whole gown was wet with sweat, and when the wind blew, he couldn't help shivering coldly. Ever since 'Sprinkling Snow Double Sabres’ established his reputation, he had fought many battles. But he felt the situation today was the most frightening and desperate he had ever been in.

'Mountain Shaking Palm' Huangfu Song, 'Unbounded Hatred' Li Ba, and 'Roaming Flower Bee' Xiao Muyun seemed to have consulted each other. At the moment Yixiaofo approached them, Li Ba suddenly turned around and went out. He heaved a rock from the middle of the courtyard. The rock was the size of a desk and it weighed around five hundred catties. If not for a godly strength, this rock would not even be able to be moved.

But Li Ba actually heaved it above his head and step by step walked back in. His body was massive, his two arms were like dragons, and the situation was a little like when a king lifted huge cauldron.

'Mountain Shaking Palm' Huangfu Song softly cheered, "Good strength." He then jumped up and shot out his right palm. A 'peng' sound was heard like when wood and stone clashed. That rock was actually shaken by his palm and a gap appeared on it. The stone crumbs flew all over the place while the big rock flew towards the courtyard outside.

'Roaming Flower Bee' Xiao Muyun slightly crouched down, and his tall and thin body dashed outside like an arrow. Even though the big rock flew really fast, his body moved three times faster than that rock. In a blink of an eye, he had chased down the rock. He extended his hand and lightly hit the big rock. His feet didn't stop moving, and with several rise and fall, that big rock was unexpectedly moved outside of the courtyard's wall. After some time, they heard a 'peng' sound outside the courtyard. After another time, Xiao Muyun floated back in, his face wasn't red and his breathing was even. He cupped his fist and said, "I don't like that piece of rock in the middle of the courtyard. So I asked big brother Huangfu to lend me a hand to send that rock to the pile of garbage at the back."

That pile of garbage was at minimum a hundred feet away from where they were. But 'Roaming Flower Bee' Xiao Muyun actually sent that big rock there in just one breath. Even though he was borrowing force to do that, his body and hands were quick, and he was strong. This kind of skill was what pugilists in Jianghu dreamt of. It could be said that 'Unbounded Hatred' Li Ba's godly strength, 'Mountain Shaking Palm' Huangfu Song's palm strength, and 'Roaming Flower Bee' Xiao Muyun's skill were equal.

Yixiaofo smiled slightly and said, "Although the three of you have different skills, you can work together and each of you has a unique skill. Brother Li exerted the most strength, Brother Xiao scares people who doesn't know better. But judging by which one is good for fighting, then I have to admit Brother Huangfu is the most useful."

Li Ba's face turned slightly red and turned his head around. It was obvious he didn't accept this. Xiao Muyun extended his hand and slapped Huangfu Song's shoulder, looking like he wanted to say something but nothing came out of his mouth.

Suddenly they heard that pipe smoking person with the name shaking Lianghe, Wang Er Mazi, laughed loudly and said, "Reverend's argument is really excellent, and you're really worthy to be called an expert. But the way I see it, when Huangfu Song used his palm to fight someone, how's it going to be useful?"

Yixiaofo said, "What's your opinion?"

Wang Er Mazi said, "Even though his palm power is strong and violent, it's not pure. When he used his palm just then, the size difference of the crumbs falling down from that rock is very large. When he hit that big rock, he also wavered. I can see his palm's strength is still lacking. At the most, he's only completed fifty to sixty percent of his palm's martial art."

The colour on Huangfu Song's face changed, but Wang Er Mazi's analysis was very clear, his observation thorough, and his eyesight was keen, so he couldn't help being startled.

Yixiaofo smiled slightly and said, "So that means when Brother Wang use your palm, you can make the rock's fragment turned into dust and it would shoot out like an arrow?"

Huangfu Song severely said, "I'd also like some pointers."

Wang Er Mazi slapped his knee length brass-coloured coat a few times and knocked his piped on the table for a few times. Then he slowly stood his tall body up. His face was sallow, triangle eyes, thick round face, a goatee, and his body couldn't stand straight and he rocked from side to side. He walked in front of Huangfu Song and smiled slightly. "You want to hit me once to try it out?"

Huangfu Song said in a deep voice, "My palm's strength isn't pure and my control isn't steady. If my hand miss and injure you, what happens then?"

Wang Er Mazi stroke his beard and laughed. "If you kill me, then that's my own bad luck and I won't blame you. Moreover, I'm just a lonely person and there's no one who will look for me so no one will take revenge for me."

Huangfu Song took a look around and severely said, "He said that himself, everyone's here is a witness.... Ahh!"

With a grunt, his long beard floated and his palm shot out. His palm wind was reverberating as he aimed at Wang Er Mazi's chest and belly. The sound was really extraordinary.

Wang Er Mazi laughed. "It's good." His palm lowered and shot out using 'Little Heaven King'. Their two palms clashed.

The two palms clashed with a thundering sound. 'Mountain Shaking Palm' Huangfu Song's powerful body was shaken and he staggered for a few steps backwards. His chest was going up and down visibly as he stared at Wang Er Mazi for a long time. Suddenly, he spouted a spray of blood from his mouth. Xiao Muyun was astonished and he called out, "Brother Huangfu, you..."

He went up to support him but Huangfu Song flinged his hand away, stomped his foot, and turned around to go out. Xiao Muyun looked like he was going to chase, but he just smiled bitterly and shook his head without moving at all.

Yixiaofo laughed loudly and said, “The quality of the goods can only be determined when compared with other goods. Brother Wang, you’ve surely opened my eyes today.”

Wang Er Mazi had defeated his enemy in one stroke but he was still acting like nothing had happened. He twirled his goatee and laughingly said, “Well said, well said, but Reverend is comparing people to ‘goods’, and it’s making people a bit uncomfortable.”

At this time, there was a slight chaos inside the hall. Tables, chairs, and bowls were thrown on the ground. Only Zhu Qiqi’s and that pair of husband and wife’s tables were still intact.

Shen Lang was still sipping from his wine cup. His attitude was calm and collected, like he didn’t care of anything or defy anything. This kind of carefree and unrestrained life was very good... Also no words could describe how his expression was, which actually brought about this type of wonderful and unusual charm. It could be said that he had lost interest in life, on the contrary it could be said that he had such a fearsome confidence in his heart that he belittled everyone else and everything under his influence. Zhu Qiqi was simply foolishly looking at him. While that husband and wife kept on smiling looking at their child, but their child, the little girl wearing the green gown, frequently turned her head around to stick her tongue out and make ugly faces at Fire Child. But Fire Child didn’t take a look, didn’t grimace or sigh as he acted like he was a grown up. These six people were like they were in their own world and didn’t care about other people at all.

Yixiaofo had long ago walked over to them, but that husband and wife still didn’t pay any attention to him.

Zhu Qiqi quietly laughed and said, “This fat monk is going to provoke those husband and wife, he’s asking for trouble.”

Everyone in the hall was looking at Yixiaofo going towards that husband and wife. They wanted to see what Yixiaofo was going to do to this pair of husband and wife, or whether he was going to meet a resistance and asked for his own trouble.

But before Yixiaofo opened his mouth... They suddenly heard a miserable call coming from somewhere far. This wretched sound was followed by more wretched sound. Some were far some were near, some were from the left, some from the right, there were even some which actually came from within this tavern. The mournful crying sound penetrated their ears. Everyone who heard them was frightened to the bone. The colour on everyone’s faces changed greatly. But hearing the cold wind blowing at the window, the crying sound pricking the ears, Yixiaofo flew to the front of the window and opened the windows. The wild wind blew in bringing snow with it, and the few remaining candles in the hall was all extinguished by the blowing wind.

From the darkness, they suddenly heard a song, “Cold moon shine on the lonely mound, the greedy doesn’t act rashly, once you enter Qinyang city, you will die in this city...” This song sounded intensely mournful. It sounded indistinct, like it was there and not there at the same time. This boundless bitter cold in the darkness seemed to have ghosts searching for lives to snatch, grinning fiendishly and dancing along while singing this song.

The crowd felt their blood seemed to have frozen. After some time, they heard Yixiaofo severely shouted, "Chase!" In the darkness, they heard the flapping wind sound of his sleeve, and countless number of people went out through the window. Yixiaofo had gone flying first using all of his energy, but with a few zipping sound, around three to four shadows flew past him to rush in front.

Dark moon, high wind. Snow flakes blowing on their faces.

Yixiaofo couldn't see them clearly, but he saw these shadows jumped up and down three to five times. He suddenly stopped and lowered his head to see what was on the ground. Close in front of him, he saw those three shadows were Shen Lang and that pair of husband and wife. On the snow in front of him was seven to eight corpses lying down. All of these corpses were the Wulin heroes who were just inside the hall a moment ago. These bodies were all twisted wrongly, their bodies crookedly stretching to the east and west. It seemed they all have died abruptly unable to resist the attack.

Startled, Yixiaofo said, "Who did this? What a fast hand and leg."

Regardless of what kind of method that person used, to be able to kill seven to eight Wulin heroes in an instant was very shocking. Suddenly from among the corpses, someone moaned lightly.

The little girl being carried by big man clapped her hands and cheered, "Someone didn't die."

Shen Lang already went to help that person up and his right hand was held up behind that person to share his internal energy. That person was having difficulty drawing his breath in the beginning, but there seemed to be a surge of vitality in him. He drew a deep breath and quiveringly pointed his finger at the pit of his stomach. "Arrow... Cold arrow..."

Shen Lang asked in a deep voice, "What arrow? Where did it come from?"

That person said, "It's..." His body suddenly went into a spasm and didn't say anything anymore. His pointing finger was frozen in place and his whole body was ice cold from head to toe. His spirit had gone and couldn't speak anymore.

Ordinarily, when a person died, even if he was in the middle of snow and wind, his blood would keep his body from turning cold for a little while. But when this person died, his whole body immediately became ice cold. This really went against reason.

Shen Lang grimaced and he was silent for some time before saying, "Who has fire?"

At this time, the crowd had mostly arrived to where they were. A few people hurriedly burned a few fire sticks. The flickering fire showed this person's face was full of fright, both of his eyes protruded out in anger, and his face had turned black and swollen. This kind of face was really terrifyingly mean and ferocious. The crowd gasped the cold air, and 'Midnight and Noon Soul Snatching' Mo Xi tremblingly said, "Poison, what a formidable poisonous projectile..."

Yixiaofo stooped down and tore apart that person's gown. His whole body had turned black as well and there was a chest wound the size of an arrowhead. Black liquid was flowing out of the wound, and they couldn't tell if it was blood or pus. But inside the wound was empty and they couldn't find a projectile in there. They saw the other corpses and found the same thing. Each of them had been injured by a poisonous projectile, but no trace of a projectile could be seen. The crowd looked at each other, how could any of them say anything?

In the midst of the whistling cold wind, they heard a continous and light 'ge ge' sound. No one knew whose teeth was chattering, but anyone who heard it couldn't help quivering. Yixiaofo sucked in a mouth of cold air and in a deep voice said, "Everyone has had a look, what kind of projectiles killed these people?"

Shen Lang replied, "Looking at these wounds, seems like they're arrow wounds."

Mo Xi hissed. "Arrows! Where's the arrow?"

Yixiaofo moaned and said, "How about if some people hid in the dark to shot these cold arrows. Then once they are killed, they took these arrows with them. This doesn't make that much sense, but if that's not what happened, where did the arrows go to?"

Suddenly, that mournful song was again carried over by the cold wind. "Cold moon shine on the lonely mound, the death god draws his bow at night, the burning fire seek for the white feather, changing to enter the blood shed in a righteous cause..."

Yixiaofo shouted loudly, "Chase!"

But the song sounded indistinct, suddenly in front, suddenly at the back. No one knew where it was coming from, so how could anyone chase? Yixiaofo strained to hear where the song was coming from but he was also stupefied. Suddenly, they heard a crying sound. That green gown little girl had cried and pointed with her little finger towards a far away place. "Ghost... ghost... there's ghost there, a shade and it's gone."

That big man gently said, "Tingting, don't be afraid, how can there be ghost in this world?" But his eyes couldn't help looking at the place her little finger pointed at. But all he saw was the dark night and the flowers being blown around by the wind. Although the crowd also didn't see anything, they felt there was some kind of invisible 'death god' in the darkness with his hand holding a long bow. In the dancing flowers blown by the wind, the crowd felt those unprepared would be shot by an arrow. But as they searched with fire sticks for the long arrows, the long arrows had changed and entered the blood shed in righteousness, and they wouldn't find them.

Yixiaofo suddenly looked up and laughed madly. "This scoundrel is playing tricks. At most, he's only scaring little kids. I don't believe this demon, go, let's chase and pound on his den. See what kind of person he is."

Wang Er Mazi casually said, "If you're afraid to go then keep this little girl company and go back to the tavern. So you don't cry later." He spoke so casually but the others turned a deaf ear to him, before he finished speaking, some people had slipped away. That big man handed his daughter, Tingting, to his wife and said, "Bring her back, I'll go chase."

The scarred beautiful woman said, "You bring her back, I'll go chase."

That big man stamped his feet and said, "Cough! ... ... You're still... ... " Tingting again cried loudly. "I want daddy and mommy to keep me company..."

That big man let out a long hushed and a short sigh, trying to comfort her by every means, but Tingting didn't let him go. Normally, his nature was like a raging fire, but looking at his little kid, he didn't know what to do.

Shen Lang said, "Why don't you two go back? This chase is a small matter. How can it be good scaring this little girl? This really can't be replaced with anything else."

The pair of husband and wife took a glance at him, their eyes showing their appreciation. Tingting said, "Or this... this uncle is good..."

The scarred beautiful woman let out a long sigh. "Since it's like that, let's go back then." She suddenly stared at Wang Er Mazi and coldly said, "If anyone thought we're afraid... Hmmph... Hmmph!" Somehow the pipe in Wang Er Mazi's hand was already in her jade hand. She broke it and threw the two pieces on the ground. She took her husband's wrist and led him away without taking another look at Wang Er Mazi.

Wang Er Mazi had been around for dozens of years, and not even in his wildest dream had he ever thought a pipe in his hand would be snatched away from his hand in such a baffling way. In a short moment, he was staring blankly at the ground and stunned as he watched that husband and wife walked away. He couldn't even get angry at what just happened. The crowd was also astonished, Yixiaofo said, "Quick, really quick, what a quick hand. I've only seen one or two people only with this kind of quick hand in the last forty years."

Wang Er Mazi had just gathered his wit, he coughed and forced a laugh. "She has fast hands and legs only. If I didn't regard her as a woman, I would've... I would've..." Even though he was trying to save his face at all cost, he didn't have such a thick face as to finish his words 'I would've given her some trouble'.

Shen Lang smiled and said, "Only fast hands and legs? That's not necessarily true."

Wang Er Mazi was furious but there was nowhere to vent it. When he heard these words, he stared at Shen Lang with a glimmer on his face. He said fiercely, "Not only fast hands and legs, what else is there?"

Shen Lang didn't get angry. He kept his smile and pointed to the ground. "Look here."

The crowd stooped their heads down to have a look. They saw the two pieces of snapped pipe had disappeared under the snow and there were only two small black dots on the snow. It had been snowing for many days and the ground had many layers of snow on it. The layer of snow underneath had actually frozen hard like iron. When that woman threw the two snapped pieces of pipe, they didn't see what kind of power she used. It could unexpectedly send those two pieces of pipe a few feets down the snow with just one toss. This kind of hand power was really astonishing. If the crowd here didn't see it with their own eyes, they would've found it hard to believe.

Wang Er Mazi stammered, "This... This..." He extended his hand to wipe his sweat then laughed coldly. "Not bad." He said this in a relaxed manner, but with the snow falling down and on the ground, he was still sweating.

Yixiaofo sighed. "This pair of husband and wife is really strange..." He looked up and gave a laugh before continuing, "But there's no need to worry about them, quickly chase."

Wang Er Mazi seized this opportunity to step up and said, "Right, quickly chase."

Yixiaofo looked at Shen Lang and said, "I wonder does Master want to chase too?"

Shen Lang turned around to have a look and saw Zhu Qiqi and her brother had not arrived yet. He scowled and hummed for a while. Then he smiled and said, "Alright, chase."

These people were originally not acquainted with each other, so much so that they were not seeing eye to eye. But at this moment, when facing a common enemy, they all had turned friendly. Even though none of them said anything, they all took the same direction without consulting each other. They went north of Qinyang city where that 'Ghost Cave' was located. At this moment, there was a big difference in the qinggong of the people in the crowd.

Yixiaofo led the group, 'Midnight and Noon Soul Snatching' Mo Xi followed just behind him, while Shen Lang followed behind these two people at an arm's length. Wang Er Mazi and 'Roaming Flower Bee' Xiao Muyun weren't that far behind Shen Lang. Tie Shenglong tried with all his might to chase and he also wasn't being left behind.

Though 'Competition Marquis' Sun Tong and 'Silver Flower Dart' Sheng Lao fell behind, these two people were talking and laughing quietly, looking very relaxed. It seemed they didn't exert themselves. After a long time, ‘Sprinkling Snow Double Sabres’ Peng Liren also caught up with them and laughingly said, "That Huang Huahu father and son aren't heroes after all. Who would've thought they would be like that Wan Shitong and quietly slipped away. It seems we can't judge people by their appearances."

Sheng Lao smiled and didn't offer any criticism.

But Sun Tong said, "No one behind is coming?"

Peng Liren replied, "There's still 'Unbounded Hatred' Li Ba, but he's fallen behind by a lot. Ai, this person's wugong isn't weak, but his qinggong is lacking..." He hadn't finished speaking yet, when a mournful cry came from behind them.

Peng Liren was startled. "Li Ba..." Their faces changed colour and didn't talk anymore. They turned around and flew towards the place where that mournful cry came from.

Yixiaofo shouted in a deep voice, "There are guys with weapons, whether they're carrying projectiles or preparing projectiles, attack when you see any of them."

After these words were spoken, the heroes looked at the snow to see if there was a shadow being concealed. But there was no trace of a person's shadow in their sights. Sun Tong and Sheng Lao rushed to go forward when Yixiaofo shouted, "Stop! Put up some fire and see if there's any footprints on the snow."

Sheng Lao and Sun Tong gave a glance and inwardly said, "This Yixiaofo looks fat and stupid, never thought he's so experienced in Jianghu." Admiration had now grown in the hearts of these two people, and they didn't feel he was disgusting anymore.

Peng Liren, Mo Xi, and Xiao Muyun had by now ignited a fire stick each. This 'Roaming Flower Bee' Xiao Muyun was originally a bandit who had visited many houses by himself at night. So the fire stick he made was very ingenious, the flame could be big or small, and the area it illuminated was around ten feet. They saw a person lying on the ground and as expected, he was 'Unbounded Hatred' Li Ba. Behind and in front of his body were tracks of footprints, but on both the left and right sides of his body, the snow was smooth and there wasn't a trace of footprints anywhere.

Yixiaofo said, "Everyone, please be careful when walking, recognise your own footprints."

Sheng Lao recognised his first and said, "This is mine." With his hand, he drew an 'X' on his footprint. It had to be known that everyone's foot shape was different, each person's qinggong also differed, and the shoes were also different. Even though it was difficult to recognise other people's footprints, it was easy to recognise your own.

Sun Tong also recognised his own and said, "This is mine." Then drew an 'X' on his footprints. The talking stopped and in a moment, Wang Er Mazi, Xiao Muyun, Tie Shenglong, and Peng Liren had all recognised their own footprints. Peng Liren discovered that his footprints were the deepest, and his face had turned slightly red.

But everyone knew this matter concerned them greatly, so everyone was very cautious and careful, and no one dared to nonsensely point out how deep other people's footprints were. They saw there were still one pair of footprints on the snow they hadn't recognised yet. With the help of the fire, they saw clearly that this pair of footprints were the lightest, but they were still able to see from the shoes' soles patterns that they were made from thick hemp.

The crowd couldn't help taking a look at Yixiaofo and saw that Yixiafo was wearing a shoes made out of hemp. Yixiaofo said, "These two remaining footprints are really mine. But... But Master, your..."

The crowd felt that they still lacked one pair of footprints, and they couldn't help turning their eyes to look at Shen Lang. Shen Lang smiled and said, "I'm afraid I'm too thin, so my footprints can't be seen." He said this very politely, but the crowd couldn't help feel excited and their countenances changed. No one could see his footprints at all. Such a frail looking and nameless young man who didn't even say anything when being scolded, unexpectedly had such a top qinggong like this 'No Trace When Stepping on Snow'. The crowd respected and was surprised at the same time, and they were also suspicious --- Suspicious that such a young man was able to use such a martial art, they were also suspicious on where this youngster came from, but no one actually dared to ask him anything.

Yixiaofo laughed loudly and said, "A real man doesn't reveal his appearance. Master has skill after all." Yixiaofo paused before saying, "There's no trace of that person's footprints anywhere, there's also no sign of struggle. Li Ba seemed to have been hurt by a projectile. This time we can take a look and see what kind of projectile is this?" He pulled Li Ba's corpse up but he saw the corpse was already black and swollen. He ripped open the gown and saw a wound underneath his shoulder, black blood was flowing out of it...

But there was no sign of projectile on this wound. The crowd again looked at each other in blank dismay. Everyone was biting down on their teeth tightly. Even though they couldn't hear any sound of teeth chattering, they could still hear clearly their heart thumping wildly. Mo Xi tremblingly said, "Could... Could it be that the projectile isn't from this world?... Otherwise, how could it change and enter the blood?..."

There was no mark on the corpse's body, and there was also no other footprints around it. It was impossible for someone to remove the projectile which had hit the front of Li Ba's chest. On the other hand, when Li Ba was hit on the chest, he would've fallen face down first, and no matter who that person was, he wouldn't be able to leave his body unmarked when removing the projectile.

The crowd walked back and forth, thinking of all sorts of things, but they couldn't think of a reason at all. But they felt the cold air blowing on their body was getting colder and colder. Peng Liren tremblingly said, "Could it be some kind of invisible sword energy?..."

Yixiaofo laughed coldly and said, "Are you dreaming?"

Peng Liren seemed like he wanted to debate this, but when he turned around, he was frightened and didn't dare to open his mouth. He saw Yixiaofo's face was full of murderous look, his eyes were glinting, he looked like a beast that had been infuriated by people. Suddenly, he pulled down his Buddhist gown exposing his upper body. The snow flakes fell on his body, but he wasn't the slightest bit afraid of the cold. Instead, his upper body was now covered in steam. The crowd didn't know what to say, but they saw him now tearing his Buddhist gown into strips. Each strip was around four inches wide and he wrapped them around his arms, thighs, chest, and stomach. The quivering fat in those areas were all tightly wrapped. The snow flake had now turned into sweat running down his body, moistening all the strips on his body. Yixiaofo stretched his body, lifted his arms, and extended his legs, testing how his movements were compared to before. He then swept his eyes across everyone and fiercely said, "If you want to keep your life go back, if you want to go prepare to lose your life."

Peng Liren said, "Go... Go where?"

Yixiaofo laughed madly and said, "Besides that ghost cave, where else is there?" He grabbed a handful of snow and stuffed it into his mouth. After chewing the snow, he shouted, "Pound that ghost cave, the ones who got guts come with me." As he shouted this, he started to fly forward.

Sheng Lao, Sun Tong, Mo Xi, Wang Er Mazi, Tie Shenglong, and Xiao Muyun blood were boiling already, how could they still think clearly about safety and danger or life and death? Thinking but not thinking, they followed him.

Peng Liren lifted his head and saw Shen Lang was still standing there. He lowered his head and forced a laugh. "Master, please. Li Ba and I are friends, I can't bear leaving his corpse out here in the wilderness... Ai, I'll bury his body. Then I'll catch up straightaway."

Shen Lang smiled. When Peng Liren lifted his head, Shen Lang already looked like a dark shadow in the distance. He inwardly sighed and without taking another look at Li Ba's corpse, he madly ran back to the inn.

Shen Lang looked around as he chased Sheng Lao and the rest of the people. But he had not caught up to them yet after some time since he was quite far behind them. At this time, he was the last in line. If another cold arrow was to be shot, naturally it would be aimed at him. Shen Lang still carried his smile and didn't think about that at all. But it seemed like he actually welcomed that 'Death God' to appear again. He wanted to see what was so miraculous about that death god drawing his bow and shooting those ghost arrow. Who would've expected that all would be well on that road. He saw the city was already far, thinking he must be nearing that 'Ghost Cave' now. Shen Lang dissapointedly sighed and suddenly heard Yixiaofo shouting fiercely in front. Mo Xi sounded alarmed, and everyone sounded to be in confusion. After that he heard Yixiaofo angrily scolding, "If you got guts come out here and fight me. Playing tricks, hiding your head but revealing your tail just like animals."

Shen Lang scowled and quickened his steps. The arrow seemed to have caught up to them. He saw they had already stopped. Yixiaofo's face was bright and in his hand was a piece of white cloth, he was still scolding as he arrived. But there was not a shadow of a person around and there was also no response. Shen Lang softly asked, "What's the matter?"

Yixiaofo replied, "Look at this." He threw the white cloth in his hand over. Shen Lang grabbed it, and from the reflection of the snow, he saw a few words written in blood.

"Politely advising everyone to turn back. If you proceed, you're only pursuing regret."

Shen Lang asked, "Where did it come from?"

Yixiaofo said fiercely, "I was just running..."

Originally, Yixiaofo was leading the party, but he saw the snow in front was spacious. And In that spacious snow area, big sheets of ice and snow silts suddenly raised up, and wildly rolled towards them. Yixiaofo's vision was obstructed, but he felt there was a white shadow of a person inside that big storm of ice and snow. He headed over, but something flew over Yixiaofo's head, and this piece of cloth was in Yixiaofo's hand.

Shen Lang heard his explanation and couldn't help scowling. "Where did this person go? Why didn't you chase?"

Yixiaofo angrily said, "That shadow looked like it's a person, but it's also didn't look like a person. It's only three feet long and looked like a fox. I squinted to have a look but couldn't see what he was doing or where he was hiding in the snow. When I opened up my eyes, he was nowhere to be seen."

Shen Lang was slightly startled and thought, "This method is slightly similar to the Five Shades Protection Technique' of the 'Sky Demon Shifting Technique'. Hearing what they're saying, this person's shape looked similar to Hua Ruixian. But Hua Ruixian has nothing to do with that 'Demon Cave', so how can she be mixed up in this?"

He then heard Yixiaofo said, "Master doesn't need to think anymore. No matter what this thing is playing at, they won't scare me at all. I just want Master to lead the way with me. Then I want Brother Mo and Sheng... Sheng what?"

Sheng Lao laughingly answered, "Lao." (At this point, there has been some changes to Sheng Lao's name, it has been referred to as Sheng Ying now. It's been interchanged between Lao and Ying several times already, but now it's predominantly Ying. I'm just going with Lao.)

"That's right, Sheng Lao and Mo Xi will be at the back while we charged."

Shen Lang hummed his acknowledgement and said, "Charge."

"Charge," Sheng Lao affirmed.

Then everyone started shouting, "Charge, charge!" Even though their shouts were loud, there was still a hint of trembling in their voice.

But at this time, the situation called for them to advance and not retreat, so they all hardened their resolve to charge forward. The heroes were now on their way again, but their speed was much slower than before and they were cautiously looking far away. They saw the outline of a distant mountain, and within the hazy image of the mountain, it seemed like a chilling ghost aura surrounded it. All the heroes was wary of danger, they didn't know what they would find inside this 'Demon Cave'. Even though they originally thought there was some kind of treasure in it, they weren't feeling greedy anymore at this time.

Shen Lang inwardly sighed and pondered, "Lucky that Miss didn't come here with us, otherwise..."

Suddenly, they heard a loud and crisp laugh from a shadow in front of them, "You're all still coming?"

-----------------------------

Peng Liren ran without stop and he was gasping for air, as he came back to the inn. The inn was also in chaos with people outside carrying corpses, and people crying out, "Ai, another dozens of lives..." Peng Liren didn't dare to look long or heard anymore as he took a breath and rushed into his own room. With a crashing sound he opened the door and rushed inside, then quickly closed the door again and he rested his back against the door. Then he let out a sigh and mumbled, "I've got my life back, I'm going back home. Even if there's treasures inside that tomb, I'm not going..."

Suddenly he felt something wasn't right. The lamp inside the room was already lighted by someone. He swept his eyes across and stopped mumbling, he felt like his blood had frozen, and his wide open mouth couldn't be closed. Both of his knees quivered and they felt like jelly.

He saw a grey gowned person sitting in the middle of the room with his back towards the door. Peng Liren couldn't see his face, but that grey gown was scattered out, floating in the darkness of the room. He didn't look like a person at all, he looked just like a spectre that had just been resurected from inside a tomb.

Peng Liren tremblingly said, "Fri...Friend, who are you?"

That grey gown person laughed loudly then slowly accented each word, "Cold moon shine on the lonely mound..."

Both of Peng Liren's knees became soft and with thud, he sat down on the floor.

The grey gown person asked, "Are you afraid of death? You want to go back?..."

"I... I want to..."

The grey gown person gloomily laughed. "Once you entered Qinyang city, you must die inside the city..."

Peng Liren bit his teeth and suddenly exerted himself to rush forward. He aimed his palm at the top of that person's head. His reputation was well known for many years already. This palm was nothing superficial.

The grey gown person didn't turn his head around as his long sleeve swept back. But Peng Liren felt and extremely cold and soft powerful inner energy striking his chest. He felt as if his chest had been beaten by an enormous hammer and his body flew back with his head looking up. He hit the door with a thunderous sound and fell down on the floor with blood sprouting out of his mouth. The grey gown person coldly said, "What a trivial person and yet you still want to fight."

Peng Liren saw the front of his gown was stained with blood and his body shook incessantly. The door was making creaking sounds.

The grey gown person slowly said, "Do you want to live or die?"

"..." Peng Liren opened his mouth but nothing was coming out.

The grey gown person severely said, "Say it quick."

"... Want to... Want to... Live..." He said this three times with the word 'live' said clearly. The sweat on his body was flowing down.

The grey gown person coldly said, "If you want to live, then listen to my order."

--------------------------------

"You're all still coming?"

Even though these words were simple and common, all the heroes acted like they had heard the weeping of ghosts in the dead of the night. Their bodies shook. Tie Shenglong staggered backwards for a few steps. Xiao Muyun fell on the ground. Yixiaofo fisted both of his hands tightly and shouted, "Who... ? Who are you? Come out."

They then saw a white shape floated out of the shadow. Its whole body was stiff straight and not moving. They also didn't see how he moved forward without lifting his legs. He just merely floated out, straight and stiff. His whole body looked pale and both sleeves were raised covering his face. It seemed that he didn't want to let other people saw his hideous appearance. The bottom of his foot was floating and it was one foot above the ground.

The heroes all felt a wave of cold air coming up from under their feet and their whole body felt cold. If it were said that this white shadow was a person, then how could there be a person who could move like this in the whole world. Even though Yixiaofo was brave, he must believe now that this white shadow was a spectre from the tomb. He was stupefied for a long time before he suddenly shouted, "I'll still butcher you even if you are a ghost." He raised both of his arms and flew forward. His palm wind encroaching everything and struck straight at that white shadow's chest.

That white shadow's sleeve flew up and with a cold laugh, its body shifted back two feet. Yixiaofo started, gritted his teeth tightly, and rushed forward again. Who would've thought he felt a wind besides his body as Shen Lang already flew in front of him and severely said, "Zhu Qiqi, have you had enough playing around?"

That white shadow suddenly burst into laughter and hanged its sleeve down. She gazed somewhere far but her manner and appearance looked beautiful with her face looking like spring flowers. If she weren't Zhu Qiqi, who else could it be?

She put her feet down and was still laughing loudly. "Brother Shen is really good."

Fire Child giggled as he walked out. He was originally behind to replace Zhu Qiqi's legs which was why Zhu Qiqi didn't need to move her body to move around. Even though the heroes were all bold and were very experienced in Jianghu, in front of this ghost tomb, in the middle of the snowy night, their nerves had been eroded and none of them managed to see the trick.

Yixiaofo didn't know whether to be angry or startled, he stamped his feet and said, "Miss, your joke is really too frightening."

Fire Child laughed and said, "But this big monk is really brave, even ghost doesn't scare you."

Yixiaofo looked up and laughed loudly. "Even though I'm not a demon slayer, I still have some skill to beat up a ghost." The best way is to flatter someone. Fire Child only had to flatter him slightly and there wasn't a trace of anger on Yixiaofo anymore. Yixiaofo said to Shen Lang, "These two sister and brother are very lively, they're just playing with us. Master doesn't have to get angry with them."

Zhu Qiqi glanced at Shen Lang and said, "Hng, does he dare to get angry? He ruined my game, it's already very good that I'm not angry at him."

Yixiaofo laughed aloud and said, "Wonderful, wonderful. This master really isn't angry... whoever can make this master angry really must have good skills."

Zhu Qiqi also couldn't help smiling. "Him, well he..." She quietly walked over, and quietly pinched Shen Lang. "Are you a wooden person? Say something."

Shen Lang replied, "Alright, I'll say something, I want to ask you something, how did you get here? When did you come? Did you go in to have a look? Did you see that Hua... Madam Hua?"

Zhu Qiqi laughingly said, "Look at yourself, not speaking you're good, once you spoke, you're like questioning a prisoner... Alright, I'll tell you, when you were looking at those corpses, I was already here. I went in wanting to have a good look, but it's too dark inside, and we also didn't have any torches. Even though I'm not afraid, Old Ba here was frightened. I was afraid he might be scared to death so we came out."

Fire Child retorted, "Aren't you ashamed? Weren't you afraid? Why were you pulling on my hand then, gripping so tightly, I felt your hand was cold from fright, also..."

Zhu Qiqi stamped her feet. "Little ghost, say it again."

Fire Child laughed and replied, "You're not talking about me, I naturally wouldn't talk about you..."

They suddenly heard a miserable cry coming from the mountain cliff in front. It was far yet near. Even though the cry wasn't loud, it was very mournful and sharp, frightening people's soul. When the cry ended, a body fell. He went forward and saw the crowd. Without any expression, he extended his hand and pointed at them, not saying anything before he fell down. The crowd was frightened and astonished, all of them were somewhat numb, and only Shen Lang went forward to help that person. He secretly used his qi to help that person while calling out, "Brother, wake up."

That person received Shen Lang's Yang energy, and he slowly opened his eyes. He gazed across and lightly called out, "Tie... Brother Tie..."

Tie Shenglong walked up to have a look and was surprised. "So it's Brother Jin, how... how did you end up like this?"

That person answered, "The... the five... of us... I'm the only one left... I'm also..."

Tie Shenglong's face changed colour and he said, "Could it be the 'Anyang Five Righteousness', all died... died right here? This... this... who did this?"

A miserable smile formed on that person's face, he mumbled, "There... there's ghost... there, you can't go in... can't go in... can't..." He suddenly hissed and shouted, "It's not ghost, it's..."

Shen Lang hastily asked, "What is it? Brother, what is it? Brother, wake up... wake up..." But that person's eyes were closed tightly and he wouldn't be able to wake up anymore.

Shen Lang slowly stood up and let out a sigh. He looked up at the sky. But the crowd couldn't help looking down on the ground, looking at the point of their feet. Yixiaofo said in a deep voice, "This person was one of the 'Anyang Five Righteousness'?"

Tie Shenglong gloomily answered, "This person was the leader of the 'Anyang Five Righteousness', Jin Lin. He must've heard about the treasures in the tomb so he rushed here to take a look. I never expect... expect..." He let out a sigh and threw his outside clothes to cover Jin Li's body.

Yixiafo suddenly called out, "Lift the gown." Tie Shenglong was stupefied. Yixiaofo said again, "I want to have a look how this Brother Jin died."

Mo Xi said, "The death injury he received is not the same from the ones on Li Ba and the others..."

End of Chapter 3

[Ren Wo Xing]

Magnificently done! Thanks, Pokit. Too bad you don't have time for more

[Han Solo]

Thanks for the translations pokit.

Shen Lang is just so cool, in many ways in this novel.

Han Solo

[nisachar]

Thnx

I didn't knew this novel translation has been resume.

Thank u again

[atlantean0208]

Thnx

I didn't knew this novel translation has been resume.

Thank u again

read pokit actual intention:

As a matter of fact, I translated a couple of chapters of this story some time ago. I don't intend to continue this translation by the way.