The Deer and The Cauldron

[Gubrak]

Thanks Fox
Now WXB back to his nature ... er.. gambling ...

[SkyWalker]

Thanks for the update foxs. This is a pleasure trip with family. We're taking the baby back to visit his great grandparents. As for the baby, he's a pain in the butt! He'll be 1 this Sat. I'm sure you know the pain of kids at this age. Have you ever been to GZ?

[aliderhamy]

I love that WXB always adheres to gambling rules and calls his underlings shameless for not abiding by the rules! This part is unexpectedly exciting - I wonder who the people are!

He cheets all the time when he can...

but he is willing to work with people to resolve conflict in a mutaully beneficial way

I was sad earlear because WXB whtn through a lot to take care of everyone and then was left high and dry by those same people. but he dosent seam to be to phased by it good on him

[crazee]

He cheets all the time when he can...

but he is willing to work with people to resolve conflict in a mutaully beneficial way

I was sad earlear because WXB whtn through a lot to take care of everyone and then was left high and dry by those same people. but he dosent seam to be to phased by it good on him

I agree with the statement, but must say that everytime he helps someone, he gains something....either friendship or more riches....He's never on the loosing end. What a life.....

[aliderhamy]

I agree with the statement, but must say that everytime he helps someone, he gains something....either friendship or more riches....He's never on the loosing end. What a life.....

But can you count how many times he has gambled with his own neck ?

I would want my neck to not be on the gambling table if possible... even if the odds are favorable... i want there to be like 0% chance of having it cut off.

[foxs]

Anh, you are welcome. Sablemagi, I was wondering about that myself. My own ranking is: Chen Jinnan, Feng Xifan and Jiu Nan seemed to be on the same level, perhaps Hong Jiaozhu is slightly above them, and his minions (the Toutuo and Mr. Lu) slightly below. I think Li Xihua is few level below, on the same level as Li Zicheng and Wu Sangui. I'm guessing that Tian Di Hui people are on this level as well. Smurf, Gubrak, you are right, gambling was his nature. Crazee, I don't understand Paigow either, but other than the names (of the card), it's pretty much who got better pair. Thin Toutuo did not understand either, yet he could play. Sky, I am guessing he will sleep all the way on the plane. We went to Hongkong a few years ago, surprisingly, the toddler (16 months at that time) slept well, it was the 6, almost 7, years old that was fuzzy. We crossed to China (Shenzhen), but could not enter because we did not know US passport holders cannot apply visa on arrival, hence we had to return to Hongkong. Ali, good observation, yes, he did gamble his own neck for his friends.

---

He saw a clear impression of the tiles on the table, as if the dots of a pair of plum blossoms were embossed on the wood. His hand strength was indeed not weak; Wei Xiaobao was agape and tongue-tied, he was speechless.

The peasant said, “Right, right, laoxiong won. Here’s a hundred taels.” He picked a silver yuanbao and pushed it to the front of the short and fat man. And then he picked thirty-two tiles and turned them over. After shuffling it for a while, he arranged the tiles, eight tiles in a row, four rows in total, neat and tidy rows of tiles. Lightly he pushed the rows of tiles to the middle of the table, and then he also pushed the large pile of money in front of him forward.

Wei Xiaobao had keen eyes; he could see a neat and tidy impression of the thirty-two tiles on the table. Although the impression was not as deep as the plum blossoms earlier, it was only a faint and barely visible imprint on the wood, but considering his movement was very light, apparently his martial art skill was not below that of the short and fat man’s. As he pushed the tiles forward, most of the imprint was uncovered. In a glance Wei Xiaobao could see pair by pair of ‘heaven’, ‘earth’, and ‘men’ in a row. He knew the peasant was secretly playing tricks.

The short and fat man pushed two hundred taels toward the Heaven Gate as his stake. “Throw the dice, throw the dice!” he called out. Turning toward Li Xihua and the old beggar he said, “Quickly put your bet down, why are you so slow?”

Li Xihua laughed and said, “Laoxiong is so impatient, why don’t the two of you gamble?”

“Very well,” the short and fat man said. Turning to the old beggar he asked, “Are you going to make a bet?”

The old beggar shook his head. “I won’t. Individual ten beats individual nine, this kind of Pai Jiu I don’t know how to play.”

The short and fat man was angry. “Are you saying I was wrong?” he asked.

“I said I don’t know how to play,” the old beggar replied, “I have never said you were wrong.”

“Damn it,” the short and fat man angrily cursed, “You are all not a good thing. Hey, little baby, you are babbling nonsense in here, are you going to gamble or not?” Naturally the last question was directed toward Wei Xiaobao.

Wei Xiaobao laughed. “Let me help the banker,” he said, “Dage here, I want to form partnership with you to be the banker; can I?” While saying that, he took eight or nine small gold ingots from his pocket and put them on the table. The shiny gold was gleaming, it worth at least a thousand taels of silver.

“Alright,” the peasant said, “Xiao Xiongdi has good fortune and good luck, we are guaranteed to win.”

The short and fat man angrily said, “Are you saying I am guaranteed to lose?”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “If you are afraid of losing, you may bet a little less.”

The short and fat man was furious. “I want to bet two hundred more taels,” he said, while taking two more yuanbao and put them on the Heaven Gate.

The peasant said, “Xiao Xiongdi’s luck in gambling is good; you throw the dice.”

“Alright!” Wei Xiaobao replied. Picking up the dice, he weighed it in his hands, and to his great delight, he found out that the dice were loaded with lead. He thought, “Unexpectedly the dice in this gambling establishment also have this kind of secret.” At first he was afraid that he was a bit rusty, his hand was out of practice, but as soon as he picked the lead-loaded dice, he felt relieved instantly. His mouth mumbled, “Spirit of Heaven, spirit of the Earth, the first spirit of gambling deity, Bodhisattva, little demon of the dice carrying the yuanbao, one by one enter in! Clear kill!” While his mouth was shouting, his fingers turned, he threw the dice into the bowl; as expected, he got seven dots. The Heaven Gate took the first set, the banker took the third set.

By looking at the impression on the table, Wei Xiaobao knew that the short and fat man had a ‘four and six’, and a ‘tiger head’ [i.e. five and six], valued at one dot, while his side got two pairs of ‘earth’ [i.e. double one]. “Laoxiong,” he said to the peasant, “I threw the dice, you look at the tiles. Win or lose, it is decided by the mandate of Heaven.”

The peasant picked the tiles, felt it with his fingers, and put it down on the table.

“Ha!” the short and fat man exclaimed as he flipped the ‘four and six’ tile. “Ten dots,” he said, “Wonderful!” And then with another ‘Ha!’ he flipped the ‘tiger head’ and said, “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven; eleven dots. Wonderful!” Reaching out, the opened up the banker’s tiles and said, “One, two, three, four; four dots altogether. My twenty-one dots eat your four dots. I win!”

Wei Xiaobao and the peasant looked at each other in dismay. The short and fat man said, “Quickly pay!”

Wei Xiaobao said, “More dots win, less dots lose, regardless of heaven or earth, pair or no pair, is that right?”

“Why not?” the short and fat man said, “How can more dots lose to less dots? Your four dots want to win against my twenty-one dots?”

“Alright,” Wei Xiaobao said, “That’s the rule.” He paid the short and fat man four small gold ingots, saying, “Each gold ingot worth a hundred taels of silver. Place your bet.”

The short and fat man was very happy; he laughed and said, “I still bet four hundred taels, if I bet more, I am afraid you will lose and become anxious.”

Wei Xiaobao looked at the tile imprint on the table, he threw five dots. The banker picked the tiles first, it was a pair of ‘heaven’ [i.e. double six]. The short and fat man got a ‘long three’ [i.e. double three] and a ‘bench’ [i.e. double two]. Both tiles combined, the number of dots was still less than one ‘heaven’ tile. He cursed under his breath, yet he had no choice but to pay. And then he bet four hundred taels again.

Three sets of hand later, the short and fat man lost everything, there was not a single tael left in front of him. His face was bulging deep red like a blood ball. His short and fat arms groped around his pocket, but he could not find anything that he could bet. Suddenly he pointed to Zhao Qixian, who was still lying on the floor, and said, “This fellow worth several hundred taels, doesn’t he? I bet him.” While saying that, he picked Zhao Qixian and put him on the table.

Zhao Qixian’s acupoints were sealed, he could not move a hair. The old beggar suddenly said, “Wait a minute, it was zaixia who caught these several Imperial Bodyguards, how could laoxiong take them as your bet?”

The short and fat man replied, “I just want to borrow them, can I?”

“If you lost, how are you going to pay me back?” the old beggar asked.

The short and fat man was startled. “I won’t lose,” he said.

“Just in case laoxiong’s luck is not good, and you lost?” the old beggar asked.

“That’s easy,” the short and fat man said, “Presently in the city of Liuzhou Imperial Bodyguards are indeed not a few; I’ll just go grab some and pay you back.”

The old beggar nodded. “That will work,” he said.

The short and fat man urged Wei Xiaobao, “Quickly throw the dice.”

By this time the set of tiles had already been used up. Wei Xiaobao said to the peasant, “Would laoxiong shuffle and arrange the tiles just like before?”

Without saying anything the peasant shuffled the thirty-two tiles back and forth on the surface of the table. After a while, he arranged the tiles in a square. Wei Xiaobao was startled; not only he did not see any new imprint on the table, even the previous imprint was also erased by him secretly exerting his internal energy while he was pushing and rubbing the tiles around; what’s left was only faint traces of horizontal and vertical lines that Wei Xiaobao could not distinguish the dots anymore.

If the short and stout man was still betting gold and silver, Wei Xiaobao would not mind too much, he would let the peasant gamble with him; who would win, who would lose, it had nothing to do with him. But right now, placed on the Heaven Gate as the bet was Zhao Qixian, while he could not shirk from being the banker. Since he would not know where the strong suit would be, loaded dice or not, it would be worthless.

“Since only two people gambling,” he said, “Why must we play Pai Jiu? Won’t it be better just to play dice? He who has more dots, win.”

The short and fat man shook his round head like a kettledrum, “Laozi loves to play Pai Jiu,” he said.

“You don’t understand Pai Jiu,” Wei Xiaobao said, “What will you play?”

The short and fat man was furious; he grabbed Wei Xiaobao’s chest, raised him up, and gave him a good shaking. “Your granny,” he said, “Are you saying I don’t understand Pai Jiu?”

Being shaken randomly like this, the bones in Wei Xiaobao’s body were crackling. Suddenly he heard someone behind him calling out, “Let him go, you must not do that!” It was precisely Fat Toutuo’s voice.

The short and fat man’s right hand raised Wei Xiaobao high in the air. “Uh, how can you be here?” he asked in surprise, “Why can’t I do this?”

They heard Lu Gaoxuan’s voice replying, “This is Wei … Wei Daren; he has a very special background, you must by all means not offend him. Quickly put him down.”

The short and fat man was delighted. “He … he is Wei … Wei … damn it, he is Wei Xiaobao? Ha ha, wonderful, wonderful! I happen to be looking for him. Ha ha, finally I found him.” While saying that, he turned around headed toward the door, with his right hand still carrying Wei Xiaobao.

Both Fat Toutuo and Lu Gaoxuan barred his way. “Shou Zunzhe [lit. thin revered master],” Lu Gaoxuan said, “Since you already knew Wei Daren’s background, why are you still this rude? Quickly put him down.”

The fat and short man said, “Even if Jiaozhu is here personally, I would still not letting him go. Unless he gives me the antidote.”

“Don’t make a scene,” Fat Toutuo said, “You did not take the leopard … that pill, what do you need the antidote for?”

“Humph,” the short and fat man replied, “You don’t understand anything. Quickly get out of the way, don’t blame me for being impolite to you.”

With his body hanging in the air, Wei Xiaobao heard the exchange between these three people, he mused, “So this short and fat man is actually Fat Toutuo’s Shixiong, Thin Toutuo. No wonder he is unusually fat, and amusingly short.”

At the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful the other day, there was a big-meatball-like freak hiding inside the fake Empress Dowager’s quilt, who was then ran out stark naked while carrying her out of the Palace. Afterwards Wei Xiaobao inquired of Fat Toutuo and Lu Gaoxuan, and found out that it was Fat Toutuo’s martial brother Thin Toutuo. It was because that day he was running away so fast that Wei Xiaobao did not see his appearance clearly, so much so that although he had been gambling with him for half a day, he had not recognized him.

Wei Xiaobao’s mind was churning, “Fat Toutuo once said that in the past he and his Shixiong, Thin Toutuo, two men, were sent on a mission overseas by Jiaozhu, and were unable to return within the appointed time, to such an extent that the leopard embryo tendon-altering pill they took flared up. Fat Toutuo became tall and thin, while thin Toutuo became short and fat. By this time the two of them have already taken the antidote, yet their original stature did not return. So why would this short and fat man want the antidote? Ah, right, the poison of the leopard embryo tendon-altering pill in the old wh0re fake Empress Dowager’s body has not been neutralized. This Thin Toutuo slept with her under the same quilt, obviously they are lovers.” He said in a loud voice, “You want the leopard embryo tendon-altering pill antidote, yet you still have not put me down?”

As soon as Thin Toutuo heard the five characters ‘leopard embryo tendon-altering pill’, his entire fat body immediately shivered. Bending his right arm, he put Wei Xiaobao down, stretched out his left hand and said, “Bring it out quickly.”

“You are so rude to me, humph, humph! What did you just say to me?” Wei Xiaobao said.

Thin Toutuo suddenly leaped forward, pressed his left hand on Wei Xiaobao’s back, and shouted, “Bring the antidote out quickly.” The point his fat left hand pressed on was precisely the ‘Da Chui’ [big hammer/spine] acupoint. If he exerted a bit of strength in his palm, Wei Xiaobao’s heart arteries would be shaken and would break immediately.

Fat Toutuo and Lu Gaoxuan called out together, “You must not do that!”

Their voice had not disappeared, three palms already landed on Thin Toutuo’s body. The old beggar’s palm rested on the ‘bai hui’ [hundred meeting] acupoint of the crown of his head. Li Xihua’s palm was pressing on the ‘yu zhen’ [jade pillow] acupoint on the back of his head. The peasant’s palm was actually pushing on his face, the forefinger and middle finger were pressing above his eyelid. The ‘bai hui’ and ‘yu zhen’ were two vital acupoints on a human’s body, plus if the farmer exerted slightly more strength onto his fingers, he would be able to dig the Thin Toutuo’s eyeballs out. Thin Toutuo, however, was really too short; compared to Wei Xiaobao, he was still half a head shorter, so that when the three of them made their moves together, they had to target his round head, because they could not conveniently reach the vital acupoints on his chest or back.

When Fat Toutuo and Lu Gaoxuan saw the way the three men move, they knew that these three were martial art experts. If the three of them exerted their strength simultaneously, perhaps Thin Toutuo’s fat head would be immediately crushed to pulp. “You must not do that!” they cried out together.

“Short and fat,” the old beggar said, “Quickly let him go.”

“As soon as he give me the antidote, I’ll let him go,” Thin Toutuo replied.

[Ace High]

WXB got a lot of first class martial arts masters protecting him...

[smurf120]

I don't think the pai gou rules will make any more sense to me even if presented in Cantonese!

[aliderhamy]

Good

this is funny

[crazee]

I suppose they play pai kow with their own rules....to each his own, and the one with better martial arts demands the most...that's why it even more difficult to understand ....at least for a simpleton like me...anyway I don't understand Majong as well and always loose. come to think of it, gambling does not excite me so I'm not too interested in it other than for past time playing strip poker ( those were the days )

Well the circle comes round and looks like XB get to meet his "friendly enemy heh heh heh"
I suppose he's desperate for the antidote for his lover....

Thanks again Foxs....looks like the tentacles of shen long jiau are really long....

[Anh Nam]

Thanks Foxs

[KChill]

Thanks Foxs! I think our rankings are pretty similar. I'd always thought that Chen Jinnan and Fat Tuotuo are probably on the same level though, based on fights that Tuotuo has later. The ones I have a real problem with are the white nun and one character yet to be introduced (to this book anyway). Always thought they'd be up higher on the Leader Hong's level.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs. I hope my lil one will sleep all the way to HK. He's not much of a sleeper though.

[sablemagi]

ahhhh. action at last. interested to know who the peasant and beggar are. If the meatball is thin tuotuo, then WXB escaped with his life in the imperial palace? if instead of runnign around he quickly struck him, nobody would be able to do anything.

Thanks Foxs, i feel the same way with you, except that i think the Tian Di Hui other members may be lower than Li Zi Cheng and Wu San Gui. somehow they feel like they should be on the similar level with Tao Hongying.

speaking of which, i miss shuang er. I wonder how she measures up.

[foxs]

Ace, he is always on the right place at the right time. But I guess it's just the plot. Smurf, after several times of dice game, I start to understand this 'dots' business. In short, pairs are higher (pairs of sixes the highest), and then combination of dots. The highest number is nine, so anything higher than nine back to zero again. (I don't think I make more sense to you, do I?) Ali, glad you consider it funny, I am rather tired with Thin Toutuo. Crazee, why do you always profess to be a 'simpleton'? Simpleton might not necessarily like wuxia, you know ... or perhaps a simpleton would translate wuxia ... Anh, you are welcome. KChill, I am not 'there' yet, so I reserve the right to revise the ranking later. Sky, you might want to bring a car seat. I am serious. Last time we bought that wheels you can attach to a car seat so that it can be rolled like a luggage. And sold it after the trip. I do not recommend you sit him on your lap. It's a long flight. Sablemagi, I think Tian Di Hui people are better than you think. Li Zicheng and Wu Sangui only used brute force, they were more of 'generals' than Wulin people. About Shuang'er ...

---

The old beggar said, “If you don’t let go, I’ll exert my strength!”

Thin Toutuo said, “If I have to die anyway, we’ll perish together …” Suddenly, Fat Toutuo’s right palm moved toward the old beggar’s flank, while Lu Gaoxuan’s palm went toward the back of Li Xihua’s neck.

Fat and Lu, two people, were standing really closed behind them. They were wearing the uniform of Valiant Cavalry Sergeant. Although from the earlier exchange the old beggar and Li Xihua knew that these two men were acquainted with Thin Toutuo, they had never expected that these two people’s martial art skill was extremely superior. In just one move they already fell under their control.

Fat and Lu, two people, spoke at the same time, “Everybody let go!”

The peasant suddenly removed his palm from Thin Toutuo’s face, and swiftly moved both palms toward Fat and Lu, two people’s backs. “You two let go first,” he said.

“Ha ha,” Li Xihua laughed, “This is fun! Interesting, interesting!” He removed his palm from Thin Toutuo, but quick as lightning the palm landed on the top of the peasant’s head.

This way, Wei Xiaobao, Thin Toutuo, Li Xihua, Lu Gaoxuan, Fat Toutuo, the peasant and the old beggar, seven people were under the other’s control, each one of them had his vital point under the other’s palm. In that instant the seven of them were like clay figurines or wooden statues, nobody dared to make a reckless move. Wei Xiaobao was the only one being threatened, but did not threaten anybody else. He was also the only one who was fully aware of why his vital point was under someone else’s control; it was an unfathomable mystery to the other six people.

“Zhang Kangnian!” Wei Xiaobao called out.

By this time, other than several casino workers huddled at the corner, only Zhang Kangnian remained inside the gambling establishment. “Cha!” he replied. ‘Shua!’ he pulled his saber.

“Dog Imperial Bodyguard,” Thin Toutuo yelled, “Come here if you have guts!”

Zhang Kangnian raised his yaodao saber; but afraid that this short and fat man might harm Wei Xiaobao, he did not dare to take even one step closer.

Wei Xiaobao was surrounded in the middle. He felt that in among the strange things that had happened to him in his entire life, nothing was more strange than this. “Interesting, interesting!” he called out, “Short and fat, kill me with one palm, it’s not a big deal. You yourself will die, it’s not a big deal. But you will never get the leopard embryo tendon-altering pill’s antidote. That old lover of yours, the flesh of her entire body will rot piece by piece; she will have a rotten bald head first, and then …”

“Stop it!” Thin Toutuo shouted.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Her face will rot, one by one her eyes, nose, ears will fall, the holes will appear …”

Right this moment, suddenly from the entrance of the hall someone said, “In here!” And then someone else said, “Seize them all!” Everybody turned their heads at the same time toward the entrance. Suddenly a white ray flashed; someone with a sword in his hand circled around them. They felt the vital points on their back, flank, waist, shoulder, slightly went numb, as their acupoints were sealed. In an instant, they all went down to the floor.

They saw three people were standing at the door. Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted. “Ah Ke,” he called out, “You have finally come …” But as soon as the word ‘come’ came out of his mouth, his heart sank, and he stopped immediately. He saw two men standing by her side, on her left was Li Zicheng, on her right was the person he loathed the most in all his life, Zheng Keshuang. On the east was a man who had just put the sword back into its sheath, standing with arms akimbo, and a cold laugh on his face; it was none other than ‘One Sword without Blood’ Feng Xifan.

Thin Toutuo, the old beggar, Li Xihua, Fat Toutuo, Lu Gaoxuan and the peasant, six martial art masters had their hands threatening each other’s vital points; this one did not dare to move, that one also did not dare to move. Suddenly another martial art master appeared, without expending the slightest effort he managed to paralyze them all; even Zhang Kangnian was also hit by the sword.

Thin Toutuo was sitting on the ground, but compared to when he was standing, he actually did not appear too much shorter. “What kind of ‘thing’ are you?” he angrily shouted, “You dare to seal laozi’s ‘yang guan’ [positive pass] and ‘shen tang’ [divine hall] acupoints.”

With a cold laugh Feng Xifan said, “Your martial art skill is not bad at all, unexpectedly you know which acupoints of yours are being sealed.”

Thin Toutuo angrily said, “Quickly unseal laozi’s acupoints, I’ll fight you. What kind of damn hero are you, launching a sneak attack like that?”

Feng Xifan laughed, “Are you a hero?” he said, “Damn it, a hero who is lying on the floor, unable to move at all.”

Thin Toutuo angrily said, “Laozi is sitting on the floor, not lying on the floor. Damn it, don’t you have eyes?”

Feng Xifan raised his left foot and lightly pushed on Thin Toutuo’s shoulder. Thin Toutuo fell face up. But the fat on his buttocks was unusually thick, the weight on his entire body was concentrated there, so that when he fell down, although he could not exert any strength, his body involuntarily sat back up.

Zheng Keshuang laughed aloud and said, “Ke Mei, look, don’t you think this roly-poly toy is fun?”

Ah Ke smiled and said, “It’s very strange.”

Zheng Keshuang said, “You wanted to find this little demon to take revenge, finally your cherished dream has arrived. Are we going to catch him and slowly control him, or just kill him with a stab of the sword?”

Wei Xiaobao was shocked; he thought, “Little demon, these two characters can only mean me; could it be that Ah Ke is looking for me to take revenge? But I have never offended her.”

Clenching her teeth, Ah Ke said, “As soon as I see this man, I get angry; I’ll just kill him with a stab of the sword.” While saying that, ‘shua!’ she drew the sword and walked toward Wei Xiaobao.

“Don’t kill him!” Thin Toutuo, Fat Toutuo, Lu Gaoxuan, the old beggar, Li Xihua, and Zhang Kangnian, six people shouted together.

“Shijie,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I have never …”

“I am not your Shijie!” Ah Ke angrily said, “Little demon, you are always thinking of harming me, of humiliating me!” Lifting her sword, she thrust it toward the pit of Wei Xiaobao’s stomach.

Everybody cried out in alarm. But they saw the sword bounced back. Turned out Wei Xiaobao was wearing his treasured vest to protect his body, the sword was unable to penetrate.

Ah Ke was startled. “Pierce his eyes!” Zheng Keshuang said.

“Right!” Ah Ke said. Raising her sword, she thrust it forward again.

Suddenly from the corner of the roof someone flew down and threw himself on Wei Xiaobao’s body. The sword stabbed the person’s shoulder. Holding Wei Xiaobao in his arms, the person brought him rolling toward the corner of the hall, away from the sword, while pulling the dagger from Wei Xiaobao’s boot and held it in his hand. This person was also wearing Valiant Cavalry Sergeant uniform, his movement was nimble, his stature short and small, his face was covered in mud and dirt, hence his appearance was unclear.

Seeing he willingly took the sword on Wei Xiaobao’s behalf, everybody thought, “This person is very loyal.”

Feng Xifan drew his sword and slowly walked over. He shook his sword that it turned into a flower sword with more than a dozen petals. Suddenly there was a ‘Ding!’ the sword in Feng Xifan’s hand was cut into two, while blood was gushing from the Valiant Cavalry Sergeant’s shoulder. Turned out the person used Wei Xiaobao’s dagger to break the sword in the opponent’s hand; if not for the fact that Wei Xiaobao’s dagger was incomparably sharp, perhaps by this time he was dead. With the sword stab from Ah Ke on his shoulder earlier, his shoulder suffered two sword wounds in a row.

Feng Xifan’s countenance turned pale. “Humph,” he snorted, and threw the broken sword to the floor. Temporarily he could not make up his mind; should he fetch another sword and attack again or not?

“Ha ha,” Wei Xiaobao called out, “One Sword without Blood Feng Xifan, you stab a soldier under my command that he shed this much blood. Your title should be changed, you should be called ‘Half Sword with Blood’ Feng Xifan.”

With his left hand pressing on the wound on his shoulder, with his right hand the Valiant Cavalry Sergeant massaged the acupoints on Wei Xiaobao’s chest and back, trying to unseal them.

Fat and Thin, two Toutuo, Lu Gaoxuan, Li Xihua, and the others were controlling each other when suddenly someone else launched a sneak attack and hence all of them had fallen into this plot, in their hearts they all were very dissatisfied. Hearing Wei Xiaobao, they all burst out laughing. The old beggar said in a loud voice, “Half Sword with Blood Feng Xifan, marvelous, marvelous! Speaking about shameless people in the world, Sire can be considered number two.”

“Why is he considered number two?” Li Xihua asked, “Would you care to advice?”

The old beggar said, “Compared to Wu Sangui, this Half Sword with Blood’s skill seems to be a bit lacking.”

They all burst out laughing. Li Xihua said, “In my opinion, the difference is quite a lot.”

Feng Xifan had always been extremely proud of his martial art skill; hearing everybody was scoffing at him like that, he could not stop his entire body from trembling. If right now he picked another sword and attacked that Valiant Cavalry Sergeant, to injure him would be as easy as turning his hand over; but of course it would not be fitting to his status. Staring at the sergeant, he asked, “What’s your name? I won’t take your life today, but next time you come into my hand, I will make you die a miserable and unspeakable death.”

The sergeant replied, “I … I …” His voice was very tender and delicate.

“Ah!” Wei Xiaobao cried out in surprise and delight, “You are Shuang’er, my precious, good Shuang’er!” Reaching out, he removed her hat, her long hair fell down, draping over her shoulder. Wei Xiaobao embraced her waist with his left arm, and said, “She is my little servant girl. Half Sword with Blood, you can’t even defeat my little servant girl, yet you are still tooting your horn?”

Feng Xifan was extremely angry; he raised his left foot, ‘Crash! Bang!’ he kicked the gambling table in the middle of the hall, along with all the piles of coins and yuanbao, plus Zhao Qixian who was lying on the table. The table flew up and crashed onto the roof. Money and Pai Jiu tiles rained down on Thin Toutuo and the others’ heads; they all cursing and yelling. Without saying anything Feng Xifan turned around and left.

Right this moment, two men walked side-by-side through the main gate. “Get out of my way!” Feng Xifan shouted, and pushed with both hands. The two men blocked with their palms; as their two palms met Feng Xifan’s two palms, the three of them made stifled grunts. The two men fell back several steps, their backs crashed heavily onto the wall. Feng Xifan swayed; he took a deep breath, and walked out in big strides. ‘Wah!’ the two men spurted out a mouthful of blood. Turned out they were Feng Jizhong and Priest Xuanzhen.

In quick steps Wei Xiaobao walked over to support Feng Jizhong, while asking Priest Xuanzhen, “Daozhang [Taoist priest], are you alright?”

Xuanzhen coughed twice before answering, “I am alright. Wei … Wei Daren alright?”

“Not bad,” Wei Xiaobao replied, as he turned his head to look at Feng Jizhong. Feng Jizhong nodded with a forced laugh. His martial art skill actually far surpassed Xuanzhen, but when exchanging palm strike just now, he happened to receive Feng Xifan’s right palm, hence he received a lot stronger palm force, consequently, his injury was heavier than Xuanzhen.

“Wei Xiongdi,” Li Xihua said, “In your Valiant Cavalry Regiment the number of capable persons in indeed not a few!” Turned out the clothes Feng Jizhong and Xuanzhen were wearing were also Valiant Cavalry Sergeant uniform.

“Ashamed, ashamed!” Wei Xiaobao replied. He heard more footsteps, Qian Laoben, Xu Tianchuan and Gao Yanchao, three people also walked in.

Seeing the increasing number of Wei Xiaobao’s subordinates, Ah Ke signaled Li Zicheng and Zheng Keshuang with her eyes, she wanted to retreat.

Li Zicheng walked over to Wei Xiaobao, he stomped the monk staff in his hand heavily to the ground, and said in a stern voice, “A real man clearly distinguish gratitude and grudges; the other day your Shifu did not kill me, today I will spare your life. From now on, if you cast a glance toward my daughter, speak a word to her, I will smash your body into mincemeat.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “A real man gave his words, so what? The other day at the Three-Sage Nunnery you and your lover Chen Yuanyuan have already promised to give Ah Ke to me in marriage, could it be that you want to renege? You won’t allow me to cast a glance toward my own wife, to speak a word to her, how can there be such a father-in-law in this world?”

Ah Ke was so mad that her face turned deep red. “Father,” she said, “Let’s go. Don’t talk rubbish with this kid! He … his dog mouth will never grow ivory, how can he speak anything good?”

“Very good!” Wei Xiaobao said, “Finally you acknowledge him. This is your parents’ order, are you going to obey or not?”

Li Zicheng was angry; raising his monk staff up, he shouted, “Little b@stard, you haven’t shut up?”

Qian Laoben and Xu Tianchuan charged forward immediately; two sabers went to chop Li Zicheng’s back. Li Zicheng swung his monk staff backwards, ‘Dang!’ he parried the two sabers.

Gao Yanchao had already drawn his saber and held it across his chest, while he stood in front of Wei Xiaobao to protect him. He shouted, “Li Zicheng, in the city of Kunming, who has saved your lives, father and daughter? Forget favors and violate justice, you have no sense of shame!”

In the past Li Zicheng ran amuck in the world, founded a dynasty and called himself the Emperor, nobody in the world did not know that. As soon as Gao Yanchao shouted his name, the old beggar, Thin Toutuo and the others cried out in alarm.

[tweety365]

Finally Shuang’er is back! Been missing her so much. Ah Ke is such an ingrate! Any little sympathy I have for her due to her background and upbringing just flew out the window. WXB is a shallow idiot for liking her. Whenever these 2 are in the same scene, it bugs the heck out of me.

Thanks for the speedy update, foxs!

[Gubrak]

Finally Shuang’er is back! Been missing her so much. Ah Ke is such an ingrate! Any little sympathy I have for her due to her background and upbringing just flew out the window. WXB is a shallow idiot for liking her. Whenever these 2 are in the same scene, it bugs the heck out of me.

I can't say any other word but to agree !!!

Thanks Foxs for the fast update, although it means also faster to the end.

[sablemagi]

oh thanks so much foxs!!! Shuang'er is back, we all love her. to balance Ah Ke. The best part is that Zheng Ke Shuang is actually also indebted to WXB, but still willing to kill for his love. but she will in the end be his wife yes? I guess the more bitter it is now, the sweeter the resolution later. or some soppy thing like that.

Feng Xi Fan is the master of sneak attacks apparently. I love the 7 way impasse also, reminds me of some Hong kong triad movie from the 80s.

about the martial art skills, LZC sort of doing a parry-riposte thing with the Tian Di Hui peeps make it seem like its not just brute strength? but will have to see more. I guess also the TDH guys have varying ability too.

ACtually nearby WXB has a lot of help, not least Jiunan who could make an appearance since LZC and Ah Ke are here again? oh so excited and thanks Foxs once again.

[crazee]

Thought I sent in a msg ??? ...I suppose it must be due to the poor internet service now that school hols is on. Net speed is almost as good as the dial up days.... sigh when will there be a stable broadband in my ???

Anyway...XB's crazier than I thought. I would have given up on that girl.... All my sympathies for her is gone. Imagine seeking the two insufferable dumbells to create havoc on XB when he's protected by almost all his subordinates....from palace, tian di hui, and shen long jiau....but then I suppose the three of them do not really know XB.

Wow, shuang er had made her come back...and as usual she saved he master...her crazy master again.

Thanks Foxs...btw, translators who can do such a good job should be ranked as geniuses.... I tried to do a translation of a paragraph, with the help of google, han yi, and gave up after a month...because I can even understand what I translated...heh heh heh. mind you I'm talking of about 100 words....that makes me a simpleton...err maybe a little better than stupid...right ? Cannot compute timelines, cannot compare kungfu skills..cannot understand pai kou...even though I play a bit of mahjong, I don't really catch the real essence of scoring points....sigh...can't gamble, can't drink...I mean hard drinks, too scared to womanise....well well, a lousy man...but I have something that is better....sometimes I lie....heh heh heh

[owlHoot]

Thanks Foxs! Its getting interesting and shuang er is back, yea!