Chapter 744: Go, Son!

(Correction: the saber name in the previous chapter was written incorrectly. It should be Wuya. This has now been corrected.)

...

Shouting "Assassin!" was an instinctive reaction.

Fortunately, Marquis Zheng's mind was still clear enough to remember that his only guard had long since prepared himself, so he did not continue with:

"Protect me!"

The man Marquis Zheng had just stabbed to death was called Ma the Cripple.

He was a "water ghost" from upstream along the Wang River.

A water ghost, in this case, simply meant a river bandit.

Someone had paid a high price for him to bring two subordinates here, wait, and kill two enemies.

He accepted.

He had been an excellent swimmer since childhood and was also a minor graded expert. On top of that, he wore clothing sewn from fish skin.

That was why Marquis Zheng, standing above, had seen only a dark shadow rising beneath the ice.

The temperature beneath the water was actually tolerable.

Cold, certainly.

But bearable for a while.

Under the original plan, Ma the Cripple would strike from below while his two men rushed in from the bank.

Unfortunately... he died just like that.

Perhaps if he knew exactly whose saber had killed a little river bandit like himself, he would have felt rather gratified.

At least he could have died without regrets.

But today... he and his two subordinates were only supporting actors.

Inconspicuous supporting actors.

A stone tossed ahead to test the road.

Nothing more.

His two subordinates were already charging toward the river.

But the instant they saw the ice beneath Zheng Fan's feet begin turning red, they understood what had happened.

Without hesitation, they abandoned the boss who had always treated them harshly and turned to run.

They were river bandits.

When drinking and eating meat, they liked boasting that they were men of the jianghu.

But there was not much real courage in them.

Once they realized they had met a hard target... naturally they ran.

They did not get far.

A long spear suddenly flew in at an angle.

It pierced through one man, then drove into the chest of the second.

The spearhead stopped only a hair above the ice, held up by the two corpses skewered upon it.

A man in a plain green robe flashed into view and pulled the spear free.

His hair was slightly disheveled.

His beard had gone untrimmed.

Yet paired with the melancholy air around him and the long spear in his hand, he somehow carried a pressure that seemed to merge man, weapon, Heaven, and Earth into one.

That was not Marquis Zheng exaggerating or inventing things in his head.

He was a Fifth Grade expert now.

His ability to sense another person's qi had naturally risen with his cultivation.

This man... was an expert.

Marquis Zheng looked back toward the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint said:

"Lilong Spear."

The man in green cupped his hands.

"Wei You of Litian City greets the Sword Saint."

Among all weapons in the jianghu, the sword was ranked first.

Since ancient times, people had even said a swordsman's offensive power stood above all other paths.

But that did not mean anyone using another weapon or another martial path was inevitably weaker.

A weapon was a weapon.

A person was a person.

In the end... it was still the person who wielded the weapon.

Wei You had once served as Chief Guard of the Wenren Clan.

Later, after killing one of the Wenren family's direct descendants without permission, he fell out with the clan and disappeared.

The Lilong Spear in his hand had once been praised by Yao Zizhan as the foremost spear of Jin.

Everyone knew Master Yao did not know martial arts.

But everyone also knew...

Master Yao never wasted flattery on useless people.

Zheng Fan silently stepped backward and moved behind the Sword Saint.

His heart immediately settled quite a bit.

For a moment he even wondered whether he should simply run.

He believed the Sword Saint should have no great difficulty defeating the man before them.

Stopping him should be even easier.

But Marquis Zheng's gaze swept once toward the riverbank... and caught a faint, peculiar trace of qi.

It was instinct.

A warning sharpened by years of danger.

If they could have crossed the river early, the Sword Saint would already have taken him across.

The reason he had deliberately stopped in the middle had likely been that someone was hidden on the far bank.

And perhaps... there was another problem too.

Zheng Fan looked down at the ice beneath his feet.

There was an old saying:

No road to Heaven above.

No gate into Earth below.

But right now... going down into the Earth was actually possible.

Yes.

No one had even started fighting yet... and Marquis Zheng had already selected his escape route.

A true man was born to command ten thousand cavalry and sweep across the world.

Why would he need to show off the courage of some lone brute?

"Why have you come?"

The Sword Saint asked.

Under his old temperament, if someone came to fight, he would simply fight.

The more words exchanged... the more it proved one had concerns.

And once concerns existed, some part of the mind had already begun leaning toward:

If we can avoid fighting, that would be best.

Because this time... the Sword Saint had to be responsible for the man behind him.

"To kill the Yan Marquis Pingxi."

The purpose was perfectly clear.

Marquis Zheng called out:

"We rushed too hard today. I'm covered in travel dust. Why don't I bathe and change clothes first, then choose another day to fight you for three hundred rounds?"

It was nonsense.

But the situation remained unclear.

Obviously, there could not be only one Lilong Spear lying in ambush.

So all he could do was waste time with nonsense.

Marquis Zheng had never truly rolled around in the jianghu.

But years of commanding armies had taught him the same principle.

When two sides faced one another... there were not always glorious scenes where both formations crashed together in a magnificent charge.

A great deal of time was spent using meaningless words and meaningless motions simply to drag out time.

"I'm afraid Marquis Pingxi will be disappointed. Today is too good an opportunity. Once today passes, killing you will become far too difficult. I, Wei You... would not be able to do it."

He admitted his limits with remarkable directness.

And the more Wei You spoke this way... the more guilt the Sword Saint felt.

If not for his repeated questions about when they would return, Zheng Fan would never have traveled home with only the two of them.

Under ordinary circumstances, no matter where Zheng Fan went... he never lacked protection.

Only today.

"Kill him and several hundred thousand common people in eastern Jin who have only just settled down will lose the order supporting their lives again. Then the Savages may enter the passes. Chu may march north. Jin will become a battlefield again. Jin people will once more suffer catastrophe."

Wei You shook his head.

"That has nothing to do with me."

Clearly... he was not buying that argument.

The Sword Saint sighed and drew Longyuan.

The blade trembled.

It was excited.

Because it could sense that this time... its master truly intended to fight seriously.

Wei You raised his spear.

"Perhaps that is why you choose to protect him. I believe in your character, Sword Saint. But I still want to kill him. I'm a crude man. I don't like thinking about too many things. Today... I want to kill him. Not for the common people of Jin. Not for whether the state survives. Five years ago... I already felt I should do something. I thought for a long time. Hesitated for a long time. Now... I intend to do it."

Five years ago.

That was roughly when the Wenren Clan had been destroyed.

Marquis Zheng immediately shouted:

"Then I think you ought to kill the Prince of Jingnan! I'll arrange a meeting and let you kill him!"

Wei You laughed.

"Precisely because I knew I was probably not the Prince of Jingnan's match, I waited until today to kill you instead, Marquis Pingxi. Forgive me for the embarrassment. I, Wei You... am simply choosing the softer persimmon."

If one placed the Prince of Jingnan and the Sword Saint on the same level, then on the Sword Saint's side there was still Marquis Zheng.

Even if Marquis Zheng were no more useful than a child... one more person was still one more measure of strength.

But that was not how the situation actually worked.

If the Prince of Jingnan were surrounded... he could retreat.

The Sword Saint could retreat too.

The problem was... the Sword Saint could not easily take Zheng Fan with him.

"No room to negotiate?" the Sword Saint asked one last time.

Wei You shook his head.

"I came to kill someone. Jin, the dynasty, the Wenren Clan, vengeance, consequences... I don't care about any of it. I simply feel that I should come and kill him. Kill him... and I will feel as though I finally did something. Good thing. Bad thing. Grand affairs. Personal grievances. None of it matters. You need not persuade me further. Draw your sword. Or... you may try taking Marquis Pingxi away while I stop you."

"You are not my match," the Sword Saint said.

"I admit that. But I can stop you."

The Lilong Spear swept once through the air.

The spear point faced forward.

Wei You stepped sideways and settled into a posture equally suited to advance or retreat.

The Sword Saint hesitated.

Three choices lay before him.

First, rush forward now and kill the wielder of the Lilong Spear as quickly as possible, then return immediately to Zheng Fan's side.

Second, cover Zheng Fan while fighting and retreating together.

Third... stand still.

Wait.

The situation was already bad.

The Sword Saint had sensed the hidden experts.

So waiting could hardly make things much worse.

It might even bring a sliver of hope.

Unfortunately... the other side clearly had no intention of allowing them to wait indefinitely.

A figure emerged from the opposite bank.

A woman.

She wore her hair in a ponytail and dressed in brightly patterned clothing.

She looked around forty.

Marquis Zheng instinctively took a few extra glances.

She was attractive.

"Aiyo, aiyo. Are you fighting or not? Are you fighting or not?"

The woman rested one hand against her slender waist and laughingly urged them on.

"I'm still waiting for you to finish so I can go home and nurse the children."

This woman... was also a Third Grade expert.

Also Jin-born.

But the Sword Saint did not identify her.

One could only say... the world really did contain people like this.

They cultivated silently.

Improved silently.

Sought neither fame nor profit.

And so the jianghu never heard their names.

Marquis Zheng shouted:

"Elder Sister, do you know who I am?"

The woman covered her mouth and laughed.

"Of course. Of course."

"Then Elder Sister surely knows what I like best too?"

Her laughter grew brighter.

"Naturally. Naturally."

"Elder Sister is beautiful."

"Aiyo. I never imagined the mighty Marquis Pingxi of Great Yan would speak so directly. Elder Sister likes hearing that. Likes it to death."

"Elder Sister can bring your children and come live in my residence. I'll make the Princess the junior wife and Elder Sister the senior one. Your children can all be made Marquises someday."

"Aiyo-ho-ho-ho!"

The woman laughed even harder.

"Elder Sister doesn't believe me?"

"Of course I believe you. Everyone knows the Marquis keeps his promises. Otherwise you would never have taken in the Prince of Jingnan's son as your own. But..."

The woman looked toward Wei You standing on the ice.

Wei You said:

"She is my wife."

"..." Zheng Fan.

"Heh-heh-heh... hahahahaha!"

The woman kept laughing.

"Wei You, did you hear that? Why don't we stop? We can go earn our children a splendid future instead."

Wei You laughed too.

The woman's expression changed instantly.

She cursed:

"Wei You, are you even a man? Your wife gets flirted with right in front of your face and you can still stand there without moving? Father truly was blind back then to pass the Lilong Spear on to you. And this old lady was blind too... to give you three children!"

At that...

Wei You finally moved.

Spear in hand... he charged.

The Sword Saint moved too.

He could sense that the woman's cultivation floated somewhat.

Third Grade, yes.

But not a truly consolidated Third Grade.

Her realm lacked solidity.

And perhaps because she really had borne children... her blood and qi were also somewhat deficient.

In that instant, the Sword Saint made his choice.

He would kill or heavily injure the master of the Lilong Spear as quickly as possible... then turn back.

During that interval...

Marquis Zheng would have to deal with the woman himself.

As long as he did not get beaten to death.

By all logic...

Marquis Zheng should be capable of that much.

Because the Sword Saint knew Zheng Fan carried a red stone with him at all times.

Longyuan flew out.

The Sword Saint rose into the air.

No hesitation.

He prepared to step directly into Second Grade... and kill!

But at that moment... a third person appeared.

A man in white walked out from among the withered reeds.

He raised both hands toward Heaven and Earth... and began chanting.

Earlier... when the Sword Saint had stopped in the middle of the river... he had sensed two traces of qi.

One belonged to Wei You.

The other belonged to his wife.

But the Sword Saint had assumed there needed to be at least one margin for error.

Perhaps there was a third person... one even better at hiding his qi.

Now... there truly was a third.

The third man was a Qi Refiner.

His name was Kong Shanyang.

Also a man of Jin.

Later, however, he had gone to Qian's Back Mountain and cultivated there for more than fifteen years.

A Qi Refiner's Grade did not mean much in direct combat.

A Third Grade Qi Refiner being killed by a Fifth or Sixth Grade Martial Artist... was not particularly strange.

So even with an additional Qi Refiner present, the Sword Saint did not panic.

Longyuan drove forward.

The qi of the surrounding air began to tear apart.

He would connect with Second Grade.

Draw the sword.

But at that very moment...

Kong Shanyang's chanting took effect.

The space above this stretch of river suddenly seemed covered by an invisible, intangible curtain.

Kong Shanyang had used the abilities of a Qi Refiner to forcibly alter the local geomantic arrangement.

In other words... he had cut this area off from the workings of Heaven.

Longyuan waited in the air... but the power of Second Grade never arrived.

The sword stabbed down toward Wei You.

The Lilong Spear's tip struck upward.

Longyuan was knocked away.

"Before Snow Sea Pass, the Sword Saint broke a thousand cavalry alone. What incomparable splendor. I imagine you must have comprehended the threshold of Second Grade. Worthy of the Sword Saint. Worthy indeed of the man who was once the pride of us Jin people."

Kong Shanyang's white robes fluttered.

"But Second Grade borrows the power of celestial phenomena and draws it into one's own vessel. Today... I have severed this patch of Heaven from you. Let us see... how you borrow Second Grade again!"

Longyuan flew back toward the Sword Saint.

The Lilong Spear came with it.

Crash.

Press.

Cover.

Lift.

Thrust.

Plain, unadorned spear techniques.

Yet within them lay the meaning of the Great Dao reduced to simplicity.

The Sword Saint had failed to open Second Grade.

Even so... he fought directly with the strength of Third Grade.

At first, the Lilong Spear held the advantage.

Very quickly...

Longyuan reversed the situation.

The Sword Saint became the attacker.

Wei You became the defender.

There was nothing strange about that.

Among equal Grades, swordsmen had always possessed exceptional offensive power.

The Sword Saint's understanding of swordsmanship had long since transcended Third Grade.

His use of force had become subtle to the extreme.

Even without opening Second Grade...

Wei You was not his match.

But that was the problem.

Without Second Grade, the Sword Saint could suppress Wei You.

Suppress the Lilong Spear.

Yet he could not deliver true killing damage in a short time.

And when the opponent chose only to defend and entangle rather than attack... the time required to decide victory would stretch even longer.

Trading wound for wound only worked if the other man agreed to trade.

When you advanced, he retreated.

When you retreated, he instantly stuck to you again.

This was entanglement.

Not a duel to the death.

Meanwhile... the woman walked onto the ice with a smile.

Her opponent... was Zheng Fan.

At a time like this, blaming the Secret Intelligence Department for incompetence was meaningless.

Most importantly... this pair of experts had spent years enduring and hiding.

And while hiding... they had even kept having children.

The wife did not possess much of a reputation in the jianghu at all.

For all anyone knew, the two of them normally lived ordinary lives in some Jin village.

No matter how powerful the Secret Intelligence Department was... there was simply no trail to investigate.

That was not incompetence.

The husband and wife had hidden themselves too deeply.

The only possible variable was the Qi Refiner.

His appearance might have left traces.

But precisely because he specialized in concealing qi, if he was determined to remain hidden... he too would have been difficult to predict.

And most importantly of all... on both banks of the Wang River, in eastern Jin, the Secret Intelligence Department feared provoking Marquis Pingxi Residence and therefore did not dare penetrate too deeply.

This area could almost be called the weakest point in their network.

Xue San had once asked Zheng Fan:

Where did assassins most like to strike?

At the target's own front door.

Because that was where the target most easily relaxed.

Wasn't Zheng Fan exactly like that now?

The Wang River... was his doorstep.

This truly was not the Sword Saint's fault.

Zheng Fan himself had grown careless.

If things became impossible, he could have let the Sword Saint go home first while he remained safely inside Shangchuan County.

Wouldn't that have been fine?

Looking back along the entire chain... he really had relaxed far too much.

Because of Liaofan's affair, he had exposed his identity in Shangchuan County.

And after that... he had actually dared travel without an escorting army.

But thinking about regret now was meaningless.

Marquis Zheng had no attention to spare for how the Sword Saint's battle was progressing.

The only thing he could do... was hold out.

Keep holding out.

The woman walked forward at an unhurried pace.

Not because she was deliberately wasting time.

Zheng Fan could see two leather whips in her hands.

She held the upper ends.

Long lengths of the lower ends... were already beneath the ice.

She... was sealing off his possibility of breaking through the ice and escaping into the water.

"Elder Sister, think it over one more time. Let's just treat today as a joke. I, Zheng Fan, value my word above gold. Even if you don't consider yourself, shouldn't you at least think about your children?"

"Aiyo, Marquis. Are you threatening a weak woman like me?"

"Yes."

"Sigh. Marry a chicken, follow the chicken. Marry a dog, follow the dog. My own man wants to kill you. How could I refuse to help? As for the children... life got dull and boring, so I had a few little cubs to play with. Whether they live or die... let fate decide."

The leather whips in her hands gradually completed a blockade beneath this entire stretch of ice.

And Marquis Zheng... finally took out the Demon Child.

"Son, at a moment like this, isn't someone usually supposed to suddenly explode with hidden potential? Father's counting on you. Can you perform a miracle and jump two Grades at once? That way... we might still survive."

Zheng Fan exhaled.

He intended to let the Demon Child possess him.

Borrow the Demon Child's power.

More importantly... borrow the Demon Child's experience in killing and fighting.

Go.

Son!

The red stone was lightly tossed upward by Zheng Fan.

Then... it fell.

Then... it struck the ice.

Then... it punched a small hole through the surface.

And finally... it sank.

Just like that.

Sank.

Sank all the way down.

"..." Zheng Fan.

[End of Chapter 744]