The Qu Clan Convenes

Wen Jifei fought with firearms, so close-quarters combat was his greatest weakness. Most of the time, he ought to stay hidden. In reality, however, they couldn't possibly be prepared every single time, nor would they always have the luxury of time. Under the twilight glow of dusk, in a river valley behind the Shang clan's detached estate. Han Qingyu, Wu Xu, and Rusty Sister were fully equipped, lined up at the base of the hillside. Today, they were sparring partners. Across from them, some five to six hundred meters away, Wen Jifei stood with a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth, smoke drifting lazily to the right, the dark-gold Elegy of the Square slung across his back. In truth, aside from its revolutionary breakthroughs in source energy propulsion and dead iron ammunition, the rifle was largely an improved version of the Milla 9. After all, the Milla 9 was practically the pinnacle of Azure's technological achievements in firearms and sniper rifles. The two even shared the same ammunition specifications. In this training session, assuming source energy dead iron bullets were being used, Wen Jifei had to practice contending with the simultaneous assault of three people, stopping them from closing the distance while also handling them if they broke into melee range. "Ready?" Rusty Sister called out loudly from the foot of the hill. Han Qingyu and Wu Xu turned to look at her, then exchanged glances. Wasn't this supposed to be a surprise attack? "Not yet, hold on," Wen Jifei called out from across the field, raising a hand to stop them. Then he looked down, silently fished a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket... and put them on. "..." Han Qingyu looked utterly speechless. "What are you doing?!" "Haven't you ever watched Hong Kong movies? Hitman flair!" Wen Jifei said through the sunglasses, looking around in all directions. "Huh, why is it so dark?!" He couldn't see a thing. "Hey, Plague Chicken!" He Tangtang scrambled up from the ground behind Wen Jifei, clutching his sword as he grumbled dispiritedly, "Could you be a little more reliable? I'm taking this seriously to play support for you! You know full well what kind of monsters those three across from us are." "Yeah, my bad." His back still to He Tangtang, Wen Jifei took off the sunglasses and said earnestly, "Don't worry, Tangtang. If even a single blade touches you today, I'll castrate myself right here and now." He had abruptly turned dead serious, swearing an oath. "Castrate yourself?! That extreme?!" He Tangtang nodded, thought about it for a second, and then suddenly realized something was off. "Wait a minute, Plague-Chicken Fei! According to that logic, if I die, you just cut your junk off... How the hell is that equal?!" Right then, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Three successive sonic booms of source energy detonated from the opposite side, and their figures blurred into afterimages. The assault from Han Qingyu and the others had begun. Wen Jifei stood his ground. With a sweep of his hand behind his back, the long rifle whipped forward, the barrel leveling out. Bang! The first shot fired in an instant. Logically speaking, the target of this shot should have been Han Qingyu, since he was the fastest and most lethal of the three. Yet, with a dull thud, Wu Xu took a hit to the right chest. He came to an abrupt stop of his own accord; according to the setup, he had taken a round through the heart and was dead. "You're not dead! That's your right side!" Rusty Sister tilted her head and yelled helplessly mid-charge. At the same time, pew! Because the next bullet was fired mid-flick, it produced only a strange, eerie whistle. It was like a pirate's whistle braving wind and waves aboard a ship—elusive, fleeting, and swiftly dissipating. Wen Jifei's second target was Rusty Sister. Ever since the appearance of the seven rifles, including Elegy of the Square, the one in greatest danger among them was Rusty Sister. If Han Qingyu or Wu Xu took a bullet, as long as it didn't strike a vital spot, it was merely an injury. But for her, if a bullet penetrated and disrupted the internal circulation of her iron suit, it was practically a fatal blow. The bullet was impossibly fast, sweeping in from the flank in an arc. Rusty Sister glanced back, her heart sinking. Because it was just practice, none of the three had gone all out. They hadn't pushed their source energy to the absolute limit, let alone used their trump cards. Thus, it was too late. Bang! Suddenly, a heavy kick slammed into the iron suit's rear, sending her plunging straight forward. The bullet skimmed across her back in that exact split second. Han Qingyu had delivered the kick, saving Rusty Sister from the bullet while closing the distance at the same time. Leaping forward through the air, Rusty Sister reached out to draw her knight broadsword, slashing it forward in one fluid motion. Ahead, Wen Jifei braced the rifle against his left arm, aiming straight at her, the dark muzzle pointed directly into her face. Then let's 'die' together! We still win either way, Rusty Sister thought easily. At this range and in this situation, the bullet would undoubtedly hit, but Wen Jifei would also be cut down by her knight broadsword. And after that, there was still Qingzi. Since Wen Jifei had actually chosen to leave Qingzi for last, he had already doomed himself to defeat. Whoosh! The broadsword slashed down. Bang! The gun roared. At the same moment the shot fired, Wen Jifei used the tremendous recoil to fling his entire body backward... Yet Rusty Sister had anticipated this trick. "Not far enough!" she cried. Midair, Wen Jifei rotated clockwise as he fell, a slight smile on his lips. Clang! Clang! What should have been one clash turned out to be two. A dead iron straight sword slashed in from the side, striking right against Rusty Sister's knight broadsword. The instant Han Qingyu kicked Rusty Sister forward, He Tangtang had already moved. The knight broadsword was knocked off course. By the rules, Rusty Sister had been shot and was now dead. Landing on her feet, she could only stand there fuming. Meanwhile, He Tangtang's role on the field had also run its course. Only two people were left in the match. Wen Jifei flipped sideways, falling toward the ground. Above him, Han Qingyu's leaping blade was already cleaving downward toward his head. He's dead. In a real fight, he'd be cleaved in two, Rusty Sister judged. Once Wen Jifei hit the ground, there was simply no way he could readjust in time. Yet on the field, Wen Jifei didn't try to adjust at all. Nor did he try to land on his feet. Instead, he leveled his entire body horizontally in midair and slammed flat against the ground. And the rifle pointed diagonally upward. Bang... It was a chaotic amalgamation of sounds: The sound of a body slamming into the dirt. The sound of the rifle butt striking the ground. The sound of a round firing. All three sounds blended into one as the bullet shot upward, striking Han Qingyu in the shoulder. By the parameters, he would have been critically wounded, thrown backward, and then... "Stop!" Wen Jifei called a halt, then scrambled up from the ground. Assuming it was a pause, Han Qingyu halted and asked, "What made you decide to leave me for last?" "To kill the deadliest man, you have to give him the best opportunity first." After finishing his line, Wen Jifei straightened up and said coolly, "It's over. From now on, please address me as the Father of Close-Quarters Sniping." "...It's not over yet, is it?" Han Qingyu smiled, pointing to his shoulder. "It is over," Wen Jifei looked at him and said solemnly. "Don't try to wriggle out of it! You're pointing too high—it clearly hit your heart. Also, never leap into the air. Got it?" "Well, all right. That last move really did catch me off guard." Since he hadn't been fighting at full strength anyway, Han Qingyu grinned and figured he might as well let him have the win. Otherwise, Han Qingyu wouldn't even need to close in. If Rusty Sister had used her Dimple Slash, Wen Jifei would have had his hands full; and if Han Qingyu had unleashed the blue starlight column sword, Wen Jifei wouldn't have had the chance to fire so many shots in the first place. But Wen Jifei had explained early on why those moves were forbidden: "Other people don't know those moves, nor do they have that weapon! I'm not practicing to fight you." Wu Xu walked over from behind Han Qingyu and stood in front of Plague-Chicken Fei... Perhaps because he felt awkward as well, he didn't argue that according to the setup, he should actually still be alive. Wu Xu held up his hand and said with a deadpan expression, "Four shots. We agreed on three." "Yeah, but this baby really can fire four shots," Wen Jifei replied. "When it comes to guns, I know them better than you guys do. This is a very resilient gun." Wu Xu pondered it, then nodded in agreement. So Wen Jifei had won this training match... assuming Rusty Sister didn't dispute it either. Clank, clank. Rusty Sister stomped over in her iron suit. She looked at Wen Jifei, then whipped her head toward Han Qingyu. "It just hit me—did you take advantage of this to kick me on purpose?!" Han Qingyu: "..." She had seen right through him. Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap... A sudden burst of applause drifted out from around the bend in the hill. Dressed in silk attire that made him look just like an old-fashioned steward, Zhu Jiaming emerged alongside one of Shang Nianhua's confidants, clapping enthusiastically. "Brilliant! Even a training match is this spectacular! A true feast for the eyes!" Rusty Sister looked at him. "You actually saw it?" "Nope! But just hearing the sounds and imagining it, I knew it had to be amazing." As Zhu Jiaming approached, his smile melted into a look of deep emotion. "Everyone has changed so much. Aiyo, it's been so long since we last spoke—I thought you guys didn't want me anymore." His insincerity was so blatant that it didn't grate on people; rather, it was amusing. That was probably a skill in itself. Han Qingyu chuckled and said, "How could that be? We were worried the Little Prince had climbed to greater heights and wouldn't deign to return. After all, we're down on our luck right now." Zhu Jiaming had managed to ingratiate himself once more, and this time with the Qu clan, known as the strongest of the secluded clans. At the same time, he couldn't possibly be unaware of what had happened at Xilang Peak, including the supposed 'deaths' of Han Qingyu's group of four. On the spot, Zhu Jiaming did not deny knowing about it, nor did he deny that it was a terrible turn of events and that things would be exceedingly difficult for Han Qingyu and the others going forward... Knitting his brows in thought, he looked at Han Qingyu and said solemnly, "Fortunately, though the umbrella is torn, its ribs remain intact." "Yet it can't keep off the rain anymore," Wen Jifei chimed in. "No matter. I believe that as long as the foundation remains, a house will surely rise. A great mansion, at that," Zhu Jiaming said earnestly. "I still believe following you holds the brightest future. Besides, since we had an agreement beforehand, no matter how dire the situation might be, a man like me will always come back." He said it with a straight face, as though he hadn't jumped ship more than a dozen times before. Feeling a bit tired of the theatrics, Han Qingyu said, "All right, can we drop the act now?" Zhu Jiaming: "Will do." "Here's the situation: we have no supply lines left. We called you back to see what you've scouted out out there. Is there anywhere we can rob for supplies?" "There is. And not just a little, but a lot. Plenty of source energy blocks, plus at least two Bones of Eternal Life." "Oh?" "Word came of the two massive Great Spike landings at Xilang Peak, and the Qu clan realized the times are changing. They're preparing to emerge from seclusion and enter the secular world. Right now, they're convening a grand assembly of the clans, including the Shang clan. There will be crowds of people and heaps of experts, and Patriarch Qu is most likely a super combat power..." Zhu Jiaming paused and asked, "Are we going?" Han Qingyu looked at him with a slight smile. "It wouldn't hurt to take a look."