Qian Luo Yi held saber and sword, his body transformed into a raging wind, as if seven or eight arms had sprouted from him. Saber light and sword momentum reached everywhere; with just one move, he smashed through the encirclement. Fierce and brave by nature, after breaking out he did not flee immediately, but charged straight at Fang Jingru and Wang Chong.
Fang Jingru, a veteran of many battles, immediately guessed Qian Luo Yi's intent and silently thought: "He wants to use me and Brother Wang Chong to establish his reputation."
His thoughts shifted slightly. He suddenly stepped aside, yielding to Qian Luo Yi's charge, choosing to avoid battle rather than fight.
There were two reasons for this choice. First, he knew that the seven men besieging Qian Luo Yi had martial arts perhaps slightly inferior to his own, but not by much. Seven of them working together had been broken through by this man, so he himself certainly could not resist; even with his full effort, he would only end up embarrassed. Second, he wanted to test Wang Chong's caliber, for he was very curious about this mysterious Wudang disciple.
Wang Chong watched Qian Luo Yi charge like a demonic god. The memory of just being chased by more than a dozen mediocre jianghu men inopportunely surfaced, and only two thoughts filled his mind: "He wants to kill me! I'll fight him to the death!"
At this critical moment between life and death, his spirit instantly ascended to a lofty, remote realm. The folding fan in his sleeve suddenly unfurled; internal force surged like a tide, as if triggered by stress, wildly poured into the folding fan, forming a vortex within the fan surface. He swept back with the fan—splitting the air with a whistle, whimpering and softly crying—and struck out ferociously with "One Drum of Spring Thunder Rises from the Nine Abysses, Wind-Cloud Dragon-Tiger Assembly Meets the Middle Heaven," one of the three great killing moves of the Wind-Cloud Hundred Styles.
With the small folding fan—thrust, lift, wipe, turn, sweep, roll—all manner of changes issued forth at his command. In an instant, who knew how many times he had clashed head-on with Qian Luo Yi's saber and sword. When this man, chieftain of the Thirty-Six Spirit Generals of the eighteen grassland tribes, the famously renowned new-generation Wolf King of the Tujue, swept past him with a gust of wind, he almost instinctively brushed the fan back to protect his back, and leisurely turned around.
Wang Chong was in midair, drifting and floating, watching Qian Luo Yi's figure flash and, at dozens of meters away, suddenly exhaled and shouted: "May I ask your name?"
Qian Luo Yi called out: "I am Qian Luo Yi of the Tujue. May I ask who the one who struck is?"
Wang Chong calmly replied: "Wang Chong of Wudang."
Qian Luo Yi let out a loud long whistle, shouting word by word: "Wudang's divine skill, the Wind-Cloud Hundred Styles, indeed lives up to its reputation."
His feet ran faster and faster, and he grew farther and farther away, but this sentence floated into Wang Chong's ears with the volume always the same, displaying profound internal force.
Fang Jingru witnessed the two fighting up close and couldn't help but show a shocked expression, silently thinking: "Is Brother Wang Chong's martial arts really so profound? He can actually fight Qian Luo Yi to a draw?"
Wang Chong exhausted a breath of true qi and landed on the ground. On one hand, he was shocked that he had stayed airborne for so long; on the other, he felt a bit of lingering fear. Just now fighting Qian Luo Yi, every instant had been a line between life and death, with no room to spare; a slight mistake would mean death. It was really too dangerous.
But in others' eyes, this scene was unmatched elegance and the bearing of a scion of a great family. The seven young men, each with different bearing, ran over together. One of them said loudly: "Brother Fang, why don't you introduce us to this fellow daoist?"
Fang Jingru suppressed his shock and smiled slightly. "Is there any need for me to introduce him? Brother Wang Chong's fan technique is Wudang's orthodox transmission; anyone can tell at a glance and will certainly not mistake it." He also wanted to know whether anyone recognized Wang Chong, which was why he said this.
A young man in a plain-colored robe couldn't help but chuckle. "Those who use Wudang martial arts are not all from the Wudang Sect. White Chrysanthemum's Holding-Candle Swordplay..."
He had just spoken when someone tugged his sleeve. This man was indignant but stopped mentioning it; the others all had strange expressions and secretly glanced over.
Wang Chong's face was extremely unsightly. It was not because the young man in the plain robe had offended Wudang with those words, but because he heard that White Chrysanthemum also "excelled at" Holding-Candle Swordplay—damn it, he himself excelled at this line of swordplay.
"Could I actually be White Chrysanthemum?"
"I originally wanted to abandon the folding fan and switch to a longsword, but who would have thought that using the folding fan revealed no flaw, while Holding-Candle Swordplay was a huge pitfall. Fortunately, there was a well-meaning person." He clasped his hands toward the young man in the plain robe and said: "Many thanks for the information."
The young man's expression immediately changed, thinking Wang Chong was being sarcastic toward him. The person who had just pulled him also slightly regretted it, silently thinking: "Why did I remind him? Offending the Wudang Sect is his own doing; why should I get involved?"
Fang Jingru also felt awkward. He did not want to persuade the two: first, the young man in the plain robe had been loose-lipped himself; second, Wang Chong had just fought Qian Luo Yi without a clear winner, so in his heart Wang Chong's status had risen a notch, and he did not want to offend him over others. He coughed dryly and said: "Have the Qingcheng fairies arrived?"
A young man with an ancient, simple appearance, a very broad face, sturdy build, imposing gestures, mighty momentum, and great dignity said: "Sisters Chu and Zhang have already gone to welcome them; they should arrive in a short while."
Fang Jingru smiled and said: "This is Qin Han, courtesy name Liao Kong, appointed Left Martial Guard commandant of the fifth rank. He has long cultivated his family's martial arts to the realm of being a match for ten thousand and is one of the top three fierce generals of the younger generation in the army."
"This time, to pursue White Chrysanthemum, he specifically took extended leave and is responsible for liaising with the authorities. Without Brother Liao Kong mediating in the middle, Heaven-Fighting Hand Li Qingge, one of the Three Great Constables, would not sell face to us jianghu guests."
Wang Chong found it very strange, silently thinking: "These jianghu people actually fear the authorities?"
"Oh! The current Empress is from Wudang; this world's martial world is different from the novels on our side."
Fang Jingru introduced everyone. Wang Chong truly did not know these riffraff, so he paid special attention to that "well-meaning" young man in the plain robe who had reminded him. This man was surnamed Lu, from the Fanyang Lu clan. When Fang Jingru introduced him, he specifically noted that this man had a younger sister named Lu Yaoniang, with the nickname Wu-Hook Frost-Snow. He did not know what that meant.
Wang Chong looked at Lu Zongfeng a few more times, thinking: "He doesn't look like my big brother-in-law at all!"
"There must be some misunderstanding."
Although Wang Chong was not familiar with these people, relying on his glib tongue, his status as a disciple of the prestigious Wudang Sect, and his strength in single-handedly fighting Qian Luo Yi, he soon mixed with them like old friends. The nine of them were chatting idly when someone showed delight and shouted: "The Qingcheng fairies have arrived." Immediately five or six people ran over, leaving only a few reserved ones who kept looking over there.
Wang Chong gazed into the distance and suddenly really wanted to cover his face with his folding fan.
It was nothing else—that was the shame and embarrassment of going back on his word.
On one hand he had rejected Chu Qiuzi, and on the other he ran over to mingle with Fang Jingru and the others, quite like the awkwardness of a web novel author who promised never to leave his story unfinished.
Chu Qiuzi was originally listless and low-spirited. She got up in the morning and went to visit Wang Chong again, only to find he had already left, and was very unhappy. Hearing someone shout, she forced herself to perk up; a glance of her beautiful eyes, and she saw that person in the distance…
Lu Zongfeng: Do I look like my big brother-in-law!? Do you think I look like my big brother-in-law…
Qian Luo Yi: Damn, Wang Chong put on quite a show.
Chapter 14