Four Marvelous Houses

The Su family was not only one of the top aristocratic clans of its time, but also one of the five great clans of the Ten-Thousand-Year Fox House. The Ten-Thousand-Year Fox House did not belong to the Nine Great Profound Meridians, yet was one of the Four Marvelous Houses. Its foundations ran deep, making it a first-rank great sect of the present age, most skilled in the art of music and pitch. Yu Zao was someone the Su family had painstakingly trained. In the Su household she was a maidservant, but in the Ten-Thousand-Year Fox House she held the status of an inner-chamber disciple. Though not as lofty as the direct transmission enjoyed by Chu Qiuzi and the other Eight Beauties of Qingcheng, it was nothing to sneeze at. Yu Zao was an extremely clever girl. She knew the Ten-Thousand-Year Fox House centered on the five great clans, and only relatives of the five surnames had a chance at becoming direct-line disciples. Ordinary disciples, like her—a home-raised servant girl—no matter how high their aptitude, would find it a thousand difficulties and ten thousand hardships to become direct-line disciples. So unlike Jiang Zhu'er and the others, she did not choose the few most powerful secret lineages of the Ten-Thousand-Year Fox House, hoping one day to receive the complete canon. Instead, she chose a secret art with a definite ceiling but one she could learn in full, called: Thirteen Melodies of Myriad Deceptions and Illusions of the Heavenly Fox! The Ten-Thousand-Year Fox House was most skilled in the art of music and pitch, and many of its secret martial arts were related to music. Long ago, there was a genius of fox-house origin but very low status, who liked some vulgar music, such as trumpets and large drums, fiddles and clappers. Because his status was not high, he never received the fox house's true transmission, so he drew inferences from elsewhere and created a blade technique for himself. This blade technique comprised thirteen great melodies, performed with a specially crafted multi-holed fox blade. As the blade edge split the air, it naturally produced all sorts of soul-stirring tunes. Combined with deceptive blade techniques, it made that fox-house genius leap to become one of the top ten masters of the Ten-Thousand-Year Fox House at that time, even surpassing many direct-line disciples in martial arts. Later, this Thirteen Melodies of Myriad Deceptions and Illusions of the Heavenly Fox became one of the fox house's signature arts. But because the moves were not grand enough, the changes were too bizarre, and the martial art was excessively complex and changeful, extremely difficult to get started with. It never won the favor of the direct-line transmission, becoming the highest martial art inner-chamber disciples could learn. Apart from this school's own martial art, Yu Zao, as an elite maidservant cultivated by the Su family, was also assigned to learn several martial arts, including a sword formation art, a coordinated-strike Qimen formation art, a lightness skill, and an inner-power art. Curious, Wang Chong asked Yu Zao to demonstrate what she had learned. Yu Zao drew a short blade from her sleeve and performed the Thirteen Melodies of Myriad Deceptions and Illusions of the Heavenly Fox. Each melody was endlessly changing, leaving listeners feeling agitated and melancholy. As for the moves, Wang Chong did not pay them much mind. What he had learned was one of Wudang's Seven Paths Divine Sword. That fox-house genius might have talent and ability, but it was like someone studying mathematics abroad with hope of winning the Fields Medal, while a domestic genius had no hope of attaining that award—simply because resources differed. He had not learned the superior martial arts of the Ten-Thousand-Year Fox House; his horizons were not broad enough, and naturally he could not compare to a Wudang genius. The subtleties of Holding-Candle Swordplay far surpassed the Thirteen Melodies of Myriad Deceptions and Illusions of the Heavenly Fox. Wang Chong only watched once and saw through some off-key points in Yu Zao's blade technique. He offered some pointers, moving this beautiful young maid to the point her eyes turned slightly red, as if she were about to cry. The martial art Yu Zao learned was obscure; her own young mistress had not learned it either, so she could not guide her. Although she had inner-chamber disciple status, she was ultimately a servant girl of the Su family and had no way to find someone to ask. Usually she figured things out on her own. She never expected that this new master, Wang Chong, would have such high attainment in martial arts, easily pointing things out. She pondered for a long time, finally gaining the essence of the blade art she had long sought but could not obtain. As for the other martial arts, Yu Zao had received true transmission in them, and Su Luo Yan had given her plenty of guidance, so there was no need for Wang Chong to say much. After guiding Yu Zao, Wang Chong asked Wang Dong to practice some martial arts. After watching Yu Zao's martial arts, then Wang Dong's, he could only sigh and say: "Your martial arts are quite solid. From now on, as long as you practice diligently, that will do." Yu Zao watched, stifling a smile. How could she not see? Wang Dong simply had too little natural talent and could not grasp the subtle and wondrous transformations of the martial arts he had learned. Wang Chong had received more than ten years of scientific education, so of course he knew that with the same teachers, the same textbooks, and the same environment, the students who emerged were not "the same" at all. Wang Dong belonged to the kind of person whose comprehension was insufficient—no amount of explaining would help. The Qingcheng Sect had taught for more than ten years, and that was that. As a secondhand master, he should not waste that effort. Besides, Wang Dong had no enthusiasm for martial arts. When Yu Zao practiced, he was slacking off. To urge him to train diligently would only make this bookboy resentful, after all, not everyone likes hard work. After all, Wang Dong was only a bookboy—neither junior nor disciple. As long as he did his odd jobs well, he was a good bookboy; there was no need for profound martial arts. Hearing this evaluation, Wang Dong was delighted and visibly pleased. Wang Chong told him to pack the luggage, then called Yu Zao into the room and said: "I need to help Divine Constable Li with a case. During this time, let Wang Dong stay here temporarily to guard the luggage. I have things for you to do." Yu Zao joyfully said: "This servant is willing to follow the young master's orders." Wang Chong rested a while, then sat in meditation and cultivated his qi for a time, practicing the Innate Pure Yang Art. After Dispelling Yin to Generate Yang, his yang qi grew abundant, and he needed to "Harmonize Yin and Yang," regulating the two qi of yin and yang. Normally, one would refine the yin residue strand by strand, finally attaining pure yang. But this method had two flaws: first, progress was extremely slow; second, it was extremely difficult to refine the yin residue completely, and there were often ups and downs. So he chose another, more advanced path: gathering all yin qi and using yin to refine yang. This path advanced extremely fast. The more intense the yin qi, the fiercer the yang qi, and the purer the yang qi refined. But because he could not refine the yin residue at the outset, the yin qi gathered more and more, growing ever more mellow over time. If he later wanted to eliminate it completely, it would be ten times harder than the first path. Wang Chong chose this path also because his situation was special. The faster his martial arts progressed, the better. There was no need to think about the future; he might not have a future. Actually, after passing the barrier of Dispelling Yin to Generate Yang, he could begin practicing the Pure Yang Sword Forging Scroll. But after weighing pros and cons, Wang Chong still put in hard effort on the Innate Pure Yang Art. First, the Pure Yang Sword Forging Scroll was extremely difficult to get started with; if he wanted to improve his power in a short time, he definitely could not touch the Pure Yang Sword Forging Scroll. Second, once his internal force reached pure yang, practicing that scroll would achieve twice the result with half the effort. He was willing to bet he could pass the Harmonizing Yin and Yang barrier and refine his internal force to pure yang. In the late afternoon, Li Qingge came to visit. Seeing Wang Chong, she said: "I'm afraid we'll have to go out." Wang Chong nodded slightly, took Yu Zao, and followed Li Qingge out of the Taoist temple. This time all three rode horses. Yu Zao changed into a neat martial outfit. The little maid also put on a veil, covering her appearance, which made an interesting pair with Wang Chong's mask. On the road, Li Qingge said: "I once told Lord Wang that White Chrysanthemum has committed crimes again. This time we are going to see the victim of this case." Wang Chong had read the case file for this case and knew the victim was named Li Miaomiao, a fairly famous nun. She was not from the martial world, but was renowned for her poetic talent. However, because the case had just occurred, the file's information was incomplete. When the file was recorded, Li Miaomiao had only been abducted by White Chrysanthemum, and it had not been determined whether she was alive or dead. …Li Miaomiao: Don't come over…