Righteousness Comes First

Righteousness Comes First --- The Four Seas Martial Hall didn't teach lightness skill—word was that even the hall master, Zheng Sihai, was hopeless at it. So they never taught it, unwilling to make a laughingstock of themselves. That left Fang Shuwen utterly ignorant of lightness skill, but his internal skill was deep, and when he ran with long strides, he was as fast as a galloping horse. Yet even as he ran toward the main courtyard, doubts gnawed at him. Song Li must have been killed when he went to take a piss—a little more than two hours ago now. And these men had already slipped into the Zhou household by then. So why hadn't they struck at the time? Why wait out those two hours? The thing about the Zhou household that made men's eyes burn with envy was its silver. These men wanted no silver. They wanted lives. Whoever had come was plainly no ordinary hired blade of the jianghu—they had crossed someone truly deadly. Even as he thought this, shouts and screams rose ahead: two men in black were chasing down several maids and servants. None of those maids and servants knew any martial arts. Hunted like this, they had no road to heaven and no door into earth, and every rise and fall of a blade claimed a life. Killing intent flickered in Fang Shuwen's eyes. Before he even closed the distance, he clenched his right fist and drove a savage punch through the air. The Four Seas Dragon Fist he had learned had originally come from the Great Dragon Fist. And the Great Dragon Fist had been born of mounted spear technique, only the dragon spear was cast aside and replaced by a pair of fists. After Zheng Sihai mastered the art, he fused it thoroughly and devised new moves, adding the two words "Four Seas," and it became the Four Seas Dragon Fist of today. But at root, the core of the fist art remained spear technique. It emphasized the thrust, the sweep, the cross-cut, the chop, the lift; its forms opened wide and closed wide, power first and speed second. Now that Fang Shuwen's internal skill was fully accomplished, a punch thrown through the air carried force like a spear and moved like a dragon. Before he even reached them, the punch's force had already smashed into the chest of one of the men in black. The man's body jolted. First a spray of blood mist burst from his back, and then his whole frame was shattered by the force, breaking apart into pieces. The other man in black saw this and his face changed drastically. Without a thought, he turned to flee, but by then Fang Shuwen was already upon him. His right fist swept out, and with a crack, the man's whole head was sent flying by the blow. The maids and servants scarcely had time to rejoice at escaping death before the horror before them drained the color from their faces. "What are you standing around for? Run for your lives!" Fang Shuwen's shout jolted them awake. He didn't linger, but pressed on toward the main courtyard. Even as he ran, he warned himself: his internal skill was deep now, far beyond what it had once been. He would have to hold back a little when he struck—otherwise the scene would turn far too bloody and ugly. Along the way, screams rose and fell everywhere he passed. These men had stormed into the Zhou estate and were slaughtering freely. Some were so impatient that, in full view of the others, they tore at the maids' clothes, meaning to have their way with them. Fang Shuwen struck without mercy, killing every one he saw. In that short span, he killed more men than in all his previous nineteen years combined. And in doing so, his control over his own strength grew ever more assured. Truthfully, it wasn't that he couldn't control it; he simply couldn't gauge the measure of a blow. He knew exactly how much force he put into a punch, but how much force the other man could withstand was another matter entirely. The greatest gain from this killing run was that he had found the limit of what these men could take. Enough to kill them cleanly, without leaving severed limbs scattered all over the place. At last, the main courtyard lay just ahead. He leapt up onto the wall, and saw that in the main courtyard, Zhou Feixiong and his wife were long since awake, shielded in the center by several of the household's retainers. One of them Fang Shuwen recognized. The man's name was Wang Tao. He had met Mo Beidou, the eldest senior brother of the Four Seas Martial Hall, in the jianghu. The two had taken to each other at once and counted each other close friends. It was through this man that Mo Beidou had been able to recommend Fang Shuwen to the Zhou household as a guard martial instructor. The men in black opposite were of very high skill. Their leader was a middle-aged man with a sinister cast to his face. He was staring Zhou Feixiong down across the courtyard. Though Zhou Feixiong knew no martial arts, his bearing was no weaker for it. As their eyes met, he spoke coldly: "Just who are you people? "If it's money you've come for, you need only say so. "Zhou Feixiong may be a man of no great ability, but he has always been generous with friends of the jianghu. "But if you're after something else... did you inquire, before you came here, what sort of man Zhou Feixiong is? "Setting aside how many friends I have in the jianghu—even my daughter, Zhou Qingmei, is a true disciple of Zhujige Pavilion on Jiuning Mountain. "Have you considered the consequences of what you do tonight?" At this, the middle-aged man's eyes glinted with a touch of mockery: "So the so-called Zhou Half-the-City is nothing special after all. "At death's door, and you'd try to save your life on your daughter's name. "Rest easy. You go on ahead... your daughter Zhou Qingmei will soon be reunited with the two of you at the Yellow Springs!" "What?" Zhou Feixiong's expression changed drastically. Then came a rapid series of thuds. The retainers standing before him were already being blasted away. Before the few retainers at his side could step forward to meet the attack, a black shadow was already upon Zhou Feixiong. The newcomer moved with blinding speed, fingers hooking straight for Zhou Feixiong's throat. Zhou Feixiong's body went rigid; he had no chance even to react. Then his vision blurred—a young man in guard's uniform came dropping straight out of the sky. A fist fell through the air, aimed squarely at the head of the man who had reached out with his claw. The man could never have dreamed it: on the very verge of success, someone came flying down from the heavens like this. But he was no ordinary man either. Forcing up a breath of true qi, he twisted his body and crossed his arms to guard his vitals. The fist landed on his crossed arms, snapping them both outright, and the tremendous force drove through into his head; his whole body slammed down to the ground. There was a muffled boom. The whole earth shuddered. The bluestone paving was smashed open into a man-shaped crater. The man lay in the crater without moving—beaten to death by that one punch. "Master Zhou still owes me my wages. He can't die at your hands." The one who had struck was, of course, Fang Shuwen. With that single blow, he had stolen the initiative and cowed everyone present. For a moment, everyone locked in combat stopped, and as one they turned their eyes on him. Wang Tao's eye twitched; he could scarcely believe what he was seeing. The middle-aged man opposite looked astonished as well. He glanced at Fang Shuwen, then at his subordinate in the crater, and his eyes turned grave: "A mere guard of the Zhou household, and he has skill like this? "This jianghu truly does hide dragons and crouching tigers. "Little brother—are you short of money?" "I am. Always have been." What Fang Shuwen said now was the plain truth. "Good. However much the Zhou family pays you, I'll pay double, if you'll keep your hands out of tonight's business. What do you say, little brother?" "You're certainly free with your money." Fang Shuwen shook his head slightly: "A pity. I'm hired by the Zhou family. When a man takes another's money, he settles the other's troubles—and there's an order to who came first. "When you make your living in the jianghu, righteousness comes first!"