Rumors of the Jianghu

The "Dugu Qiubai" before Qin Zheng was the head of the Ma Gate among the jianghu's Eight Hidden Gates. His real name was Zhao Sanliang. The Ma Gate to which Zhao Sanliang belonged was also called the Horse Gate. Everyone in it was a swindler who acted alone. Year after year they posed as Daoist priests, physicians, wealthy merchants fallen on hard times, or down-and-out masters, wandering from place to place by themselves and making money by selling fake ginseng and fake antiques, and by devising scams that promised to avert disaster and pray for blessings. After Qin Zheng unified the martial world of Guanzhong, these jianghu figures of the Eight Hidden Gates were taken into the escort agency and placed under unified management. By now, most of them had honest work. A master like Zhao Sanliang, who swindled only for the sport of it, had long been so idle at the escort agency that grass could have grown. The moment Qin Zheng said he would take him to Dali to run a con, he brought his own rations and followed at once. Yesterday Qin Zheng had played the green-robed man and, together with Zhao Sanliang, staged a fine show. The aim was to tempt Jiumozhi into coveting the Sunflower Manual. Now that the con had succeeded, Zhao Sanliang asked with some curiosity, "Boss, do you think that State Preceptor of Tubo will actually cultivate that fake manual?" Qin Zheng said with certainty, "He certainly will. Jiumozhi dreams of being the greatest under heaven. He will never let this chance go. And that manual is not fake, for that matter. He simply will not be able to cultivate it." Zhao Sanliang's pupils twitched. "That Sunflower Manual really is a secret manual bestowed by an immortal?!" Qin Zheng turned a teasing look on him. "Of course it is real. If you want to cultivate it, I can give you a copy as well. Practice it once, and I guarantee you will not make a peep." Of this Sunflower Manual he had compiled, only the lightness skill could actually be cultivated. All the rest had been pieced together from the immortal-cultivation arts of other sects. If Jiumozhi could succeed even with something like that, what need would he have to practice any Sunflower Manual? He would likely have comprehended the Dao and ascended years ago! One glance from those eyes sent an unaccountable chill down Zhao Sanliang's back. He hurriedly shook his head. "I would not dare practice martial arts you gave me. Better let that State Preceptor enjoy this blessing all to himself. If there is nothing else, I will return to the escort agency first!" Qin Zheng nodded and instructed, "Change your disguise before you go, so Jiumozhi does not run into you and recognize you. Oh—and on your way, spread the word that he has been turned into a eunuch." "Don't worry, Boss. This is what I do best. I guarantee I will handle it perfectly for you!" Zhao Sanliang answered, changed his appearance, and left Dali beneath the vast dark of night. After that, a new rumor appeared in the jianghu. It said that Jiumozhi, State Preceptor of Tubo, and Duan Zhengchun had both taken a fancy to the wife of Ma Dayuan, deputy chief of the Beggar Gang. Jealousy drove the two of them to blows, and in the end the Six Meridians Divine Sword had beaten Jiumozhi into a eunuch. Before many days had passed, the rumor had changed: Duan Zhengchun and Jiumozhi had come to blows in a fight to seize Ma Dayuan of the Beggar Gang, and in the end both of them became eunuchs... Now many people in the jianghu were asking just how beautiful Ma Dayuan must be, that he could stir the heart of Duan Zhengchun, that old hand in the pleasure quarters, and of an eminent monk of Tubo at the same time, even to the point that they would fight to the death. When Qin Zheng heard this rumor, he nearly failed to keep a straight face. Fighting over Ma Dayuan? What in the world was that? The crucial thing was that people actually believed it. The stir it raised in the jianghu was even greater than the sensation caused by his killing Yue Lao San and Yun Zhonghe, and it pushed his Stirring Wind and Waves straight through to the Great Completion realm! He had to admit it. Sure enough, below-the-belt romantic scandals were what the jianghu most loved to hear. Zhao Sanliang, that old hand of the jianghu, truly understood the jianghu... Just as unable to keep their composure were Duan Zhengchun's lady loves. The Beggar Gang. When Kang Min heard the news, she was so furious that her nails drew blood from her palms. She had never imagined that she and Ma Dayuan, husband and wife for so many years, would one day become romantic rivals... That dog Duan Zhengchun—when had his tastes grown so extreme? And Ma Dayuan! All I did was cuckold you a few times, and you dare overturn heaven itself and fight me for a man? It seems Ma Dayuan can no longer be allowed to remain! Yuxu Abbey. Dao Baifeng's face was as black as the bottom of a wok. When she saw her son Duan Yu come to visit, she exchanged a few words with him and then went straight to the point. "That Qin Zheng came to Dali to hand out gilded invitations, inviting the lady heroes of the world to Wuyazi's bride-seeking martial contest, didn't he? Go and get one for your mother. Mother is going to the bride-seeking martial contest on Leigu Mountain!" Duan Yu's mouth fell open in shock. "Mother, even if you want to anger Father, you do not need to do something like this, do you? Besides, that bride-seeking martial contest does not exist at all. It is nothing but Great Hero Qin making mischief. Even Wuyazi himself knows nothing of it!" Dao Baifeng gave a cold laugh. "All the better. I never truly meant to marry some decrepit old man anyway. Your mother only wants to sicken Duan Zhengchun thoroughly, and vent this foul anger in her heart!" Duan Yu: "..." How had Great Hero Qin's words gone again? Right. Stuck with a pair of parents like these, I truly have it too hard... While Duan Yu was caught between laughter and tears, two figures suddenly entered Yuxu Abbey, one after the other. One of them Duan Yu recognized at a glance as Qin Zheng. The other wore a monk's robe. It was none other than Jiumozhi, State Preceptor of Tubo, who had vanished for several days! The area of Jiumozhi's thighs was stained red with blood. His eyes were blood-red, his face a mask of frenzy. The moment he saw Duan Yu, he screamed as if he had gone mad. "Why? Why can you cultivate the Sunflower Manual when I cannot? You must have hidden the secret method within it. Give it back to me at once!" Over these past days, Jiumozhi had struggled with himself for a long while before finally steeling his heart and cultivating the Sunflower Manual. Yet once he truly began, he found the art exceedingly difficult to cultivate. He spent several days of effort and could not even complete the first section. And even when he did not cultivate the internal art, and cultivated only the lightness skill within it, it still gave rise to a foreign true qi that counteracted his internal energy. This bred a fierce resentment in his heart. By what right could Duan Yu cultivate the lightness skill in the Sunflower Manual, while he could not even cross the threshold? Since childhood he had remembered everything at a glance, and his intelligence surpassed other men's. How could the gap between him and Duan Yu possibly be so great? Duan Yu must have grasped some knack of cultivation that he did not know! At that thought, malice rose in him at once. He tailed Duan Yu to Yuxu Abbey, intending to force out the knack by which Duan Yu cultivated. Seeing this terrifying state of his, Duan Yu was frightened into retreating two steps. He looked him over and stammered, "Master, what are you saying? I cannot understand you at all. Didn't you say the Sunflower Manual was a secret never passed on outside your Great Wheel Temple of Tubo? Why have you come to me demanding the secret method? Why are you bleeding so much? Ah—could the rumor be true? Did my father really beat you into a eunuch?" Qin Zheng shot him a glare and rebuked him with a perfectly straight face. "Don't talk nonsense. The State Preceptor has clearly gotten his monthly courses. Isn't it perfectly normal to bleed a little every month?" Duan Yu froze. "What are monthly courses?" "You don't even know that? Monthly courses are when a woman..." Dao Baifeng glared at Qin Zheng in exasperation and cut him off. "Don't go teaching Yu'er a lot of nonsense!" Jiumozhi was filled with shame and fury. Qin Zheng and Duan Yu had flushed his face crimson, and he no longer had any mind to spare for winning Qin Zheng over. The rich true qi throughout his body swelled his monk's robe high and taut. He ground his teeth and said to Qin Zheng, "Fine, fine, fine. I have long heard that the Great Hero of Guanzhong's martial arts are unmatched beneath heaven, and that he has the valor ten thousand men cannot withstand. Today this humble monk will take the measure of your skill!"