Fairy

Faced with Murong Fu's questioning, Qin Zheng said with perfect composure, "Young Master Murong, I know you're anxious, but don't be in such a hurry. Everything I have done has been for your own good! "To be frank, all these people were killed by your father, Murong Bo. "He shifted the blame onto you for two reasons. One was to divert the attention of the people of the jianghu, so no one would connect the matter to him. The other was to temper you. "So, in the handling of this affair, your father and I are the same!" Murong Fu was so furious that his body went rigid. In the instant his internal energy stalled in its circulation, he nearly took a palm from Xuan Nan full in the chest. Only after he had smoothed out his true qi did he curse, "Bullshit! My father has been dead for more than twenty years!" Qin Zheng shook his head and sighed. "That is where you are wrong. Your father is not dead at all. He did something wicked, then faked his death to slip free. If you don't believe me, I will go dig up his grave this instant and show you." "You even dare slander our old master, dead these many years! The way I see it, you are tired of living!" Deng Baichuan roared and launched the move Stone-Shattering Heaven-Startling. A palm struck down from midair, bearing on Qin Zheng with the force of mountains falling and seas overturning. At the same time, Gongye Qian, the second of the Murong family's Four Great Retainers, pressed in as well and struck a palm at Qin Zheng. His palm force blended hard and soft, sealing off Qin Zheng's retreat from behind. Qin Zheng circulated his art with an airy calm. The moment his Primordial Chaos Force issued forth, everything within three feet of his body was wrapped in a sphere formed of true qi. The two men's palm force struck that sphere of true qi as if there were no point of purchase at all, and instantly slid away along the sphere. Deng Baichuan and Gongye Qian exchanged a glance, each seeing deep shock in the other's eyes. Then they struck out with more than ten palms in a row. Every palm seemed to land on empty air, and not one could do Qin Zheng the slightest harm. Seeing this, Bao Butong said to Feng Bo'e, "Fourth Brother, Qin Zheng's martial arts are a bit uncanny. It seems we won't take him down anytime soon. Let's deal with Duan Yu first!" With that, he and Feng Bo'e went for Duan Yu together. Duan Yu jumped in fright. His feet stepped along the celestial-cycle star positions as he dodged in a flash, and for a time the whole room was full of his figures, a dizzying blur. Even as he ran he cried out in a panic, "Why are you grabbing me? I didn't do anything!" Feng Bo'e's lightness skill was outstanding, and he refused to concede to anyone but Murong Fu. Yet now he could not even touch the corner of Duan Yu's robe, and shock welled up in him despite himself. "What kind of lightness skill is this? Third Brother Bao, block him from the front!" Bao Butong drove power through his feet and sprang in one bound to a spot before Duan Yu, then watched helplessly as Duan Yu passed straight through his body. In an instant his hair stood on end. "Ah! A ghost!" "What ghost? Today I am catching him no matter what!" By now Feng Bo'e had gotten carried away. He stayed hard on Duan Yu's heels and very nearly collided with Bao Butong. After sidestepping him, he chased Duan Yu straight out of Canhe Manor. At the same time, Duan Yanqing, who had been hiding in the dark all along, saw the chaos in the room. Seated on a crossbeam, he raised his crutch and sent a strike of One Yang Finger through the air, toward the center of Murong Fu's back. Murong Fu sensed a fierce wind rushing at him from behind and hastily dodged aside. With a thud, the firm yang finger force punched a hole through the wall in front of him. Murong Fu glanced up at Duan Yanqing on the beam and shouted, "We're leaving!" With that he seized A'Bi beside him. Swift as a hare bolting and a falcon stooping, he vanished from before the crowd. Duan Yanqing meant to do the same again and seize the chance to ambush Qin Zheng. He sent out another One Yang Finger, condensed finger force driving toward the Baihui acupoint at the crown of Qin Zheng's head. Meeting the blow into which Duan Yanqing had poured his full strength, Qin Zheng struck out with a palm through the air and instantly canceled the finger force. Duan Yanqing had not expected Qin Zheng's palm force to be so ferociously hard. Caught off guard, his body was sent flying by that one palm. He smashed through the roof, spat a mouthful of blood, and at once fled in panic. At the sight, Deng Baichuan and the others exchanged a glance. They knew that if they kept forcing the fight, disaster was far likelier than any good outcome, and they fled quickly beyond Canhe Manor. Only A'Zhu, whose lightness skill was far too poor, was blocked at the doorway by Cui Baiquan. "You're staying!" Cui Baiquan shouted. He bent his fingers into a claw and grabbed for her shoulder, meaning to crush her shoulder blade in one grip. "Stop!" Just as A'Zhu's shoulder was about to be crushed, Qin Zheng's voice rang out. A sweep of his sleeve flipped Cui Baiquan onto the ground. A'Zhu stood rigid where she was, cold sweat pouring off her in fright. Only when she saw Cui Baiquan beaten back did she let out a long breath, and she turned a complicated look on Qin Zheng. He had saved her, yes. But if not for Qin Zheng, she might never have met with this danger at all! Qin Zheng swept a cool glance over everyone still present and said, "Murong Fu has already run. From this day on, this place is a branch of my Longmen Escort Agency. "Who is for it, and who is against it?" Cui Baiquan climbed up from the ground, cupped his fist, and said, "Great Hero Qin, you and our Young Prince are friends. I heartily approve of your taking Yanziwu. "But please hand this woman over to me. I mean to use her to draw Murong Bo out into the open, and avenge my senior brother!" Qin Zheng gave a scornful snort. "Using a maid to draw Murong Bo out—you really managed to think of that! "Get out of here, and quickly. More than a thousand brothers of my Longmen Escort Agency are already on their way. Once they arrive, you won't be able to leave even if you want to. When that time comes, don't say I refused to give Duan Yu face." Cui Baiquan's face flushed with shame. In a low voice he said to the disciples of the Funiu Sect, "Let's go!" With that he led the group away in haste. Xuan Nan looked at Qin Zheng, his brows slightly knit. "Great Hero Qin, were the words you spoke just now true? Is Murong Bo truly still in this world?" Qin Zheng nodded. "Of course. All these years he has been hiding in the Scripture Library of Shaolin Temple, secretly studying your honored temple's Seventy-Two Supreme Arts. Go ask the monk who sweeps the Scripture Library, and you will know whether it is true or false." Xuan Nan's expression shifted several times. He pressed his palms together and said, "Amitabha. Thank you for telling me, Great Hero Qin. This poor monk takes his leave." When he had finished, he led the disciples of Shaolin Temple away from Canhe Manor. As for those who had come merely to watch the excitement, they had seen the situation turn and slipped away long before. Seeing this, the people of the Qingcheng Sect also took a hurried leave. They dared not stay behind alone to face the bandit host that was about to arrive. The whole hall was empty at once. Only Qin Zheng and A'Zhu remained. A'Zhu started to speak and stopped, more than once. In the end she still said, "From the very beginning, you had your mind set on seizing our Yanziwu, didn't you?" Qin Zheng gazed out toward the lake in the distance. More than a hundred small boats flying the banner of the Longmen Escort Agency were slowly drawing near. He said in an unhurried tone, "The Murong family wants to throw the Great Song into chaos and seek a chance at the restoration of the kingdom. I want to take their Yanziwu. In essence, there is nothing different about it. I merely had the greater skill, and I succeeded. "The victor is king, and the loser a bandit. This is the first lesson I am giving Murong Fu in contending for the realm." Helpless through and through, A'Zhu said, "Then why did Great Hero Qin protect me?" Qin Zheng glanced at her and said, resigned, "Didn't I tell you before? Your mother is an old acquaintance of mine. Even the tiger-skin chicken feet she cooks best, she learned from me. Why won't you believe it? "Your mother's name is Ruan Xingzhu, and she lives at Little Mirror Lake. As for whether you are willing to acknowledge her, that is entirely up to you." At these words A'Zhu could not help trembling. She cupped her fist and said, "Thank you for your great kindness, Great Hero Qin. This humble girl takes her leave!" At the same time, with Feng Bo'e in pursuit, Duan Yu put his lightness skill to full use and crossed the lake through the air, leaving Feng Bo'e on the bank to stare dumbstruck as he departed. "I really have seen a ghost..." Feng Bo'e said. Duan Yu, however, had not noticed in the slightest that he had shaken Feng Bo'e off. He raced on across the water and the reeds, and only when he reached a small island did he stop. Once he stopped, he let out a long breath. Far from feeling weary, he felt a pleasant warmth through his body, strength filling every limb. When he had steadied himself, he found that he had come into a camellia grove. The camellias of every kind around him made him feel, in a single instant, as if he had returned to Dali. He was just about to find someone and ask where this place was when an angry woman's voice suddenly rang out not far away. "My father means to hold a bride-seeking martial contest on Leigu Mountain? The gilded invitation sent by Bandit King Qin Zheng tells me to go and help receive the guests?!" At the name Qin Zheng, Duan Yu halted and looked that way. He saw a woman facing a stout old woman, her willow brows arched in fury. When he looked upon that woman's face, her features were identical to the jade statue in the Wuliang Jade Cave, and he could not help crying out. "Fairy... Fairy Brother?!"