The martial world of the Central Plains was in turmoil, shrouded in an atmosphere of treacherous, ever-shifting intrigue.
On Piaomiao Peak in the Western Regions, Tianshan Tonglao at last received the gilded invitation Qin Zheng had sent, inviting her to Leigu Mountain to take part in the bride-seeking martial contest.
After reading the invitation, Tianshan Tonglao trembled all over with fury. She raised a hand and struck the armrest of her chair. The chair beneath her shattered with a crash, and the invitation in her grasp instantly broke into scraps of paper that fluttered through the air like butterflies.
"My junior brother is holding a bride-seeking martial contest? He would rather marry a woman he doesn't even know than be with me?!"
The messenger who had delivered it was so terrified by Tianshan Tonglao's savage bearing that he collapsed to the ground. Trembling, he said, "Granny, the invitation was given to this subordinate by Bandit King Qin Zheng. This subordinate truly had no idea what was written inside!"
Tianshan Tonglao asked viciously, "Who is King Qinzheng?"
"Ah??" The messenger was briefly stunned, then explained in a quavering voice, "Granny, Qin Zheng is the bandit chief of the eight hundred li of Qinchuan. People of the jianghu gave him the nickname Bandit King.
"Earlier, on Granny's orders, I went to Wuliang Mountain to look into the matter of the jade bi. He stopped me and handed me this invitation.
"Oh, and he also seems able to neutralize the Life and Death Talisman. Sikong Xuan of the Shennong Gang had his Life and Death Talisman removed by him!"
Tianshan Tonglao frowned and said in a low voice, "Bring Sikong Xuan up!"
Before long, Sikong Xuan was brought into the great hall. Tianshan Tonglao examined him and found not a shred of internal energy left in his body. She could not help drawing a sharp breath. "The Beiming Divine Skill!
"Is Qin Zheng my junior brother's disciple?
"Can my junior brother truly mean to hold a bride-seeking martial contest?"
Her voice echoed through the vast, empty hall. Not a single person dared answer.
Sikong Xuan broke out in sweat all over. He wanted to explain that he had lost all his internal energy because he had taken Qin Zheng's poison, but he feared Tianshan Tonglao's power and dared not speak.
After a stretch of silence, Tianshan Tonglao said coldly, "So long as my junior brother does not end up with that slut Li Qiushui, it is enough. The fifteenth day of the eighth month, is it? I shall go and see for myself just how many women courting death dare go to Leigu Mountain!"
The Western Xia royal palace.
Li Qiushui had also received intelligence sent from the jianghu. After reading the reports compiled together, her heart would not be still.
Wuyazi was not dead, and he intended to hold a bride-seeking martial contest?
Xuanci was a descendant of the Murong family, and had been hiding in the shadows all along, plotting to dominate the martial world?
Gazing at the intelligence and the gilded invitation delivered into her hands, Li Qiushui felt her head ache. Rubbing the point between her brows, she said, "Pass word to the men of the First Rank Hall. Have them seize that Qin Zheng and bring him to me. This consort has matters to ask him!"
Soon, Li Qiushui's order was passed down level upon level until it reached Murong Fu.
When Murong Fu received the order, he was utterly dumbfounded. "She wants me to capture Qin Zheng? Have I gone mad, or has Li Qiushui?"
Setting aside the tens of thousands of troops under Qin Zheng, in martial skill alone he could sweep the entire Western Xia First Rank Hall by himself, couldn't he?
The Qin Zheng on everyone's lips was at that moment fishing on the shore of Little Mirror Lake, brows tightly furrowed, the very picture of unhappiness.
Xuzhu's face was full of melancholy as he looked at the pile of earthworms beside Qin Zheng. "Hero Qin, you can't catch a fish anyway. Better to set these poor earthworms free."
A'Zhu saw the pitch-dark look on Qin Zheng's face and could not hold back a laugh. "Xuzhu is right. You've been fishing for days, and we haven't seen so much as a single fish scale. Just let the earthworms go."
A sour ache welled up in Qin Zheng's heart. He had been at Little Mirror Lake for days without catching a single fish, yet he still refused to concede. Indignant, he said, "If I can't catch a fish, I should just give up fishing? Then if the two of you can't find your parents, will you stop looking? If you can't grasp the Buddha's teachings, will you stop learning them?"
The moment the words landed, A'Zhu and Xuzhu both sank into gloom.
A'Zhu: "..."
Never speaking to this man again. He deserved to have no friends!
Xuzhu looked torn, not knowing what to say.
Just then, a burly figure walked toward them. It was none other than Qiao Feng.
"Second Uncle, I've finally found you! People from Western Xia are searching all over the world for you. They want to seize you and take you to Western Xia for questioning!"
Qin Zheng was slightly startled. "What do they want me for? It's not as if I've had an affair with a Western Xia consort, or carried on in secret with their princess, is it?"
"..."
Qiao Feng stared blankly for a moment, then said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "That, I wouldn't know. In any case, Western Xia grand consort Li Qiushui has ordered you seized and taken to Western Xia for questioning."
Qin Zheng came to a sudden understanding. "So it's her. Then it isn't strange. A while back I sent her a gilded invitation, inviting her to take part in the bride-seeking martial contest."
Qiao Feng's eyes bulged. "Then you really aren't the least bit wronged!"
An almost imperceptible smile appeared on Qin Zheng's face. "Go spread word through the jianghu for me. Say that the Western Xia court has ordered me hunted down because I learned the emperor of Western Xia is Han."
Qiao Feng was struck dumb. "What?!"
Wearing an expression of perfect righteousness, Qin Zheng said, "No need to be surprised. The present emperor of Western Xia, Li Qianshun, was in fact born to Li Qiushui, who conceived him before she was married, and was then given to other Western Xia consorts to raise. In truth, both of his parents are Han.
"What is strange about that? The emperor of Liao, Yelü Hongji, has the Han name Liu Chaci. Trace them back, and their entire Khitan people are descendants of the Yan Emperor. Even their court officially acknowledges it. The matter is also recorded in the ancient book Journey to the East."
Hearing this secret so suddenly, Qiao Feng was shocked speechless for a long while.
A'Zhu looked wholly unconvinced. "How could that be? Don't tell me next you'll say that even the ancestors of the Murong family were Han."
Qin Zheng looked at A'Zhu with appreciation. "You've more or less guessed it. My master, Murong Longcheng, is an ancestor of Murong Fu, and I am his later-generation successor.
"Years ago, in a valley, guided by a great eagle, I happened to obtain his legacy and learned Star Transposition and Canhe Finger.
"At the same time, I learned his secret: he was an ordinary Han, who only wanted to borrow the Murong name to rebel and make himself emperor!
"I know you may not believe me. Very well—A'Zhu, Feng'er, Xuzhu, Prince Duan—attack me together, each with your own signature skill, and I will show you the true power of the Murong family's Star Transposition!"
They exchanged glances. After a moment, still full of doubt, they launched their ultimate techniques at Qin Zheng one after another.
Murong Swordplay, One Yang Finger, Tiger-Subduing Fist, and the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms all struck toward Qin Zheng at once. Qin Zheng drew an arc with both hands, and every one of those moves swung around in a great circle and crashed into the stone wall beside them.
In the next instant, Duan Zhengchun stared at the deep hole in the stone wall and cried out, "One Yang Finger! You really do know Star Transposition?!"
A'Zhu's eyes widened as well, and she looked at Qin Zheng in disbelief.
The Murong Swordplay she had just used was something she had secretly learned while Murong Fu was practicing. She had no idea how much of its power she had actually picked up, and she had never used it once in her life—yet Qin Zheng had redirected it onto the stone wall too... Could everything Qin Zheng had just said be true?!
Seeing the shock on every face, Qin Zheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness he had found the Murong family's martial manuals in the Hanshui Water Pavilion. Otherwise, this time, he really would not have been able to fool them!
Chapter 36