Sensing the drawn-sword tension in the room, Zhong Wanchou, as the host, stepped forward to smooth things over. "Ling'er, these friends you've brought—what sort of masters are they? They certainly do love a joke!"
Zhong Ling smiled slyly. "Father, the one speaking is Qin Zheng, the Great Hero of Guanzhong. The young gentleman beside him is Murong Fu of Gusu!"
"Hss—"
Zhong Wanchou sucked in a breath of cold air. He looked Qin Zheng and Duan Yu up and down in disbelief, and asked in puzzlement, "Ling'er, when did you come to know these two great heroes?"
Zhong Ling gave a sheepish smile. "A few days ago I went out to catch snakes for Diao'er to eat, and I was careless enough to be caught by some villains. Hero Qin and Young Master Murong saved me. They've come to our home as guests at my invitation."
Hearing this, Zhong Wanchou cupped his fist with a solemn face. "Zhong Wanchou of Wanjie Valley thanks Hero Qin and Young Master Murong for saving my daughter! Since the two of you are friends of my daughter's, why not stay and deal with that villain Duan Zhengchun together with us!"
Seeing him so unreserved, Qin Zheng couldn't help a slight smile. "All right. But my Castration Blade Art is not yet fully cultivated. Let me settle this matter first."
With that he drew out a slender, narrow blade and looked toward Yun Zhonghe, his eyes like torches.
"This blade is named Falling Bird. It is six cun and four fen long, and weighs three liang and four qian. It was forged of gold and copper by imperial craftsmen, and it is incomparably sharp. I request your instruction!"
When Yun Zhonghe saw that Qin Zheng had even drawn the little knife specially used to castrate men into eunuchs, he flew into a violent rage. "You wretched boy! Today I'll let you learn how formidable your grandpa is!"
With that he drew the pair of iron-claw steel staffs hung at his waist, strode two swift steps forward, and sent out Venomous Snake Flicks Its Tongue with his right hand. It raised a savage wind, striking straight for Qin Zheng's eyes.
"Well struck!"
Qin Zheng neither dodged nor evaded. The little knife in his right hand flicked upward from below.
There came a sharp chi, and an incomparably keen streak of blade qi shot out through the air. Yun Zhonghe's body was instantly split in two down the middle, and a notorious lecher of the age perished then and there.
"Ah!"
Everyone present was shocked speechless, staring in disbelief at Yun Zhonghe's corpse.
Wait—Qin Zheng had only lightly gestured with that little knife. How could Yun Zhonghe be dead?
The first to recover his wits was Duan Yu. Looking at Yun Zhonghe's corpse on the ground, he couldn't help dry-heaving twice, then hurriedly turned his face away, not daring to look any longer.
"Hero Qin, wasn't that strike far too heavy?"
Qin Zheng glanced at him and said, "Not heavy in the least. Think of all those innocent women this lecherous villain killed. Even grinding his bones to dust and scattering the ashes would be too light.
"It's only a pity I won't be able to finish cultivating this Castration Blade Art. I had meant to cut a piece of flesh from him with each stroke and come at him a few more times for practice. I never thought this force would be so hard to control."
"Ah! What nerve you have, daring to kill Old Fourth!"
Yue Lao San came to his senses, drew his crocodile-mouth shears, and glared at Qin Zheng with bristling brows and glaring eyes.
"What a sinister brat! That was sorcery you just used, wasn't it? I, Yue Lao Er, have walked the martial world for many years, and I have never seen sorcery this sinister!"
Qin Zheng said mockingly, "I'm a little curious. You don't even know of blade qi. How exactly have you lived until now?"
Seeing that Qin Zheng looked down on him, Yue Lao San flew into a rage. "What blade qi? Never heard of it! What you used was clearly sorcery! If you've got the nerve, let me go fetch some black dog's blood and splash it over your head, and then we'll fight to the death!"
Qin Zheng sighed. "Alas, I have always been a merciful man. Today I'll let you die understanding why.
"When internal energy is cultivated to a certain realm, one can release internal qi beyond the body. Matched with a top-tier art, it can bring forth astonishing power.
"Qiao Feng's Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms can shock an opponent to death across three zhang of empty air. Once the Six Meridians Divine Sword of the Duan clan of Dali is mastered, the sword qi it condenses can likewise pierce a body from several zhang away.
"What I used just now was blade qi, more overbearing still than sword qi."
With that he raised his hand and swung a slanting cut. The camellia tree in the courtyard that stood directly opposite the entrance snapped at the waist. The cut was smooth and even, as if severed by a keen blade's edge.
At the same time, the upper half of Yue Lao San's body dropped at a slant to the ground. His eyes gradually lost their focus, and blood streamed from his mouth as he said, "What a fast blade..." With that, his head lolled to one side, and he breathed his last.
Mu Wanqing glanced at the dead Southern Sea Crocodile God, Yue Lao San, and quietly let out a breath of relief.
Earlier, Yue Lao San's disciple had tried to take liberties with Mu Wanqing and, letting his guard down, had been shot dead by her sleeve dart. Hearing that Yue Lao San had come to take revenge on her, she had been somewhat afraid.
Now that Yue Lao San had been killed by Qin Zheng, the great weight hanging in her heart had at last come fully down.
Looking at Yue Lao San's corpse, she suddenly remembered something and spoke up. "Weren't you going to send a gilded invitation to the master of the Four Great Evils? Now that you've killed them all, who do you expect to carry the invitation there?"
Qin Zheng turned toward Zhong Wanchou and asked, "Valley Master Zhong, have the other two evildoers arrived?"
Zhong Wanchou's face shifted several times in rapid succession. He thought to himself that this Qin Zheng was indeed as ruthless as the rumors said. Still, his martial arts might well be higher than all the Four Great Evils put together. If he could be got to help, Duan Zhengchun would have absolutely no hope of surviving.
After weighing it in his heart for a moment, he forced out an ugly smile and said, "I heard from Yun Zhonghe that the other two evildoers have already entered Dali's territory and should arrive at any moment.
"Hero Qin, why not stay a few days in my valley? We can wait for them, and at the same time discuss how to kill Duan Zhengchun!"
Hearing this, Duan Yu felt a wave of helpless exasperation. Just how great a grudge did this man bear his father? The friends he had invited had been killed, and still he could not get his father out of his mind...
While he was guessing wildly in his heart, Zhong Wanchou had already ordered a banquet laid in the rear courtyard to entertain Qin Zheng and the others.
Zhong Ling's mother, Gan Baobao, came out as well to receive them, and off to one side asked Zhong Ling in a low voice about what she had been through in the days since leaving home.
Qin Zheng ate with his head lowered, now nodding, now knitting his brows, the very picture of someone carefully tasting the dishes.
Seeing that Qin Zheng had little interest in talk, Zhong Wanchou dared not disturb his meal. At the same time, afraid of neglecting Duan Yu, he struck up a conversation. "Young Master Murong, you have come all the way from Gusu to Dali. What important business brings you?"
Seeing the man staring at him, Duan Yu couldn't help blanking for a moment. Only then did he remember that he was currently passing himself off as Murong Fu. His mind turned quickly, and he said, "I have heard that the eminent monks of Tianlong Temple are profound in the Buddhist dharma, and I have come specially to seek a little instruction."
Zhong Wanchou's eyes lit up at once. "So Young Master Murong means to challenge the monks of Tianlong Temple. Then our goals are the same!"
"Our goals are the same? Are you looking for Duan Zhengchun in order to discuss the Buddhist dharma as well?" Duan Yu asked, utterly at a loss.
Qin Zheng let out a snort of laughter. "What does Duan Zhengchun know of the Buddhist dharma? The Buddhist art of dual cultivation?
"Many of the Duan clan of Dali go to Tianlong Temple to leave home and become monks, and the manual of the Six Meridians Divine Sword is kept there as well. He probably mistook you for someone going to seek a martial contest with the monks of Tianlong Temple!"
At the name Duan Zhengchun, Gan Baobao slapped the chopsticks in her hand down on the table and fixed Zhong Wanchou with phoenix eyes full of frost.
Years ago there had been a romance between her and Duan Zhengchun, and her husband had been fiercely jealous because of it. To avoid suspicion, she had not set foot outside Wanjie Valley for ten years. She had never imagined that after so many years, her husband would still nurse a grudge over what had happened back then.
With her daughter and outsiders present, she could not well lose her temper on the spot, so she was about to leave the table and find somewhere to have a thorough quarrel with Zhong Wanchou.
Just then, a child's crying rose abruptly in the courtyard.
Everyone turned to look, and saw a woman in a pale cyan long robe arrive at the entrance to the rear courtyard. Her hair hung loose over her shoulders, and in her arms she held a child of about one year.
The woman was some forty years of age. On each cheek, left and right, were three vivid crimson scars, running from beneath the eyes all the way to the chin. Her face was dreadful to behold.
With a face full of tenderness she stroked the crying child in her arms, soothing it with the utmost gentleness, while humming a strangely cadenced song. Set against the pitch-black night, it seemed all the more uncanny, chilling everyone who looked on to the bone.
Chapter 5