Old Seven, Stay Alive!

Chu Shaoqiang was not surprised by Qiu Luoye's attitude. "Qiu Luoye, as I said just now, I've heard your name in the Inner States, and I've seen the covenant deed bound to you. Do you still not believe me?" "So what if you've seen it?" "Three days from now, at this exact time, I will come to see you again, and I'll introduce you to two friends. It won't be too late for you to give me your answer then." Chu Shaoqiang turned to leave, but Qiu Luoye chuckled. "You still want to come back? I told you to get lost and you wouldn't listen? Then there's no need to wait three days. Today is as good a day as any. It'll be just right to hold your funeral before the year ends, saving us from bad luck once the first month arrives!" As the words fell from his lips, Qiu Luoye strode forward at a steady, unhurried pace. Chu Shaoqiang flicked his sleeves, sending a rain of arrows whistling straight toward Qiu Luoye. Qiu Luoye made no attempt to dodge or hide, letting the arrows strike his body. Only when Chu Shaoqiang had exhausted his volley did Qiu Luoye give his frame a shake, rattling every last arrow off his skin. *What a formidable body cultivator,* Chu Shaoqiang thought in dismay. From beneath his outer coat, he drew a broadsword, a spear, and a pair of longswords, wheeling around Qiu Luoye to slash, thrust, and hack from every angle. Qiu Luoye caught every single weapon with his bare hands, snapped them one by one, and kept walking forward. It seemed ordinary weapons were useless against Qiu Luoye; special measures would be required. Chu Shaoqiang's lapels twitched, and a burst of quicklime flew at Qiu Luoye. It was with this very trick of lime that Chu Shaoqiang had once gravely wounded Lüshui Beggar. Qiu Luoye swung his long trunk and blew hard—*whoosh!* A violent gust swept up, blowing the lime right back into Chu Shaoqiang's face and nearly blinding his eyes. Chu Shaoqiang took fright. He had never expected Qiu Luoye to be prepared for it. *Did he know this quicklime was special?* *Did Lü Huazi tell him?* *Are the two of them in contact?* In truth, Chu Shaoqiang was overthinking it. Qiu Luoye had made no special preparations. He had knocked about the pugilistic world for a long time. Hurling lime, tossing sand—he had seen such dirty tricks countless times and had long grown accustomed to countering them. "Vile wretch!" Qiu Luoye sneered. "Is that all you've got?" Chu Shaoqiang shifted his tactics. Secretly activating a Dream Cultivator treasure, he sought to drag Qiu Luoye into a dreamscape. Qiu Luoye felt his eyelids grow heavy, and his steps slowed slightly. Seizing the opening, Chu Shaoqiang moved in for the kill, only to hear Qiu Luoye unleash a thunderous roar: *"Hrooo—!"* The roar sent a sharp pain tearing through Chu Shaoqiang's chest, and it snapped Qiu Luoye wide awake. In the Inner States, rumors concerning Qiu Luoye always painted him as a mindless brute, but that was a misunderstanding. Qiu Luoye had cultivated in the newland, relying on the bizarre beasts of that domain to reach tier two above the clouds. To command so many strange creatures for years on end naturally required cunning and capability. He might be fooled once at most, but he would never suffer the same trick twice. During his clash with Li Seven, Qiu Luoye had been tricked once by a Dream Cultivator treasure; from that point on, he had remained vigilant against Dream Cultivators and had devised a specific method to break their spells. The roar he had just unleashed was something he had practiced countless times. It could counter the assaults of Dream Cultivators, and it was equally effective against Mind Cultivators, Literary Cultivators, Virtue Cultivators, and Sound Cultivators. Chu Shaoqiang reached to switch treasures, but Qiu Luoye's fist was already crashing down. *Bang!* Chu Shaoqiang raised both arms to block. The armor encasing his forearms shattered into fragments, and the force launched him clean off his feet, snapping several large trees behind him. He had underestimated Qiu Luoye. Back then, thorough preparations and seizing the initiative had allowed Chu Shaoqiang to defeat Lüshui Beggar. Now, he had prepared just as thoroughly, gaining the upper hand with every opening move, yet dealing with Qiu Luoye proved excruciatingly difficult. Qiu Luoye's cultivation ought to be inferior to Lü Huazi's, and body cultivators were far more common than Disease Cultivators. But the pathways countered and generated one another in ways that were sometimes elusive and unpredictable. For Qiu Luoye to push his physical advantages to such an extreme was truly a rare sight. Chu Shaoqiang had no desire to keep fighting him. He realized his preconceived combat strategy was completely flawed. Besides, there was no need to fight to the death today. The real battle was set for three days from now. Chu Shaoqiang pulled a water pipe from his waist, took a bubbling draw, and exhaled a plume of smoke. The mist instantly billowed outward, shrouding his figure from view. This was a Smoke Cultivator treasure capable of blinding the eyes, and it was laced with deadly poison. *Whoosh!* With a single deep draw through his long trunk, Qiu Luoye sucked all the smoke right in, sending wisps curling out of his ears. It had obscured his sight for barely a heartbeat. As for the poison, Qiu Luoye was not the least bit afraid of it. "Potent stuff!" Qiu Luoye praised with a grin, then lashed out with a kick squarely into Chu Shaoqiang's body. *Clatter!* Chu Shaoqiang collapsed into pieces. A puppet? Qiu Luoye surveyed his surroundings, but the real Chu Shaoqiang was nowhere to be seen. "Filthy dog, you'd better not let me catch sight of you again!" Qiu Luoye cursed. "If you dare show your face in three days, I won't leave enough of you for the Inner States to collect your corpse!" *** The following evening, Li Banfeng emerged from the construction site. During the day, work at the site proceeded as usual. Li Banfeng had remained hidden inside the companion dwelling, which had given the Old Master a clear view of the construction process. Yet after observing for an entire day, the Old Master still couldn't make sense of the Outer States' techniques. Once night fell and the workers departed, Li Banfeng moved to a different spot and let the companion dwelling continue its observation until late into the night. Finally, a response came from the dwelling: *"An inkling dawns, yet words fail to grasp it."* Li Banfeng said in astonishment, "Is it really that profound?" Standing nearby, the glove wagged its index finger and said, "Our Old Master is a man of culture. When he hasn't learned something, he says words fail to grasp it, sounding like he's speaking some foreign tongue." *Clang!* The old teapot tumbled off the coffee table, but the glove dodged aside with a nimble leap. The teapot cried out, "You can't smash me, old brother! My bones are brittle! Smash something else!" Across the room, pots and jars went flying in all directions. The glove darted left and right, laughing heartily. "Old Master, you can't hit me! Are you mad? Huh?" *Smack!* A broom slammed down squarely onto the glove, knocking it silent. The companion dwelling gave a slight shudder, and the gramophone began to sing in a leisurely rhythm: "Oh, venerable elder, do not fret. These techniques are the very foundation of the Outer States; how could they be unraveled so easily? "Husband, dear, take the Old Master tomorrow to watch them work again. After a few more looks, he is bound to figure out the trick." Li Banfeng shook his head. "The day after tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and the site shuts down for the holiday tomorrow." "New Year's Eve?" The gramophone paused, startled. "Oh my goodness, Husband, the New Year is upon us, and our household hasn't even prepared window paper-cuts or couplets!" "No rush. I'll get them ready tomorrow." *** On New Year's Eve, Ma the Fifth laid out a banquet at his courtyard. He Yuxiu, Lu Chunying, Chu Huaiyuan, and others gathered together for the New Year's Eve dinner. Once the food and wine were served, He Yuxiu asked, "Why hasn't Old Seven arrived yet?" Ma the Fifth replied, "Old Seven told us not to wait for him. He has some business to attend to and won't be back until past midnight." He Yuxiu frowned. "It's rare for all of us to gather for a New Year's Eve meal, yet Old Seven still has to hold out until after midnight. "Right now we're getting along reasonably well, but once things turn sour in the future, who knows what kind of brawl will break out? It won't be easy to share a meal like this again." Xiao Yeci chimed in, "Sister Xiu, we're all one family, aren't we? How could we ever fight?" He Yuxiu chuckled. "Sister, the Four Great Families were on peaceful terms once, too. Didn't they end up tearing each other apart anyway?" Lu Chunying shook her head. "I listen to Brother Seven. So long as Brother Seven speaks, there is no grudge in my heart that cannot be resolved." Chu Huaiyuan kept her head lowered and said, "I listen to Brother Seven as well. Whatever he tells me to do, I'll do. I'll obey him in everything." He Yuxiu pinched Chu Huaiyuan's cheek and laughed. "Little girl, hearing you talk like that makes me feel like you're not even yourself!" Chu Huaiyuan blushed. "Aunt Xiu, I was ignorant before and caused you a lot of trouble." "Don't call me Aunt Xiu. Call me Sister Xiu. Everyone calls me Sister Xiu." "That won't do. We can't break the rules of seniority." "Oh my, the moment you mention rules, I want to laugh. When did you ever follow the rules, you wretched girl?" Ma the Fifth looked at the crowd and sighed inwardly. He Yuxiu was not wrong. Given how the major families had always conducted themselves, a clash was bound to happen sooner or later. Yet if Old Seven was around, things might genuinely turn out differently. Where on earth had Old Seven run off to? *** Carrying two jars of wine, Li Banfeng headed up the mountain to spend the New Year with Qiu Luoye. Having stayed in the newland for so long, Qiu Luoye had lost all concept of the New Year. Now that he had become a local spirit of the proper land, it was the perfect occasion to share a New Year's Eve meal and experience what life was like in the proper land. For Li Banfeng, his previous New Year had also been spent in Puluo Province, back at Haichiling. There had only been him and Critick, braving wind and snow as they went about treating insect plagues. This year was different. Qiu Luoye had many covenant-bound spirits by his side. Li Banfeng could drink with him through the first half of the night, then head down to drink with Old Fifth during the second half. Once full of food and wine, he could return home to hold his wife and fool around all night. Only that felt like a proper New Year. When he reached Qiu Luoye's residence, not a single soul was inside. That wasn't right. They had agreed yesterday to celebrate the New Year together. Where had that elephant gone? Li Banfeng searched the mountain and failed to find Qiu Luoye, but he did run into the tiger. "Where is Big Brother Qiu?" The tiger smiled and said, "Today is New Year's Eve, so Lord Qiu was in high spirits. He had a few extra cups over by the cave and collapsed drunk. He said he wanted to sleep, and none of us dared disturb him, so we let him rest out in the mountains. "He even gave us special instructions to let you know that he can't drink anymore today, and that you two can celebrate together tomorrow instead!" "Is that so..." Li Banfeng turned and walked away. Seeing Li Banfeng depart, the tiger scampered up the hillside to gather medicinal herbs. It had only plucked two stalks when Li Banfeng reappeared. "You damned tiger, how dare you lie to me?" The tiger panicked. "Seventh Master, why did you come back?" "Where did Big Brother Qiu really go?" "Didn't I tell you? Lord Qiu is drunk..." "Bullshit! What wine could possibly get Big Brother Qiu drunk? And why are you gathering medicinal herbs?" When Li Banfeng had fought Qiu Luoye, even Old Yao's wine had failed to bring him down. "Well... Lord Qiu drank too much, he really did... he, he..." As the tiger spoke, its voice began to tremble, and tears spilled from its eyes. "Seventh Master, Lord Qiu wouldn't let me tell you. Lord Qiu is injured. He can't even get up anymore. He's lying in the cave on the back mountain, and he's fading fast." Li Banfeng took fright. "How was he hurt?" "I don't know how it happened!" the tiger wailed. "The day before yesterday, someone came from who-knows-where and fought Lord Qiu. He was no match for Lord Qiu and ran away. "He said he'd come back in three days, and Lord Qiu didn't think much of it. Who could have imagined that today, Lord Qiu would suddenly collapse with injuries? He's covered from head to toe in blood, and nobody knows how he was wounded!" Li Banfeng sprinted toward the cave on the back mountain. Inside, Qiu Luoye sat leaning against the stone wall. Blood had thoroughly soaked his robes, staining him a vivid, gruesome red. Seeing Li Banfeng, Qiu Luoye smiled faintly. "Old Seven, what brings you here? Ah, I nearly forgot. Today is New Year's Eve. Did you come to drink with me?" "Big Brother Qiu, who hurt you like this?" "Someone came from the Inner States, trying to drag me into servitude again. I refused and beat him off. He must have contacted the Inner States, and someone over there must have tampered with my covenant deed." "Covenant deed?" "One piece of my covenant deed is in the Inner States." Li Banfeng froze. "Don't you still have two pieces? The two from Lady Wuqin! They shouldn't be able to touch you!" Qiu Luoye sighed. "I thought so too, yet here I am, injured. We still haven't figured out how these covenant deeds truly work. "Tomorrow night, that man will return, and he'll bring two helpers with him. You're no match for him, so don't fight him. My other two pieces of the covenant deed are on this mountain as well. I'll have the tiger take you to them. "Dig up those two pieces, take them with you, and find a place to cultivate. Once you reach above the clouds, you won't have to suffer in the Inner States; you can rely on these two pieces to hold your ground. That was how Lü Huazi did it back then." "Big brother, rest and nurse your wounds. Leave this matter to me. I'll go gather men right now..." "Old Seven!" Qiu Luoye seized Li Seven's arm. "We agreed from the start: you handle the thinking, and I handle the fighting. You have to live. Live well, for my sake! "Once you reach above the clouds, you can settle the score with those bastards and take revenge. Your big brother will cheer you on from beneath the Nine Springs!"