On the day of the scheduled duel, at noon, Qiqian’er arrived early at the place where she practiced spear techniques with Uncle Xin and Xie Liuhao and the others.
This had been arranged in advance—if anything came up, they’d leave a secret mark here and meet at the agreed time. And so, even though things were too busy to leave at the dueling platform, Zhou Wujiu had quietly come up the mountain anyway.
The moment he arrived, sure enough he saw the young lady sitting cross-legged on a bluestone rock waiting for him. Seeing him arrive, she smiled easily, even in the mood to tease him: “I just caught a glimpse of you down the mountain—too many people down there.” Having said this, Qiqian’er reached out and tossed something into Zhou Wujiu’s hands, saying: “I figure the month is about right—I don’t know if you’ve had the joy of a son or a daughter yet?”
Zhou Wujiu took it and looked—it was an exquisitely crafted qilin lock. The young lady had thought of everything.
Delighted, Zhou Wujiu cupped his hands in thanks: “Thank you, Madam. It’s already the third month—it’s a fat little girl.”
Qiqian’er jumped down from the rock, happy for him as well: “Adding to the family is a good thing. Why didn’t Liuhao come today?”
Zhou Wujiu reached behind his back and took out a red cloth bundle, crouching down to open it while saying: “He~ his older brother Xie Wuhao came too. If he’d dared to tag along, there’d be a whole string of trouble behind him. He didn’t dare come, but he asked me to pass along a word to you…”
Qiqian’er asked, puzzled: “What word?”
Zhou Wujiu looked up, his expression solemn: “He said, right now Qingfeng City is full of our people, martial-world people, and the court’s people everywhere. He hopes Madam will stay alert everywhere and act cautiously—the money chests collected from the various factions down the mountain number in the dozens, and that’s no small amount of silver.”
That was about all that could be said.
Qiqian’er naturally understood what he meant. Ping Shen, in his analysis, was naturally even sharper than Uncle Xin—he looked at things from the angle of money, and that night he’d also repeatedly hinted at this.
But these people didn’t realize that their Qiqian’er, at her core, was someone who followed rules most strictly of all—she would never do anything illegal.
Seeing Zhou Wujiu look out for her like this, she was naturally deeply grateful—it was also a matter of fate, whether it was Eunuch Liao, or Uncle Xin, or anyone else, they had all shown her nothing but goodwill.
Even now, they were still worrying about her.
Don’t underestimate Xie Liuhao and Zhou Wujiu just because their official positions weren’t high—their sources of information were extraordinary. Whatever secret matters Jiu Si Tang had regarding the martial world, Qiqian’er knew about them all.
Xie Liuhao’s older brother was Jiu Si Tang’s Northern Enforcement Commander, one of the four pillars beneath Chief Commander Meng Dingchen. So within Jiu Si Tang, Xie Liuhao was regarded as something like a young master figure, someone ordinary people wouldn’t dare provoke.
And that Zhou Wujiu could bring Xie Liuhao around everywhere meant he had the trust of his superiors, proof that he was steady and valued, definitely someone with limitless prospects ahead.
That he could now speak words of caution like this showed that things within Qingfeng City really were tense—who knew how many pairs of eyes were hidden about.
Qiqian’er didn’t know how vast the martial world was, so she didn’t find it too frightening. She thanked him sincerely: “Thank you for thinking of me, much obliged.”
Zhou Wujiu let out a deep breath: “There are some things we can’t explain to you in detail, Madam, but let me advise you this much—the dynasty has changed, and the world isn’t what it used to be now.”
Qiqian’er agreed with this completely—prosperity, after all, peaceful days were coming.
She didn’t take Zhou Wujiu’s worries too much to heart, but was genuinely curious about his fat baby girl, so she asked: “Got it. So, old Zhou, how many pounds was your daughter when she was born? Is her head properly shaped? I’m not trying to scare you, but in a baby’s first few months you have to watch that head carefully—don’t spoil her even if she cries, you’ve got to be firm and make sure her little head is shaped right! You understand? Otherwise if it ends up lopsided, later you won’t find a good son-in-law for her—if the head isn’t even, you can’t even do her hair up properly in a flying immortal bun, and then you’ll all have regrets…”
Ah~ here it comes again!
The young lady was good in every way, except that from time to time she’d show this nagging tendency toward them—no telling how her elders had raised her, she wasn’t even that old, yet she worried about all sorts of trivial things every day…
Helpless, Zhou Wujiu quickly untied the red cloth, revealing a pair of small bronze maces with red sandalwood handles, tile-grooved on four sides, a foot and a half long, with peony-flower-mouth fittings.
The moment Qiqian’er saw the object, her heart lifted with joy. She bent down, picked up one mace in each hand, and swung them through the air a few times—instantly a whooshing sound of wind cutting through the air rolled out, quite impressive in force.
The weapon fit her hand well, and Qiqian’er casually swung them a few more times, the pair of small gold maces sweeping out two circles of golden shadow.
Zhou Wujiu watched with a smile. No matter how many times he saw it, this strange young lady never failed to astonish him—Uncle Xin had been right, a true natural genius at martial arts, the kind you wouldn’t encounter once in several hundred years.
Look at that—first time picking up the maces, and she already knew exactly how to apply force and how to draw it back. He wasn’t even worried anymore that the young lady might lose to anyone from Yuegong Mountain.
Senior Xin had said before that a prodigy like the young lady, so long as they did their duty and guided her well, kept her from falling into a wrong path, then it wouldn’t have been in vain that Heaven had sent her into this world.
Heaven, in sending down such an extraordinary person, must have its reasons. Wait, watch, and eventually the reason would become clear.
And so, they were willing to be commanded by her.
Zhou Wujiu smiled watching Qiqian’er swing the small bronze maces, and said: “These maces are called the Hundred Rain Gold Maces, each weighing about fifty-nine catties nine taels. Senior Xin, seeing last time that the young lady didn’t have a proper weapon suited to her, specially sought out top-quality bronze essence and found the weapons master Xiuchuan Liang Ye to personally forge them for the young lady. Senior also said to convey his apologies to you—he misjudged the young lady’s depth before, and was rather rude, and hopes the young lady won’t hold it against him…”
Having said this, Zhou Wujiu felt a bit embarrassed himself, and cupped his hands, bowing again to apologize to Qiqian’er on Uncle Xin’s behalf.
Having fought Pang Tu once, Qiqian’er naturally knew how deep her own abilities ran, and understood well enough why Uncle Xin had been avoiding her.
Hearing Zhou Wujiu say this, she put away her stance and glanced sideways at him: “Have that old fellow come out and spar with me for half a month, and this matter will be settled.”
Zhou Wujiu smiled awkwardly and said with a placating tone: “Uncle Xin is getting on in years—never mind half a month, one swing of your mace and he’d shatter. Please be generous and magnanimous, and let it go! How about this—if you’re truly feeling stifled, once today’s match is settled, Liuhao and I will come let you punish us instead.”
Qiqian’er stewed for a moment, then finally, having vented her frustration, said helplessly: “Fine~, forget it.”
Finally let completely off the hook, Zhou Wujiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then looked up at Qiqian’er and said: “Yesterday Liuhao and I went through Jiu Si Tang’s internal documents and found some information about Guan Zhuping. Would the young lady like to hear it?”
Qiqian’er nodded at him.
Zhou Wujiu then said: “Guan Zhuping, courtesy name Pofeng, came from a noble family with an illustrious background. His grandfather once served as governor of Xianyuan Commandery. As a young man, fierce and bold, he encountered the siege of Xianyuan and single-handedly rode out to face the enemy, earning merit and a title—the surrounding people all praised him. However, this man’s nature was proud and aloof, arrogant, and his fierce, unrestrained temperament couldn’t be reined in. The following year, in a scheduled duel with someone, though he won, his family was implicated and all killed as a result. He fled afterward and took discipleship under Cui Fu’an of Yuegong Mountain to learn skills for revenge…”
Guan Zhuping’s life story was quite eventful, truly amounting to half a chronicle of martial-world legend. Qiqian’er listened for a full stick of incense’s worth of time, and once Zhou Wujiu finished, she smiled and shook her head: “Living like that—is that supposed to be interesting?”
Zhou Wujiu was surprised: “Doesn’t the young lady think a real man should live like that?”
Hearing this, Qiqian’er immediately felt some contempt for him.
She shook her head, disdain written all over her face: “Nothing to show for it, and you still call that how a man should be! Don’t you dare learn from him. What was he even after? How do other elderly people live out their lives? How did he live his? I should ask him later what exactly he gained from all this trouble his whole life. Truly a wasted life! That’s exactly why I don’t like your martial world.”
Zhou Wujiu couldn’t think of anything to argue back with, and could only nod blankly, not daring to say a word in rebuttal.
This young lady’s logic was simply different from theirs.
Qiqian’er wrapped up the Hundred Rain Gold Maces and slung them on her back, then said: “I once read a poem before, that seemed to describe someone like Guan Zhuping.”
Zhou Wujiu asked: “Which poem was it?”
Qiqian’er said: “I don’t remember it exactly, just one line that reminds me of that old man—something like ‘don’t learn from the wandering knight, boasting of his fine purple steed’… heh!”
Zhou Wujiu was silent a moment, then looked up and smiled: “I once heard our Chief Commander say a line too—something like, ‘yellow dust has covered ancient and present alike, always white bones scattered amid wild weeds’… I’ll take my leave now. Though the young lady has extraordinary talent, be careful on this outing, take utmost care.”
Qiqian’er nodded with a smile, and finally said: “Let that old man come out of his shell—pitiful me, a lowly woman from a humble lane, dragged into this muddy pool with no way out… oh, and he thinks hiding means nothing will happen to him? Dream on! No one gets any peace—from now on let him help me watch over Qingfeng City. Whichever martial-world guest thinks of coming to Yandu, wanting to… that! I’ll curse out their ancestors eight generations back!”
Zhou Wujiu held back a laugh, then took out a porcelain bottle from his robe and tossed it to Qiqian’er.
Qiqian’er caught it, opened the stopper and sniffed, puzzled: “What medicine is this?”
Zhou Wujiu said, somewhat pleased with himself: “A product of Jiu Si Tang’s pharmacy, essential for traveling the martial world—Voice-Muffling Pill. Take one, and for two hours your voice turns hoarse. No matter who they are, no matter how well they know you, they won’t recognize your voice.”
Ooh! What a good little gift!
Qiqian’er, delighted, immediately tucked the small bottle into her robe, then cupped her hands to Zhou Wujiu in farewell: “Well then, I’ll be off!”
Having said this, she herself paused, not realizing when exactly she’d picked up these martial-world mannerisms.
Flustered inside, she stiffly bent her knees in a bow: “Farewell, farewell!”
Zhou Wujiu didn’t notice anything off, and returned the bow solemnly: “Take no chances on this outing—that Yuegong Mountain likely won’t change its vicious nature, and trouble will keep coming wave after wave. We men are useless—we can only entrust the young lady with guarding Qingfeng. Go now! Wishing you great victory!”
Qiqian’er nodded and said earnestly: “Right! Great victory!”
It wasn’t for that bastard named “Great Victory”—old lady wouldn’t have come this far otherwise!
Beneath the old city on the tenth month day, crowds upon crowds of martial-world spectators gathered, yet silent, without a sound. Thousands of martial-world people from Baiquan Mountain had all converged here, yet not one dared to speak carelessly.
Today’s grand event of the martial world—two mountains, two recluses dueling—was something rarely seen. Just for Guan Zhuping’s reputation alone, countless martial-world figures had rushed over from far and near, hiding among the various colorful sheds to watch the battle in secret.
Everyone had expected today to be a momentous clash, but upon arrival, they secretly felt uneasy instead. Who would have thought? Guan Zhuping had already prepared his own coffin beforehand? Wasn’t this a sign of weakness even before the fight began?
Before, everyone had only said that figure from Baiquan Mountain was formidable—the various factions had discussed it, but most hadn’t believed it.
Guan Zhuping had been famous for how many years! However formidable she might be, could she really be more formidable than an old hand of the martial world who’d become a living legend?
Atop the dueling platform, Guan Zhuping sat in plain white robes, kneeling cross-legged on a felted rug, his old rifle laid casually beside his leg. This man’s skill had long since entered the realm of return-to-simplicity, nothing like the exaggerated display Pang Tu had put on.
And beneath the dueling platform, an old ox-cart pulled a coffin, and Guan Zhuping’s grand-disciple Pei Daohai stood quietly holding mourning clothes, his heart filled with bitter sorrow.
In less than half a year, their lineage had lost Jiuxiao Peak; the disciples who had once flocked to them out of self-interest had all scattered; and now, because of this unworthy grandson-disciple, his master had been forced into reclusion, ordered by the sect leader to come out and fight this scheduled duel.
Yesterday his master had sent someone to find him, opened his teacher’s coffin, and personally examined his master’s remains, then sat in silence for half a day before ordering him to prepare this coffin.
Master said he wouldn’t win.
Pei Daohai, guarding the coffin, felt an unbearable bitterness in his heart, unable to stop thinking of a few months ago, when that person from Baiquan Mountain had blocked their path at the cost of their own life—the feelings then were probably similar to what he felt now.
When the third of the gongs on the dueling platform was finally struck by Jiu Si Tang’s junior commander, everyone turned to look—but the challenge notice hanging on the platform’s red pole still had no one to accept it?
Only a stick of incense’s worth of time remained—would Madam Yushu come today, or not?
Only the people around Baiquan Mountain called her Madam Yushu; everyone else called her Madam Yushu Niang.
Once Xie Liuhao finished striking the gong, he carried his mallet slowly off the platform, trotting over to sit beside his older brother Xie Wuhao.
For this scheduled battle, Jiu Si Tang had sent two Enforcement Commanders and three Deputy Commanders today, and Xie Liuhao’s fifth older brother was the Northern Enforcement Commander—truly a person of real power, second only to none.
Xie Liuhao knew the young lady would certainly come, so he sat calmly, not worried at all, even managing to pull a few beans out of his sleeve to eat while he waited.
Before, he wouldn’t have dared act this way, but yesterday his brother had come to test his skills, and in their sparring match, he’d actually managed to hold his own evenly at first. Afterward, if not for his lack of experience, he could have held out even longer.
Only now did Xie Liuhao realize that from receiving Uncle Xin’s guidance and sparring with the young lady day after day, his skills had actually improved.
Those days had been truly hard, extremely hard! He’d devoted himself wholeheartedly, thinking only that even if it exhausted him to death, he had to keep training alongside the young lady, so she could break free from beneath Pang Tu’s rifle.
Sparring day after day with an extraordinary person like the young lady—of course his skills had improved.
When his older brother, surprised, kept asking about it, he’d had no choice but to stammer out that Uncle Xin had been guiding him.
His fifth older brother was naturally delighted—finding a genuine mentor these days wasn’t easy either.
It was just a pity that his brother’s thoughts had grown complicated lately, pulling him aside to say all sorts of things that annoyed him—something about the Beggars’ Sect being weakened, Uncle Xin having no successor, and urging him to be filial, saying that if he could become the Beggars’ Sect’s next leader, think how proud their father and grandfather would be?
What nonsense—giving up being a proper young master to go begging by the city gates instead? Was that not insane?
As Enforcement Commander, Xie Liuhao had been quietly observing his younger brother all along. This younger brother, being the youngest, had been spoiled rotten since childhood—the family had been reluctant to let him suffer, so they’d never disciplined him firmly, which resulted in him remaining muddleheaded even at his current age, his mind as innocent as a child’s.
Later, once the brothers had aligned themselves with the right people and become court officials, their parents had said, well, let Sixth Boy have a stable bowl of official rice too.
Who would have thought that the moment he entered officialdom, this child would encounter such a great stroke of fortune, his temperament actually settling down—hmm! Quite well indeed, he’d really made progress.
Now, faced with such a momentous occasion, his own heart was restless with anxiety, yet his younger brother had the leisure to eat beans?
This must be something he’d picked up from that Uncle Xin’s style! Good, truly good!
This monkey—forget an occasion this grand, even in ordinary family squabbles at home he’d have been jumping around causing trouble, an absolute nuisance that everyone found annoying. But seeing his brother looking endearing now, Xie Wuhao gave him a kick.
Xie Liuhao looked at his brother, puzzled, then saw his brother slowly extend a hand asking for some beans. He pouted, took out a paper packet from inside his robe, and just as he was about to hand some to his brother, spilled half the packet of beans onto the ground.
Xie Liuhao reached out to smack him on the head, but heard his younger brother say: “She’s here!”
Xie Wuhao’s heart jumped, and looking up, he saw a figure leaping swiftly from the direction of Baiquan Mountain in the distance.
No sooner said than there—that woman’s figure moved with astonishing speed, like a shooting star chasing the moon. Just as he exclaimed at her speed, the woman had already run across a row of the colorful sheds, leaping onto the challenge pole, reaching out to take the notice, then slowly descending, her posture graceful and beautiful, like a crane descending from auspicious clouds.
Someone cheered softly, and as more joined in, it became one unified shout, quite a considerable commotion.
Once the shout ended, everyone fell silent at once, straining to look closely—they saw this person, masked just as legend described, her age impossible to tell. Aside from the red bundle on her back and the arm guards on both arms, this woman showed not a trace of martial-world manner anywhere else.
How to describe it? If one tried hard to picture it, she looked more like… a noble lady dressed up elaborately for a temple visit or spring outing.
She wore her hair in a married woman’s fox-style bun, adorned with an extravagantly crafted golden peony hairpiece—though only two blooms, clearly no ordinary item.
And looking at her clothing, from robe to embroidered shoes, all were black-based, heavily embroidered silk with golden peonies. Even the brocade sash at her waist was inlaid with luxurious gemstone flowers.
Someone knowledgeable did the math—hmm, at minimum this outfit alone must be worth several thousand strings of coin.
She walked with particular elegance, like a noble lady attending a banquet, holding the challenge notice, hands tucked into her sleeves, resting at her waist, walking steadily toward Guan Zhuping, her gait graceful and lovely along the way, as if each step brought forth a lotus blossom.
Xie Liuhao watched, dumbfounded, and heard his older brother murmuring to the deputy commander beside him: “Look at how she’s dressed—she must have been supported by nobility from the previous dynasty before.”
The deputy commander hesitated, then nodded too: “Those accessories? Looking at the style, they’re certainly of palace make. This? Baiquan Mountain isn’t far from Yandu, so why… did she only just come out now?”
Xie Liuhao’s heart pounded like a drum in that instant. He was about to think up some far-fetched excuse to defend her, but heard his brother say: “Hasn’t the Southern Huguo Temple received imperial patronage for generations too? The previous dynasty was tyrannical—everyone who couldn’t stand it wanted it dead, and plenty didn’t like what they saw. This young lady’s origins are mysterious and her skill profound, and she’s only recently emerged from seclusion. As the Chief Commander said, she probably couldn’t bear to see the common people displaced, and feared these ruffians would disrupt the new dynasty’s livelihood, so she came out to block Yuegong Mountain from entering the capital—which actually benefits us.”
The deputy commander nodded: “Exactly so. She’s lived in seclusion at Baiquan Mountain, never stirring up trouble outside no matter how chaotic things get—Pang Tu really went too far this time… so many lives lost, even someone with a heart of stone couldn’t stand by. If he’d been as sensible as this Guan Zhuping, he might still be alive today. It’s his own arrogance to blame—otherwise it would be trouble for you and me! You think the master of Yuegong Mountain, having created such a monster and forged such a deep feud, how does he feel right now, Fifth Brother?”
This was said with malicious glee, every word ill-intentioned.
Xie Wuhao took the beans from his younger brother’s hand and rolled them up, eating while watching the show: “How he feels, we wouldn’t know. But the Commander did say, judging by Pang Tu’s corpse, this young lady might not lose. Only… this Qingfeng City of yours will be hard to manage from now on.”
He chewed on the beans, gesturing with his chin left and right at the martial-world people crouched on the viewing stands, and the tall stacks of silver chests piled outside the sheds.
Xie Liuhao slowly let out a breath, secretly wiping away a bead of sweat.
He thought, he really had been overthinking things—seclusion? Imperial patronage? This young lady was simply… his heart suddenly jolted, and he suddenly understood something—the young lady dressing this way was exactly meant to make everyone think of her this way.
On the platform.
Guan Zhuping had kept his eyes closed the whole time, until the young lady took the notice and slowly walked over near him, only then did he slowly open his eyes and look her up and down.
After a good while, Guan Zhuping finally said: “Has Madam Yushu come?”
Qiqian’er nodded silently, and sat down facing Guan Zhuping. She opened the cloth bundle on her back, first taking out her pair of small bronze maces and setting them aside, then taking out a wrapped set of brush, ink, paper, and inkstone and laying them out.
The martial-world crowd on the viewing stands discussed among themselves—after all, among the eighteen weapons of the martial world, few used gold maces, making this Madam Yushu’s origins even more mysterious.
But they didn’t know that Qiqian’er’s entry into cultivation had been unlike anyone else’s from the start. As she’d progressed, she’d taken an even stranger path—abandoning the martial world’s traditional generation-to-generation cultivation methods, drawing instead directly on the earth’s primal energy to nourish her body, developing her own strange skills through her own fortune and enlightenment.
Uncle Xin had her use gold maces simply because, considering her sheer brute strength, such a blunt weapon suited her better—a sharp blade cutting flesh leaves only a gash, and unless it hits a vital point, there’s still life left in the wound; but a blunt weapon striking someone is far more deadly, one hit and there’s internal injury throughout.
Guan Zhuping was about to ask this woman in detail about her origins, but watched as she took out the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone from her bundle and laid them out, then opened the challenge notice and, carefully, right beneath the signature line, wrote three large characters: Madam Yushu, followed by the date, and finally took her handprint, stamping it neatly beneath the name.
Once done, this woman turned the notice back around toward him and slowly pushed it over, saying in a hoarse voice: “Idle people standing in the wind, only fools mix in the martial world—can’t just live a good, quiet life, always fighting and killing all day long. Sigh~ it’s a new dynasty now, can’t everyone just settle down and live peacefully? This whole business, over and over, never-ending.”
There was a moment of stunned silence—almost everyone wanted to ask this Madam one thing: shouldn’t you be announcing your name and background using martial-world code? You can be aloof, arrogant, cold, dismissive—but what’s this? This upper thousands and lower thousands of people here, how could they all be “fools in the martial world”? And that tone of speech—how is it just like the old lady sitting on the heated brick bed at home, nagging away?
Poor Guan Zhuping, half a lifetime in the martial world, and never once had anyone spoken to him in such a tone.
He looked at the notice the young lady had pushed toward him, utterly confused, and asked: “What does Madam mean by this?”
Having been a veteran recluse for so many years, who would dare make him sign his name and press his mark?
Qiqian’er turned the brush around and handed it to him: “Aren’t you afraid of a lawsuit? Imperial law, you know! Sign the life-and-death waiver on the platform, so that afterward there’s no legal accountability. Otherwise, if in a moment you kill me, or I kill you, without this written and no one held responsible, the authorities would investigate. Understand?”
Guan Zhuping’s face went blank, and after a long moment he simply said “oh,” took the brush, and very seriously wrote down his name.
Seeing him so obedient, Qiqian’er nodded, satisfied.
Actually, she’d had many questions lately, and had long wanted to ask these martial-world people about them.
And so, in her own way, she asked Guan Zhuping: “Old sir, how old are you this year?”
A large drop of ink fell onto the notice.
Qiqian’er clicked her tongue behind her mask: “Such an old age, and your hands and feet aren’t even nimble anymore—and your children aren’t filial either! Still making you come out and run around like this?”
Guan Zhuping sighed deeply, and looked up to answer: “This old one is eighty-four years old this year.”
Qiqian’er was greatly startled at this, and said in surprise: “My! Such an advanced age already? How many children do you have?”
“Are they all married off?”
“Do you have grandchildren yet?”
“Are your children unfilial, forcing you to buy houses and land, making you run around at such an advanced age!”
“How much monthly allowance does Yuegong Mountain give you?”
“How many people are in your household?”