While waiting outside Blood Float Fortress’s camp, the Black Wu Sword Sect’s Grand Sword Master, Da Xin Tuonuo, asked Ye Fuzhi: “You say that Hanzhanzhou’s martial arts surpass yours?”
Ye Fuzhi hastily replied: “In answer to Seat-Master — though that bandit chief is crude, his martial arts are truly formidable. He is indeed above your disciple.”
Da Xin Tuonuo pressed: “If he were to defeat you, how many moves would it take?”
Ye Fuzhi didn’t dare answer directly — if he told the truth, he would likely be looked down upon and fiercely scolded. So he gritted his teeth and lied: “Though this person’s martial arts exceed your disciple’s, if it were a life-or-death fight, your disciple might have a chance.”
At this, Da Xin Tuonuo’s brow furrowed.
Ye Fuzhi had felt briefly pleased with his clever answer — then watched the Grand Sword Master’s face darken, and that brief pleasure vanished entirely.
He couldn’t figure out what he’d said wrong.
“You are a Sword Sect swordsman,” Da Xin Tuonuo said, his tone turning cold. “Your every action represents the dignity and prestige of the Sword Sect. Since you believe you might win in a life-or-death fight — for the sake of the Sect’s dignity and prestige, why did you not fight to the death?”
At this question, Ye Fuzhi leaped off his horse and dropped to his knees.
At just that moment, Xu Suqing and Xiao Ting emerged with Blood Float Fortress’s other leaders — and seeing the scene, Xu Suqing’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Blood Float Fortress’s holy general Wang Huan murmured beside Xu Suqing: “That dog is trying to establish his dominance right outside our gate?”
Xiao Ting knew the moment he heard it: trouble. Those words were enough to ignite the Chief’s temper.
He was about to speak — but Xu Suqing had already quickened his pace.
“What is going on here?”
Xu Suqing stepped over, went to Ye Fuzhi’s side, and extended a hand to lift him. “At my camp, you are my most honored guest. Why are you being forced to kneel? My friend — if you have been wronged, you can tell me.”
Ye Fuzhi cursed Hanzhanzhou’s ancestors eighteen generations back in his heart. Those words would directly summon the Grand Sword Master’s full fury.
Da Xin Tuonuo’s temper was known to everyone in the Sword Sect.
There were nine Grand Sword Masters in the Sect — not a small number in itself, but a glance at the Sword Sect’s total membership made clear just how exceptional these nine were.
The Sword Sect was the state religion of the Black Wu Empire. The Moon Goddess was the Black Wu’s ancestral deity. In the empire, even a Khan-Emperor’s enthronement required the Sect Master of the Sword Sect to perform the coronation.
Any Khan-Emperor who ascended without that ceremony could be regarded as having seized power illegitimately.
So the Sword Sect’s faithful in the Black Wu Empire numbered beyond imagination — to say every Black Wu person was a Sword Sect devotee would not be much of an exaggeration.
Within an organization of that scale, only nine people had achieved the rank of Grand Sword Master — one could imagine the terror of their martial power.
Among those nine, Da Xin Tuonuo’s strength ranked within the top three.
A Grand Sword Master’s ranking within the Sword Sect was essentially equivalent to their standing in the Black Wu jianghu at large.
And now Xu Suqing had just helped Ye Fuzhi to his feet and called him an honored guest — while ignoring Da Xin Tuonuo entirely.
For a man of such exalted standing, this was a supreme humiliation.
“Ye Fuzhi — you are their honored guest?”
Da Xin Tuonuo asked in a level voice.
Ye Fuzhi was about to start dropping to his knees again when — once more — Xu Suqing grabbed him and kept him upright.
Xu Suqing: “Why do you keep wanting to kneel? You’ve come to my camp — how could I let anyone bully you here?”
He looked at Da Xin Tuonuo: “And who are you? Why are you bullying my friend?”
Ye Fuzhi was nearly in tears.
He hurried to explain: “Han King — this gentleman is my Seat-Master of the Sword Sect, a person of incomparable stature…”
Xu Suqing: “You mean I should pick my friends based on their background? Based on how noble their status is?”
He clapped Ye Fuzhi on the shoulder. “If that’s what you’re saying, then you’re not treating me as a true friend. I, Hanzhanzhou, have never cared about a friend’s background — only whether we get along. You and I get along. You could be a wandering beggar and I’d still call you brother. If we don’t get along, I don’t care how noble the bloodline is.”
He clapped Ye Fuzhi again. “Didn’t you tell me before? In the Sword Sect, one word from you could make the Sect Master change his mind. You also said: in the Black Wu court, one word from you could move the Khan-Emperor himself to issue an edict.”
He looked at Da Xin Tuonuo: “Is this person even more powerful than him?”
Ye Fuzhi was genuinely terrified of wetting himself. He wanted to kneel — but Xu Suqing’s grip was impossibly strong, and he simply couldn’t.
“Ye Fuzhi…”
Da Xin Tuonuo asked: “You actually said that?”
Ye Fuzhi scrambled to reply: “Your disciple did not — how would your disciple dare say such things to these people?”
Xu Suqing: “Why are you afraid?! That’s exactly what you said. You can say it again right now. Anyone who troubles you — I’ll back you up!”
Da Xin Tuonuo said coldly: “Let’s see if you can actually hold that up.”
Xu Suqing released Ye Fuzhi — who immediately began to drop — and caught him again before he could reach the ground.
“Why do you keep wanting to kneel?”
Xu Suqing said: “My dear Ye Fuzhi brother — didn’t you tell me? You are the Khan-Emperor’s personal special envoy. Even within the entire marching army, only the Prince outranks you by a little. This man is your Sect brother — so why are you afraid? If his seniority is higher, so what? You are the Khan-Emperor’s envoy. By our Central Plains customs, the Emperor is greatest, the envoy is second — those of higher seniority should be bowing *to you.”*
Xiao Ting knew at that moment: this would not end peacefully.
Though he worried the Chief would end up making enemies of both sides and leave Blood Float Fortress with nowhere to stand, now that it had come to this — there was no longer a choice.
He shot a look at the other leaders. They understood immediately, turned, and quietly ordered men below to muster soldiers — ready to fight at any moment.
Xu Suqing turned back to Ye Fuzhi: “Look at you, stammering. Just tell me plainly — who outranks who, you or him?”
Ye Fuzhi had no choice but to say: “Of course Seat-Master outranks me. By a great deal.”
“Ah!” Xu Suqing immediately dropped Ye Fuzhi entirely, turned to Da Xin Tuonuo, and gave a cupped-fist salute. “If you outrank him, then I’ll deal with you — not him.”
Da Xin Tuonuo suppressed his fury. He wanted to lash out, but recalled that Ye Fuzhi had said these bandits were crude and without cultivation, no better than savages.
So he swallowed it. These people still had their uses — causing a falling out now would displease the Prince upon his return.
Da Xin Tuonuo dismounted from his horse, ignored Xu Suqing entirely, and walked toward the camp entrance.
Ye Fuzhi tried to follow — and was immediately pressed back down by Xu Suqing.
“Since he outranks you, you stay there kneeling.”
Just a moment ago he wouldn’t let Ye Fuzhi kneel — now he wouldn’t let him stand.
Ye Fuzhi’s fury rose. Much good it did him.
Xu Suqing pressed one hand on Ye Fuzhi’s shoulder. Ye Fuzhi surged upward repeatedly — and could not move an inch. That hand carried what felt like ten thousand jin. The more force Ye Fuzhi exerted to rise, the more force rebounded down onto him. At first his knees could lift slightly off the ground — then they began sinking *into* it.
This was the northern wastes. The ground was still frozen.
“How long are you planning to hold him down?”
Da Xin Tuonuo suddenly turned back, seized Xu Suqing’s wrist, and said: “Stop wasting time here. Lead the way inside.”
As he exerted force, the pressure on Ye Fuzhi’s shoulder eased — and Ye Fuzhi immediately seized the moment to rise.
He had barely begun to straighten when the pressure slammed back down even harder.
*Thud.* Ye Fuzhi’s knees drove into the frozen earth again.
A cold flash crossed Da Xin Tuonuo’s eyes — and then he said evenly: “Since he is your honored guest, is this how you treat him?”
As he spoke, the pressure on Ye Fuzhi eased once more. Ye Fuzhi understood: the Grand Sword Master was now locked in contest with Hanzhanzhou — and he was the one suffering for it.
They were exchanging internal force — using him as the medium.
After only a brief struggle, beads of sweat broke out across Ye Fuzhi’s forehead — not from fear, but from pain. The density of those beads showed the agony he was bearing.
At last, with a muffled grunt from Ye Fuzhi — his knees had likely shattered.
Xu Suqing smiled and released his hand. “The Grand Sword Master makes a fair point. After all, he is a guest. Though he deceived me — and I despise being deceived above all else — I shouldn’t treat a guest this way.”
He released his hand; Da Xin Tuonuo released his wrist; Ye Fuzhi crumpled to the ground.
Da Xin Tuonuo gave Xu Suqing a long, measuring look — then turned and walked into the camp.
Xiao Ting hurried to Xu Suqing’s side and murmured: “Chief — how was it?”
Xu Suqing said nothing. He only gave a slight shake of his head. Xiao Ting couldn’t read it — was this Grand Sword Master someone to be dismissed, or not to be underestimated?
The group entered the camp. Ye Fuzhi was left sprawled on the ground, writhing in agony but not daring to cry out.
A man who swaggered with arrogance before others, feeling himself incomparably exalted — before the Grand Sword Master, he dared not so much as make a sound. Even if he let something slip, it would have to be silent, squeezed out with the utmost care, without a trace of noise.
—
Inside Blood Float Fortress, in the wooden tower Xu Suqing called “the Changle Traveling Palace,” everyone took their seats.
Xu Suqing put on an air of rough bluster and asked casually: “Grand Sword Master, is it — that’s the right title?”
Da Xin Tuonuo ignored him and simply sat, watching him coldly.
Xu Suqing continued: “Since you outrank him, you must have come to discuss something bigger than what he came to discuss. What is it?”
Da Xin Tuonuo said flatly: “By order of the Black Wu Khan-Emperor, I will remain with your Blood Float Fortress from this day forward. Any movement you make must be reported to me.”
Xu Suqing shot to his feet. “So you’re here to spy on us?”
Da Xin Tuonuo also rose. “Go have a room prepared for me.”
“And if I refuse?”
Before Da Xin Tuonuo could answer, Ye Fuzhi had limped his way to the doorway — hearing Xu Suqing’s words the moment he arrived, he rushed to say: “Han King — this is the Khan-Emperor’s edict. His Majesty’s edicts cannot be defied. Defiance is punishable by death.”
Xu Suqing reached up and scratched his hair. “I see. The Khan-Emperor is supreme. What he says, goes.”
He waved a hand: “Go prepare a room for this Grand Sword Master.”
Da Xin Tuonuo followed one of Xu Suqing’s men toward the door. At the threshold, he glanced at Ye Fuzhi. “Come with me.”
Ye Fuzhi was still sweating from the pain, but said nothing — and limped after him without protest.
Led into a room, Da Xin Tuonuo sat, then looked at Ye Fuzhi. Ye Fuzhi immediately dropped to his knees again — despite the excruciating pain in them, he gritted his teeth and knelt.
“Seat-Master, these bandits are truly crude and without manners. Please do not let it anger you.”
“Crude?”
Da Xin Tuonuo gave a short, cold laugh. “He was deliberately playing the fool. Did you think I couldn’t see through it?”
Then he leaned forward, looking at Ye Fuzhi. “Do you know why I did not kill him?”
Ye Fuzhi shook his head quickly. “Seat-Master’s thoughts are beyond your disciple’s ability to guess.”
Da Xin Tuonuo suddenly smiled. “If instead of playing the fool, he had been respectful and deferential — even humble — that would have been suspicious.”
Ye Fuzhi laughed along accommodatingly. “Yes, yes — Seat-Master sees with the eyes of a hawk.”
Da Xin Tuonuo waved a hand. “Go treat your injuries. I need to rest. No one is to disturb me.”
“Yes…”
Ye Fuzhi answered, struggled to his feet, and backed out of the room with a bow.
—