Turning the clock back a little — that afternoon, at Qingmu Outer Market.
Chen Jiu, the second-in-command of Chenjiaqu, walked into the room, saw the man waiting for him there, and cupped his hands in greeting.
“Black Skull Luan, it’s been a long time. How dare you come in person?”
Across the room stood a middle-aged man who wore sable furs even in the summer heat, his hair disheveled. In his hand he held a string of prayer beads, nearly black, carved with skull-like patterns that clacked against one another. He rose from the gloom at the far side of the room — tall in stature, a head taller even than Chen Jiu. This was none other than the “Black Skull King,” Luan Sanlang, whose might held sway over Lüliang.
“If I don’t come myself, who else could speak for me?” His voice was hoarse, and despite his imposing frame, there was always something sinister lurking beneath his words — a lingering aftereffect from an old injury to his meridians, suffered in his early years of training. Among the men of Lüliang today, he ranked among the very finest in martial skill. As for whether he could match the Blood Bodhisattva — the two had simply never fought, so no one could say.
Chen Jiu smiled faintly. “And you’re not afraid the surname Lu will turn on you and wipe you all out in one net?”
“I, Luan Sanlang, have ruled Lüliang for so many years — I’ve never once feared to negotiate. However fierce the Blood Bodhisattva may be, she wouldn’t dare defy the whole world so brazenly.”
“True enough. The Black Skull King has courage to spare. So then — has everyone reached agreement on the purpose of coming up the mountain this time?”
“How do things stand at the stronghold?”
“Troublesome. I hear someone formidable has come from outside the mountains.”
“Heh. Someone from outside…”
“Someone genuinely formidable…”
Tucked away in their corner of the world, the people of Lüliang generally looked down on outsiders. But at the same time, deep down, they also feared them. As for the ordinary traveling merchants — the residents around Lüliang were the ones who raided and plundered them each time they went out. Yet each time the authorities came foraging, or the border troops of the Wu court launched a raid, it was Lüliang that was left scorched and suffering, unable to bear it. Whether it was Luan Sanlang or Chen Zhenhai, however domineering they might normally be, whenever they ran into these regular troops — forces belonging to the official establishment — all they could do was retreat into the mountains and endure in bitter silence.
For this reason, whenever the subject of outsiders came up, Luan Sanlang’s tone always grew exceedingly complicated. The two men talked for a while, and just as they got to the matter of Fang Yiyang and his brothers, they heard that voice.
A thunderous voice, offering respects to the mountain, suddenly swept over the whole of Qingmu Stronghold. The entire Outer Market changed in atmosphere in an instant — countless stirrings, hushed whispers. Then came the voice of the Blood Bodhisattva. Luan Sanlang led a group of his men and Chen Jiu out of the room, and as they emerged, they heard people nearby discussing it.
“That kind of power — utterly unfathomable…”
“Who would have thought, the Blood Bodhisattva is also…”
“Who is Lin Zongwu…”
“The leader of the Great Radiance Cult.” Luan Sanlang stood by the railing, gazing far off toward the group of people at the end of his line of sight. “I’ve heard of this man…”
“So have I…” Chen Jiu said in a low voice. “This man fought his way from the south clear up to the north, and I hear his martial arts have reached a transcendent level — never once defeated. He’s a true grandmaster. That Sha Wanshi who was at Qingmu Stronghold a few days ago, for all his claim of sweeping through the Central Plains, is truly nothing compared to this man… and now he’s come to Lüliang too…”
At that moment, nearly everyone’s heart was struck with astonishment — that a grandmaster of this caliber would actually come to Lüliang. Luan Sanlang murmured, “He means to challenge the Blood Bodhisattva…” The expression on his face, for the moment, betrayed no clear sign of whether he felt joy or worry.
For a martial artist, the most solid foundation of one’s skill still comes from internal cultivation. Lüliang had always been a place of turmoil, so beyond internal skill, sheer ruthlessness in real combat counted for a great deal too — but if one’s internal cultivation fell too far short, no amount of ferocity would help. The power contained in that voice which had just echoed across Qingmu Stronghold was already far beyond Luan Sanlang’s own, leaving nothing in his heart but awe and dread. The Blood Bodhisattva’s reply, though quieter, still carried down from the mountain peak, revealing an extraordinarily high level of internal mastery — for a woman, a height that commanded true admiration.
He had once thought that if he ever crossed swords with the Blood Bodhisattva, the outcome would be roughly fifty-fifty. Who could have known she had already reached this level — and now that this true grandmaster, one who had genuinely swept the realm, seemed set on coming to give her trouble as well. Matters at the level of the martial world had suddenly been elevated to this degree, turning into a great battle between two grandmasters at Lüliang. For a moment, Luan Sanlang truly did not know what to think.
After a while, recalling something from earlier, he asked, “You mentioned before — who was it that came into the mountain from outside? What’s his name?”
“I only heard of it today. Up on the mountain now, there’s also someone called Ning Yi — people outside call him the Heart Demon…”
“Heart Demon Ning Yi — I feel like I’ve heard that name.”
Luan Sanlang thought it over. A companion beside him spoke up. “Could it be the one who broke Liangshan?”
“The one who fought Song Jiang and his brothers at the Liangshan Marsh?” Luan Sanlang furrowed his brow. “I heard that although Timely Rain Song Jiang’s own martial skill wasn’t especially high, the men under him were all first-rate heroes and champions. Yet this Heart Demon stormed the Hall of Righteous Gathering and, single-handedly, defeated more than ten top fighters in succession, finally seizing the momentum to crush Liangshan altogether?”
Chen Jiu said quietly, “He has ties to the court — he’s the most capable attack dog under the Wu Emperor, specializing in dealing with the martial world. Not only Liangshan — I’ve heard that when the Holy Duke to the south rose up and was being suppressed, this Heart Demon put in a great deal of effort there too. He’s quite likely crossed blades with the Holy Duke Fang La and with Cloud Dragon Nine Manifestations Fang Qifo and the like… it’s hard to say who would come out ahead.”
Luan Sanlang was silent for a long while, then let out a breath. “Damn it, things have gotten so tangled… I was thinking wrong. We should call all the brothers together and see how things develop before deciding anything else…”
Even as he spoke, they saw the procession of the Great Radiance Cult entering through the gates of Qingmu Stronghold. At its head, the leader of the Great Radiance Cult, Lin Zongwu, had the bearing of a Maitreya Buddha — his stride powerful, his great sleeves billowing — every bit the demeanor of the strongest grandmaster from beyond the mountains. In the blink of an eye, Qingmu Stronghold, which had been a neighbor to the rest of Lüliang for so long, suddenly seemed to have become unfathomably deep, as if it had taken on the air of a den of dragons and tigers…
…
With Lin Zongwu’s sudden arrival, everyone at Qingmu Stronghold had their own reactions.
This leader of the Great Radiance Cult had, over the past year, built a reputation that spread rapidly through the north. Partly this was because his martial skill was genuinely formidable; partly it was because, toward the great majority of those he defeated, his attitude was gentle and sincere, so that in time, many of them became willing to spread word of his name themselves. Over this past year or more, quite a few veteran figures of the martial world who had truly crossed hands with him had come to believe that this newly emerged grandmaster’s cultivation was unfathomably deep — that he could almost be called the foremost under heaven, without equal or rival. Some believed he had the ability to fight Zhou Tong, even to defeat him.
It was only unfortunate that, ever since stepping down from his post at the Imperial Archery Hall, Zhou Tong had gone wandering everywhere, showing his head but never his tail, impossible to pin down. As for this sort of empty fame that came from martial artists dueling one another, he no longer cared for it. For the past half year, Zhou Tong had been moving from mountain stronghold to mountain stronghold in the north, forcing them to release their hoarded grain for disaster relief, while Lin Zongwu searched for him throughout the north without ever managing to cross his path — a matter that honestly left many people feeling it a great pity.
There were even those who said that Lin Zongwu was merely putting on a show — that wherever Zhou Tong truly was, he simply didn’t dare go. Of course, no one truly believed Zhou Tong would ever flinch from a fight. Whether this talk, once it reached Lin Zongwu’s ears, stirred any feeling in him was something no one could say for certain.
Of course, only a very small number of people knew that the reason the court turned a blind eye and let the Great Radiance Cult operate — rather than crushing it the way it had crushed the Manichaean Sect — was because of the power standing behind it: none other than Qi Yan, head of the Qi Family, one of the great Confucian scholars of the age.
This time around, regarding the situation atop Lüliang, everyone had sent their own people to negotiate. Who could have known that halfway through, an unexpected wild card would appear and catch everyone off guard, leaving them all to swallow a bitter, silent loss. There were two reasons for this setback. First, Ning Yi’s standing within the Chancellor’s household was already considerable enough on its own. But had that been all, everyone could still have done business by the rules, on equal footing. Yet then the Secret Investigation Bureau announced that they had already been quietly operating at Qingmu Stronghold for two full years — and with that reason given, and Qingmu Stronghold cooperating fully, there was nothing left for anyone to say.
Xiao Cheng of the Wusheng Army obediently chose to take the money and back off. As for Dong Pang’er’s side, Sha Wanshi had already slunk away in humiliation after his earlier defeat, and the envoy he sent in his place accepted a bribe and went conveniently mute on the matter. He Shuyuan, knowing there was nothing to be done, and a scattering of other small merchants besides, mostly chose to accept reality as it was. But the one thing that still made them feel matters might yet take a turn was the atmosphere down at the foot of the mountain these past few days. If the other strongholds of Lüliang truly came to tear Qingmu Stronghold apart, then their own side might just be able to fish in troubled waters — and for that reason, not many people packed up and left right away. And so it was that a great many people ended up staying long enough to witness this grand spectacle unfold.
Dong Pang’er’s side had originally hoped to get Sha Wanshi to challenge the Blood Bodhisattva, only Sha Wanshi’s weight clearly wasn’t enough for it. But now things were different. On one side stood a visitor who was very nearly the foremost under heaven — the leader of the Great Radiance Cult. On the other, as the local power holding this ground, the notoriously fearsome Blood Bodhisattva, whose own martial skill likewise seemed nothing to scoff at. And with these two grandmasters in play, everyone naturally turned their thoughts to the formidable third figure: Heart Demon Ning Yi.
And just like that, Qingmu Stronghold had become a gathering place of grandmasters, a stage for a grand contest. Where matters would go from here — with these three, whose standing in the world of rivers and lakes was second to none, one representing a sect, one representing a bandit stronghold, and one representing the imperial court — if it came to open conflict, how fierce would it turn? The moment anyone learned of it, they began looking forward to it with bated breath.
Amid all this, Lou Shuwan too had begun to look forward, with quiet delight, to how things would unfold…
The tense atmosphere, following those two exchanges, began to settle over Qingmu Stronghold, the very air seeming to draw inward. Meanwhile, He Shuyuan, trailing behind Lin Zongwu, climbed the mountain in high spirits, eager to use the moment to provoke a confrontation between the two figures already on the mountain. Up on the hillside, when Ning Yi found Hongti, she was sitting on a large boulder, leaning back slightly, one hand resting on her ancient sword, eyes closed as she let the fierce mountain wind wash over her. Ning Yi knew that this was likely because Lin Zongwu’s arrival, or the fighting spirit it stirred, had roused something within her — some kind of inspiration belonging to a true grandmaster of the martial way, something he himself could not fully understand.
“He’s going to come challenge you. I don’t want you to accept his challenge. I’ll settle this man myself.”
Hongti opened her eyes and glanced at him, a smile spreading across her face. Though among the mountain’s strongest fighters Ning Yi might not rank particularly high, no one who truly knew him would doubt that he really could settle Lin Zongwu.
“I know you could settle him.” She smiled. “But it’s me he wants to challenge.”
Ning Yi stood there watching her, and after a moment, spoke. “…Behind the Great Radiance Cult stands Qi Yan. The Qi Family has dealings with the Chancellor’s household, so for now, the Great Radiance Cult and the Secret Investigation Bureau stay out of each other’s way. I can try my best to stop this from happening. Lin Zongwu came too quickly — he probably wasn’t summoned here by He Shuyuan. He may have originally just wanted a straightforward fight when he came, but with He Shuyuan egging him on, it’s hard to say how things will go now.”
“Liheng, come here.” Hongti looked at him and beckoned. Ning Yi walked over, took her hand, and the two of them sat down side by side on the boulder. Hongti leaned against his shoulder. “Lüliang has some rules that are pretty straightforward. You’ve said it yourself before — I don’t need to go around killing people everywhere, but fighting a match or two each year is only right. Everything else I can let slide, but not this one — if I don’t fight this one, it’ll be a real loss of face. This is exactly the moment I should step up, isn’t it?”
The mountain wind blew past. Ning Yi looked down at the scene below, then pulled Hongti’s hand and drew it into his embrace. “The Secret Investigation Bureau has looked into a great many people’s backgrounds, especially his — back when he was still called Lin Echan. His cultivation now is extremely high, unfathomably so. There was a period when I imagined him coming to the capital to make trouble for me — the contingency plan back then was that within a range of a hundred and fifty to two hundred li, the moment he appeared, whatever the reason, I would have mobilized every resource at hand to surround and kill him. It was only because the Chancellor’s household and the Qi Family reached an understanding that the plan was scrapped. He may very well already… be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Zhou Tong.”
“You’re afraid I’ll lose to him.” Hongti smiled.
Ning Yi glanced at her, then reached out and lifted her into his arms. Hongti was tall, but to Ning Yi she didn’t feel heavy at all. He held her against him now, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing her legs up.
“You have someone to care about now,” Ning Yi said quietly. “You’re going to marry me. You have something to hold onto now, and so do I. I don’t want you taking risks.”
“I understand.” Hongti tightened her arms around him, her voice soft. “But Liheng, think about it — what kind of place is Lüliang?”
“Hm?”
“I lived my whole life here,” she said softly. “Some people, once they have something to hold onto, can’t do what needs doing anymore. But some people do better precisely because they have something to hold onto. Liheng, staying alive here is hard — but once you’ve lived long enough in a place like Lüliang, you come to understand: the more you want to live, the less you can afford to be afraid. Fear is what gets you killed in the end. I told you before — you scholars, you can face down ten thousand men with your minds. I can’t do that. I can only face a hundred men with my hands. Even though sometimes people call you my teacher, I still love being held by you like this, still want to stay by your side, still want to do what I’m able to do — and this is what I’m able to do.”
“When your skill reaches a certain level, you become either utterly without feeling, or full of feeling. I care about you — and in terms of martial skill, that’s precisely when I’m at my strongest.” She smiled and spoke softly. “Even if it were Zhou Tong himself who came, this time, I’ll beat him and show you.”
Ning Yi was silent for a long moment, half-believing her. “Don’t you dare lie to me…” Then he muttered under his breath, “Never mind that you could beat me in a fight — if you dare lie to me… I’ll make you kneel on the bed and I’ll spank you…” Even as he said it, the thought of it made him strangely pleased, though a thread of worry still lingered in his heart, impossible to shake off.
Hongti’s face flushed faintly. She held tighter to his neck, and after a moment, said softly, “If I’m lying to you… then punish me however you like.”
When she looked shy like this, she hardly seemed like a martial grandmaster at all. The two strongest fighters on the mountain sat there a while longer, letting the mountain wind blow over them, before finally rising and walking down the mountain hand in hand.
“Then it’s settled! Let’s go give them a proper beating, once and for all.”
…
At Qingmu Stronghold, the sun sank slowly toward the west, the wind rolling the clouds along.
Below the mountain, the bandits of Lüliang began to gather.
Countless eyes turned toward that chaotic stage, waiting…