Having successfully shut Wei Xun in his room to practice calligraphy, Baozhu put on her archery thumb ring and armguard. Fully equipped from head to toe, she descended from the second floor in imposing style. Yet the assembled heroes noticed only the dagger at her waist. Some immediately bristled with indignation, others gloated, and still others dismissed her with contempt.
The same thought thundered through every mind: He actually gave her the Fish-Intestine Sword!
Fish Intestine was one of the Ten Legendary Swords of Antiquity, famed in history as the weapon Zhuan Zhu had used to assassinate King Liao. Compared with other celebrated swords that had sat in royal and aristocratic collections without ever drawing blood, it was a deadly weapon embodying supreme courage. Chen Shigu had excavated it from a Pre-Qin tomb, but after a thousand years without tasting blood, it had rusted into an iron rod.
In his youth, Chen Shigu had used that edgeless iron rod to kill the leaders of seven Guanzhong sects, sweeping aside all opposition to carve out a domain of his own. As Fish Intestine drank blood, it gradually regained its edge. By the time its old, cold gleam returned, the Setting Sun Courtyard had been founded. Decades later, as Chen Shigu grew old, he passed Fish Intestine to his first disciple, Wei Xun.
Infuriatingly, neither master nor disciple treasured the ancient sword. Finding its dimensions unsuitable, Chen Shigu had ground the short sword down into a dagger. Wei Xun ordinarily used no weapons, and upon receiving Fish Intestine, had simply used it as a table knife. The others of the Master's School had long found this intolerable.
While everyone seethed with resentment and uncertainty, Huo Qilang went up to welcome Baozhu with a smile. She first lavishly praised Baozhu's male attire that