The night passed without incident.
At dawn, Ye Jingtang leaned against the corner of the wall, keeping watch for any stir outside.
Niao Niao nestled in his arms. Perhaps because there were strangers present, the bird slept in a slightly more respectable posture, with only its head tilted to one side.
Heroine Luo did not seem to be sleeping deeply. Every quarter of an hour, she would pretend to turn over and sneak a glance his way, probably checking whether he was getting handsy with Zhe Yunli.
Zhe Yunli, on the other hand, behaved herself. She leaned against the wall three feet away, holding her saber without moving a muscle. There had been no midnight incident of her leaning on his shoulder, either.
The eastern sky gradually paled.
Seeing that it was time, Ye Jingtang rose with Niao Niao in his arms. But the instant he moved, the girl beside him drew her saber half an inch and looked at him warily.
"What are you doing?"
"Going out to work."
Ye Jingtang patted down his robe and gestured at the room.
"Did you think I was like you people from great houses and major sects, with food and drink handed to me without lifting a finger?"
Zhe Yunli blinked, sheathed her saber, then stood and patted her pert bottom.
"What kind of work? Do you need help?"
On the bed, Luo Ning propped up her upper body at those words, still a little drowsy.
"Yunli!"
After a night's rest, Luo Ning had recovered much of her color, and her natural beauty was beginning to show again. She propped herself up like a languid young wife, her long hair cascading like rippling water. Those beautiful peach-blossom eyes, sleepy yet touched with anger, were enough to wake the slumbering in an instant and send the wide-awake into a daze.
Ye Jingtang had already thought Luo Ning exceptionally beautiful yesterday. Seeing her again this morning, she seemed even more ethereal. Calling her a fairy the Cowherd had tricked into coming home with him would not have been an exaggeration, and he could not help stealing a few more looks.
Noticing Ye Jingtang's gaze, Luo Ning promptly lay back down and pulled the bedding up over herself, her eyes turning slightly cold.
Seeing Luo Ning stop her, Zhe Yunli replied with a grin.
"Master's wife, I'm not going out to play. I'm gathering information. I'll be safer with him."
Ye Jingtang headed out with his saber. "You'll be safe, but what about me? I'm not your accomplice. If you bring the Black Bureau Six Fiends down on us, I won't know whether to fight or run. Won't you be dragging me into your mess?"
"I could pretend to be your wife. Nobody should-"
"Yunli!"
Luo Ning sprang upright, blazing with anger!
Zhe Yunli said helplessly, "It's just playing a part to suit the occasion..."
"What do you mean, playing a part?"
The phrase alone infuriated Luo Ning. If Yunli pretended to be this little rogue's wife, he would certainly ride the current and take advantage of her. Luo Ning herself had already...
Wouldn't that mean master and disciple sharing one husband...
"You're an unmarried girl! How can you play a part like that?"
Thinking it over, Zhe Yunli agreed. "Then I'll pretend to be his younger sister... Huh?"
Before she could finish, Ye Jingtang had already disappeared beyond the courtyard gate...
Elsewhere, at the Pei Family residence by Skywater Bridge.
Day had barely broken. Pei Xiangjun sat in the main hall, tapping her fingers against the table, her brows tightly knitted.
In the seat of honor sat Madam Zhang Yulian, widow of the eldest Pei brother. Worry also clouded her brow. Holding a white porcelain teacup, she gently rubbed its lid against the rim.
"The people out in the martial world show less and less consideration. Incense Master Wang visited the Zhou Family to discuss Clear River Wharf, and he didn't even get to see any of their leaders. They sent their steward to receive him... With our Azure Dragon Hall reduced to this, how can we still have the face to command the hall masters of the Red Flower House...?"
"Sister-in-law, how could I not know all this? In the martial world, your fists decide how much weight your words carry..."
Madam Zhang's position in the martial world amounted to that of the "chief's wife." Now that both the eldest and second Pei brothers had passed away, only her son Pei Luo remained. Pei Luo had little talent for martial arts, and as he was her only child, she did not dare tell him about their martial-world enterprises. Who could she count on now except the Third Lady before her?
Madam Zhang knew it was not easy for Pei Xiangjun to shoulder the Red Flower House alone. She sighed softly.
"Third Lady, I wasn't criticizing you. I meant the situation. Now we can only hope Jingtang, whom Second Brother sent us, can shoulder these matters. Even after Second Brother passed away, Jingtang honored his will and traveled a thousand miles to deliver his estate. He must value loyalty and affection; his character cannot be poor. Why don't you teach him your spear techniques and let him..."
Pei Xiangjun shook her head slightly. "I know Jingtang is upright, and he's a fine-looking young man, too. He looks like someone who could accomplish great things. But distant water cannot put out a nearby fire. A month for the staff, a year for the saber, a lifetime for the spear. Even with a solid foundation and decent talent, he would need at least three to five years to master the spear techniques. Then another three years of real fighting to build a reputation..."
With no one else to pin her hopes on, Madam Zhang could only say:
"Perhaps Jingtang is extraordinarily gifted and could learn the Pei Family Spear in a month or so. You're going to the Righteous Gathering Tower next month to meet the hall masters. You could take him along..."
Pei Xiangjun was rather helpless. "Pulling up seedlings to help them grow will ruin even the finest stock. Even if Jingtang learned the spear techniques in a month, he has no experience in the martial world. Who could he beat out there?"
"House Master, something's wrong..."
While the two women were talking, footsteps suddenly sounded outside, and Xiuhe ran in, her eyes filled with anxiety.
Both women in the hall frowned at her words. Pei Xiangjun rose.
"What happened?"
"The young master was coming here today, but somehow he got into a confrontation with the Six Fiends on the way."
"The Six Fiends?"
Pei Xiangjun frowned and thought for a moment.
"He must have drawn his saber near the Jade Resonance Tower and aroused the Black Bureau's suspicions. They already sent someone yesterday to confirm Jingtang's identity. Jingtang doesn't know the Eight-Step Mad Blade. Let them test him however they like. Nothing will go wrong."
Xiuhe hurriedly shook her head. "No, no. Black and White Impermanence took action. We had no eyes nearby, but we heard that when Iron-Armed Impermanence came out, blood was pouring from his left arm..."
"What?!"
Zhang Yulian stood up and asked incredulously, "Jingtang cut Black Impermanence?"
Pei Xiangjun quickly shook her head. "What kind of joke is that? Jingtang doesn't know the first thing about proper techniques. How could he cut through Black Impermanence's bronze skin and iron bones? He's the Black Bureau's external-style Grandmaster!"
Xiuhe said anxiously, "That's what people outside are saying. Please hurry over and look. The young master seems to still be trapped by White Impermanence..."
At that, Pei Xiangjun dared not delay any longer and hurried out...
Black clouds pressed down over the city. Although dawn had broken some time ago, the streets were still rather dim.
Leading his horse out of Twin Osmanthus Alley, Ye Jingtang arrived near Skywater Bridge with Niao Niao. He ordered a basket of steamed buns from a shop at the street corner and shared breakfast with the bird, still wondering what the two women back in the room would eat and whether he should have Niao Niao take a couple of buns back.
Before he could decide, however, he caught sight of someone watching him from the mouth of an alley not far away.
Ye Jingtang looked up and saw that the man at the alley entrance was Yang Guan, whom he had beaten just yesterday.
With his hand wrapped in bandages and a gloomy expression on his face, Yang Guan crooked a finger at him, then went into the alley.
*?*
Sensing that something was wrong, Ye Jingtang raised his hand slightly. Niao Niao spread its wings and soared into the sky.
A moment later, Niao Niao descended from above and chirped, "Cheep, cheep, cheep," indicating three people.
Yang Guan had shown up again, which meant the matter was not settled.
After a moment's thought, Ye Jingtang tossed down a few copper coins and entered the alley with his hand on the saber at his waist.
The alley ran deep. Around a bend lay a dead end, with high walls on either side and a narrow passage between them.
Beneath the gloomy sky, two figures stood shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the alley. Both wore straw rain capes and bamboo hats, dressed like ordinary martial wanderers. One was tall and broad, the other rather lean. Neither held a weapon.
Yang Guan stood behind them.
Alone with his saber, Ye Jingtang stood at the alley entrance. After looking over the two men in bamboo hats, he turned to Yang Guan.
"Still not satisfied?"
Yang Guan sounded thoroughly confident. "You've barely arrived, and you already dare use your martial skills to run wild in the Capital City. Do you really think nobody in this world can deal with you? Take off one of your hands and one of your feet, and I'll spare you. Otherwise, I'll have you beaten to death today. You're only an adopted son of the Pei Family. Nobody will stand up for you."
Ye Jingtang said no more. Gripping his saber, he advanced slowly. Barely two steps later, he suddenly exploded into motion and charged the two men in bamboo hats.
Ye Jingtang had plenty of momentum, but never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined what caliber of hired muscle a bottom-rung street thug collecting protection money had brought in!
His blade had only just left its sheath when the taller of the two figures tilted up his bamboo hat, revealing a hard-lined face. Then, in a flash, he was right in front of Ye Jingtang.
Realizing something was wrong, Ye Jingtang slashed at the man, only for him to raise his right arm and block it directly.
Clang-
Metal rang sharply against metal.
Ye Jingtang had assumed the man wore an iron bracer. But after slicing through his sleeve, he was stunned to discover nothing beneath the cloth but bronze skin.
The forearm was corded with muscle. Aside from a white mark, the blade had not even broken the skin!
*?!*
Shock flashed in Ye Jingtang's eyes. For an instant, he thought his vision had deceived him.
Locked in combat, neither side had any opportunity to speak.
Blocking the saber with his right arm, the tall figure drove his left fist straight at Ye Jingtang's chest.
Thud-
The punch was heavy, but although Ye Jingtang knew no advanced techniques, his adoptive father had hammered his foundations solid.
Put simply, his offensive power was lacking, but there was nothing wrong with his ability to take a hit.
Taking the punch to his chest, Ye Jingtang barely reacted. He drove his blade into the ground, slid back several steps, and steadied himself.
But the instant he stopped, a chill gust blew in from ahead, lifting the hair beside his ears.
Whoosh-
A chill struck Ye Jingtang's heart, and he immediately leaned backward to evade.
The next instant, a ghostly figure swept overhead. It looked like a straw rain cape blown in on the wind, without any solid body beneath it.
Yet a sinister face appeared unmistakably beneath the bamboo hat, staring coldly at him. The figure's body moved with the wind, as though it had not a single bone.
Ye Jingtang swept his saber at the ghostly figure, only to find that when the edge touched the straw cape, the cape moved with it, offering no purchase whatsoever.
His slash failed to harm the ghostly figure in the slightest. Instead, something brushed his right arm.
The force of the Ghost Shoulder Tap was so light that Ye Jingtang felt as though a robe had merely grazed him.
But his shoulder immediately began to ache and go numb. An icy chill seeped into his body, and the strength in his right arm plummeted.
Shaken, Ye Jingtang flipped upright and sheathed his saber. Taking a reverse grip on the hilt with his left hand, he backed against the wall and kept both figures, left and right, within his peripheral vision.
The weightless, ghostly figure had already blocked the sole exit without a sound. Its bamboo hat tilted slightly downward, it stood utterly motionless, like a wooden post.
The tall figure did the same.
Neither moved, yet an invisible pressure filled the silent alley, as though two mountains towered on either side...
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