Wind- and Rain-Scattering Saber

Chen Yi still did not rush to learn Min Ning's saber strike.

Part of it was that he did not want to let her have her way, but more than that, it was because of the one-armed woman in his memories, Zhou Yitang.

He could not forget that one-armed woman.

In his first save, there had been a grudge between them.

She had saved his life, and to learn her swordsmanship, he had taken her as his master.

But the world was unpredictable, and a benefactor had suddenly become an enemy.

Chen Yi would never forget how, in the pouring rain, Zhou Yitang had sworn to heaven until her voice broke that even if she passed through reincarnation, she would make sure he died a wretched death.

He could not forget her grief-stricken face in the rain.

Back home, Chen Yi took off his outer robe and entered the bedroom, where he found Yin Tingxue reading by lamplight.

The Demonic Cult's Holy Maiden had almost recovered from her illness.

Seeing him enter, Yin Tingxue instinctively shrank back.

"Master..." Yin Tingxue called softly. Unwilling though she was, she dared not neglect him.

In the dim light, Chen Yi slowly approached and forcefully wrapped an arm around her waist.

Yin Tingxue looked at him tremblingly, pressing lightly against him with her hands, trying to make him let go.

But Chen Yi drew closer still. His breath burned against her, making her hot, and she did not like it.

Chen Yi stroked the girl's waist and ordered:

"Kiss me."

The sudden demand sent a chill down Yin Tingxue's back. Her small hands pushed against him in panic as she resisted:

"No, I don't want to."

Ignoring her resistance, Chen Yi held her a little tighter and said gently:

"Be good."

Yet after hesitating, Yin Tingxue still shook her head.

Chen Yi slapped her bottom and said with a sinister smile:

"Want me to really bully you? You're a concubine, after all."

Yin Tingxue's cheeks went pale. She pressed her lips together, gave Chen Yi a desolate look, then tremblingly leaned in to kiss him.

"...Take the initiative."

Obediently, she extended the tip of her tongue.

Their lips parted after a while. Chen Yi watched the embarrassed and aggrieved Yin Tingxue for a moment, stroked her head, and said:

"You're getting better and better at being a concubine, little fox."

Yin Tingxue murmured an unconscious "Mm."

Chen Yi rubbed her head, remembering that day when the flames in Silver Terrace Temple's treasure basin had burned fiercely, consuming all three thousand taels in banknotes. Despair, humiliation, and sorrow had swept through her eyes. Though all of this had been built on threats and inducements, even so, she was his now. Perhaps that was what it meant to be a concubine.

Chen Yi knew he was no good man, much less a member of some upright orthodox school, and Yin Tingxue had once killed him with her own hands. Thus, he would often threaten and bully her, and in the end, he would also... possess this concubine of his.

Chen Yi drew a breath and said:

"I'm going to take a bath."

Yin Tingxue shrank farther inward, wanting to distance herself from him. Once Chen Yi disappeared from sight, she picked up her book and soon became absorbed in it.

Before long, Chen Yi returned from his bath. Yin Tingxue was reading so intently that she did not even notice him approach, and she jumped when she turned her head.

Without hesitation, Chen Yi stepped forward and pulled her into his arms, settling the back of her head against his chest.

Yin Tingxue dared not struggle. Resting in his embrace, she asked:

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to hold you. So warm."

Yin Tingxue rested there for a while, looking at the book in her hands. It happened to be the passage where the protagonist visited a temple for the New Year. She looked thoughtful, then asked:

"Will you take me to worship at Thousand Lamps Temple?"

"Oh? Why?"

"...I want to pay my respects. It's time for the Prayer Daoist Grounds."

"That's all?"

Naturally, Yin Tingxue would not say this was a test-that she wanted to see whether Chen Yi would take her to Thousand Lamps Temple to gauge whether he would take her back to Silver Terrace Temple someday. But she was bad at lying and afraid of being bullied by Chen Yi, so she could only say softly:

"I miss Silver Terrace Temple."

Her mother had always said she was Silver Terrace Temple's daughter, and since being taken as a concubine, she had often thought longingly of Silver Terrace Temple.

Chen Yi pondered for a moment, unable to see the connection between the two. Still, the uproar had died down now, so there was no harm in taking her to worship at Thousand Lamps Temple during the day.

Besides, once her injuries healed, he was going to give her a cudgel blow to the head.

At that thought, Chen Yi wanted to make it up to her first:

"All right."

Yin Tingxue had not expected Chen Yi to agree so readily. Unable to find any words, she gave a soft, tender "Mm."

The Xiang Prince's Daughter rested in Chen Yi's arms and nestled closer of her own accord. She had always feared him and understood that this man never yielded to force. Coupled with the weakness in her nature, she no longer dared resist. Besides, after all these days, she had already accepted her fate and would properly be a concubine.

Silver Terrace Temple was too far away. However much she disliked him, she could only rely on him. Fortunately, after she accepted her fate and obeyed his every wish, he had treated her better than before and bullied her less.

Holding Yin Tingxue and seeing how docile she was, Chen Yi could not help feeling some tenderness toward her, especially when he thought of what he wanted to do.

That day was not far off. He should buy her a hairpin first.

Early that morning, as he stepped through the Eastern Depot's gates, everyone knelt to receive the empress dowager's decree.

"Thoroughly investigate the events of Demon-Quelling Day?"

Chen Yi murmured after carefully reading the decree.

"Director Chen, do you have any thoughts?"

Song Tong spoke.

"This matter... isn't really our specialty. We're a bunch of martial men, not Daoist priests."

Chen Yi said:

"We have no choice but to accept the decree. Deputy Director, go assign some men. Oh, the Shangqing Dao should be arriving in the Capital City soon, shouldn't they?"

Song Tong replied:

"They should arrive this morning. They'll first enter the palace for an audience with His Majesty and pray for his blessings, then go stay at Thousand Lamps Temple."

Chen Yi nodded. This way, he could not only ask the Shangqing Dao's people about the situation but also take Yin Tingxue to worship at Thousand Lamps Temple.

Just as Chen Yi was about to turn and leave, Song Tong remembered something and said:

"Right, Director. Yesterday, you had the Recorder find the files concerning Prince Jing's Manor... some of them concern Jade Elegance Estate."

"Is there a problem?"

"Nothing... it's just that these concern Prince Jing's Manor's properties... please give it careful consideration."

Song Tong advised him.

Chen Yi laughed inwardly. Prince Jing's Manor had already brought the killing right to his face last night.

Going to the File Room, Chen Yi took out the files the Recorder had previously retrieved and began reading through them carefully.

"Jade Elegance Estate is suspected of illegally trafficking Five-Stone Powder..."

Realizing the seriousness of the matter, Chen Yi set that case file aside to keep.

After noon, when word came that the Shangqing Dao had finished their imperial audience and were heading to Thousand Lamps Temple, Chen Yi realized it was time to make the trip.

Learning they were going to Thousand Lamps Temple, the little fox's lips curled into a smile. She shut the windows one after another with little clacks, put on her shoes, sat before the dressing table, and briefly tidied her face.

"Let's go."

Once she was ready, Yin Tingxue urged him on.

The moment he stepped outside, Chen Yi saw Min Ning leaning against a low wall, looking as though she had been waiting for some time.

"Are you going to Thousand Lamps Temple?"

Min Ning spoke first:

"The deputy director assigned me to assist you. Let's go together."

In the past, even if Song Tong had assigned her as his assistant, Min Ning would never have been so eager as to come straight to his door. She was doing so now for no other reason than to strike a bargain with him.

"On foot or horseback?" Min Ning asked.

"On foot. I imagine it'll be crowded outside Thousand Lamps Temple. Everyone will want to offer the first incense at the Prayer Daoist Grounds."

Chen Yi made the simple arrangements.

Yin Tingxue glanced at Min Ning and recognized her, then turned all her attention toward the street. From the way she gazed so longingly, she probably wished she could reach Thousand Lamps Temple at once.

The three set off immediately. Roughly half an hour later, they glimpsed Thousand Lamps Temple halfway up the hillside, with an endless stream of visitors outside.

A drizzle fine as ox hair began falling outside the temple.

Despite the rain, many people crowded outside the mountain gate, all hoping to offer the first incense. Thousand Lamps Temple's Daoist priests and novices barely managed to keep them outside.

The three were in no hurry to enter the temple, so they found a nearby teahouse, showed their waist badges, and went straight to a private room upstairs.

Through the window, Yin Tingxue could see Thousand Lamps Temple's bustle from afar. Beside it, Silver Terrace Temple's desolation was painfully stark. During New Years past, Silver Terrace Temple would be festooned with lanterns and decorations, and her mother would lead the visiting ladies there for vegetarian meals. But after her mother passed away and her father appointed a new principal consort, Silver Terrace Temple had scarcely been cleaned, as though it had been banished to the cold palace.

The servants and maids would only clean it when Yin Tingxue wanted to visit. Now that the Xiang Prince's Residence had been confiscated, she did not know what had become of Silver Terrace Temple.

The more the Xiang Prince's Daughter looked at Thousand Lamps Temple's splendor in the drizzle, the more Silver Terrace Temple's decline tugged painfully at her heart.

"A concubine. Silver Terrace is a concubine," Yin Tingxue whispered.

Throughout the four hundred years since Great Yu's founding, Thousand Lamps Temple had always been this prosperous. Seen this way, it was undoubtedly a wife of peerless grace, while Silver Terrace Temple, flourishing for barely a dozen years, was merely a concubine favored for a time.

And she was Silver Terrace Temple's daughter.

"So a concubine's daughter is a concubine too?" Yin Tingxue fell into a momentary daze.

Seeing her sorrow, Chen Yi poured tea for all three of them once the serving girl brought it over.

After drinking half a cup, Min Ning spoke:

"You really won't learn that saber strike of mine?"

Chen Yi turned his head.

"It's not that I doubt your talent. But setting aside the fact that I could never take you as my master, you've never even shown me that strike. Who knows how accomplished it really is?"

Hearing this, Min Ning felt a little apprehensive herself.

Over the past few days, she had often recalled the sight of Chen Yi killing twenty-one men in the rainy alley at night, and from it, she had comprehended this strike. She had never used it in a fight to the death, and she herself did not know how accomplished it was.

"Besides, just one strike? You want me to take you as my master over one strike? You're dreaming. How could one strike be enough?"

Chen Yi teased.

"There's only one strike."

Min Ning mustered her courage and said:

"One strike holds the principle: Wind- and Rain-Scattering Saber."

Chen Yi smiled noncommittally.

At some point, a commotion had broken out at Thousand Lamps Temple's mountain gate, not far from the teahouse.

"It's the North Sea Gang's leader, Li the Rakshasa!"

"They smashed the porters' guild just last month. Dozens of immensely strong porters, and he brought only five men and put them all on the ground."

"A burly man eight feet tall-he split his skull with one blow."

The man at their head, his muscles knotted and his face brutish, carried a cloth-wrapped saber on his back and forcefully shoved aside the visitors in his way.

"Get lost! Nobody's taking this first stick of incense from me today."

Several North Sea Gang members followed behind Li the Rakshasa, waving clubs and shouting at everyone around them.

Some people, however, refused to take the hint or swallow it. They immediately stiffened their necks and challenged Li the Rakshasa to kill them if he had the guts.

Li the Rakshasa immediately stripped off the cloth, revealing a gleaming broad saber that shone cold beneath the sun. The drizzle splashed against the ground, especially chilly.

With the blade revealed, who dared not retreat? Everyone cleared a path.

Watching this from afar, Min Ning knitted her brows.

"Li the Rakshasa. An Eighth-Rank Martial Artist, like you, and leader of the North Sea Gang. On the surface, he runs a shipping business, but he has quite a few human traffickers under him."

Chen Yi asked:

"Someone like that deserves to die, and he's drawn a saber in the street besides. Why don't you try that move?"

After a moment's thought, Min Ning turned and called out:

"Bring me a pot of wine."

Chen Yi asked in confusion:

"Why drink? Drinking will slow your saber, and you don't drink often."

Min Ning gave a brief answer:

"For courage."

Chen Yi clutched his belly and laughed silently. Min Ning had spoken of that strike with such imposing confidence earlier; he had never expected that she herself had no confidence in it.

"One strike holds the principle: Wind- and Rain-Scattering Saber."

Chen Yi repeated it mockingly.

Min Ning glared at him. Once the teahouse serving girl handed her a gourd filled with Daughter's Red, she pulled out the stopper and gulped down several mouthfuls. Then she abruptly rose, tied the gourd at her waist, and went downstairs with a hint of drunkenness.

Chen Yi watched her retreating figure intently, not letting his attention stray for a moment, lest anything happen to her.

The ox-hair drizzle continued.

Min Ning advanced step by step and drew her saber. Seeing her official uniform, the passersby around her all moved aside.

"Those who cause trouble on the road and draw a blade shall, upon being seen by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, be executed on the spot."

Min Ning recited the Great Yu Law in an even voice.

Seeing that she was from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the gang members grew fearful. Their leader, Li the Rakshasa, looked behind her, then around them. Discovering she had no companions, he called:

"Officer, do me a favor. I know some brothers in the Embroidered Uniform Guard too."

Min Ning merely repeated:

"Those who cause trouble on the road and draw a blade shall, upon being seen by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, be executed on the spot."

At those words, Li the Rakshasa's face darkened. He now had two paths: one was to smooth things over and slink away with his gang; the other was to face her head-on, kill this Embroidered Uniform Guard, then leave the Capital City until the storm blew over. Once he returned, he would be a fine fellow once more.

What gang leader was timid and afraid of trouble? Li the Rakshasa's vicious streak flared, and he barked:

"If you want to fight, fight. If you want to kill, kill."

Those were precisely the words Min Ning had been waiting for. As the wine went to her head, she bowed slightly, gripping her Embroidered Spring Saber tightly. The whole saber was over an arm's length, its blade three feet eight inches long, its steel bright as water. Passed down through the Min Lineage, it was named "Thoughtless," taken from a line in the Jiao-Slaying Saber Technique: "With no distracting thoughts in the mind, even a sudden downpour can be cleaved." Back then, Min He had risen from a commoner to Pacification Commissioner in just a few years, relying first on his Cangshan Fist and second on Thoughtless. When Prince Jing, the Previous Emperor's elder brother, heard of Min He's formidable reputation, he had sent someone to buy the saber for a thousand taels of gold, only to be refused an audience and left to taste the cold shoulder of a closed door.

Min Ning poised herself to strike. Outside the Thousand Lamps Temple, the curtain of rain had grown denser, fine droplets swirling through the air. She remembered that rainy night when Chen Yi had killed twenty-one men single-handedly. She had counted afterward: forty-three saber strikes in total, almost every one exquisite, with a force that could overturn the seas. Yet each strike had something superfluous about it. Where one would clearly have sufficed, he had used two or even three. Still, one strike had been exceptionally good: the one that had cut through flesh and bone to kill the Eastern Depot's Chief Constable. Her own strike had come from that. Chen Yi had said drinking would slow her saber, yet after drinking, her hand plainly had more strength.

While these thoughts passed through her mind, Li the Rakshasa had already raised his great saber high and charged at her with his enormous body, roaring like a lion:

"Meet!"

Min Ning set her qi in motion, lifted her right foot, and stamped heavily forward. She surged out like armored cavalry punching through a battle line, gripping her saber and slashing ahead beneath the curtain of rain.

Swish.

First came the clean, crisp sound of flesh being sliced open.

Tap, tap, crack...

That crack was the blade striking the hard spine, accompanied by the shattering of bone. After that came another satisfyingly clean swish.

A cold gleam flashed and vanished. Chen Yi tightened his grip on his teacup. From afar, he saw that after this strike, the wind had slowed a little, and even the curtain of rain had been cleaved, leaving a band of empty space!

Blood gushed to either side, splashing onto the visitors. They froze at first, then screamed in horror.

Half a torso toppled stiffly like a snapped flagpole. Li the Rakshasa's eyes rolled white, and in the few seconds before he breathed his last, he finished his final word:

"Death..."

The North Sea Gang's members stood frozen. Not one dared step forward to retrieve the body.

Min Ning straightened, her face expressionless. Rather than sheathe her saber, she untied the gourd at her waist and took a great swig.

The fine Daughter's Red went down into her belly. This gourd of wine cost at least five or six taels of silver, while her annual salary was only thirty. But she was not worried. It was all Chen Yi's money.

She turned and walked slowly away.

Chen Yi watched the scene from afar.

At that moment, fine rain swirled through the air. Having killed, the young heroine walked slowly in from outside the temple, drinking wine, her long saber dripping blood and her skirt ribbons fluttering.