One day, two strange men appeared outside Gusu City.
One was a tall, broad-shouldered, middle-aged foreign monk. He had iron crutches tucked under both arms and a bit meant for horses and mules in his mouth, making him look like a cripple.
The other was dressed from head to foot in a black robe. Though his face looked gaunt and emaciated, he had regained something of a human appearance.
The two men arrived together at a reed marsh outside Gusu City. They were Xu Xiao and Jiumozhi.
"What's the matter? Still not used to those crutches?" Xu Xiao taunted the dispirited Jiumozhi as usual.
"I'm used to them, I'm used to them. Thank you for your concern, young master."
At Xu Xiao's words, Jiumozhi hastily pulled himself together and replied, though the bit in his mouth made his speech somewhat indistinct.
There was nothing of an enlightened monk in his words or manner. He was all servile smiles and fawning gestures.
"Hahaha, good, as long as you're used to them. Hurry up and check the way. Make sure this is the road to Swallow Dock, and don't waste my time."
Xu Xiao laughed heartily, thoroughly pleased with Jiumozhi's obedience.
This was all the result of his training from yesterday to today. As for how to deal with people, Xu Xiao had seen plenty in the apocalypse.
Ever since catching Jiumozhi the previous morning, he had carried him as he flew a thousand li to Gusu City, in the watery Jiangnan region.
Along the way, he had all manner of conversations with Jiumozhi. Besides learning of the man's filthy intentions, he also learned that the esoteric Buddhist monks of present-day Tubo were just like the Tibetan monks he had heard about in his own world.
Bloody and brutal, capable of every evil-Xu Xiao's opinion of Jiumozhi immediately plummeted.
Throughout the journey, he had mocked Jiumozhi mercilessly, and whenever anything displeased him, he subjected the monk to all manner of torment.
As an enlightened monk, Jiumozhi had originally believed he no longer cared about physical pain and had even planned to put on a tough front.
But then Xu Xiao used Telekinesis to peel his fingernails away bit by bit and slowly crush his bones.
The enlightened monk became as docile as a little lamb, answering everything Xu Xiao asked and holding nothing back.
He even answered every question about the events of his childhood, from as far back as he could remember. He was truly obedient and sensible.
In just over a day, the Great Wheel Wisdom King praised by everyone in the Kingdom of Tubo had vanished.
In his place was a dog at Xu Xiao's feet, willing to take any beating or abuse.
Some might ask how a first-rate martial arts expert like Jiumozhi, who had surely endured countless hardships in his training, could so willingly cast aside his dignity and become a dog.
Anyone who said that was clearly making assumptions. The moment Jiumozhi realized he had fallen into Xu Xiao's hands, he tried to kill himself.
But how could Xu Xiao give him the chance?
After taking him away from Heavenly Dragon Temple in Dali, Xu Xiao found a nearby house, drained most of Jiumozhi's Internal Energy clean away, and stuffed a livestock bit into his mouth for good measure.
He had refrained from draining him dry because he worried that, without Internal Energy to sustain him, his battered body would give out on the road. Without a guide, it would take Xu Xiao considerable effort to find Swallow Dock.
Nor had Xu Xiao simply tortured him. He promised Jiumozhi that if he led him to the Gusu Murong Family, he would spare his life.
That gave Jiumozhi, whose future had seemed utterly dark, a little more hope of survival.
Even an ant clung to life. How much more so Jiumozhi?
Now that they had reached the reed-fringed lake, Jiumozhi gazed at the place, which seemed just as he dimly remembered it, and was full of anticipation.
Soon. We'll be there any moment. I hope this villain spares me as promised.
Although he believed that, in Xu Xiao's place, he probably would not spare himself, how could Jiumozhi help harboring a sliver of hope?
He, the dignified imperial preceptor of the Kingdom of Tubo, had merely wanted to go to Dali and see the Six Meridian Divine Sword, only to be reduced to this state by a mysterious stranger who had appeared out of nowhere.
Where could he go to seek justice?
But there was no justice to speak of in this world to begin with. If there was any principle, it was that whoever had the bigger fist was in the right.
In the original story, the Duan Family had burned the Six Meridian Divine Sword Manual to keep it out of his hands.
As a result, by the time of the Divine Eagle era, the only martial art the Dali Duan Clan had left worth showing was the One Yang Finger.
Now, with Xu Xiao's intervention, he had saved Duan Zhengchun and driven Jiumozhi away, which counted as repaying Duan Yu for the kindness of being half a teacher to him.
In this way, every sip and every peck accorded with the predestined workings of cause and effect.
But that was enough digression. To return to the matter at hand, after looking around to get his bearings, Jiumozhi found the right direction.
He walked to an opening in the reeds, which stood twice the height of a man, pushed the reeds blocking the way aside, and pointed toward the distant lake.
"Young master, we should reach the Murong Family by going about thirty li in that direction."
"When Murong Bo invited me to his home before, his servants rowed me there from somewhere nearby. There should be a hidden dock around here."
"All right, as long as you've got the direction. We don't need a boat to cross the water," Xu Xiao said with a nod.
"Of course, of course. Your divine skills are unmatched, young master. How could you need to resort to rowing a boat like an ordinary mortal?"
Jiumozhi hurriedly offered up a rainbow fart.
Having seen Xu Xiao fly through the air, he had long since placed him among the practitioners described in Buddhist sutras and Daoist scriptures.
Alongside his awe, he felt the faintest trace of envy.
"Enough flattery. Keep your eyes on the lake and make sure you don't miss it."
Though Xu Xiao told him to stop flattering him, a smile appeared on his face.
Their bodies rose without a breath of wind, soaring into the air in an instant and speeding toward the lake.
More than twenty meters above the ground, they maintained a speed of roughly 60 kilometers per hour. After about ten minutes, they saw a sprawling cluster of buildings on the distant lake.
"Young master, that's Swallow Dock, home of the Gusu Murong Family. I've been here before."
Jiumozhi pointed at the distant buildings and cried out in delight.
Xu Xiao nodded. The two suddenly accelerated and landed on the island in less than two minutes.
Surrounded by water on all sides, the place had been built on a small island in the lake, with towers, waterside pavilions, terraces, and courtyards. Its understated appearance truly concealed an air of luxury.
This was the Murong Family's stronghold, Swallow Dock, hidden in the lake.
Normally concealed amid the lake, it could only be reached by boat, making it a natural stronghold that was easy to defend and hard to attack.
Ordinarily, outsiders had to find the hidden dock and come by boat, but Xu Xiao and Jiumozhi descended slowly from the sky.
At that moment, two young women playing on a terrace elsewhere on the island saw the sight and froze on the spot.
"A Bi, did you see that?"
"Sister A Zhu, I saw it!"
The two exchanged a glance, terror showing in both their eyes.
It was not that people from the martial world had never sneaked onto the island before, but those people had either rowed or swum underwater. Who had ever descended from the sky?
"This is terrible! The young master isn't home, and only Third Brother Bao is here. Who knows why they've come to our island?" The girl in green stamped her feet anxiously.
The slightly older girl in pink took her by the arm and gently reassured her.
"Don't panic, A Bi. Go find Third Brother Bao quietly and tell him to watch out for the newcomers and prepare for them."
"I'll put on a disguise, then go ask what they want and keep them occupied."
"That's too dangerous, Sister A Zhu." A Bi, the girl in green, naturally refused.
"Silly girl, even if you don't trust me, don't you trust my disguise skills? Hurry and find Third Brother Bao."
A Zhu playfully scraped the tip of A Bi's nose, then took out the tools she carried with her and began applying her disguise.
Before long, the rosy-cheeked girl had become a dignified man.
"A Bi, why are you still standing there? Hurry up and go!"
"Young master-Sister A Zhu, how could you make yourself look like the young master?" A Bi asked, a little jealous.
"I have my reasons. They've made an extraordinary entrance, so I expect they've come for the young master. If I don't look like him, it won't be easy to deal with them."
"Besides, the young master's reputation is known throughout the martial world. His appearance will also be more effective at intimidating these people who deliberately came ashore."
A Zhu, now disguised as Murong Fu, spoke in a man's voice as well.
A Bi thought it over and saw that A Zhu had a point. She obediently took a side path farther into the island to warn the others first.