The girl was about sixteen or seventeen, her long black hair fluttering in the wind. She wore a crown woven from wildflowers, and her large, blinking eyes gave her oval face a mischievous look. Shallow dimples appeared at the corners of her mouth when she smiled. Her clothes, however, were exquisitely made; she seemed like the young lady of an official's household.
Zhao Hao looked at Li Qiang in puzzlement as he swiftly put on the Crimson Flame Dragon Shield and fastened the Eagle Strike Crossbow. What had struck Li Qiang at first sight was not the girl's delicate beauty, but the whip in her hand. That translucent white whip radiated a peculiar energy, and Li Qiang immediately determined that she must be a cultivator.
The big, dark Zheng Peng seemed quite concerned about the girl. "Chief, little sister, I made a bet and lost myself to them. I owe you an apology. I won't be staying at the stronghold anymore, so take good care of yourself. Or you could come with me. I think this pretty-boy... er... young fellow is a decent sort. You two would make quite a pair." He was something else: he had no idea what would happen to him, yet he was worrying about someone else-and meddling blindly at that.
The girl was beside herself with anger at Zheng Peng. "Heizi! Zheng Peng! You muddleheaded fool, what nonsense are you spouting? You-you-stand aside and watch me teach these two villains, big and small, a lesson!"
Zhao Hao took exception to that. "Now, young lady, Zheng Peng is one of ours already. It isn't your place to lecture him. Besides, you're such a young girl. Of all the things you could do, why become a bandit?"
"Watch out!" Li Qiang cried urgently.
The girl unleashed her fury. Her long whip flew out, nine whip shadows lunging at Zhao Hao like beasts baring their fangs and claws.
Li Qiang darted into the whip shadows. The nine shadows turned into white, centipede-like worms that rapidly coiled around him as soon as they touched his body.
Zhao Hao broke into a cold sweat. He immediately realized that the girl's whip, like Li Qiang's Eagle Strike Crossbow, was a cultivator's weapon. He could never block it. "Master, be careful!" he shouted hastily.
The whip shadows bound Li Qiang tightly the instant they reached him. They were nine strange cords of energy. The girl giggled. "Now you've had a taste of my power! Unless I choose to release you, you'll never move again for the rest of your life."
Li Qiang smiled faintly. "Really? If I break free, don't be a sore loser."
Zheng Peng's eyes were truly opened. A flaming purple dragon spiraled out from Li Qiang's body, spinning as it shattered the nine thin white cords. Then seven or eight palm-sized golden eagles flew from Li Qiang's hand, crying as they soared into the sky.
The girl turned pale with shock and backed away repeatedly. "You-you-you're one too... don't-don't let those eagles swoop down!"
She had never imagined that Li Qiang was also a cultivator, much less that his cultivation far surpassed hers. Intending to give her a scare, Li Qiang kept the flock of golden eagles circling above her head.
Although Zheng Peng did not know how powerful the golden eagles were, seeing her so frightened made him plead for her. "Hey, young fellow, let it go. Do me a favor and spare her."
Zhao Hao perked up. "Little girl, if you admit defeat, I'll ask my master to spare you."
The girl's lips puckered, her eyes reddened, and she suddenly burst into loud sobs. "Boo-hoo! Two grown men bullying one little girl! Boo-hoo! What have you got to be so proud of? Mama... where have you all gone? You won't even come look after me... I had nowhere to go, so I had to become a bandit. Boo-hoo... hoo..."
None of them had expected this move. The three stared at one another, completely dumbfounded.
Li Qiang dispersed the golden eagles in the sky and quietly asked Zheng Peng, "Hey, isn't she your chief? Why does she cry when she loses?"
Zheng Peng said awkwardly, "She only came to the stronghold six months ago. None of the brothers could beat her, so we chose her as chief. She even made us call her big sister. If we didn't listen, one flick of her whip could tie us up for a whole day. But she's kindhearted and wouldn't let us kill anyone. That was why the second chief took a bunch of the brothers and made off with the stronghold's valuables."
Zhao Hao pricked up his ears and caught every word. With an embarrassed smile, he said, "Little girl, stop crying. If you have nowhere to go, come with us."
The girl cried even harder. "Boo-hoo... boo-hoo... hoo..." Yet she was watching Li Qiang out of the corner of her eye.
Li Qiang did not know whether to laugh or be annoyed. "All right, all right. Come with us."
The girl dropped her hands. Without a trace of tears or snot, her face lit up with a smile. "You have to keep your word. Let's go, then!"
"Uh..." All three were dumbfounded again.
By evening, the caravan had reached Panshi Town without incident.
The girl's name was Mei Jingjing, her nickname was Niuniu, and she came from the Litang Kingdom. Li Qiang had coaxed and tricked this information out of her.
With three young people together, the caravan immediately became much livelier. Li Qiang discovered that Niuniu was mischievous and sly, fond of playing and making trouble, and she gave everyone in the caravan endless headaches. Still, that suited Li Qiang's temperament quite well; he liked being unrestrained too.
While cultivating in the Tranquility Stage, Li Qiang did not need to eat. He ate only some fruits native to Heavenly Court Star. After the caravan reached Panshi Town, arrangements were made for everyone to eat and rest, and Ling Hongxuan invited Li Qiang and the others to dine at a restaurant.
Panshi Town lay at the far end of Seven Forks Ridge. It was a necessary stop for passing merchants and travelers, as well as a place where the ridge's bandits squandered their gold. Restaurants, inns, gambling houses, and brothels crowded the town, and merchants, bandits, beggars, and people of every description could be found there. After dark, it blazed with lights, bustling with people coming and going.
Ling Hongxuan led the party to the largest restaurant in town-the Hundred Flavors Tower.
"Honored gentlemen, please take a private table upstairs." The waiter called out attentively, "Guests! A private table upstairs! This way!" Li Qiang had not visited a restaurant since arriving on Heavenly Court Star, and he was filled with curiosity.
Once they went upstairs and sat down, Mei Jingjing began contending with Zhao Hao.
"I want to sit beside Big Brother Li. Let me have your seat!" Ignoring all such rules, Mei Jingjing tried to shoo Zhao Hao away.
Zhao Hao smiled wryly. "Niuniu, you're the youngest here, and a girl besides. You have to take the lowest seat."
Mei Jingjing blinked her large eyes, then rolled them and smiled. "I may be young, but I'm senior to you."
Zhao Hao thought, How on earth is she reckoning seniority? He said, "Stop fooling around, Niuniu. We aren't related. What seniority could there be?"
Mei Jingjing smiled sweetly. "I call him Big Brother Li, and you call him Master. Hee-hee, that means you should call me martial aunt. Doesn't that make me senior to you?"
Everyone burst out laughing. Zhao Hao flushed at her words, then had a sudden inspiration. "Oh, so that's how you reckon it. Then if you married my master, wouldn't I have to call you Mistress?" He immediately rose to give her his seat. "Please sit, Mistress!" Everyone roared with laughter. No one had expected such a move from Zhao Hao.
Mei Jingjing's little face instantly flushed scarlet, and she protested petulantly, "Big Brother Li, won't you keep your disciple in line? He's bullying me!"
The girl's voice was so coy and beguiling that Li Qiang's head swam. Good grief, I can't take it, I can't take it. When this girl turns coy, even immortals would probably get a headache.
Ling Hongxuan smoothed things over. "Let Miss Mei sit beside Lord Li. Young people enjoy a lively time. Let's not stand on ceremony."
"Exactly!" Zheng Peng shouted. "My belly's shriveled with hunger. Sit down so we can eat."
Wine and dishes arrived in a steady stream. Li Qiang glanced at Zheng Peng, beckoned the waiter over, and asked, "Do you have braised pork in large chunks? Bring ten jin."
Zheng Peng was delighted. "Ah, you're the best, young fellow!" he boomed. "You know I, Heizi, can't be bothered with little dishes. I just love a mouthful of meat. Hurry it up, waiter, and bring the meat in whole chunks!"
Zhao Hao raised his cup in invitation. "Master, please try a cup of the fine local wine. This is the famous Ten-Mile Fragrance. It's rarely found elsewhere."
Ling Hongxuan interjected, "Indeed, it's excellent wine. It's even presented as tribute."
Li Qiang grew interested. He lifted his cup and poured it into his mouth. A strange sour, bitter, pungent taste shot straight to his head. He spat it out with a splutter. "You call this wine?! Bring me water to rinse my mouth!"
Mei Jingjing giggled. "Big brother, if you can't drink, don't. Fine wine like this can make you drunk."
The girl was addressing Li Qiang more affectionately by the moment. He rolled his eyes at her. "Don't talk nonsense. Have you ever seen good wine? I happen to have some here. Let me give you a taste."
Li Qiang casually took out a bottle of fine liquor he had bought back home: Wuliangchun from Sichuan. He also took out six small glass cups, placed one before each person, opened the bottle, and filled their cups. "Now this is truly good wine!" he said with a smile.
As soon as the bottle was opened, Ling Hongxuan was the first to exclaim, "Oh, what a fragrance! What is that scent? Ah, it's the wine. I've never smelled a wine like this. Extraordinary!"
Mei Jingjing, meanwhile, held up her little glass in wonder. "Wow, this transparent little cup is so cute!"
Cheng Zizhong lifted his cup and took a small sip. Closing his eyes and swaying his head, he said, "Excellent! Such wine belongs in heaven alone; how often could its fragrance grace the mortal world? Rich and mellow, lingering without end-what an endless aftertaste!"
While everyone was still marveling, someone on the other side of the screen lost his temper.
"Hey, you damned waiter! Why aren't you selling us the good wine? Think I can't afford it? Here's ten taels of gold. I want the wine on the next table!"
The waiter said miserably, "Honored sir, those guests brought that wine themselves. We don't have any. If you'd like more to drink, I'll fetch another pot of Ten-Mile Fragrance."
The man would not listen to reason. "The wine at that table is what deserves to be called Ten-Mile Fragrance. That's what I want! Here's ten taels of gold. Go get it! If you rile me up, I'll burn this damned place down!" His voice was loud and resonant, booming like a struck bronze bell. Everyone guessed that he must be a tall, powerfully built man.
With a mournful face, the waiter came around to Li Qiang's table and pleaded, "Honored guests, please take pity on me. Could you sell this wine to our restaurant?"
Zhao Hao would have none of it. He had barely bothered speaking earlier, devoting himself to drinking. In decades of traveling far and wide, he had never tasted such fine wine, and his master had provided it besides. Hugging the bottle, he said, "No. We won't part with this wine. We simply won't."
Even Li Qiang found his behavior amusing. I have plenty of wine. What harm would there be in giving the man a bottle?
Li Qiang was just about to take out some wine when the screen toppled with a crash, and a lean little man leaped over.
The man had a small head with a few sparse strands of long hair, extremely long arms, and unusually large hands. His body was thin and small, standing only a little over a hundred and fifty centimeters tall. Once seen, such a figure could never be forgotten.
Everyone stared. Had he been the one speaking?
Smack! A gold ingot landed on the table. "Ten taels of gold. Give me the wine!" the man said.
Now, not only did Zhao Hao refuse, but Li Qiang was displeased too.
Mei Jingjing mocked him. "You think ten taels of gold can buy this wine? Are you delirious with fever? This is immortal wine. Ten taels of gold will only buy you a sniff!"
The man's nose twitched as he sniffed incessantly, his darting eyes fixed on the bottle in Zhao Hao's arms.
The man looked at Zhao Hao and paused slightly, then suddenly cried, "You-you're Old Master Zhao?" Everyone was quite surprised. Could they know each other?
Zhao Hao froze too. Setting down the bottle, he rose and said hesitantly, "You are..." No matter how he tried, he could not remember who the man was.
The man snatched the bottle and sprang aside, laughing. "You've been talking so long, I could guess who everyone was! I'm nobody at all. I just wanted this bottle!" He shot sideways out of the restaurant, wild laughter ringing through the air. "Ha-ha, fooled you! Ha-ha-ha..."
Zhao Hao was nearly mad with rage and flew after him. Li Qiang and Mei Jingjing reacted extremely quickly and followed in pursuit.
Zheng Peng roared in anger, "Wait for me! I'm coming too!" He charged out as well.
Cheng Zizhong and Ling Hongxuan exchanged a look, dumbfounded.
They raced after the man like the wind and lightning. Although he ran fast, he had forgotten to stopper the bottle. Wuliangchun's distinctive fragrance drifted behind him; how could he hide from his pursuers?
The four pursued him all night, until dawn broke. Zhao Hao stopped and looked around, struck by a thought. Isn't this Soul-Startling Slope? We actually ran over two hundred li in one night.
Li Qiang had initially wanted to call Zhao Hao back, but then reconsidered. This was a perfect opportunity to shake off Cheng Zizhong. As for what to do afterward, he would decide according to the circumstances.
"Where is this? Good grief, he runs fast!" Li Qiang asked. He pondered, I'll have to refine a teleportation formation sometime. Running like this is too slow.
Zhao Hao smiled wryly. "I'm afraid we've reached Soul-Startling Slope!"
Mei Jingjing exclaimed, "The Soul-Startling Slope where monsters roam?" She looked extremely tense. The girl feared those bizarre-looking beasts more than anything.
Zhao Hao added, "It looks as though we're right in the heart of Soul-Startling Slope!"
A ding-dong sound came from the distance, growing steadily louder.
Mei Jingjing grabbed Li Qiang's arm and said nervously, "Big brother, something's coming!"
Li Qiang patted her hand reassuringly. "Don't be afraid, Niuniu! Don't be afraid!"
"Young fellow, little sister, old master, wait for me..." The big, dark Zheng Peng caught up. Reaching Li Qiang's side, he panted furiously and complained, "I'm exhausted! You run faster than rabbits. Did you catch that fellow?"
"Are you trying to scare us to death?" Mei Jingjing snapped. "Even your running makes such a racket. I thought it was some monster." Her little face reddened slightly, and she released Li Qiang's arm.
"Everyone, stay alert," Zhao Hao said. "The monsters here are formidable."
Rustling came from all around.
"Be careful! Shadow-Shooting Insects!" Zhao Hao shouted. He drew his treasured saber, his expression turning grave.
Three insects, each as large as a water vat, appeared before them. They looked bizarre, with patches of black on their bright red bodies. Each had one eye on its head, and its mouthparts consisted of two sharp needles over a foot long, gleaming deep blue with a strange light.
At the sight, Mei Jingjing's little face turned deathly pale. She sprang from the ground onto Li Qiang's back and whimpered, "Mama mia, they're so scary!"
Li Qiang was nervous too, but Mei Jingjing's leap actually calmed him. "Hey, Niuniu, stop climbing," he said with a laugh. "There's no pole on my head. You can't climb any higher."
"Watch out for the spikes they spit!" Zhao Hao shouted.
Holding his long axe, the big, dark Zheng Peng glanced at Mei Jingjing and chuckled foolishly. "Little sister, how come you're getting more and more timid? Watch Heizi's axe!"
Mei Jingjing snapped in embarrassed anger, "I'm a girl! Of course I'm scared of bugs!"
Li Qiang raised his hand, releasing three golden eagles that spiraled toward the Shadow-Shooting Insects. Three explosions rang out, blasting the insects more than ten meters away.
Mei Jingjing jumped off Li Qiang's back with a cheer and said admiringly, "Big brother, you're amazing! You blasted the bugs away just like that!" Her coy voice made every hair on Li Qiang's body stand on end, sending waves of goose bumps over him.
Yet the three Shadow-Shooting Insects were not dead. They shakily crawled toward them again, frightening Mei Jingjing into hiding behind Li Qiang once more. "Wow, even that didn't kill them!"
Li Qiang's face paled too. The energy contained in a single golden eagle was considerable, yet it had failed to kill them. It seemed these insects had more than thick hides; they appeared to be protected by a layer of energy.
The insects gave piercing screeches, like a sharp object scraping glass. Zhao Hao exclaimed, "They're calling their companions! Kill them quickly!"
Li Qiang shouted, "Niuniu, bind them with your whip! Heizi, protect Niuniu! Zhao Hao, guard our rear! All right, move!"
Mei Jingjing summoned her courage and flicked out her whip shadows. Three thin whip shadows wound tightly around each insect, instantly immobilizing them. The insects screeched strangely, and six streaks of blue light shot toward them. Li Qiang's Hundred-Blade Spear swiftly released more than a dozen spear shadows, knocking down the blue lights with a series of sharp cracks. With several clinks, six gleaming blue spikes fell to the ground.
After firing the spikes from their mouthparts, the three Shadow-Shooting Insects immediately wilted, and the spear shadows Li Qiang sent out killed them with one strike.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Damn it, these things are tough!" Zheng Peng cursed. He strode forward, swung his great axe, and split a dead insect in two with one chop.
Mei Jingjing mocked him. "Oh, our Heizi is so brave! He chopped a bug in half with a single swing!" She seized the chance to get back at him for calling her timid.
Zheng Peng flushed at her sarcasm and argued, "If the young fellow hadn't told me to protect you, I wouldn't have thought anything of these few little bugs. Huh?! What's this?"
Inside the Shadow-Shooting Insect Heizi had split open lay a bead shimmering with blue light.
Zheng Peng reached in and took it out. "What kind of bead is this? It's beautiful." He rubbed it on his clothes, making the blue bead even more crystalline and lovely.
Girls were most interested in glittering beads like this. Mei Jingjing held out her little hand. "Hand it over. Let me have a look."
Zheng Peng grinned smugly. "No. That's what you get for making fun of me."
Mei Jingjing gave a wicked smile. "You really won't?"
At the sight of her ill-intentioned expression, Zheng Peng grew uneasy. He wanted to give it to her, but felt he would lose face.
Mei Jingjing lightly flicked her whip and giggled. "You really won't give it to me? Then don't blame me for taking it."
The moment Zheng Peng saw her whip, realization dawned. "Little sister, no tying me up with your whip!" he cried hastily.
"If you won't give it to me, I'll tie you up!" The girl was utterly unreasonable.
Zheng Peng was no fool either. He turned and ducked behind Li Qiang, laughing. "Ha-ha, I've found a shield!"
Watching their antics, Li Qiang felt warmth fill his heart. "Niuniu, here." He handed her two blue beads. Zhao Hao had dug them out while the two were fooling around.
Mei Jingjing cheered. "My big brother is the best! Heizi, you're no man, fighting a little girl over things."
"Uh..." Zheng Peng was left speechless by her retort.
A vast rustling arose.
Li Qiang sucked in a cold breath and swiftly took out immortal stones and other tools. As he laid out a defensive formation, he said, "Keep watch all around. Heizi, protect Niuniu. If any insects rush over, Niuniu, bind them with your whip first, and Zhao Hao, cut them down with your saber. Buy me time to finish the formation. A huge swarm is coming!"
Mei Jingjing shrieked, "Aah! So many, so many bugs! They're disgusting!"