Are you Southern Murong?

In the fourth year of Yuanyou, it was May in Jiangnan.

The yellow plums were ripening and falling in Liangzhe Circuit. The rain had been coming down since dusk.

In a ruined temple on a desolate mountain, a campfire flickered dimly.

"Gusu City is still fifty li away. I'll have to make do here for the night."

Li Yu took off his blue-green robe, wrung out the water, threaded it onto a branch, and propped it beside the fire. Then he broke apart two dry flatbreads to toast. Only after finishing these tasks did he slowly sit down, the firelight lending a few traces of weathering to his handsome face.

He gazed at the curtain of rain falling through the middle of the ruined temple. It looked almost like a dividing line.

"It's already been half a year."

Half a year ago, he had just graduated from university and joined a private company. He had gone from never touching alcohol to drinking heavily at every meal, until an unscrupulous client finally plied him with high-proof liquor supposedly dug out of an ancient tomb.

When he woke, he was in the northern frontier desert, among the Tanguts of Western Xia...

The original owner of this body had just turned eighteen. Gravely wounded during a mission, he had fallen unconscious. The physician's diagnosis had offered nine chances of life against ten of death, yet he had miraculously awakened a few days later-only the soul inside his body now came from a later age.

Once he learned the name of that dowager consort, who still had a youthful face at twice eight years of age, Li Yu finally became certain: he had transmigrated into the world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils and become a secret agent of First Rank Hall.

Two months ago, he had been ordered to travel from Lingzhou to Suzhou in Great Song.

A difference of one character, a journey of thousands of li.

Bang!

Li Yu instinctively gripped the dagger that slid out of his sleeve, his gaze sharpening as he looked beyond the temple doors.

Bang! Bang!

Two more sounds.

The fierce wind tore loose several old roof tiles, and the curtain of rain pushed a little farther inside.

"Since I'm here, I might as well settle in."

He let out a breath, untied the yellow-skinned gourd hanging at his waist, and walked to the altar. Following the customs of the jianghu, he first poured a serving for the host of this place. Unable to find a bowl, he gently sprinkled three lines onto the ground.

"Wine drowns sorrow, for gods and ghosts alike."

"A ten-year vintage, shared with you."

The Iron Spear General sat alone upon the altar, guarding the half of the roof still covered in tiles. His single eye gazed outside, where wind and rain battered the earth in an unending clamor, like an abacus, like falling pearls, like drumbeats, like hoofbeats...

Hoofbeats?

"Hyah!"

Li Yu spun around. Under cover of darkness and rain, two riders had already galloped up outside the temple.

"Senior brother, there's someone inside!"

The words had barely fallen when the air fluttered, and a figure flew into the ruined temple like a bat spreading its wings. The man in close-fitting clothes landed and steadied himself. Across the campfire, he saw the temple's occupant clearly, and surprise flashed through his eyes.

"What a fine skin!"

The young man leaned against the altar, a wine gourd in hand. Tall and straight, he cut a handsome, striking figure, with locks hanging beside his temples. Most remarkable were his peach-blossom eyes, whose shifting gaze seemed to hold boundless tenderness.

"With looks like that, he's probably no ordinary fellow. A wild temple on a desolate mountain..."

He quickly glanced at the ground. There was a shadow, so this was no mountain ghost or fox spirit. Cupping his fists, he offered a greeting. "Guo Yanzhi of the Funiu Sect. I was passing through in pursuit of a villain. Sorry to disturb your peace."

"So you're a disciple of the venerable Master Ke, the Divine Whip of a Hundred Victories. I've long heard of him. I'm Li Yu, from a minor sect, a nobody in the jianghu..."

Li Yu was studying the newcomer too. He was around thirty, his breathing steady, with a flexible snakeskin-and-steel-wire whip wound around his waist.

"Guo Yanzhi of the Soul-Chasing Whip, Ke Baisui's eldest disciple."

Western Xia Yipintang had been watching the martial world of the Central Plains for years. A second-rate power like the Funiu Sect had long since been entered in its secondary register. Ke Baisui's martial arts were of lesser concern. Over eighty, he still had the vigor of a dragon and tiger, no less robust than a powerful man in his prime. Rumor said he had considerable insight into nourishing life.

"So, Young Master Li..."

Guo Yanzhi moved forward, his eyes bright. Suddenly, he took a great stride, the gust scattering sparks from the fire. Turning his right palm, he used Seeking Flowers Beneath the Leaves and instantly caught Li Yu's wrist... His pulse was weak and floating, with signs of internal depletion.

"Not a trace of internal power. His martial arts aren't even third-rate. He really does come from some minor sect."

"An embroidered pillow, nothing more."

Guo Yanzhi slowly released him. Glancing at the clay idol on the altar, he smiled. "My apologies. I feared the villain's accomplices might be lying in ambush to waylay us. That was merely a little jest. Please don't take offense, Young Master Li."

Holding his gourd, Li Yu retreated into a corner without a word.

Just then, another sound came from outside. A pockmarked fat man stepped over the threshold, approached the campfire, and slowly lowered the large hemp sack slung over his shoulder. He shot Li Yu a cold glance.

"Senior Brother Guo, why is there someone else here?"

His words held a veiled intent to kill.

"Junior Brother Cui, Young Master Li is a traveler. He has nothing to do with us," Guo Yanzhi said mildly.

The two sat down by the fire without further ado.

Cui Jingui pulled over the robe and tucked it beneath his backside. Then he broke apart a toasted golden-brown flatbread and began eating, as though both the clothes and the bread had grown out of the ground.

"Mmph..."

The long hemp sack between them suddenly twitched twice.

"We've galloped two hundred li in a day and a night, and she took a strike from your Soul-Chasing Whip..."

Chewing the dry bread, Cui Jingui ventured, "Should we let her out for some air? We don't want her suffocating."

Guo Yanzhi hesitated briefly and turned to look. Li Yu sat on an earthen platform, cradling the yellow-skinned gourd and savoring its contents in slow sips, looking like a spineless coward. Guo smiled. "Young Master Li, meeting in the jianghu is a kind of fate. You've toasted this bread too dry."

Li Yu remained in his corner without a sound.

Cui Jingui glared and cursed. "Have you no sense at all? Bring that wine gourd over for your lordship to enjoy! Take too long, and I'll break your limbs, cut off your manhood, and sell you to a brothel in Chengdu as a male whore..."

Before he had finished, the wine gourd came flying over.

Guo Yanzhi reached out and caught it.

Cui Jingui laughed loudly. "See, senior brother? I told you! You can't be polite with people like this!"

What man of the jianghu didn't love fine wine? He had smelled its mellow fragrance the moment he entered the temple, and his craving had long since stirred. He reached for the gourd, only for Guo Yanzhi to stop him with a stern look.

"Junior brother, the Funiu Sect is an upright, reputable sect. If word spread that we forced someone to hand over his wine, where would we put our faces?"

Cui Jingui nodded. "Then we make sure he can't spread it!"

Guo Yanzhi shook his head. "No, that won't do..."

Cui Jingui looked momentarily taken aback, unsure what had gotten into his senior brother.

Smiling faintly, Guo Yanzhi removed the wooden stopper and gently swirled the gourd. Wine fragrance wafted out. He took a sniff. It was indeed fine wine. Reluctant though he was, he replaced the stopper, shook it twice more, and tossed the gourd back.

"A gentleman doesn't take what another cherishes."

Cui Jingui's eyes shifted slightly. Clapping his hands, he praised, "What a kind and righteous heart you have, senior brother!"

Guo Yanzhi looked at Li Yu and smiled. "When traveling the jianghu, you need caution as well as kindness. You must be especially careful with anything that enters your mouth. How many heroes have come to grief over a moment's pleasure?"

"You mean this wine..."

Realization dawned on Cui Jingui, and his gaze turned hostile.

"Boy, why have you stopped drinking? Did you really drug the wine?"

Cradling the recovered gourd, Li Yu remained composed under their insistent stares. He tipped back his head and took a large swallow. The wine surged through his throat and gut like raging fire, warming the meridians and major acupoints throughout his body.

Fine wine!

"Hahahaha!"

Guo Yanzhi, who had still looked somewhat upright a moment ago, immediately showed another face.

"Junior Brother Cui, do you know the most formidable knockout drug in the jianghu?"

"Heh heh, naturally, it's the Ten Fragrances Tendon-Softening Powder that Master secretly passed down to you."

"Then do you know what it feels like when it takes effect?"

"Heh heh, first comes an agonizing pain in the ribs on the right. The acupoints seal shut, and you can neither circulate Qi nor muster strength. Then... it spreads through the whole body. The muscles and bones go numb and weak, soft as sludge."

Playing off each other, the two watched Li Yu with ill intent and let out a string of cold chuckles.

"Fall, fall, down you go!"

"You... you... you two..."

The gourd fell, spilling its fine wine.

Bang!

Li Yu's eyelids grew heavy as iron. His body toppled backward, and his head struck the altar hard.

Cui Jingui slapped his thigh and laughed. "If it were up to me, I'd have killed him with one stroke. Why waste a gourd of good wine?"

"In the jianghu, caution comes first. Beyond every strong hand lies a stronger one. Today we meet a fledgling, but what if tomorrow it's a master who hides his abilities? Besides, we're not far from the Gusu Murong Family's territory. If we cause a disturbance..."

Cui Jingui had no time for Guo Yanzhi's lecture. He hurriedly untied the sack. At once his breathing quickened and his eyes went fixed, scanning downward inch by inch, as though he wished he could gouge out a few ounces of flesh.

Inside the sack was a woman dressed in black.

Her hands were bound tightly behind her back with ox-tendon rope. She wore a bamboo hat, and black gauze covered her face, leaving only a pair of cold, moonlike eyes. She stared at the two ugly faces, her gaze like a killing sword.

"This little demoness has sharp claws. If not for your Ten Fragrances Tendon-Softening Powder... heh heh..."

Cui Jingui's throat bobbed as a powerful urge rose within him. He wanted to see just what peerless beauty lay beneath that black veil.

Guo Yanzhi said coldly, "That old fault again!"

Entranced, Cui Jingui said, "I won't touch her. Just one look, only one..."

Guo Yanzhi sneered. "This woman is wild and untamable. She said before that if we lifted her veil, she would bite her tongue and kill herself at once. Hmph. If you're not afraid of Master's punishment, go ahead."

Cui Jingui's hand stopped in midair, as though cold water had been poured over him. He hesitated for a long while before all his reluctance turned into a long sigh. Slowly, he sat back down by the campfire. His appetite gone, he let the remaining half of his bread burn black.

Guo Yanzhi smiled. "Just wait. Once we return to Mount Funiu and Master has trained her, perhaps you'll get a mouthful of the leftover soup."

"Master is known as the Divine Whip of a Hundred Victories. After he's trained her..."

Cui Jingui gave a bitter smile. Unable to endure his restlessness, he suddenly rose and slowly turned toward Li Yu, who lay unconscious in the corner. A strange gleam flickered in his eyes. He approached step by step, his right hand moving to his waist as though to loosen his clothes and belt.

Surprise showed on Guo Yanzhi's face, and his gaze turned peculiar. "Junior Brother Cui, surely you don't mean to..."

"What are you thinking, senior brother?"

Cui Jingui was lustful, but his naturally pockmarked face and toadlike eyes made him exceptionally ugly. Every woman willing to bed him wanted his money. He knew it too, and so, above all else in his life, he hated handsome men!

"Strong wine! Beautiful women! Killing!"

He tightened his grip on his sword hilt, his gaze sinister. "Aren't those the three things we roam the jianghu for? Since I can't have the first two, I'll deal with this pretty boy first!"

Guo Yanzhi chuckled and paid him no further mind. Turning his head, he found the black-veiled woman looking toward the corner.

"What are you looking at? An embroidered pillow without any internal power."

Despair flashed through the black-veiled woman's eyes. She slowly closed them, seemingly resigned to her fate.

Outside the temple, wind and rain grew fiercer, accompanied by lightning and thunder.

Rumble!

Before Cui Jingui's iron saber had fully left its sheath, thunder exploded and lightning streaked across the sky.

Die!

Li Yu's eyes suddenly opened, and his body rose straight upright. His eyes caught the firelight, the swordlight, and the lightning, dazzlingly bright. In an instant, he lashed out with a palm, striking Cui Jingui square in the chest.

Hiss!

The campfire shuddered, sparks scattering as black smoke rose.

"You..."

Cui Jingui looked down in disbelief.

The front of his clothes was scorched black and trailing wisps of smoke. It was as though burning charcoal had branded a palm print there, all five fingers distinct. Heart-piercing agony shot from his chest through to his back, spreading outward along his meridians.

Such astonishing palm power. How could Senior Brother Guo say...

His organs burned and the vessels of his heart ruptured. He knew clearly that he was certain to die!

Li Yu slipped past him and rushed forward. Just as they had done on their arrival, he used the wind, rain, and thunder as cover, charging toward Guo Yanzhi's back. He raised his palm like a blade, two flames seeming to burn in his eyes.

His palm power would not last.

Life and death would be decided in an instant.

Only three feet separated them.

The campfire shuddered again.

Guo Yanzhi's gaze sharpened slightly. Years of abstaining from women had cultivated in him the particular vigilance of a seasoned jianghu veteran.

Without warning, he threw himself forward and to the right.

Thud!

The palm aimed at the center of his back went off course, striking only his shoulder-the left one, at that.

Whoosh!

With his right hand, Guo Yanzhi unwound the Soul-Chasing Whip from his waist and lashed it behind him. Its tip split the air, sharper than any saber or sword. He leaped onto the altar, seizing the high ground from which he could advance or retreat. When he turned, despite already having his suspicions, he was still badly startled.

"It really is you?"

"It is."

"You know martial arts?"

Li Yu said, "What do you think?"

Guo Yanzhi fell silent for a moment, then shook his head. "With martial arts like yours, you had no need for these tricks."

He had tested him earlier, and he trusted his judgment.

Yet the palm print burning like fire on his left shoulder could not be false either.

Then there was only one possibility: something had suddenly given him such formidable internal power.

His gaze fell on the yellow-skinned gourd on the ground.

"The wine."

Li Yu remained perfectly composed, a tempered-steel longsword in hand. Western Xia had many master craftsmen skilled at forging weapons and armor. Though no treasured weapon, this sword was exceptionally well made. A slight movement sent cold light shimmering along it.

"Are you finished?"

Guo Yanzhi became even more convinced of his judgment. Power borrowed from an external object could not last. He sneered. "I am. What of it?"

"Don't you feel anything wrong with your body?"

"No. What of..." Before Guo Yanzhi could finish, his expression changed drastically.

Li Yu watched him with a smile. Carrying his longsword, he stepped over the campfire, speaking as he recalled the words.

"First comes an agonizing pain in the ribs on the right. The acupoints seal shut... it spreads through the whole body. The muscles and bones go numb and weak, soft as sludge... That's all I remember. Hero Guo, what else happens when the Ten Fragrances Tendon-Softening Powder takes effect?"

Thud!

Before the words were finished, the Soul-Chasing Whip dropped, and Guo Yanzhi pitched headfirst off the altar onto the ground. Horrified beyond measure, his eyes bulged as he stared at the still-blazing campfire. The bewilderment in his heart was ten times greater than Cui Jingui's before his death.

"How is this possible..."

"I put the Ten Fragrances Tendon-Softening Powder in the wine..."

"Could it be... he can turn the drug in the wine into internal power?"

"Could it be... could it be... this is, this is the legendary Return the Other's Way to the Other?"

In a flash of lightning and sparks, he felt he had figured everything out.

This place was only sixty or seventy li from Canhe Manor in Swallow Bastion on the shores of Lake Tai.

Rumor had it that the man stood tall and graceful as jade, with handsome features-the finest of handsome men in Jiangnan-and often roamed the martial world under assumed names.

It fit. It all fit...

A perfect match!

"You..."

Guo Yanzhi struggled to raise his head, as though a thousand-jin boulder pressed down on his neck. All he could see was a pair of northwestern-style deerskin boots and a gleaming sword tip reflecting the flickering firelight, drawing closer step by step.

"You... are Southern Murong?"

No answer came, only a streak of cold light sweeping toward his neck. A long bolt of lightning slashed across the sky, thunder crashed, and then the consciousness of the Funiu Sect's eldest disciple swiftly sank into darkness.

But as he lay dying, he faintly heard a bold declaration.

"I'm his father!"