A peerless beauty

"If you have money, come in. If you don't, leave."

The fat old man waved his palm-leaf fan, driving away the insects flitting through the grove.

"Whatever you do, don't start a fight. For an old acquaintance's sake, let this old man offer you some advice. The Apricot Grove has fish and dragons mingling together. The Hundred Refinements Workshop has stood for sixteen years without being swallowed up. Naturally, it has something hard enough to crack teeth."

The hammering had long since stopped. Four men held poisoned crossbows, stationed at their positions. Four more gripped red-hot iron rods, their muscles taut. There was also an exceptionally tall, burly man with black tattoos on his face, watching like a tiger eyeing its prey.

Qin Xiu hesitated for a moment, then took something from inside her robes.

"Use this to cover eight hundred taels."

The fat old man instantly sprang upright. His fan fell to the ground, his eyes fixed on the jade ring in her palm.

Two jiaolong held each other's tails in their mouths. Blue seeped through the jade, with crystalline, cloudlike wisps within, and carving that seemed nature's own work.

"What a rare treasure from Siam... you... you really want to use it as payment?"

"Is it enough?"

"Where did you get this?"

Qin Xiu held out her hand and asked only, "Is it enough?"

The fat old man narrowed his eyes to slits. Though he asked about its origins, inwardly he dreaded her telling him. There was an old saying in the jianghu-not always effective, but always being brought up: those who did not know bore no guilt.

"Ba Hu, go to the west room and fetch the case hanging with the cured meat."

A moment later.

The tall, burly man emerged from the dim stone room, carrying a leather cord two fingers thick. Suspended beneath it was a long case, roughly three feet in length, wrapped in several layers of felt, with the inside thickly coated in grease to keep out damp.

The fat old man personally handed her the crossbow case and cautioned, "Use them sparingly. Three Flying Crow Arrows. Once they're gone, this crossbow will be scrap iron."

Qin Xiu's arm sank under the weight. She slung the case onto her back and turned to leave, then hesitated half a step. Unable to resist another glance at the jade ring, her cold, moonlike eyes beneath the black veil revealed a complicated look.

"Is it worth it?"

The fat old man examined the Jade Jiaolong Ring he had acquired. Seeing her look over, he slowly tucked it into his sleeve and smiled. "This must be very important to you. Is it worth it, for someone else's business?"

Qin Xiu gave it only that one glance, then left the Hundred Refinements Workshop without looking back.

"Master, who is she?"

Ba Hu spoke with a peculiar accent. He walked over to the bamboo chair, folded his arms, and watched the black-robed woman's retreating figure.

"Just a fool consumed by obsession."

"Consumes people?"

"The master was a fool, and this disciple looks like one too. Perhaps it runs through their lineage. When the cotton trees bloomed that year, I thought an old acquaintance had come. A pity she wore a veil, so I couldn't see her face..."

With his hands behind his back, the fat old man sighed at length and slowly returned to the west room.

"The master eats people, and the disciple eats people too. What kind of sect is that?"

Ba Hu stood rooted to the spot, utterly shocked.

"The Central Plains... are too terrifying!"

The sun slanted westward. Cicadas clamored in the grove, their cries fraying the nerves.

Hurried footsteps rang out. Four agile figures cleared the shrubs and raced deeper into the apricot grove.

"Where is she?"

"She went this way..."

Six beggars spread out and stopped. Their leader wore a cloth around his head and broken shoes on his feet, with five cloth pouches hanging at his waist. He held a seven-foot staff reaching his brows, both ends studded with copper nails. A conspicuous red blotch the size of a copper coin marked his nose. His gaze swept slowly over the dense undergrowth.

"Search carefully!"

"Yes!"

Six long staffs descended together. Seemingly chaotic, they were in fact executing the stance "Part the Grass to Strike the Snake."

"According to the young branch chief, this woman carries an unusual fragrance. When he encountered her on the road, her face was covered by black gauze, but judging by his venerable self's many years of lingering among the flowers, her looks and bearing must be extraordinary!"

The leader wielding the copper-headed staff was named Jiang Kang. His martial arts were unremarkable, but he was sharp-witted and deeply trusted by Chen Youchun. Leading a squad in deeds that could not bear the light of day was already a familiar road to him.

"A peerless beauty. Catching her would be a great achievement..."

A young beggar asked doubtfully, "The young branch chief may have a taste for this, but he's usually fairly cautious. This time he took it into his head in broad daylight?"

He had joined the Beggars' Sect only three months earlier, initially out of admiration for Chief Qiao's chivalrous reputation. Who could have known he would end up doing this sort of work? He was often unhappy about it, but helpless to change anything, he could only muddle through.

Jiang Kang sneered under his breath. "The young branch chief wasn't the only one tempted at the time. Heh!"

"You mean... surely not? Branch Chief Quan is a man of upright character, and a scholar by background. He lusts after women too...?"

The young beggar was deeply shocked. Looking up, he felt only that the sky above him had gone utterly dark.

"Hmph. Last year, I went with Branch Chief Tie and the young branch chief to the Hundred Flowers Gathering in Luoyang. When Deputy Chief Ma's wife appeared, tsk, tsk... so many pairs of eyes, like red-hot knives aimed at a piece of tender tofu. Those big shots are just good at putting on an act. Do you really think they're morally upright?"

"What a pack of sanctimonious beggars!"

As the cold sneer rang out, something came hurtling through the air.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

Three beggars pitched forward, each struck squarely in the center of the back by a short arrow. They spat black blood and died at once.

"Not good!"

As Jiang Kang turned, he saw a black shadow descend from the treetops like a gliding snake. Blade light danced, and in an instant, the throats of the two nearest beggars were slit. Blood spurted like arrows.

They dropped their staffs and desperately clutched their necks, but it was no use. One after another, they collapsed.

"Shameless scum. Death is too good for you!"

Qin Xiu flipped down to the ground, curved saber in hand, her eyes cold as frost. Only Jiang Kang and a young beggar remained opposite her. They had been farther away, with a large tree between them and her, and so had escaped being the first targets of her ambush.

We've run into a tough one...

Jiang Kang inwardly groaned. Seeing this woman in black robes with a sword at her side, he had thought she looked very much like someone of the jianghu and had already taken precautions, bringing all six men. Once they formed the Lesser Dog-Beating Formation, he had expected they could hold her off. Who could have imagined four would be killed before they even met her?

How vicious!

Forcing himself to remain calm, he raised his copper-headed staff into a guard.

"Who are you? Aren't you afraid our Chief Qiao will call you to account for ambushing and killing disciples of the Beggars' Sect without cause? Once his venerable self is angered, you won't escape death even if you hide at the ends of the earth!"

"Chief Qiao?"

"Yes. Everyone in the jianghu knows the mighty name of Northern Qiao Feng. Surely you've heard it too, miss."

"Miss, at bottom, this is a misunderstanding. You haven't suffered so much as a scratch, while you've killed four of our brothers. Why not withdraw here and leave each other alone...? Our Branch Chief Quan and young branch chief are nearby. If this really blows up, I'm afraid even leaving will be difficult for you."

The more Jiang Kang spoke, the more confident he grew. Beneath the banner of the "greatest sect under heaven," with Chief Qiao presiding over it, his martial prowess and prestige blazing like the midday sun, even an ordinary Beggars' Sect disciple was not someone the heroes of the jianghu dared take lightly.

"If I withdraw, the Beggars' Sect won't take revenge?"

Qin Xiu slowly lowered her curved saber and glanced behind her from the corner of her eye, seemingly wary of other Beggars' Sect experts arriving.

"I'm willing to swear on the Beggars' Sect's great name!"

Jiang Kang breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough, who did not fear the golden signboard of the greatest sect under heaven?

"If we take revenge against you afterward, may the Beggars' Sect... split apart and its great name be swept into the dust..."

Before he finished speaking-

A cold gleam flashed. Qin Xiu tightened her wrist, and a crescent of cold moonlight slashed across.

"Wretched witch! I knew you were playing tricks..."

Jiang Kang's eyes sharpened. His staff instantly slid down, copper head pointing toward the ground, and swept from right to left. Using "Part the Grass to Strike the Snake," he struck viciously at her legs. An inch longer, an inch stronger-before her blade reached him, he would snap her tendons and break her bones.

"Light Smoke Covers the Moon!"

Qin Xiu leaped up, and the copper-headed staff swept through empty air. Her left hand formed a palm strike as her elusive footwork brought her close in an instant. Her soft palm descended from above and pressed against his forehead. Her five fingers trembled, and with a crack, blood blossomed between them.

"You..."

Jiang Kang's body went limp. Like an emptied sack, he slowly slid to the ground, his eyes wide open, soon covered in blood.

Thump!

The last young beggar immediately threw down his wooden staff, dropped to his knees, and kowtowed.

"Spare me, heroine! Spare me... I only recently joined the sect. I was forced to do these things..."

"Shhk-"

The young beggar fell heavily to the ground. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jiang Kang, already dead. A line of blood gradually appeared across his own throat, and a sense of empty nothingness soon engulfed him, finally becoming a sigh.

"This isn't fair..."

Qin Xiu sheathed her saber, retrieved the wooden case from its hiding place behind the tree, and soon vanished into the depths of the apricot grove.