Young Master Carp

At daybreak the next morning, as the sun rose in the east, the black-canopied boat sailed away from White Sand Island.

The lake breeze swept past, refreshing the heart and mind.

"Outside strength is no sure support; only the sword in my hand."

Li Yu tipped back his head and took a deep draught of plum wine. Laughing heartily, he leaped onto the bow and danced with his sword... At first, his footing staggered, but he soon discovered that the rocking boat naturally accorded with the essence of Returning Wind Brushes the Willow.

He struck with the momentum and withdrew against it.

"Parting Flowers and Brushing Willows..."

"Dark Willows and Bright Flowers..."

Gradually, he forgot himself. In his heart and eyes, there was only this tempered steel sword he had brought from the northwestern desert to Jiangnan.

His heart followed his eyes, and his eyes followed his sword.

He completely forgot that he was out on the lake, standing on a mere foot or so of bow, where one misplaced step could send him into the water.

"Wind Blows and Willows Spread..."

"Willow Leaf Flying Arrows!"

Waves gradually rose on the lake.

The more the boat rocked, the swifter the sword flashed. Cold light traced circles, leaving chilling trails. From afar, it truly seemed that a willow tree was traveling across Lake Tai, dancing countless silver branches in the wind...

"Did Lin Mang agree or not?"

Fu Rong sat inside the cabin, holding the wine gourd, puzzled.

After coming down the mountain the previous evening, the two men had sat drinking together for half the night, comparing martial arts and talking of their time apart. Yet right up until their departure that morning, neither had mentioned joining forces against the Black Flood Dragon Gang again.

"The Flower-Honoring Banquet is in two days. Without the support of the Seventy-Two Peaks, I fear the Fish-Dragon Gang will find it hard to succeed..."

Half an hour later.

Li Yu sheathed his sword, his pores open and his body drenched in sweat. He felt no fatigue, only inexpressible exhilaration.

This was precisely a sign of progress in the Returning Wind and Swaying Willow Sword Technique.

Borrow momentum to accomplish the task; bend and yield, but never allow the foundation to be shaken in the slightest.

"A ship!"

Guo Xiaosi, working the sculling oar at the stern, suddenly changed expression and shouted.

Li Yu turned to look.

To the northeast, a white silk banner fluttered in the wind, followed by the outline of an entire ship. The two-story pleasure ship dwarfed their black-canopied fishing boat like an elephant beside a dog. Even several li away, its oppressive presence reached them.

The great ship plowed through the lake, sending white spray flying.

"Mantuo Manor."

Fu Rong leaped onto the bow and looked out, her expression immediately turning grave. The great ship lay directly across their route home. "That Camellia seems to be Madam Wang's personal ship."

"Madam Wang?"

Li Yu recalled the assignment Gao Jingzong had given him. Capturing Madam Wang alive was certainly beyond him, but he was very interested in exploring the Langhuan Jade Cave. He vaguely remembered that it held the Minor Formless Skill, one of this world's finest internal cultivation methods.

"Gang Leader?"

As the great ship turned and approached to within two li, close enough that he could even make out the colors of the clothes worn by those on deck, Li Yu's heart sank slightly. He had a vague feeling they were coming for him.

That shouldn't be...

Had I been exposed so quickly?

"We'll go around them."

Before he finished speaking, a streak of white spray shot out from the great ship and raced toward them. A girl stood on a raft, dressed in pale green, graceful and lovely. She looked fifteen or sixteen, utterly charming and sweet. She worked a pair of oars as though wielding blades.

"Gang Leader..."

Guo Xiaosi could not turn in time. As the wooden raft approached, he grew increasingly anxious.

"Stop."

Seeing that they could not avoid her, Li Yu instead grew calm. They had only sent a young girl; why should he throw his own ranks into disorder first? He fastened his wine gourd at his waist and stood on the bow with his tempered steel sword in hand.

"Honored guest, please wait!"

With a thump, the wooden raft bumped against the fishing boat. The girl in green looked closely and was inwardly surprised.

What a handsome young gentleman. I wonder who he is. He falls short of my young master by only... three parts.

Li Yu looked at the bamboo raft and chuckled. "With such warm hospitality, miss, I couldn't leave even if I wanted to."

A little embarrassed, the girl in green apologized, then asked, "May I ask your surname, young master?"

"Li Yu."

"Carp?"

Looking at the lake, she suppressed a smile and deliberately asked in an authentic Wu accent.

"Was it you practicing your sword on the bow just now, Young Master Carp?"

"It was."

There was really no need to ask. The three people aboard were plain to see.

One carried a large saber on her back.

One held a wooden sculling oar.

He was the only one with a sword.

Still, she found it hard to believe that such a handsome young gentleman could have displayed swordsmanship praised as "having entered the inner hall, heroic and bold, flowing and fierce." She craned her head to look inside the cabin, confirming there was no fourth person.

The girl in green pointed behind her. "Someone aboard saw your exquisite swordsmanship and would like to invite you over for a chat."

Her wording was odd. She had not said "my master," but "someone aboard."

Puzzled for a moment, Li Yu asked, "May I know the ship owner's honored name?"

The girl in green covered her mouth and laughed softly. "Young Master Li, have you never even heard of Mantuo Manor?"

Li Yu looked up. Behind the bamboo raft, the two-story pleasure ship had stopped five or six hundred paces away. At that distance, a first-rate lightness skill expert could skim across the water to reach it.

The Wang Clan of Mantuo Manor ranked alongside the Murong clan and Cold Mountain Temple as one of Gusu's three great martial powers. Their strength and foundations were extraordinary. Since they had sent someone to invite him, it seemed he had no choice but to go.

"Young Master Li, please!"

"Gang Leader?"

Fu Rong was filled with worry.

She was thinking that she had a grudge against Deng Baichuan, and the Wang Clan and Murong Clan were branches of the same tree. Could that be why they had come?

"It's fine. Wait here. I'll be right back."

Li Yu leaped onto the bamboo raft and stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the great ship half a li away.

"Be sure to keep your footing, Young Master Li."

The girl in green glanced at him, a mischievous smile flashing in her eyes. She lifted both oars and spun them like wheels.

Unlike the steady approach she had made.

Heavy on the left and light on the right, the bamboo raft shot forward in an instant like an arrow flying askew.

Li Yu smiled faintly and bent his knees slightly. He remained perfectly still, as though glued to the raft.

"The wind and waves are strong on the lake, Young Master Li. Do be careful."

Still unwilling to give up, the girl in green wielded her oars, now left, now right, now lightly, now heavily. The bamboo raft became a leaf caught in a rushing whirlpool. Her smile froze. Li Yu's eyes were half closed, and he seemed like a drooping willow rooted in place.

Seemingly motionless, yet moving at every moment.

Returning Wind Brushes the Willow emphasized following and opposing momentum. Her little prank had ventured into his own specialty, giving him just the opportunity to test his newly improved swordsmanship.

The girl in green soon saw what was happening. She smiled brightly, intending to help him.

"Young Master Li, you really must stand firm now!"

She rolled up her sleeves, revealing half her fair, lotus-root arms, and circulated her internal strength. Her oars whistled as she swung them. The bamboo raft beneath their feet became a stone skipping over water, an arrow loosed from its bow, rocking left and right, almost overturning.

What fine skill on the water.

His feet rooted firmly, Li Yu silently praised her. Though she was borrowing the water to ride the waves, controlling a bamboo raft to this degree showed considerable internal strength and lightness skill. Presumably, she had grown up in the water country.

After a li on the water, the bamboo raft finally arrived.

The girl in green lowered her sleeves, the two silver bracelets on her fair wrists clinking. Her fringe clung to her forehead, wet with lake water or sweat. Smiling at him, she said, "Young Master Carp, you've broken Abi's boat underfoot."

Li Yu looked down. The hem of his robe was slightly damp, and he had indeed broken two green bamboo poles beneath his feet. Suddenly realizing, he looked at the girl in green before him and asked in surprise, "Your name is Abi? Then the person aboard is...?"

"This ship belongs to my young master's aunt. Abi just happened to be aboard for a visit."

The girl in green answered, then, finding his question odd, added, "Have you heard Abi's name before?"

Li Yu smiled and said casually, "Lotus leaves reach to the sky in boundless green. A lovely name."

The girl laughed. "It's only a maid's name. This is the first time anyone has thought it lovely."

Li Yu chuckled.

He had not expected to meet people from both Mantuo Manor and the Murong Family in a single day.