Swords Stirred the Flower Pavilion (Part One)

"You really came!"

"You hoped I'd come, yet feared I would."

Li Yu stood before the octagonal pavilion in blue robes, a blue sword in hand. His gaze drifted around as Black Flood Dragon Gang members poured from their hiding places on all sides, their blades gleaming like cold scales. They packed the covered walkways, over a hundred strong.

The guests rose from their seats, staring in astonishment at the blue-robed man who had walked straight into an encirclement.

Sun Laoba laughed loudly. "Walking right into the net! Whatever else, that kind of guts is fucking jianghu!"

Zhou Xiao asked, "What was his name again?"

"I think... his surname's Yu. Yes, I heard it was Yu..."

Many felt that, although this was far too reckless and he was surely more likely to die than survive today, his carefree boldness, his spirit of valuing valor above life, and the bearing of a man who could roam the world with nothing but three feet of blue steel in hand were enough to win their admiration.

This was how a man of the jianghu ought to be!

If you were going to cower and cringe, you might as well sit in a study reading the Spring and Autumn Annals.

Zhu Tuo brandished his softshell-turtle-headed iron pestle and shouted excitedly, "Brothers, attack together! Cut down this Fish-Dragon Gang remnant!"

"Wait!"

Zhang Hengye raised a hand. He understood why his opponent had chosen to appear suddenly when the guests were gathered and he had just spoken those words. Behind closed doors, anything went, but before others, the rules still had to be observed.

"We agreed to settle our grievances in a one-on-one duel. How could I break faith with the martial world!"

Zhu Tuo looked momentarily stunned. Had his elder brother addled his brains reading the Spring and Autumn Annals?

Who in the martial world knew who you were? Who knew who I was?

Safely swallowing this fat morsel before them, eliminating future trouble, and dominating the South Canal jianghu-that was what mattered!

Li Yu felt a measure of admiration instead.

So long as one still wished to benefit from the rules, one had to abide by them, at least on the surface. Even such supreme powers as the Beggars' Sect, Shaolin, and the Murong Family were no exception. What lay beneath was another matter.

Li Yu had come to the banquet alone. That was very jianghu.

Zhang Hengye could hardly fail to act jianghu himself.

Besides, he was fully confident he could defeat his opponent!

In the jianghu, it was skill under one's hands that ultimately spoke!

Zhu Tuo cried, "Elder Brother?"

"Today, we decide who is stronger. No one is to interfere!"

Zhang Hengye swept his wide eyes around and bellowed sternly. He reached for his waist, twisting his palm as though triggering a spring mechanism. His long whip shot out with a whistle, its tip quivering as it sliced through the air with rushing sounds, stabbing toward the heart like a dagger.

"Seeking a Pearl in a Sea of Clouds!"

Li Yu spun to the left to evade, raising his blue-steel sword and thrusting it forward. A pinpoint of cold light knocked the Hegemon's Whip aside and broke through the internal force clinging to it.

Such pure internal power!

Zhang Hengye was secretly startled. From their very first exchange, he knew his opponent possessed less internal power than he did, yet its purity surpassed his own. Either he was a born martial prodigy, or he practiced a superior internal cultivation method.

"Willow Leaf Flying Arrows!"

Li Yu thrust straight again, gathering a pinpoint of cold light as he advanced swiftly. Taking advantage of the whip's slackness, he attacked Zhang Hengye's right chest, seeking an opening for a backhand strike.

"Overturning Waves in a Tight Corner!"

Zhang Hengye curled his palm and turned it back. The limp Hegemon's Whip instantly stiffened like a black python shaking its scales, swiftly coiling toward the blue-steel sword. Once it caught, his superior internal power would let him wear his opponent down until he slipped and abandoned his sword.

"Swallow Returns to the Willow Grove!"

The two figures exchanged forty or fifty moves outside the red-gauze pavilion, sword and whip flashing back and forth in exquisite techniques. Men like Third Master Wen could only enjoy the spectacle, but Sun Laoba and the others inwardly sighed with the lament of Feng Tang and Li Guang.

On the roof.

Abi lay on the roof ridge, chin propped in her hands, watching the fight before the pavilion with rapt attention.

She had learned from renowned masters and possessed considerable martial skill, but had very little experience fighting others with real weapons.

"Sister, who do you think will win?"

"In a contest of martial skill, everything can change in an instant. Besides, both men intend to kill. No one can say for certain."

The woman in pale clothes wore a veil over her face, her eyes seeming to hold pools of autumn water. Her voice was gentle as she watched the blue-robed man before the pavilion, his sword flashing with faint signs of man and sword becoming one.

"Young Master Carp's martial arts are quite good, though still worlds apart from our young master's. The Black Flood Dragon Gang has no sense of honor and has done plenty of wicked things. Why don't we help him?"

Smiling, Abi took out a flying-locust stone and held it in her palm.

"Absolutely not!"

The woman hurriedly stopped her, catching Abi's wrist.

"You'd only harm him that way!"

"How would that harm him?"

"They're fighting a fair, open duel. Whoever strikes from the shadows breaks the rules first. The Black Flood Dragon Gang and all the guests here would become his enemies. However formidable one man and one sword might be, they cannot overcome a crowd."

Abi nodded lightly, then asked, "If Young Master Carp wins, will the Black Flood Dragon Gang let him go?"

The woman fell silent for a moment, then asked.

"Do you know Goujian?"

"Of course. He built Gusu Terrace, doted on Xi Shi, foolishly trusted Wu Zixu, and forced Grand Steward Bo to his death..."

"That was Fuchai, and the one forced to his death wasn't..."

The woman in pale clothes smiled helplessly and abandoned her history lesson.

"In short, as you said, Zhang Hengye is someone so capable of enduring humiliation... and bearing heavy burdens. His mind is vicious and beyond ordinary people's fathoming. Once he gains the upper hand, he will surely cut out the grass by its roots!"

She was, after all, a year older than Abi. When she said "enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens," her face reddened, and she gave a soft spit.

Abi did not notice. Watching the dark mass of people surrounding the pavilion, she asked, "Then shall we help him escape when that happens?"

The woman shook her head. "No. We're maidservants of the Murong Family. Without the young master's orders, we cannot lightly involve ourselves in jianghu conflicts. Besides, this... Young Master Carp dared to attend alone. He most likely has something in reserve..."

Before she finished, she hurriedly pulled Abi down. Both pairs of eyes turned toward the southeastern corner.

"Someone else is coming!"

A dark figure moved close along the roof ridge, light-footed and nimble as a cat. At last, the figure chose a spot and stopped, unfastening an object before slowly lowering into a prone position, eyes cold as the chill moon fixed on the octagonal pavilion.

"You dare!"

The whip was long and the sword short. After sixty moves, just as Li Yu seemed about to fall behind, he suddenly darted into the pavilion and swept his sword toward the pot of red camellias in glorious bloom. Greatly alarmed, Zhang Hengye roared angrily, pushed aside the red gauze, and rushed after him to stop him.

"What nerve!"

The guests clapped and cried out.

"Doesn't he know those camellias belong to Mantuo Manor?"

"He knows! But he's gone mad. He wants them to perish together..."

The octagonal pavilion was cramped, its fluttering red gauze making it resemble a cage.

When the blue-steel sword was still five feet from the camellias, it suddenly turned back. The whip missed, merely grazing Li Yu's left back, tearing his blue robe and instantly scoring a bloody welt. As Li Yu turned, his sword traced a circle. After a Swallow Returns to the Willow Grove, he shook his blade and followed with Willows Sway in the Wind.

Three sword shadows!!!

No!

A trap!

Zhang Hengye's eyes jolted, horror overwhelming him. His whip had already lashed out, leaving his front wide open. The sword strike his opponent had concealed was as vicious as the needle in a hornet's tail. He could only watch as three sword shadows enveloped him.

The whip was longer than the sword and could be supple or rigid. That was its advantage.

But the interval between supple and rigid left a fatal opening.

This pot of red camellias, which might have come from Mantuo Manor, had undoubtedly magnified that opening.

"The Heart's Return Journey!"

Zhang Hengye roared. Within that tiny space, he curled his palm and turned it back, driving all his internal power to retrieve the Hegemon's Whip he had lashed out. This was his only chance. So long as he blocked two of the sword shadows, he would still have a chance to escape.

To him, the octagonal pavilion was undoubtedly a mire.

Bang!

The whip's tip actually struck a pillar at one corner of the pavilion. Wood chips flew, and cracks faintly appeared.

Within the cramped octagonal pavilion, the long whip had become a disadvantage instead.

Too late!

In that instant's delay, Zhang Hengye saw through every part of Li Yu's scheme, his heart plunging into an icy cavern. Even if he could still execute The Heart's Return Journey in full, the pillar had already dissipated most of its force. Unable to follow with Spring Thunder over the Earth, he still could not withstand the sword thrust his opponent delivered with all his strength.

Space, time, thoughts...

Everything had been calculated precisely!

The three streaks of sword light closed in!

"Aaah-"

His gaze turning savage, Zhang Hengye decisively abandoned his whip and raised his bare palms to strike at the two deadliest sword shadows.