A night raid on the West Canal Gate

"Drink!"

"Raise your bowls... whoever doesn't drink, I'll pour this whole jar over his head! Hahaha..."

With a bang, the door was kicked open.

"Don't any of you run off. Wait till I get... back..."

Peering through drunken eyes, Boss Ruan staggered outside with a wine jar in his arms and felt his way to the lakeshore. Just as he was about to undo his clothes, he suddenly turned his head to the left. In the hazy darkness, a shadowy figure stood seven or eight paces away.

"You... what are you doing?"

The shadow crouched beside the lake, scooping up water, seemingly washing something.

"Guess."

"Heh, I know... you..."

Boss Ruan was too drunk to see clearly. Hearing only the splashing, he guessed the figure was washing their hands. Then he noticed their handsome features, rather like a young woman's. He craned his neck for a look and gave a lecherous grin.

"You came out to relieve yourself, didn't you?"

The man in green robes slowly rose, drawing a bloodstained tempered-steel longsword from the water.

"Sorry, wrong guess!"

However muddled by drink Boss Ruan was, he was still a man who had rolled through blades and swords. He immediately dropped the wine jar and reached for his waist, only to grasp empty air. He felt as though he had plunged into an ice cavern. The blood froze throughout his body, and terror filled his eyes.

"Whoosh!"

In the dark night, beneath the moonlight, the green figure flitted like a phantom.

A sword thrust flashed out, and blood spurted.

"You..."

Clutching his throat, Boss Ruan staggered backward.

Li Yu calmly caught the wine jar. Footwork and swordplay complemented each other; after he had mastered the Cloud-Piercing Step, his Returning Wind Brushes the Willow had also risen half a step.

Tonight, he had come to Linhu Town expressly to hone his sword!

"You're..."

Boss Ruan fell faceup to the ground. His hands dropped, blood gushed out, and all his drunkenness drained away with it. Within moments, he let his hands fall aside, twitched twice, and his body was swallowed by the darkness.

A moonless sky and rising wind-a night for murder.

Sword in hand, Li Yu slowly approached the thatched courtyard in southern Linhu Town.

"Damn it! Had me worrying for days over nothing."

"Exactly. Some Divine Dragon Cult! Against our West Canal Gate, they don't dare show the slightest temper..."

"So what if we killed their people? If we weren't wary of Wolf Head Stronghold attacking us from behind, we'd have charged straight into Green Willow Manor, seized Black Earth Town, and crushed that little worm long ago... hahaha..."

"It'll happen in the next few months anyway. Sect Leader Ge said we'd sweep through South Canal before the year was out!"

Three candlesticks burned on a side table. Four West Canal Gate members had taken off their weapons and were clinking bowls and drinking together, each more than half drunk. The table was a mess. Only after a long while did someone finally remember Boss Ruan, who had gone out to piss and had yet to return.

"Where's... Chief Ruan...?"

"Taking this long for a piss-did he fall into the lake? Hahaha..."

Just then, a green-robed figure appeared soundlessly outside the door and slipped across the threshold.

"Chief Ruan... who the fuck are you?"

Only when the stranger had nearly reached the table did one of the West Canal Gate members react, rising to grab the weapons on the table.

"Willows Sway in the Wind!"

Li Yu leaned sideways and thrust. A light flick of his sword to either side instantly produced four sword shadows, enveloping the entire drinking table.

The candle flames shook violently, hissing.

The gang member facing the door collapsed headfirst onto the table before he could touch his saber. The other three fared even worse. They had not even gotten a clear look at the intruder before following him to death, their throats likewise sliced open.

"The sixteenth!"

Li Yu wiped the crimson from his sword tip, searched their bodies for signal arrows, and blew out the three candles one by one. Leaving four corpses behind, he locked the door and walked out of the courtyard.

"Cult Leader."

A dozen or so dark figures rushed over, all skilled, nimble fighters from the cult, led by Fu Rong, Lin Mang, Tao Zongwang, and Guo Xie. Li Yu took out the signal arrows, distributed them among the four, and gave them a few quiet instructions.

"Yes!"

The shadows scattered.

An owl called in the distance, and carp leaped through the waves. Li Yu looked northwest, somewhat hesitant.

He had already achieved his aim of harassing them.

Should he go a step further?

This courtyard lay in Linhu Town's southeastern corner and was merely one of the outer lookout posts.

During his time in Lingzhou, he had often ventured into the grasslands and deserts with First Rank Hall, crossing blades with elite fighters from both Tubo and Great Liao.

Infiltrating sentry posts and capturing enemies was his line of work.

Killing a dozen or so small fry clearly would not intimidate the West Canal Gate. As it happened, "Flying Crane" Ge Zhixiong was also staying in Linhu Town tonight.

The jianghu was like a jungle. Even the weak could not keep retreating.

Bristle your fur and bare your claws; draw your sword when an enemy appeared.

"Besides, with preparation against the unprepared, I might not be without a chance of winning."

The Great Song's imperial authority did not extend below the county level.

Especially around Lake Tai, where martial factions held sway, Linhu Town's supervising official had always been mere decoration. The true seat of authority was the great residence at the eastern end of Locust Tree Street, formerly the Red Flower Society's headquarters.

Two lanterns hung beneath the eaves, their red paper bearing the character for "Canal."

The lamplight was sparse, and the night was still.

Voices drifted faintly from inside.

"Wolf Head Stronghold. The Divine Dragon Cult."

"Those are the only two tough bones left to gnaw in South Canal's jianghu."

The long table was brightly lit. Two lotus-shaped lampstands weighed down either side of a map. Mountains, rivers, and lakes sprang vividly from the paper, along with a thoroughly detailed distribution of the jianghu factions around Gusu.

"Two years ago, when I intended to subdue South Canal's jianghu, I fought Zhou Xiao once. A longsword in his right hand, a shortsword in his left. The longsword was hard to evade, the shortsword hard to guard against. When fast, their paths were almost impossible to trace; when slow, they struck with tremendous weight..."

"Who won?"

The black-clad man was secretly astonished. He had known absolutely nothing of this, and word had never spread within the sect either. Presumably... the outcome had not been very good.

Ge Zhixiong was in his early thirties, of medium build and somewhat lean, dressed in fine blue Suzhou-embroidered silk brocade. Seated in a huanghuali folding chair, he studied a symbol representing a "hill" on the lamplit map.

Wolf Head Stronghold: high mountains, dense woods, and a single narrow path-easy to defend, hard to attack.

"In the end... I won by half a move."

The black-clad man said, "I understand now. Everyone in the jianghu says Zhou Xiao was defeated by an expert. That was you, Brother Ge?"

"Not me! Two years ago, our martial arts were still evenly matched."

Ge Zhixiong shook his head. Setting Wolf Head Stronghold aside for now, he shifted his gaze left to the Divine Dragon Cult, which occupied a corner of Lake Tai. His brows tightened slightly.

"Interesting! At the height of his momentum, I schemed against him twice in succession, yet he could still swallow his anger."

The black-clad man said regretfully, "That night, we deliberately revealed only part of our strength and left an opening, precisely to lure the man himself onto the hook. Had he come to Linhu Town, the Divine Dragon Cult would no longer exist!"

Ge Zhixiong asked, "Brother Man Zhan, just what is this man's background? Any new information?"

"He rarely leaves his residence and refuses every visitor! Green Willow Manor is tightly guarded, with defenses on both land and water. Within three or four li, there are sentries both overt and hidden. It's very hard to get close."

Ge Zhixiong frowned and said discontentedly, "Not a scrap of information?"

Man Zhan hurriedly said, "According to those at the Flower-Honoring Banquet that day, his accent marks him as a northerner, but his swordplay closely resembles the Shi Family's supreme art from Jiangnan... Twenty years ago, over a secret affair, the Shi Family was wiped out by 'Five Tigers Door-Breaking Saber' Qin Gongwang. More than seventy members of the household were trapped by a great fire in a tunnel and burned into dried corpses. It caused a sensation at the time. This martial art has never appeared since."

Ge Zhixiong frowned. "Could he be a surviving orphan of the Shi Family who escaped?"

Man Zhan nodded. "Very likely."

"In that case, he founded the Divine Dragon Cult to amass strength and cultivate followers before taking revenge on Qin Family Stronghold? So young, yet neither his martial arts nor his cunning can be underestimated..."

Ge Zhixiong's gaze was cold and stern as he stared at "Divine Dragon Cult" on the map.

"Whatever grudges he has... South Canal's jianghu cannot allow someone this badass to exist!"

Man Zhan made his hand into a blade and slashed downward, stirring a sharp gust. "Gather our men, destroy the Divine Dragon Cult first, then smash the wolves' den. We'll surely subdue South Canal in one stroke."

Ge Zhixiong nodded slightly. Just as he was about to make his decision, he suddenly looked up. A flurry of disorderly footsteps came from outside the door.