San Tian Liang Jiao
Chapter 1341 The Sword God Smiles (2)
This town wasn't large; it didn't even have a yamen (government office). If someone wanted to file a lawsuit, they had to travel dozens of *li* to Funing to report it.
But the town wasn't as small as Cangling Town either; at least there was more than one inn here, and there were quite a few residents, shops, and traveling merchants.
A few months ago, probably no one could have imagined that this unremarkable border town would become the center of the entire martial world.
And now…
The leaders of major sects, the long-established eccentrics and experts, and even reclusive masters who had been hidden for many years… had all gathered here.
Their purpose was the same, all for one thing—the Jian Wu Cao Ji (Sword Dance Manuscript).
The martial world was a wonderful place.
Here, anyone could pursue things that didn't belong to them, as long as they had the ability…
And so-called morality and justice were often just excuses to facilitate people's actions.
To gain a foothold in the martial world, the most important thing was strength.
Morality without the support of strength was bullshit.
Worse than bullshit.
People with strength understood this principle, so they only brought out that bullshit and made some noise when they needed it.
Duan Keyi was also this kind of person.
Of course, in this incident, he did have some justification.
According to his logic, it was only natural for him to seek revenge from the real murderer after his disciple's family was wiped out. And since the Jian Wu Cao Ji (Sword Dance Manuscript) was snatched from Jiang San by the murderer, it was also reasonable for Duan Keyi to take it back. As for how to distribute it after taking it back… since the Jiang family was completely gone, it was reasonable for him, the master, to take over the sword manual.
In short, Duan Keyi firmly adhered to this theory, even if it sounded a bit far-fetched, but it was more reasonable than the "whoever snatches it owns it" mentality.
Unfortunately, even Duan Keyi himself understood—the martial world was never a place for reasoning.
Those who had nothing could gain money, fame, status, and beauty here…
Those who had everything could also lose everything here.
Was that reasonable?
Even if it was, probably only one in ten thousand people could comprehend this reason.
Therefore, Duan Keyi's bit of reason was just bullshit in the eyes of others.
Even if Jiang San were resurrected today, no one would admit that the sword manual belonged to him, let alone you, Duan Keyi?
In the end, this had always been a "whoever snatches it owns it" game.
So, among the people who came to participate in this game, who were the most eye-catching, or rather, who had the most strength?
Currently, there seemed to be four people.
The first person was Duan Keyi.
Jiang San was famous in the martial world for his "Hengjiang Sword," but Duan Keyi, the "master" who taught him martial arts, was not known for his swordsmanship. From this point alone… one could see the breadth of the latter's martial arts.
In fact, the identity of "Jiang San's teaching master" was not important. The titles of "Head of the Diancang Sect" and "Cloud-Exploring Hero" were what mattered, because those symbolized strength.
In this era, the Diancang Sect was one of the most powerful famous orthodox sects. Whether it was the number and quality of its disciples, or its business and prestige in the martial world, it could be said to be outstanding. The martial arts and scheming of the man who held the position of "Head" of this sect… were truly unfathomable.
Based on this "strength," combined with the previous "reasoning," Duan Keyi naturally occupied a place among the four.
Next, let's talk about the second person…
Mian Daoren (Cotton Taoist).
Taoists mostly used plants as their names, such as "Stone, Plum, Bamboo, Spring, Stream," etc., to appear refined and detached from the world.
But the name "Mian Daoren (Cotton Taoist)"… was a bit strange.
From this name, you not only couldn't hear much refinement, but you could also hear a bit of weakness.
However, the martial arts of this Mian Daoren (Cotton Taoist) were completely opposite to his Taoist name.
No one knew where Mian Daoren (Cotton Taoist) learned his martial arts, and no one knew which Taoist temple he came from. What people knew was that one day, a Taoist who used a sword suddenly appeared in the martial world, and he used a dark black Xuan Tie (Mystic Iron) heavy sword.
This sword was extremely blunt, as if it had never been sharpened. But… countless experts had died under this blunt sword.
Traveling the martial world to this day, Mian Daoren (Cotton Taoist) had never been defeated.
It seemed… that whatever he wanted, he could get, and whatever he wanted to do, he could do.
Next, was the third person.
Leng Yuqiu.
This should be the most mysterious of the four.
He had no friends, although many people wanted to be his friend.
He also had no enemies, because those who became his enemies would soon disappear from this world.
He spoke very little, as if saying one more word was a loss to him.
His deeds were also few, because he was very low-key; and the main manifestation of this "low-key" was… he rarely left survivors.
The truly powerful killers were not the kind of people whose names made you tremble with fear; but the kind of people who were clearly covered in blood debts, but when they stood in front of you, you still knew nothing about them.
Leng Yuqiu was this kind of person.
Although he eventually became a famous figure in the martial world, the difference between him and others was that the entire martial world, no one… or rather "living person," had seen his martial arts.
People could only look at his sword, which seemed to have never been unsheathed, and imagine how many dead souls had been under this sword, and how these people were killed.
It was just "imagination," because "testing" might turn you into one of those dead souls…
So… finally, let's talk about the last one of the four…
Wang Qiong.
This person was not a member of the martial world, but a merchant.
Unfortunately, he didn't have a name like "Qian Million" like merchants in many literary works.
Of course, Wang Qiong wasn't his real name either.
As a person who had been wandering the streets begging since he could remember, the name he was most often called as a child should have been "little beggar" or "smelly beggar." As for what his parents called him, he might have to wait until he met them in the afterlife to ask.
In short, he gave himself the name "Wang Qiong," and he hoped that this name could constantly remind him of the taste of poverty.
Because he knew… only those who had been poor truly understood the value of money.
The understanding of money was different between a person who was born rich and a person who became rich after living a poor life for half his life. It was like a person who was born healthy and a person who was born lame and miraculously cured decades later… their views on walking were definitely different.
Wang Qiong… naturally belonged to the latter.
He used to be poorer than anyone else, so poor that he snatched dog food from other people's yards to eat, and so poor that he hid in pigsties to keep warm; and now he was richer than anyone else, so rich that he didn't know how long it would take to spend all his money, so rich that he could buy anything…
Unlike the previous three, Wang Qiong should be the safest competitor in this "game"; because he didn't need to take risks himself… he could wait, wait until the very end, and use his most powerful and unique weapon—money—to obtain the final victory.
In fact, more than half of the people who gathered in Linlu Town this time were working for Wang Qiong…
These people weren't very interested in the sword manual. Their thinking was: what was the point of practicing martial arts and wandering the martial world? Wasn't it just to want fame and fortune? After selling the sword manual to Wang Qiong and getting a sum of money that they couldn't spend in a lifetime, wasn't it the same as bypassing the complicated and dangerous process and directly reaching the ultimate goal?
So, Wang Qiong, who didn't belong to the martial world at all, was actually the one with the greatest chance of winning among the four… it had to be said, this was an irony.
…………
Noon, the sun was shining brightly, but the snow on the ground still hadn't melted.
The hall of the "Kelai Inn" was very lively.
In addition to those who wanted tea and food, there were also a large group of guys going in and out, coming and going… not knowing what they were busy with.
This scene would only appear in the morning on weekdays.
In this kind of border town, the most frequent visitors were naturally those merchants; when the sky was just getting bright, those who were in a hurry to travel would get up. All kinds of people scrambled for tea and water, and rushed to harness their mules and horses to the carts; during that time, the shop assistants wished they could lift both feet up and use them as hands, it was the most chaotic time of the day.
However, since the news that the Jian Wu Cao Ji (Sword Dance Manuscript) would appear in Linlu Town on New Year's Eve spread, almost every inn in this town had been in this state from morning to night.
The innkeepers were also half happy and half worried. They were happy about making a lot of money every day, and worried about… those customers causing trouble.
"Ah—"
And so, on this afternoon of the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, a scream became the first drop of hot oil to explode in this muddy water.
Along with the scream, there was a sound of wooden windows breaking, and the sound of a person falling from a high place to the ground.
Soon, there was an extra corpse on the street outside the Kelai Inn.
The pedestrians on the street quickly gathered into a circle, watching from a certain distance, talking about something.
Among the guests in the hall… some immediately ran out to see; some sat in their seats, as stable as Mount Tai, as if nothing had happened outside; and some, stood up at the first moment, but after thinking for a moment, they sat down again.
"The one who fell down should be Ma Dahuazi (Big Beard Ma)." Not long after, a square-faced man sitting facing the door next to a square table said.
"Yeah." An old man sitting next to him replied, "The broken window is from Ma Dahuazi (Big Beard Ma)'s room."
The square-faced man said, "Ma Dahuazi (Big Beard Ma)'s martial arts aren't weak."
"Not weak." The old man said, "Just with that hand of 'Shuangxing Cuiming Zhang (Double Form Life-T催命掌aking Palm),' he can be ranked among the first-class experts."
The square-faced man said, "But he's dead now."
The old man nodded, "Looks like he's dead."
The square-faced man said, "A person who is good at using palms, being knocked backward like this, breaking through the window and falling to his death, what does that mean?"
The old man smiled, "It means that in that room, there is someone who is better at using palms than him."
The square-faced man said, "There aren't many such people."
The old man said, "Not many."
The square-faced man said, "Diancang Sect Leader Duan Keyi is one."
The old man echoed, "Well… with Sect Leader Duan's internal energy, he can win against Ma Dahuazi (Big Beard Ma) by simply using force to overcome skill."
The square-faced man also said, "The leader of the Kuanghu Gang (Mad Tiger Gang), 'Tiger-Faced Luohan (Arhat)' Tu Ji… is also one."
The old man said, "Luohan Dou Hu Zhang (Arhat Fighting Tiger Palm) is indeed better than that Shuangxing Cuiming Zhang (Double Form Life-Taking Palm)."
The square-faced man added, "Gang Leader Luo Can of the Beggar Gang must also be counted."
The old man said, "Since Gang Leader Luo has already mastered the Jianglong Shiba Zhang (Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms) that has been lost for many years… then he must be counted as one."
At this point, the square-faced man shrugged and smiled, "Uncle Liu, who do you think… killed Ma Dahuazi (Big Beard Ma)?"
Uncle Liu replied, "Young master is intelligent, and must already have an answer in mind. This old man's humble opinion… is best left unsaid."
"Hehe…" The square-faced man smiled again, "Uncle Liu is joking, my 'eye technique' is not even half as good as yours, just based on the hasty glance when Ma Dahuazi (Big Beard Ma) fell just now… maybe I saw it wrong."
Uncle Liu was flattered by this "young master," but he didn't show any joy, "Even with just a glance, young master must have seen… that the killer deliberately used 'palm to control the enemy' to hide his true identity, right?"
The young master's smile grew stronger, "That's a person who uses a sword."
Uncle Liu said, "Yes."
The young master said, "Among the people who use swords, there aren't many who can kill Ma Dahuazi (Big Beard Ma) with palm techniques."
Uncle Liu said, "The only one who meets this condition and happens to be staying at this inn is…"
Just as the conversation between the two was progressing to this point, a man and a woman walked into the store from the door, bypassing the crowd.
The man looked to be in his early twenties, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, and a handsome appearance. He had a long sword on his back; the girl next to him was about the same age, and she was also very beautiful, with a lovely and delicate face.
The old Jianghu (martial world) figures sitting in the hall of the inn were all sharp-eyed. With just one look, they deduced that… these two were either lovers, or siblings, or very close martial brothers and sisters.
Although the pair didn't make any intimate gestures, the distance they kept between each other, the frequency of their walking, and the tacit understanding revealed in their gestures were enough to show that their relationship was quite close.
"Shopkeeper, are there any rooms left?" The young man walked to the counter in a few steps, faced the shopkeeper, and asked directly.
The shopkeeper's reaction was also quite quick, his attention instantly shifted back from the corpse outside the door, and he replied almost instinctively, "Uh… this guest, recently… the rooms in our shop are a bit tight…"
"I understand." The young man knew what the shopkeeper meant, "We only need one room, as for the price… you can charge us the 'current price'."
"Eh~ good, good." The shopkeeper of Kelai Inn was very greedy and not very timid; so, even though the life outside the door hadn't been accounted for yet, he immediately squinted his small eyes and smiled after hearing the young man's words.
He took out the ledger while smiling like that, picked up a writing brush and wrote, asking as he wrote, "This young hero, please leave your name."
The young man replied in a very calm tone, "Huangfu Mingkang."