Two days before the duel.
Almost everyone had their eyes on this fight.
The inns in Funing County had long filled up, countless jianghu people had flooded into this obscure town, it resembled the time that preceded Shen Qiao and Kunye’s fight.
The difference was, back then although Shen Qiao had a large reputation, it was not on account of his martial prowess, his fight with Kunye attracted attention because on some level, it represented the continuation of Qi Fengge and Hulugu’s legacies, people looked to them to see a shadow of the two grandmasters of yore.
This fight between Yan Wushi and Hulugu, many people saw it as the face-off between the central plains wulin and the Tujue.
The Buddhist, Daoist, Ru sects, along with various other major and minor sects, of the people who had heard the news, eight or nine times out of ten they had rushed over.
Rumour has it that one inn was completely rented out by Linchuanxuegong, even their sect leader Ruyan Kehui was here personally, prepared to witness this fight with his own eyes.
Tiantai Sect Fayi-chanshi, Qingchengshan Chunyangguan Yi Bichen, Xuandu Purple Pavillion, Fajing Sect, Liuligong, Bixia Sect, even the faraway Tuyuhun Jushe-zhizhe…all of these people, were either here personally, or sent a disciple as a delegate, clearly not willing to miss out on this once-in-a-thousand-years showdown.
There was ten thousand pairs of eyes!
It was going to be more brilliant than the fight between Shen Qiao and Kunye!
At the same time that it drew the world’s eyes, it also signified the peril of a large spectacle.
Win, then you were peerless under the heavens.
Lose, then you descended into the abyss.
This was not merely a martial arts confrontation, but also a confrontation of reputation and of life. No one was naïve enough to believe that the two of them would stop after a friendly scrimmage, twenty years ago Qi Fengge and Hulugu’s fight, Hulugu had been seriously injured, almost dead, only then did he undertake the twenty year vow to not return to the central plains, wandering the outskirts in seclusion, Qi Fengge was not much better off— many people believed that it was because of the severity of the injuries sustained in this fight, that he developed a chronic condition, leading to Qi-zhengren’s later death, this was merely a rumour, no one had any evidence.
Nevertheless, for many run-of-the-mill jianghu people, who were unlikely to ever catch a glimpse of the pinnacle of the cultivation world, to be able to be present here, even if they were unable to ascend the steep Yinghui Peak, and could only sit waiting in Funing County, it was still the most marvellous chance of a lifetime.
“I heard that the biggest gambling house in Funing Couty has opened up this round, accepting bets for the outcome in zongzhu and Hulugu’s fight.” The one speaking was the head manager of the residence, he was currently respectfully relaying his report to Yan Wushi.
Yu Shengyan had not dared to make an appearance in front of Yan Wushi these past few days, who knows where he’d run off to.
Although they were in a countryside residence, they were not cut off from the news, just the opposite, the head manager would send someone to get the most recent news everyday, the most recent sect to arrive in the county, where they were staying, where Linchuanxuegong’s people went today, etc., all of it would make its way back here.
As one of the parties in the face-off, Yan Wushi was way more idle and settled than anyone could imagine.
Currently he held a piece of walnut shell that had been broken apart by the maidservant and threw it at the small deer: “A-Qiao, come here.”
The small deer was snuggling against Shen Qiao coyly, lowering its head to drink water from his cup, but was struck by a piece of walnut shell, it didn’t make a fuss, continued to drink its water like a well-mannered someone.
“…” Shen Qiao couldn’t keep watching however, the deer had a name that was identical to his, clearly this was not done with good intention, the deer was well-behaved, not troubling anyone, but someone kept on bullying and teasing it.
Another walnut shell was thrown, this time it didn’t hit the deer’s head, it was intercepted mid-flight by a leaf, made tangent with the head manager’s ear, then embedded itself in the pillar behind him.
The head manager broke out into a cold sweat.
Shen Qiao, apologetic: “Sorry, I hope I didn’t scare you?”
The head manager shook his head continuously, he by what virtue and what ability, could undertake an apology from this person.
Yan Wushi started laughing.
Shen Qiao really wanted to roll his eyes at him, but that would be messing around too much, he petted the unknowing small deer, he thought, when I get a chance how about I get you a new name.
Yan Wushi asked abruptly: “What are the odds?”
The head manager was blank for a moment, then realized he was asking him, rushed to say: “One to ten.”
Shen Qiao had not gambled before, but he knew what one to ten meant, he was surprised: “On whom?”
Head manager: “On master winning.”
Shen Qiao: “And if Hulugu wins?”
The head manger coughed quietly: “One to two.”
Shen Qiao: “…”
Yan Wushi wasn’t upset, instead he smiled: “Looks like they don’t expect much from me!”
Hulugu’s reappearance in the central plains, his first fight had been his shocking stage entrance on Qingchengshan, first beating Yi Bichen and then Shen Qiao, two of the top ten martial artists, both grandmasters, in a turn of an eye they had lost, this martial record, was enough to stun the world.
Yan Wushi was powerful, but with Hulugu in the spotlight, he lost some of his lustre.
Moreover, Hulugu was of the same martial generation as Qi Fengge, once your wugong surpassed a certain stage, age no longer restricted your body, establishing physical limits, in contrast it signified more experience.
Shen Qiao, blandly: “When you’re like this, I also don’t expect much.”
Yan Wushi raised an eyebrow: “This venerable like what? Unless you mean before the match, I should be reduced to a mess, unable to sleep or eat? Or should my eyes overflow with tears, holding onto your leg saying A-Qiao I don’t want to go anymore?”
Shen Qiao gave him a look, didn’t say anything.
Yan Wushi tried to reassure him: “I don’t think there’s anything to be worried about, you also shouldn’t be worried, I’ve entrusted Huanyue Sect to you, if worst comes to worst my skull will bust open another crack, it’s not like it hasn’t opened before.”
Shen Qiao: “…”
Yan Wushi smiled merrily and shrugged: “Another crack, maybe Xie Ling can come back, then you can whisper sweet nothings to each other again.”
Shen Qiao: “…”
He was a person of the jianghu, his wugong was also exceptional, moreover he had fought with Hulugu, naturally he understood what this fight entailed, and because he understood, he had been wracking his head these days for something that might help Yan Wushi, giving him a better chance in the fight.
But the path of martial practice, how easy would it be to take a shortcut? Shen Qiao had been able to reconstruct his meridians, but that had been under the condition where he had nullified his own wugong completely, although the saying goes construction is built on wreckage, if you were doing fine who would go about “wrecking”? Yan Wushi to be able to fix the flaw in his demonic core was already a godsend, if there was no <Zhu Yang Ce” scroll from Chen Gong, his chances of winning against Hulugu would have been even lower.
Shen Qiao was deep in his thoughts, brain spinning, going over his past experiences, these days he appeared more solemn and rarely spoke, now he paused for a long moment, intercepted two more walnut shells aimed at the small deer: “I’ve been thinking, I remember back then after shizun’s fight with Hulugu he had some reflections, but it’s been many years, I was very young, my memory isn’t clear, after a lot of thought I’ve only remembered portions, maybe it won’t be much help, but if you know a little, it’s better than nothing.”
Yan Wushi made a sound to show he was listening, waited attentively for the rest.
Shen Qiao arranged his thoughts: “Shizun said, Hulugu was a martial genius, he’s practically well-versed in all weapons, can be considered an expert, but in the end he chose no weapon, using only his bare hands, it’s not only because his niegong is deep and no longer requires a weapon as extraneous embroidery, it’s more because he’s encapsulated all of the weapons into his technique. But there’s strength and weakness in everything, in this world, except for the heavens, there is no such thing as perfection, Hulugu included, he must have a weakness. Twenty some years ago, he lost to shizun by only one move, also because his nieli was a notch below shizun’s, but this time, if you’re going to stake it out on nieli, it’s not to your advantage, so you must search for an opening elsewhere.”
Saying this he seemed to realize: “This is probably not useful to you, you can use it as a reference.”
Two people fighting, it was hard to put a finger on many observations, impossible to pass on, only if you were the one involved would you know, even if Shen Qiao had a brilliant, flowery tongue, he’d still wouldn’t be able to explain it, but he was clearly hoping the other would win, that he had expended so much energy picking these things out from his memory.
Yan Wushi looked at him with a doting gaze: “It’s me who’s going to fight Hulugu, but you’re the one who’s nervous, it’s hard on you.”
Shen Qiao smiling-crying: “This fight is no small thing, just look how many people are in Funing County right now and you’ll know, only you could be so idle! No need to mention your disciples, haven’t you noticed these two days the people in this residence are all extremely high-strung?”
Yan Wushi laughed haha, standing up: “I know you worry about me, why use others as an excuse? Sitting around all day like this is boring, come, I’ll take you out to play.”
Shen Qiao frowned, seeing that he was already walking out, could only follow behind.
Yan Wushi brought him into town, but not to any inn or to visit any wulin grandmaster, instead he walked a familiar path into a gambling house.
Shen Qiao raised his head to look.
Tongfu Gambling House.
Inside it was bustling with activity, on account of the new jianghu arrivals it was even more lively, many people were taking advantage of the time before the fight to come here to wager and to waste time, most people had surrounded the table where they were taking bets for Hulugu vs. Yan Wushi, a solid barricade of people, Yan Wushi found a staff member and had them place a bet on his behalf, that he’d win, and then pulled Shen Qiao to the other side.
“This is betting da-xiao, the easiest to play, three dice, if the sum is less than ten it’s considered small, more than eleven it’s big.” He said to Shen Qiao, seeing the other’s vacant expression, smiled.
This was a completely foreign, other world to Shen Qiao, rambunctious yelling everywhere, there were those who were yelling since they’d won, and those wailing because they’d lost, Shen Qiao’s Daoist robes certainly did not fit in here, his features also stood out too much, if it wasn’t for the fact that most people in the gambling house were not of the jianghu, someone would have long recognized him.
Nevermind Yan Wushi, the other’s aura, get too close and you’d have difficulty breathing, no one dared to cast more than a few glances in his direction.
Here, what determined the outcome was not wugong, but luck. Who knew how many people had won a thousand gold in one roll and then lost their entire family fortune here, year after year, the gambling house continued to be busy, the people coming and going may have gone through several iterations.
Shen-daozhang, who did not flinch in the face of Taishan collapsing, standing here now was kind of at a loss.
Yan Wushi might have found Shen Qiao like this very cute, thought that this trip was indeed worthwhile, he reached out a hand to pull him, all the while smiling: “Qi Fengge has certainly not brought you to a gambling house before?”
Shen Qiao frowned, the meaning clear: why would shizun bring him to this kind of place?
Yan Wushi pulled him to the front of a table, using a tone reserved for placating children: “It’s really fun, see, this kind of wagering da-xiao, it has everyone’s attention, they’re afraid to miss even one dot on the dice.”
Shen Qiao looked around him, indeed, everyone was very focused, their eyeballs glued to the porcelain shaker in the host’s hands.
In the moment the porcelain shaker was lifted, the results revealed, everyone’s expressions changed, the anticipation evaporated, some rejoiced, some sighed.
Shen Qiao could not understand their affect, he was a not a creature of this place, he was a bystander, with no point of entry.
Yan Wushi put the wood chip he’d exchanged earlier in his hands, here it represented ten liang, that amount was enough to feed a common family for most of the year, here it was a considerable wager, but Huanyue Sect had money, of course he didn’t even blink: “You try it.”
“Place your bets! Hands away from the table!” The porcelain shaker after a long interval, was snapped onto the tabletop, the host yelled.
Shen Qiao hesitated, he flicked his finger, the wood chip silently landed in the “small” box drawn on the table.
This gesture had been extremely graceful, the host looked up in his myriad of tasks, saw that it was a pretty young Daoist, with a sword on his back, he thought, maybe he was here to cause a scene?
The porcelain shaker revealed, it was small.
This table was one to one odds, Shen Qiao won another wood chip, meaning that he had twenty liang.
The second round, another wager, this time he wagered ‘big’.
The outcome, was indeed ‘big’.
Several rounds followed, he was correct in every round, even the guests around began to notice him, they thought, even young Daoists are gamblers now, though that didn’t stop them from all placing bets after Shen Qiao.
The host began to panic, secretly reported it to the manager, the manager sent someone over, seering that the other was of the jianghu, and looked extremely like the kind you did not vex, rushed to present them a large gift, very respectfully invited them to leave, also letting them know that there was another gambling house in town called Sifang Gambling House, even larger than theirs.
Yan Wushi started laughing as soon as they exited, laughed until he had to hold onto Shen Qiao’s shoulder, his waist bent over.
Shen Qiao: “…Stop laughing.”
Yan Wushi was on the verge of tears from laughing: “This is the first time I’ve been kicked out of a gambling house, it’s all thanks to you, did you use your nieli to listen to the host’s dice?”
Shen Qiao: “…I didn’t know that was not allowed in gambling.”
There was a touch of self-pity he was not aware of.
Yan Wushi: “That’s the rule, even if Qi Fengge were here he wouldn’t be able to use nieli, otherwise there’d be no gambling house that would let him enter again.”
Shen Qiao was quickly at ease again, smiled: “Regardless, if you hadn’t dragged me along, I wouldn’t have gone in.”
He looked at the heavy money pouch in Yan Wushi’s hand, curious: “You won a lot? Not using nieli?”
Yan Wushi laughed: “This gambling house has a good reputation among the townspeople, the host doesn’t cheat, everyone according to their luck, one more source of joy, don’t you feel that using your nieli to listen to the dice, knowing the outcome beforehand, is no fun?”
Shen Qiao didn’t like gambling, but he could appreciate his words, hearing this he nodded: “To suspend certainty, it would be more interesting.”
Yan Wushi played with the money pouch by tossing it up in the air, a blink of an eye and it had landed in the broken bowl of the beggar sitting by the side of the road, with utmost precision, the beggar had not expected wealth to descend from the sky one day, was completely dumbstruck.
The person who had tossed the money hadn’t even looked at him once, as if the thing he had thrown away was merely a rock.
“That’s right, life is a bet throughout, birth is a bet, those born to affluent families, well-fed and dressed, those born to beggars, a life of poverty; marriage is also a bet, those couples that get along, those couples that bicker ceaselessly. An ordinary household, or an extravagant one, even the emperor’s household, where is it not a game of chance?”
Shen Qiao thinking to himself, if he hadn’t been accepted by Qi Fengge as a disciple, no matter how talented he was, it was more likely than not that in a chaotic world, he’d have long become a wandering ghost.
The other using gambling as an example, different songs to the same tune, it was not incorrect.
Shen Qiao shook his head: “Yan Wushi, you’re a gambler at heart.”
For the thrill, he was willing to bet his life, there was probably no crazier gambler under the heavens than him.
Yan Wushi smiled: “A-Qiao knows me, if the fight with Hulugu was nine out of ten certain, why would I go, it’s only because the outcome is unknown that it’s interesting, without this thread of uncertainty, life would be so tasteless!”
Shen Qiao, a ghost of a smile on his lips: “People who see the world as you do, probably do not number many.”
Yan Wushi: “Come, money won, I’ll invite you to dinner.”
Shen Qiao reminded him: “…You gave your winnings to the beggar.”
Yan Wushi: “Winning money is for the high, a high then dinner, what does it have to do with the winnings?”
The meaning being, I’m happy.
Shen Qiao was wordlessly dragged away by him.