Green Dragon Totem Chapter 9 Part1

[T/N: As we approach the end of the free chapters on JJWXC, I'm setting out an appeal for Ko-Fi donations! Please click or on the coffee b.u.t.ton above to donate! – LLS]

9: Nandikeśvara1

Jing Ling stared at Xie Yun, and after a long while showed a meaningful smile which still had an evil influence.

"Out of the question," he coolly said. Although his gaze was fixed on Xie Yun's face, his words were directed to Fu Xiangrong: "Young Mistress Fu may rest a.s.sured, you are still the martial arts community's foremost… beauty."

Fu Xiangrong was immediately both surprised and infuriated: "Why?!"

"Because…"

The hand by Jing Ling's side abruptly rolled, and a strong wind blew out, shooting past, forced before Xie Yun like lightning—

Dang!

Right at the moment of imminent peril, Shan Chao hurriedly moved, bring up the sheathed sword, and right at the moment when the concealed weapon was mere inches from Xie Yun's left eye, had heavily blocked this blow!

With a dong sound the concealed weapon fell to the ground.

The main hall was instantly in uproar, with everyone evenly looking over, to see with astonishment that it was a gold bullet the size of the nail of a little finger!

Shan Chao lowered his head, and saw that the rag wrapped around the Seven Stars Longyuan had been torn apart, revealing a little bit of the white shark-skin scabbard — that hard and thick suede surface even had minute fissures left behind, and it could clearly be seen how if the bullet had struck through the eyeball, what kind of skull-bursting brain-splitting dreadful state would be left.

Xie Yun raised his eyes to glance at Shan Chao, and softly said: "—many thanks."

From the moment the golden bullet came out, approached his left eye, and the scabbard swung close to the point of his nose to block it, throughout this entire process he had not moved even an inch, and his face did not change even an iota, not even so much as an eyelid!

"……" Shan Chao stared at him, and slowly withdrew the sword: "Miss is too polite."

"Your red-haired devil!" At this time the young disciples in the hall could no longer stay still, slapping the table in anger: "Did this miss offend you, for you to raise a hand to injure her?!"

"Vicious and merciless!"

"An evil cult, truly an evil cult of the Jianghu!"

Jing Ling turned a deaf ear, only crossing his strong arms, coldly studying Shan Chao. That gaze was like his blood-red hair and reeked of concealed blood, yet Shan Chao faced him directly with not the least bit of fear. Shan Chao put his palms together in a salute:

"May this young master let go. Miss Long was brought to Sword-Forging Manor by this poor monk, and I must take her away intact without even losing a single hair. If this young master must indeed find trouble with this miss, today in this hall, then this poor monk can only invite you to swap pointers in a duel."

Beyond expectations was that Jing Ling did not get angry or even attack, his gaze s.h.i.+fting from Shan Chao to Xie Yun's face, and a moment later he smiled instead of raged: "Very good."

As he spoke he went as far as to ignore Shan Chao's side, directly turning back to Fu Wenjie: "What does Young Master say?"

The atmosphere was incomparably grave, with the crisis returning to the Fu family's side. Fu Wenjie exchanged glances with the Old Madam for a moment, before he hoa.r.s.ely said: "Indeed I do not know what good points my younger sister has, to draw the Mysterious Demon School to such persistent coercion…"

"You think too much," Jing Ling teased: "People who think too much are more likely to have an early death."

Fu Wenjie turned to look towards Fu Xiangrong, and the young lady stared back in shock, her face changing from white to red, her hair and jade hairpin in a mess, an incomparably pitiful sorry figure.

—no matter how bossy, she was only a pampered and spoiled young lady of ten-odd years.

Fu Wenjie said with difficulty: "I only have this younger sister…"

"And the Jianghu only has one Sword-Forging Manor."

Jing Ling looked around the hall at the crowd br.i.m.m.i.n.g with hostility, smiling: "Everyone may be unaware of something. Back in the day the Huanghai Gang once solidly rejected selling farmland to the Mysterious Demon School, and upon reflecting it was only last year, nowadays in the Jianghu probably n.o.body remembers the existence of the Huanghai Gang; the Kongtong Sect said that their nuisance jade seal is theirs, and even sent an elder of their sect to demand it, nowadays that elder has had all the channels of his body crippled, and is probably still bedridden."

"Today I may have visited alone, but the Mysterious Demon School was a group of a.s.sa.s.sins to start with, at present many experts have already infiltrated Huainan. Everybody is a disciple of a famous school, in the promised years of youth with great future prospects, I too feel that if you were to throw away your lives here so lightly, it may be a bit…"

His electric sight swept past every face in the hall which bore indignance, rage, timidity, or cowering, and slowly said:

"…unprofitable."

"You!" A Kongtong disciple in the hall abruptly got up, yelling in anger: "You still dare to mention that! My Sect Leader's younger martial uncle…"

Clang!!

Not far from him, Chen Haiping got up with sword drawn, striding forward, only for a loud sound to echo right in his face, as he forcibly blocked the sword-blows from two masked a.s.sa.s.sins of the Mysterious Demon School!

And behind him, that Kongtong disciple had yet to react, his entire person frozen on the spot with mouth ajar.

Right there, the sword in Chen Haiping's hand abruptly gave a terrible crack, and was suddenly bent into two!

There was a loud rumble, where Chen Haiping dodged at the same time that his sword blade whirled out, pulling the Kongtong disciple along, as the two of them simultaneously dodged the blows that the Mysterious Demon School a.s.sa.s.sins dealt down in a surprise attack; and then both of them suddenly felt weightless, falling heavily to the ground.

Blades crossed from the left and right, and in a flash, swept before Chen Haiping!

Old Madam Fu exclaimed: "Haiping!"

Several people in the hall got up: "Stop!"

Jing Ling lazily said: "So it is said that if people are talkative, they also tend to die an early death."

"Enough!" Fu Wenjie slapped the table with great force, bellowing his face green: "Enough, Young Master Jing! Let your men cease now!"

Everyone in the hall got up, with everywhere a mess. All the a.s.sa.s.sins from the Mysterious Demon School had already half-drawn their waist-swords; for a moment the entire hall was filled with swords drawn and bows bent, the atmosphere so tense that it would explode on contact.

It seemed as if once someone moved a bit more, the entire situation would sink into irreversible circ.u.mstances.

Yet Jing Ling was nevertheless idle.

His face was clearly pretty enough to make young ladies blush, yet the tips of his brows and corners of his eyes were honed with murder, to a careless indifference.

"Does Young Master have anything to say?"

"……" Fu Wenjie's chest violently heaved, and only after a long time did he start: "Regarding the Mysterious Demon School's proposal, it is truly an important matter, and Xiangrong is in any case my only sister…"

"The Sword-Forging Manor is unable to give an immediate reply, may Young Master Jing stay in the manor temporarily, in three days, the Sword-Forging Manor would definitely come up with a reply that will satisfy all parties."

Jing Ling seemed to have expected this result, and upon hearing what was said he raised his eyebrows at Fu Wenjie, and then his gaze moved to the Old Madam, Fu Xiangrong, Chen Haiping, and everyone in the hall with stiff expressions, swept past Shan Chao like the flick of a viper's tongue, and finally fixated on Xie Yun's expressionless face which was like a deep pool without any waves.

"Fine," he smirked with arrogance, and said: "Three days then."

After going through the joke of the morning visit from the Mysterious Demon School, Shan Chao had originally planned to immediately leave this trouble spot that was Sword-Forging Manor, yet Xie Yun told him that he could not leave.

Shan Chao had grown up in Mobei since childhood, with smoke hanging straight on the desert dust, and rivers stretching ten thousand li, with only the bells on camels pa.s.sing through the white clouds, he had first no experience with women, and second never experienced the Jianghu.

He only had exceptionally good innate skills, and an exceptionally good foundation in his bones, as well as two divine swords from the ancient past which was said that whoever could gain them would gain the world, as well as a martial-arts master who only appeared in countless dreams in the deep night; yet regardless of the court of the Son of Heaven or within the martial-arts circles of the Jianghu, on the most basic stuff, he was wholly ignorant of them.

"The Sword-Forging Manor currently faces a powerful enemy, and at any time they could expect the extermination of the whole clan. If Master was to walk away now, after the event if Sword-Forging Manor was exterminated, you would be the criminal who spectated without extending a hand; if Sword-Forging Manor survived, you would be a vile character who shrank back when the time for battle came."

"Furthermore the Sword-Forging Manor has no courage to come in direct conflict with the Mysterious Demon School before the Grand Martial a.s.sembly convenes next month, thus they would certainly find a way to delay it. After delaying for a time, when the crisis has been removed, then it would be the occasion when Master and I shall leave. The righteous side of the martial-arts circles like to 'sing praises'2 between themselves, mutually adulating and offsetting, someday when these disciples of such famous sects were to go out, the reputation of collaborating with Sword-Forging Manor to combat the enemy would not miss out Master's share."

Xie Yun stood by the pond with arms behind his back, throwing in pa.s.sing some fish food down to feed the crimson carps, provoking the fishes to fall over each other in their eagerness to float up and disturbing the water surface. The autumn wind pa.s.sed through the treetops of the golden ca.s.sia, blowing the hair from his temples to behind his ear. The soft black hair, and the white neck, had a distinct harmony of colour, as he chattered without paused in this seeming conversation.

Shan Chao's brows moved.

As if a very long time ago, in his early youth when he was like a lone young wolf outside the pack who struggled persistently with fierce belligerence, there was once someone who quelled him, and earnestly and benevolently taught and tempted him.

Yet that was only a sort of familiar and vague feeling, in his consciousness which was as vast as the boundless sea, it was hard to grab onto even the tiniest concrete fragment.

"Master?"

Shan Chao abruptly recovered: "Yes."

Xie Yun lightly said: "When Master sits facing me, there is no need to be so nervous."

Shan Chao was silent for a while, squinting his eyes, looking at this 'Miss Long' before him with an outstanding and relaxed air along a thin figure, before he slowly said: "…sometimes I feel that, you somewhat resemble someone I knew a long time ago…"

"You've obsessed for too long, young man," Xie Yun waved a hand to sprinkle fish food towards the pool, and indifferently said: "Everyone to you looks like your master."

1 欢喜佛 - also referred as Yab-yum, which is a symbol of Buddhist art involving s.e.x.

2 ZH: 抬轿子 - lit 'to carry in a sedan chair', figuratively meaning to flatter someone.

Next >>