Chapter 57 Fighting
Today was supposed to be a day off, but someone had made an appointment with Aji in advance, leaving him alone in the study to weave rag dolls.
The snow fell on and off for several days, leaving glistening specks hanging from the branches.
Suddenly, an uninvited guest arrived outside the courtyard.
The chilling sword energy, like a gust of cold wind, surged towards us, making the windowpanes clang loudly.
Jiang Xi carefully cut off the loose thread, tied a knot, and then looked up, her gaze fixed intently on the unexpected visitor.
Lin Mingshan...
"Did you need something from me?"
He threw off the cloth, and a foot of cold light suddenly broke through, as clear as autumn water and as cold as ice. He held an incomparably sharp longsword in his hand.
"You and I, let's fight."
Jiang Xi put down her needlework and slowly stood up: "Okay, we have to go to the backyard to do it. We can't damage this place."
This is Ah Ji's study; it shouldn't be a mess.
She will be unhappy.
Lin Mingshan didn't understand roundabout ways; he had his own logic. Since the other party had agreed, he wouldn't dwell on the reasons behind it.
In the backyard, sword light and whip shadows clashed, whipping up gusts of wind and creating a desolate, windswept atmosphere.
The whip cracked through the air, aiming at where Lin Mingshan had landed. Lin Mingshan decisively flipped over, his sword tip touching the ground, dodging the whip that was changing its attack to the side. He then used the momentum to leap into the air and unleashed a fierce sword strike.
The long whip whipped up the pillars of the covered walkway, deflecting the pursuing swords from the river stream.
He swung his long whip, its shadow like a snake, fiercely gripping the sword blade. Lin Mingshan reacted quickly, exerting force with his wrist to shake the whip off.
One was light and agile, the other had mysterious footwork. They moved back and forth in the not-so-spacious backyard, as fast as the wind, and had already exchanged several blows in the blink of an eye.
They are evenly matched and neck and neck.
A fine snowflake fell from the sky, a sharp longsword sliced through it, seemingly splitting the snowflake in two, and behind the sword's gleam lay eyes as calm as still water.
Lin Mingshan swung his longsword to block the whip shadow that was slashing down from the sky.
The sword rang out with a clang, and the whip cracked through the air.
The snow fell heavier and heavier on the horizon, with fine snowflakes dancing in the air, neither smoke nor mist. The figures of the two people flickered and elusive in the snowy shadows, difficult to catch.
In an instant, everything fell silent, except for the howling wind and trembling branches after the fight.
The longsword formed a full circle in front of him, then stopped diagonally in front of him. Lin Mingshan's gaze shifted downwards, and the whip on the ground was broken into several pieces.
“This time, it doesn’t count. Your whip is broken.”
Jiang Xi picked up the broken whip and shook her head: "I lost. My master said that weapons are also a form of strength."
"I'll beat you next time..."
Unexpectedly, this seemed to trigger Lin Mingshan, who suddenly said, "If you want to beat me, you can."
"?" Jiang Xi went to put away the broken whip, puzzled.
"Give me twenty taels, and I'll let you win."
Since Lin Mingshan became the leader of the younger generation of martial arts masters in the last martial arts tournament, many young, ambitious, and hot-blooded martial arts heroes have tried to defeat him and take the title.
He was often kept busy, but his senior sister was clever and came up with a solution.
"It costs ten taels to sign up for a fight; if you want to beat me, it costs twenty taels."
After the prices were clearly marked, many people initially flocked to Lin Mingshan, making him so busy collecting money that his hands were sore. However, gradually, fewer and fewer people came to give him money.
Can it be less?
Unable to defeat the martial arts masters in a fight, Lin Mingshan seized the opportunity to launch a second "buy-win" service.
Some江湖客 (jianghu kè kè, martial arts practitioners) thought that they had already spent ten taels of silver, and that the cost had already been invested, so spending another twenty taels was nothing.
Unexpectedly, after spending twenty taels to buy Lin Mingshan's "failure performance" and practicing it several times, his skills became increasingly refined and flawless.
When martial arts practitioners boasted about defeating Lin Mingshan, many others emerged, claiming they had also defeated him.
Those who exchanged information knew that the other party had also purchased the "buy-win" service for twenty taels, just like themselves.
Jianghu Ke: Why do I feel a sense of resentment, like losing both my wife and my army?
It's a joke! Lin Mingshan is putting on an act for them!
Unfortunately, they brought everything upon themselves, and they had no grounds to condemn Lin Mingshan.
Utterly despicable!
There's nowhere to vent my anger.
After that, whenever someone claimed to have defeated Lin Mingshan, the martial arts world would assume that it was some foolish disciple who had been tricked and deceived by Lin Mingshan.
Frustrated by their loss, the martial arts masters from all walks of life have reduced their challenges to Lin Mingshan. After all, even if they win, they'll likely be branded as suckers who paid for their victory.
Gradually, Lin Mingshan lost this extra source of income.
He sighed for several days because of this. When Huo Shenge saw him sighing, she asked in confusion, "Didn't you want them to stop bothering you? You're still unhappy that they really don't come?"
These words were a wake-up call for Lin Mingshan, who had almost gotten his priorities wrong.
His original intention was to avoid being attacked by poison needles, darts, or daggers that suddenly appeared from some unknown corner!
If their whereabouts are discovered, when they open their eyes at night to rest, they may even find a golden thread stuck in their throat. If it goes any further down, they will bleed.
There are good and bad people in the martial arts world, and he can't afford to gamble. Even if he can turn a blind eye and stand guard at night, his senior sister is more interested in business and her martial arts skills are not up to par. What if she is accidentally injured by the people who come to arrest him?
Jiang Xi refused: "No, Yun Xiao said that one should be sincere and not chase after unfounded fame."
Lin Mingshan advised, "My senior sister said that in order to get the result, some processes can be ignored."
Lin Mingshan remembered his senior sister's words clearly and read them aloud much more fluently than he usually did.
"Yunxiao also said that results are important, but the process is equally important!"
"My senior sister also said that if you can take a shortcut, you don't need to take a long detour!"
"..."
The two argued back and forth, and Lin Mingshan pointed out, "You're the kind of guy whose mind is only on Miss Shang!"
Jiang Xi retorted, not to be outdone: "You still have your senior sister on your mind!"
Suddenly, as if they had been exposed, the two looked away.
Lin Mingshan put away his longsword with his hands behind his back, turned his face to one side, pursed his lips, and only his ears were red.
Jiang Xi hugged the whip, lowered her head, her eyes turning into spring water, and silently murmured Ah Ji's name.
Noticing something amiss in the backyard, Shang Yuji and Huo Shenggge, who had come to investigate together, were as follows: ...
I didn't see the fight, but I did catch the two of them bickering like children.
The two looked at each other, and Huo Shengge remained calm: "Junior brother's temperament is something that makes you laugh, young lady."
"I hope Miss Huo won't take offense."
The two people in the backyard, oblivious to the growing tension between them, tried to ease the awkwardness and strode under the eaves to find someone.
Clad in the swirling snow, he walked step by step to each of them.
Huo Shenggge hesitated for a moment, then spoke first, taking her junior brother away:
"Something unexpected happened. Next time I meet you, I hope you won't let today's incident cause any misunderstanding."
Shang Yuji smiled and agreed. She was about to see the two of them off when Huo Shengge politely declined.
Once the two had disappeared from sight, she turned around, brushed the snow off his hair and shoulders, and without scolding him, she reached out and pinched his cheeks: "Are you alright anywhere?"
This fight was clearly agreed upon by both Jiang Xiqu and Lin Mingshan. If Jiang Xiqu hadn't wanted it, he wouldn't have appeared in the backyard with a whip.
Therefore, Shang Yuji did not interfere too much with the outcome of the fight.
Since it was his own decision, he should bear the consequences.
But that didn't stop her from worrying about whether he was hurt or not.
Jiang Xi smiled and said, "No, I dodged quickly."
She lowered her brows instantly, holding the broken whip at a loss: "The whip is broken, Master will be sad, Yunxiao, what should I do so that Master won't be sad?"
"When you apologize, be good. Senior Yi is easy to talk to. When you apologize, we should see what she likes and find something for her as an apology..."
It is said that Elder Yi likes to read tragic love stories. To cater to her tastes, she should write a few melodramatic stories for her.
"As for the whip, keep it safe. We'll find some time to go to the weapons shop and see if they have a better long whip to buy as compensation."
However, the thought of Lin Mingshan, with whom she had fought, reminded her of the cage of insects he had sent her.
Knowing that she didn't particularly like insects, Jiang Xi obediently moved them to the backyard to feed them. After a long while, as if she hadn't heard anything about what happened to the insects, she asked:
"By the way, how are your pet insects doing?"
Jiang Xi went to see her not because she disliked the insects, but simply out of curiosity, and replied, "Some insects couldn't withstand the cold and hibernated, and the rest... I fed them too much and they got too fat. A-Cuo said that the insects are too fat to fly, so she told me to feed them less recently."
Overly fat insects are also unsuitable for use as Gu worms, as the practice of Gu poisoning requires secrecy and stealth.
Whose Gu (a type of poison) is so fat it's practically a ball, as if it wants to announce to the world when it's cast, openly and blatantly using underhanded tricks?
"What a master at feeding insects!" Shang Yuji exclaimed. Raising pigs was like feeding them venomous insects; she had truly seen something new today.
"Thank you, Aji! Aji is an expert too!"
Shang Yuji did not refute him, but led him back to the house to clean up. After confirming that he was not injured anywhere, the two went to the study.
Jiang Xi picked up the neatly arranged needle and thread and carefully embroidered the little clothes that the rag doll would wear.
"Is there enough hair?" Shang Yuji asked, carrying a brocade bag containing strands of hair.
I wonder if the hair he collected these days will be enough to give the doll a thick head of beautiful hair.
She wouldn't allow her doll to go bald!
His hands kept moving as he replied with a smile, "When the time comes, I'll cut each hair into three sections... that should be enough."
Shang Yuji nodded: "Prepare more, so we can try again if we fail."
"Alright, then I'll continue to comb Aji's hair these next few days!"
"Um."
She didn't disturb them any longer, spread out the paper and began to conceive a magnificent and unparalleled masterpiece of tragic love, which would surely make the old master Yi exclaim that this work should be a work from heaven!
After racking her brains, Shang Yuji finally put pen to paper.
Two days later, it was Yi Sha's whip-training lesson. The two met with Senior Yi together. Jiang Xi took out the whip, which was broken into several pieces, and took the initiative to admit her mistake. Shang Yuji then explained the reason for the whip's breakage. Before Shang Yuji could agree to pay for a new whip as compensation, Yi Sha burst into laughter:
"Good, good! My good disciple, so be it if this whip breaks. I'll get you an even better one, and then we'll launch a surprise attack on Lin Mingshan!"
Although Jiang Xi was defeated by Lin Mingshan, he had only been practicing martial arts for a little over half a year, yet he was able to fight Lin Mingshan to a standstill.
What's more, he not only practices whip, but also swordsmanship and witchcraft!
Moreover, she was defeated because the whip broke, but this whip was just something she grabbed casually for her little apprentice to practice with, and it wasn't a high-quality whip.
It's only a matter of time before the young apprentice defeats Old Man Huo's second apprentice.
She knew a little about the rumors in the martial arts world about Lin Mingshan "buying his way to victory," but Yi Sha's goal was not to make Jiang Xi the leader of the younger generation of martial arts masters, but simply to have Jiang Xi defeat Lin Mingshan so that she could show off her good disciple to Huo Wei.
"You don't need to worry about this, leave it to me, this old woman!"
She had a fine whip in her hand, which was perfect for her apprentice to use.
Shang Yuji took Jiang Xi to thank Senior Yi for his kindness. After hesitating for a while, she still took out the tragic love story she had written and gave it to Senior Yi.
Since I've already written it, wouldn't it be a waste not to send it out?
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Author's note: Just adding a little something, hehe:
Yi Sha and Hui Gu both know the two's real names, but Hui Gu will call them Hai Tian to help cover it up, although she will occasionally mistakenly call them Xi Qu.
Yi Sha is used to calling Shang Ya Tou and her apprentice, but to avoid mistakes, she sometimes calls her Xiao Shang or Xiao Jiang. [rose][rose]
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