Setting out once again, Li Xiangyi watched as his senior brother treated him with the same warmth and closeness as always. That remark outside Luoyang City earlier truly seemed to have been nothing more than a senior brother's instruction to his junior; he appeared to harbor no resentment whatsoever, so Li Xiangyi cast aside his lingering doubts and put the matter out of his mind.
Leaving Luoyang City, the trio continued along their original itinerary toward Yangzhou City. According to Senior Brother, the martial arts convention, an unwritten tradition held every three years by all the renowned sects of the pugilistic world, was scheduled to take place in Yangzhou City on the first day of the eighth month. Young disciples from various factions would gather to spar and exchange pointers—it was the prime opportunity for youngsters to make a name for themselves. There were still three months before the convention commenced.
With Shan Gudao leading the way, the three did not stick strictly to the main imperial highways, but instead chose to ride across mountain trails and rural paths. Along the journey, whenever they passed through a locality, they would inquire about the mountain bandits and local outlaws plaguing the area. After wiping them out, they would escort them to the authorities, sometimes even earning a bounty for their efforts.
Whenever a nest of bandits was cleared out, Li Xiangyi and Shan Gudao would tie them together in a chain and march them into town, or notify the garrison troops to come out and make arrests. Among the local villagers, those who had suffered bitterly from the bandits would always, out of deep gratitude, offer a few bundles of vegetables or present a couple of eggs.
At times like these, the young Li Xiangyi, holding these simple tokens of appreciation from the common folk, felt far happier than he did when collecting the bounty silver.
Sesshomaru could sense that Li Xiangyi's sword heart was growing firmer by the day, and his strength was increasing with each passing day as well.
Ten days of the journey had already passed. Because they made frequent stops along the way, they had only just crossed Huai'an City, covering less than half the distance to Yangzhou City.
With the blazing sun high overhead, Li Xiangyi and Sesshomaru were both dressed in light, thin layers of white. The young man wore brisk martial attire, his outer garment edged with delicate embroidery, and a silver crown atop his head, accentuating his handsome features. The Great Yokai, meanwhile, wore flowing robes with wide sleeves, embroidered with hexagonal plum blossoms and secured with a jade hairpin, radiating elegance and nobility.
The young man circulated his internal energy outwardly, while the Great Yokai had spent the past two months figuring out the rules restricting him, using his demonic power as if it were human internal energy. As long as he did not exceed the power limits of this realm, the Heavenly Dao here would not notice. Neither of the two had a single drop of sweat on them, nor a speck of dust or dirt.
Shan Gudao glanced ahead at the two impeccably dressed companions, wiped the sweat from his brow, and then looked down at his own sweat-soaked clothes and dust-covered appearance; the jealousy and resentment in his heart grew all the more bitter. Catching sight of the gorge looming close ahead, Shan Gudao let out a cold internal scoff: *Let's see if the two of you can still look so breezy after this!*
Li Xiangyi reined in his horse and looked toward Brother Sha, who had also stopped, confirming the suspicion in his mind. They had reached the entrance of a gorge. Looking out into the distance, a thin mist hung over the valley. Through the middle ran a narrow path of mixed earth and stone, flanked by dense woods whose leaves rustled in the gentle breeze...
Seeing that Shan Gudao was about to ride right in, Li Xiangyi hastily raised his voice and said, "Senior Brother, something is wrong here. Let's wait a moment."
Shan Gudao lowered his gaze, reined in his horse, and turned around with eyes full of wariness. "I've taken this path before; it's just an ordinary gorge. Junior Brother, aren't you being overly suspicious?"
Before he even finished speaking, Li Xiangyi's gaze turned fierce. The Shaoshi Sword leaped from its scabbard, deflecting a crossbow bolt aimed directly at Shan Gudao. He then vaulted forward, gripped the Shaoshi, and with a flick of his wrist, batted away the entire subsequent volley of crossbow bolts. Landing firmly on his feet, Li Xiangyi stood his ground and cast a sharp gaze toward the dense woods.
Shan Gudao turned abruptly, leaped off his horse, and similarly stared with sharp vigilance deep into the forest, while Sesshomaru simply sat in his saddle, completely unmoving and at ease...
Li Xiangyi's figure was tall and slender, his entire aura cold and stern as he demanded, "Who is hiding and acting like a coward to resort to such venomous attacks?"
At his words, a whistle sounded from the forest, and a swarming multitude of people leaped out from the trees, surrounding the group tightly.
Li Xiangyi paid no attention to the mob encircling them, but instead looked at the three middle-aged men who were leisurely riding out on horseback, raising an eyebrow as he asked, "The Three Dongling Gangs?"
The man in the center laughed heartily. "Kid, you've got a good eye! Since you recognize us, let me ask you: why on earth are you collecting corpses for those bandits of the He Family?"
Before Li Xiangyi could reply, Shan Gudao shouted angrily, "You slaughtered the entire He Family, sinking to the utmost depths of depravity, yet now you dare open your mouths to slander us as being in league with bandits? Who doesn't know that the Three Dongling Gangs use the pretext of wiping out bandits, when your true aim is the He Family's Yuntie!"
Upon hearing this, the man on horseback immediately darkened his expression and let out a cold laugh. "It seems that Yuntie really is in your hands! Brat, if you know what's good for you, hand it over obediently, and we might still spare you a complete corpse!"
Li Xiangyi sneered without wasting any words. Executing the Samsara Pace, he instantly appeared on the horse's back right in front of the speaker. The man was greatly startled and whipped his spiked mace around in a horizontal sweep...
Li Xiangyi did not hold back his strength. He swept out his left leg, his foot striking the man's Yangchi acupoint on the wrist. With a miserable scream, the man dropped the spiked mace as it crashed to the ground...
The other two men on horseback had not expected a youth of this age to possess such formidable movement techniques. It was only after their eldest brother took a blow that they snapped out of their shock, drawing their longsword and longspear one after another.
A smile played at the corners of Li Xiangyi's mouth, though his eyes were chillingly cold. Naturally, he showed no mercy toward such ruthless men consumed by greed. With a kick, he sent the rider plunging off his horse to the ground, then tipped off his toes to leap into the air, dodging the incoming thrusts of the sword and spear. The cold, piercing light of the Shaoshi reflected off his handsome face. With a single wave of his sword, the remaining two horsemen were blasted back by a powerful wave of sword qi and tumbled to the ground.
Realizing that this fifteen-year-old boy possessed such extraordinary martial arts, the three exchanged glances and hurriedly retreated a zhang to put some distance between themselves. At the same time, they raised their left hands slightly, signaling the surrounding gang members to form a defensive formation. Some seventy-odd experts—numbering over a dozen pairs—lined up with longswords in front, spiked maces in the center, and longspears flanking them, supporting one another.
Li Xiangyi stood still, looking down at the crowd from his vantage point. "As far as I know, the Yang Clan's Three Gangs of Wuzhong have flourished and developed over a century. The three branches are related by marriage and lend each other mutual support, always upholding the virtues of benevolence and righteousness while performing righteous deeds in broad daylight. Yet over the past ten years, you have repeatedly seized family fortunes and precious treasures under the banner of justice. Your reputation has plummeted, to the point where nowadays, any mention of the Three Dongling Gangs brings only words of ruthlessness and venom..."
At these words, a flash of shame crossed the face of the spear-wielding man on the left, but the other two let out cold snorts. "The He Family of the long saber committed every atrocity imaginable; we were merely ridding the people of a scourge! What kind of nonsense is a wet-behind-the-ears brat like you spouting here?"
Li Xiangyi's voice was frigid. "You slaughtered the old and the young, women and children, hired hands and domestic servants down to the last person—how dare you brazenly claim you are ridding the people of a scourge?"
The three men wore looks of confusion. The spear-wielding man was just about to retort when Shan Gudao sneered, "Junior Brother, why bother wasting breath on them? People who try to take our lives the moment we meet—is there anything they wouldn't do!"
As his voice fell, Shan Gudao drew his longsword horizontally, shifted his stance, and charged straight at the spear-wielding man. Seeing this, the gang members rushed forward to intercept him.
Hearing this, Li Xiangyi said no more. With the Shaoshi in hand and a shift of the Samsara Pace, he was instantly before the three gang leaders.
The three Yang brothers were startled. Hastily forming up, they barely managed to fend off that strike imbued with formidable internal energy. The surrounding disciples also rushed forward to block him. Taking advantage of the disciples' obstruction to catch their breath, the three leaders forcefully suppressed their churning blood while harboring extreme terror in their hearts...
Where did this monster descend from? Earlier, they had merely taken him for Shan Gudao's junior brother, assuming his martial arts would be mediocre and nothing to worry about. Bringing seventy-two gang members, they had thought acquiring the Yuntie would be as easy as reaching out a hand. Who would have guessed that at merely fifteen years of age, he possessed such immensely powerful internal energy, not to mention lightness and movement techniques of such breathtaking brilliance? The three of them combined had not even had the power to counterattack, and intense regret welled up inside them...
Sesshomaru glanced sideways at Shan Gudao, who was already struggling to hold his ground against two squads of attackers, before shifting his full attention back to Li Xiangyi. He watched as the youth wielded the Shaoshi with fierce and razor-sharp swordsmanship that wounded without killing; with a single strike, the weapons would be knocked from the hands of several men, stripping them of their ability to fight back...
Facing the joint assault of the crowd, Li Xiangyi moved with effortless grace, showing not a trace of strain. Instead, his swordsmanship grew smoother and more refined with every second. In the blink of an eye, over a dozen men were sprawled across the ground, groaning in agony...
Out of the corner of his eye, Shan Gudao caught sight of this scene, and his heart was filled with profound shock. *How could Li Xiangyi be this powerful?!* Although he had been testing the waters and had not used his full strength, he had never imagined that Li Xiangyi could single-handedly contend against dozens of opponents seemingly without exerting his full power.
Shan Gudao looked toward Sesshomaru, who was sitting leisurely on his horse and watching the battle, and his resentment toward Li Xiangyi grew deeper still. *When sparring with me on ordinary days, was Li Xiangyi looking down on me completely in his heart all along?!*
While he was momentarily distracted, a longsword thrust straight toward his chest. Startled, he hurriedly parried with his sword, only to see a longspear bearing down on him once more...
Seeing this, Li Xiangyi shouted, "Senior Brother, watch out!" Triggering the Samsara Pace, he flicked his wrist and sent the Shaoshi spinning. The crowd felt only a breath of sword qi as gentle as a spring breeze sweep past, and their weapons tumbled from their hands while they themselves were blasted backward by the sword force.
Without pausing, Li Xiangyi was already before the swordsman. With a horizontal sweep of the Shaoshi in his hand, the man's wrist instantly streamed with blood as his sword dropped to the floor; that hand was visibly crippled beyond recovery. Seeing this, the other two brothers rushed forward to help, but with a pivot of Li Xiangyi's body, both met the exact same fate as their brother.
With a cold expression, Li Xiangyi slung his sword across his back and looked down with icy detachment at the three men on the ground who were clutching their wrists in agony. "What do you have to say for yourselves?"
Shan Gudao thought to himself that things were going badly. He had underestimated his junior brother's martial arts; not only had they failed to test Sesshomaru's limits, but it seemed the truth about another faction's involvement in the He Family incident was also about to be exposed...
The eldest of the three Yang brothers, Yang Yue, glared bitterly at the youth. "If you want to kill or carve us up, do as you please! Why waste so many words!"
Hearing this, Li Xiangyi gave a light chuckle. With a blur of motion, the Shaoshi thrust straight for the man's throat.
Yang Yue had assumed that because the youth hadn't killed anyone earlier, it was simply the soft-heartedness of a novice entering the pugilistic world for the first time, and he hadn't taken it to heart. But when a bone-chilling murderous intent locked onto his entire body, his hair stood on end and his pupils dilated instantly. In that split second between life and death, he cried out in terror, "Young hero, spare my life!"
The Shaoshi stopped right at his throat, its sword qi slicing a few fine cuts into the skin of his neck as thin threads of blood trickled down. Drenched in sweat, Yang Yue swallowed with great difficulty and collapsed backward onto the ground, overcome with the sensation of having cheated death...
Seeing this, the sweating Yang Qi and Yang Yun breathed massive sighs of relief. Yang Yun scrambled forward a few steps to shield his eldest brother, looking up at Li Xiangyi. "Young hero, our Three Dongling Gangs indeed harbor designs on the treasure, but the He Family clan were no saints either. The previous generation of the He Family rose to prominence as mountain bandits and have a long-standing feud with our Three Dongling Gangs; their deaths were not entirely undeserved. Ruthless as our actions were, we only targeted those who fought back. We killed only the defending guards and members of the He Family; hired hands, servants, and others who showed no intent to resist were left untouched. We... we were also afraid of what people might say! We failed to find any treasure at the location where the old scoundrel of the He Family claimed the Yuntie was hidden, and only when we returned did we learn that the entire He Family had been wiped out. Since you had no relation to them yet stepped in to handle their funeral arrangements, we assumed you were hypocrites trying to steal the Yuntie, which is why we came to intercept you..."
Hearing this, Li Xiangyi recalled the knife marks he had seen on the corpses that day, and a gradual suspicion took root in his mind. Behind the He Family incident, there was actually another faction lurking in the shadows—that He Sanlang... But thinking of Brother Sha's actions that day, his mind settled again.
Shan Gudao's gaze deepened as he stepped forward and lowered his voice. "Xiangyi, these people's words cannot be trusted. They tried to take our lives the moment they appeared; how could such people avoid lying to save their own skins?"
Li Xiangyi nodded, yet added, "Senior Brother, their words cannot be entirely trusted, but neither can they be entirely dismissed. There must be another faction behind all this!"
Shan Gudao nodded. "Perhaps it's just enemies of the He Family; they brought this bitter fruit upon themselves anyway. The Yuntie is ultimately safe, and right and wrong are hard for the likes of us to judge."
Nodding, Li Xiangyi dropped the matter. Walking up to the three gang leaders, he said coldly, "Even if your words are true, the countless times you have murdered for treasure and slaughtered the innocent over the years are beyond reckoning. I won't kill you, but I won't let you go either. The lot of you can go reflect on your actions properly in a prison cell!"
All three were startled by this. Yang Qi cried out in alarm, "Young hero, you're going to hand us over to the Censorate of Huai'an City? Those imperial lackeys have never had any fondness for people of the pugilistic world, and they are insatiably greedy. In their hands, we'll likely be stripped of every last coin we own, and... I'm afraid our lives won't be spared either! Great hero, we swear we will never do evil again—let us go, and we will offer you a heavy reward!"
Shan Gudao spoke coldly, "What trust is there to be placed in the guarantees of people like you? Even if your lives aren't spared, it's just retribution for your sins! Xiangyi, I'll keep watch here—go quickly and return soon!"
Li Xiangyi nodded, sealed the acupoints of the three gang leaders, and used the belts of the panic-stricken gang members to bind them all together in a bundle. He then looked toward Sesshomaru...
With a light tip of his toes, Sesshomaru leaped up onto a tree branch, looking down upon the group with aloof condescension...
Only then did Li Xiangyi set his mind at ease and ride away, though in his heart, doubts regarding the hidden faction behind the scenes ultimately lingered...
Watching Li Xiangyi's retreating figure, Shan Gudao mused to himself that it seemed this He Sanlang could indeed not be touched for the time being...
With the affair of the Three Dongling Gangs concluded, and the bounty reaching a full thousand taels, the three resumed their journey toward Yangzhou City. Sesshomaru glanced at Li Xiangyi, who was dividing the bounty money in half, but paid it no mind, merely asking him, "Does that sword strike from earlier have a name?"
Sitting astride his horse, the young man smiled proudly and dashingly. "I had a sudden flash of insight while feeling the spring breeze. That move just now is the very first form of my Xiangyi Sword Technique: *Last Night the West Wind Blew Again in the Little Pavilion*! Brother Sha, how was it?"
Sesshomaru had heard Li Xiangyi recite this couplet before. Though he did not understand its meaning, as he looked at the youth's radiant smile, he unconsciously nodded, feeling that an Xiangyi like this was truly wonderful!