"The guest of Zhao, hands tied with soft silk ribbons;
The Wu hook, bright as frost and snow.
Silver saddle lights the white horse, dashing away like a shooting star.
Killing a man every ten steps, leaving no trace for a thousand miles.
The deed done, shaking off his clothes and leaving,
Hiding his body and name deep within.
Casually passing by to drink with Xinling,
Drawing his sword to lay it across his knees.
Feeding roasted meat to Zhu Hai,
Holding a goblet to urge Hou Ying.
Three cups and promises are uttered,
Making the Five Sacred Mountains seem light as dust.
After the eyes blur and ears grow hot,
Spirit and valor rise like white rainbow.
Rescuing Zhao, he wields the golden mallet;
Handan trembles first before all else.
Two heroes of a thousand ages,
Resplendent and renowned in Daliang city.
Even in death, their chivalrous bones remain fragrant,
Ashamed of no heroes in this mortal world.
Who could write beneath the pavilion,
His hair turning white over the Taixuan Scripture?"
Reading Li Bai's *Ode to Gallantry* even ages later still evokes a sense of surging power and indomitable spirit, with an aura of sharp heroism rushing straight at one's face and stirring a boundless surge of pride within the chest.
Yet the protagonist of the entire novel *Ode to Gallantry*, Shi Potian, is also called Gou Zazhong—let us call him Gouge for now. Gouge could not read a single character; let alone sensing any heroic aura, he probably could not even read at all.
Yet he happened to be the one destined for this supreme fortune. The Two Masters of Long and Mu Islands on Xiake Island had gathered the most renowned heroes and chivalrous men of the pugilistic world, along with the leaders of various sects and factions, for over forty years. None of them could decipher the martial arts contained within the entire Taixuan Scripture, a massive mystery left unsolved for four whole years. Everyone had spent their entire lives studying the texts without managing to understand them. Yet Gouge did not know a single character the size of a bushel; his cultural level could hardly be described as well-read, though perhaps he was the ultimate martial arts amateur.
Yet it was precisely this pair of innocent eyes, untainted by knowledge, that managed to see through the true nature of the tadpole script and master the invincible divine martial arts of the Taixuan Scripture.
So they say, knowledge changes your destiny!
At this moment, Gouge himself was plunged into utter confusion.
Ever since he could remember, in the deep mountains and ancient forests, the mother who had accompanied him for over a dozen years still bore the vermilion mark of a maiden on her arm? And even worse, she was not his biological mother?
Even more shocking was that she would rather take this massive secret to her grave, forever sleeping beneath the earth, than confess even a single shred of the truth about it.
Gouge felt as though he had been struck by lightning, standing frozen in place with his mind completely blank. At this moment, no matter how formidable his martial arts were, they could not resolve the questions churning in his heart.
Mei Wenxin's aged body slumped over the corpse of her daughter, Mei Fanggu, weeping bitterly as she cried, "Fanggu! Heavens! My poor daughter! It is so rarely that I get to see you even once in decades, and who could have thought—who could have thought that after finally getting to see you, it would result in a mother burying her own child? It is all the fault of that damned father of yours, Ding Busi!"
Her weeping was utterly wretched, her ugly face twisted into a knot of overwhelming grief. Truly, those who heard it grieved, and those who saw it wept. Ding Busi also looked up to the heavens and wailed, beating his chest heavily with both hands and slapping his own face desperately.
Min Rou could not bear to witness this scene; burying her face in the embrace of her husband Shi Qing, she sobbed, "Senior Brother, although she... although she caused us no small amount of suffering, she... she, after all, Mei girl is also a pitiable soul. Sob, sob."
Shi Qing sighed. "Now that she is dead, all things are empty; let the past be bygones. Besides, Junior Sister, every time we thought of Jian'er over these past decades, a pang of grief was inevitable in our hearts, but wasn't she also living amidst hatred? When it comes down to it, no one had it any easier. Ah, it is all a web of karma, a web of karma! I can only blame my own indecisiveness for leading her to become so extreme and stubborn, ultimately bringing about this great catastrophe."
Min Rou comforted him, saying, "Senior Brother, I think this young brother... he, he is definitely Jian'er."
Min Rou turned slightly to glance at the dazed Shi Potian, lowering her head to look silently at the tiger-head shoes in her hand, her conviction growing ever stronger in her heart.
Shi Qing leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Junior Sister, now is not the time to acknowledge our son. Let us first dismiss these people and then discuss this at length."
Seeing that this young hero was in all likelihood the very Shi Zhongjian who had been abducted by Mei Fanggu all those years ago, and with the heavens showing mercy today to place their biological son before their eyes once more, Min Rou's heart burst with joy. At this moment, let alone forcing herself to endure her longing for a little while longer and suppressing the turmoil within her heart—even if she had to draw her sword and make an enemy of everyone present, she would gladly do so.
Shi Qing stepped forward holding the black sword and said in a ringing voice, "The dead cannot be brought back to life. Senior Ding, please restrain your grief. Now that Fanggu's body is not yet cold, the dead take precedence—let her be laid to rest in peace so as to comfort her departed spirit. Past grievances, the hatred of a murdered child, everything ends with death; let us call it a halt here."
Mei Wenxin flew into a rage and said, "Stop putting on this hypocritical act! You are no good either. If not for you scoundrel, my poor Fanggu would never have... would never have... sob, sob, sob."
Ding Busi yelled, "It is all because of you that Fanggu sought her own death! Shi, you bastard, I'll fight you to the death!"
Mother Shi did not know the whole story and merely looked on with a cold sneer. She had always disliked Ding Busi's unreliability, and seeing him fail to even protect his own biological daughter made her despise him all the more from the bottom of her heart.
Bai Zizai frowned as he watched from the side, and shouted loudly, "Clearly it was this old woman's daughter who poisoned the son of Lady Min and Brother Shi, so how did it somehow become his fault? Ding Busi, for all that you are a renowned master of martial arts—though your skills fall short of mine, you are no mere mediocrity—how can you utter such brainless nonsense? What kind of great hero or chivalrous man do you call yourself? What kind of senior expert are you?"
Ding Busi howled in rage, his fury soaring to the heavens. Too preoccupied to heed Bai Zizai's questioning, and with his daughter already dead, he no longer cared about the status of a senior expert. The moment he struck, he unleashed the most vicious killing move of the nine-section soft whip: yellow light flickered, and as his wrist shook, the whip body straightened out, lunging toward Shi Qing's chest like a long spear.
This move, "The Barbarians Submit to the Four Guests," was originally a spear technique, but Ding Busi infused his true energy into the whip along with a burst of clever force, wielding the whip as though it were a spear. Knowing that Shi Qing's formidable reputation could not be underestimated, he brought out his lifelong ultimate technique right from the start.
Seeing the soft whip fly toward him, Shi Qing was not the least bit flustered. His body spun rapidly to the side, and his black sword left its scabbard as he turned to slash, batting the whip away. This entire sequence of movements was completed in the blink of an eye. Min Rou could not help feeling secretly startled as she watched from the side, and she hastily drew her sword to step forward.
Accustomed to fighting side by side as a couple, their decades of coordination had made them extremely taciturn. Exchanging a single glance and a nod, the couple charged forward shoulder to shoulder. One attacked Ding Busi's upper body—stabbing his shoulder, sweeping his chest, and striking his soft whip—while the other targeted Ding Busi's lower stance, hooking his legs and slashing at his lower dantian to prevent him from exerting his power smoothly.
After narrowly dodging a few moves, Ding Busi was already in grave peril. After thirty or forty moves, Shi Qing pressed the attack, and with three successive clangs, the black sword entangled with the nine-section whip. Just as Ding Busi parried the black sword, Min Rou's white sword swept directly across the top of his head. With a sharp hiss as he tilted his head, the white sword shaved off dozens of gray hairs from beneath his chin, silver threads fluttering before his eyes.
Ding Busi hurriedly executed a few backflips to put some distance between them, feeling secretly alarmed: The Black and White Twin Swords are truly no empty reputation. This old woman has a few tricks up her sleeve; Fourth Grandpa almost came to grief right here. I mustn't let Old Third find out about this—if I don't go in for the kill now, I'm going to suffer a huge loss.
Seeing her husband fall into a disadvantageous position, Mei Wenxin let out a cry and lunged fiercely forward to engage Min Rou in combat. Her family's Mei Blossom Fist was unleashed with roaring force, coupled with the bizarre sword techniques she had recently practiced—originally intended to deal with her husband Ding Busi—which she now turned against Min Rou as well.
Shi Qing deployed the Upward Clarity Swift Sword, determined to drive Ding Busi back in the shortest time possible to relieve the crisis on his wife's side.
Shi Potian stood dazed for a long time. At first, his mind was so violently shaken that he was completely numb and oblivious to everything around him, but when he finally heard the sound of clashing metal, realizing that Shi Qing, Min Rou, Ding Busi, and Mei Wenxin were engaged in a fierce battle because of Mei Fanggu's death, he hurriedly sprang into action.
With a single move of the Ding Clan Grappling Technique, Gouge seized the wrist of the hand with which Ding Busi wielded his whip. Then, executing the "Dashing away like a shooting star" lightweight kung fu from the Taixuan Scripture martial arts, he flew forward to snatch away the Black and White Twin Swords and Mei Wenxin's sword, casually tossing them aside. Next, using his inner energy to withstand Mei Wenxin's Mei Blossom Fist, he sent her rebounding backward with a counter-force. Cupping his fists in a salute, he said, "I am truly sorry, Mother Mei. You should all do as Master Shi and Madam Shi said and call a halt here."
The four of them stared at one another in blank dismay for a moment, unable to believe that Shi Potian's martial arts had reached such a realm that a single person could halt the four major masters present.
Bai Zizai laughed heartily and said, "As expected of the son-in-law of Bai Zizai! With a single move, he suppressed the four major masters. Old Fourth Ding, do you submit to me this time?"
Ding Busi glared at him with furious eyes and merely let out a grunt without committing either way, clearly unconvinced at heart.
Gouge knelt on the ground with incomparable heartache and kowtowed three loud times toward Mei Fanggu's corpse.
Axiu silently accompanied him, also kowtowing three loud times toward Mei Fanggu's corpse before throwing her arms around Gouge and looking at him with pity, as if she could feel the deep sorrow within his heart.
Gouge forced a smile and said, "I'm fine, Axiu. I have something to say to Mother." Axiu nodded, looking at him with eyes full of tenderness as she obediently retreated to the side.
"Mother, although you are not my biological mother, ever since I was little I have been with you, and it has long been no different from having a my own mother. During the few years I've been away, I was always looking for you and Ah Huang. Mother, you've worked too hard in this life, go to sleep. Ever since I was little I often heard you crying alone; when you beat me and scolded me, I didn't blame you. Master Shi, Madam Shi, my mother is very tired, please don't wake her up."
Holding Ah Huang in his arms, Shi Potian muttered softly to Mei Fanggu's corpse, bidding his final farewell.
Cradling Mei Fanggu's body, Shi Potian walked to a quiet spot and dug a grave with his own hands, placing her inside just as he had buried the Old Man of Great Sorrow back then. Only this time, with his profound inner energy, it was no longer the crooked pit of those days.
Bai Wanjian walked up, patted Gouge's shoulder with a sympathetic expression, and said, "Good son-in-law, the dead cannot be brought back to life, please restrain your grief."
Cheng Zixue, Qi Zimiao, and Liang Zijin also put on mournful expressions of distress, stepping forward to offer words of comfort.
Gouge stood up, bowed to them, and returned their salutes one by one.
Seeing Gouge display such filial piety, Ding Busi felt a profound sense of grief within his heart. He thought to himself that although Gouge was not Fanggu's biological child, he valued family affection so deeply, yet as her father, he had never had the chance to care for her until the moment she died right before his eyes. Overwhelming sorrow engulfed him, and Ding Busi let out a great cry, "Heavenly executioner of a merciless sky, to prevent me and my daughter Fanggu from ever seeing each other! What is the point of me living on?"
Mei Wenxin twisted his ear until it bled, her own face covered in tears as she snapped, "Go back! Go back to your Biluo Island, you old scoundrel! I truly must have been blind to ever take a fancy to you." With that, she covered her face and ran off, while Ding Busi yelled "Wenxin!" and hurried after her.
Sighing heavily and seeing that the matter had settled down, Bai Zizai intended to take his leave first, bringing everyone forward to bid farewell to Gouge. Before leaving, he repeatedly demanded that Gouge must visit Lingxiao City, declaring that he would personally preside over the wedding between him and his granddaughter Axiu, and must marry his granddaughter off to him in grand style.
Bai Wanjian also cast an admiring glance at him and said, "Good son-in-law, as her father, I will wait for you at the Snow Mountain Sect, eagerly looking forward to you and Axiu marrying at an early date."
Axiu said shyly, "Father, your daughter hasn't even been married off yet! As the bride's father, why are you in more of a hurry than the bride?" Turning to Gouge with a smile, she said, "Big Rice Dumpling Brother, I'll wait for you in the snow mountains. For this entire life of mine, I'm afraid I won't ever be able to leave you."
Mother Shi also stepped forward to say, "Shi Yidao, look on the bright side. She might not be your biological mother, so you needn't be overly depressed. From now on, the Snow Mountain Sect is your home—let's see who dares to refuse to acknowledge you!"
Cheng Zixue, Qi Zimiao, and Liang Zijin also forced smiles, stepping forward to exchange a few polite and flattering pleasantries.
Once the members of the Snow Mountain Sect had departed, Shi Qing and his wife exchanged a glance and nodded. Min Rou walked up to Gouge and said, "Child, come inside in a moment, I have something I want to show you."
Amidst the comforting words of the others, Gouge managed to recover a fraction of his composure. He nodded, sat down by himself to gaze at Mei Fanggu's grave for a long while, and then, catching the aroma of food, stood up and walked toward the house.