“Lead the way.”
Jian Xingzhi listened to Jun Shu’s words and immediately raised his hand, pointing forward without hesitation. Jun Shu pointed the way for Jian Xingzhi, and the two of them hurried towards the Qingyue Tavern with great momentum.
The two of them charged towards the Qingyue Tavern with an overwhelming aura, as if they would kill anyone who stood in their way, even a Buddha. Upon reaching the tavern’s entrance, Jian Xingzhi looked up at the sign and coldly asked, “Is this the place?”
Jun Shu stood half a step behind him, gritting his teeth and said, “This is the place, their secret meeting spot!”
After saying that, the two immediately flashed to the window, crouching stealthily like a dog. They peered through, sticking half of their heads out, carefully observing the scene inside.
The tavern was bustling with activity, and Yan Wushuang was setting up his stall. He had placed a barrier around his table, so anyone inside the barrier couldn’t be overheard from the outside. Of course, this kind of barrier would work on ordinary people, but it was a bit lacking when it came to Jian Xingzhi. As for Jun Shu, who was carrying magic treasures, the barrier didn’t have much effect on him.
Beside the wine table inside the barrier, there was a sign hanging, with the words “Bai Shi Tong” written on it. Next to it were two lines of small characters:
[T/N: “Bai Shi Tong” (百事通) translates to “All-knowing” or “Know-it-all”. The English version of it would be “Jack of all trades”]
“Fortune-telling, running errands, chatting—everything is within my expertise.”
“Murder, robbery, fraud; if you have enough money, that’s all that matters.”
Many people were lined up in front of him. When Jian Xingzhi and Jun Shu arrived, they saw a middle-aged woman sitting in front of Yan Wushuang with a serious face. She pushed two low-grade spirit stones forward and asked with a local accent: “I’m willing to pay a lot of money to have a child. Can you help?”
“I myself have been infertile for many years,” Yan Wushuang took the spirit stones, then wrote a name in a flourish on the paper, before pushing it towards the woman. “Go to this place, and as long as you have enough money, that’s all that matters.”
The middle-aged woman expressionlessly took the white paper with the name of the brothel written on it, stood up, and left. Yan Wushuang raised his hand and called, “Next.”
Jian Xingzhi wasn’t interested in Yan Wushuang. He scanned the crowd and spotted Xie Gutang and Qin Wanwan in the line. The two were standing very close together, resembling a pair of immortal lovers.
Jian Xingzhi noticed, and naturally, Jun Shu did too. He quickly added fuel to the fire, trying to stir up conflict between them: “Daoist Jian, look how close they’re standing. They must be holding hands under their sleeves!”
Jian Xingzhi glared at Jun Shu: “Shut up!”
Jun Shu, after getting scolded, also thought it was time to stop. He then focused his attention on the two people in the hall, along with Jian Xingzhi.
Xie Gutang and Qin Wanwan stood together in the crowd. Qin Wanwan looked around, scanning the window. She vaguely saw two familiar heads, but when she looked again, they had disappeared without a trace.
She thought it must have been her hallucination. Turning her head, she looked ahead at Yan Wushuang, who was happily collecting money.
They had originally planned to use some special methods to lure Yan Wushuang out of Huangcheng, so they could capture him quietly. However, they never expected that Yan Wushuang was nothing more than a money-driven con artist. Compared to any conspiracy or scheme, simply paying him might be the easier way.
The two of them stood in line together and eventually reached Yan Wushuang’s front. When Yan Wushuang looked up and saw them, he smiled and said, “Oh, it’s you two? What’s the matter?”
“We’d like to ask you for a favor,” Xie Gutang said, following the plan. “Tomorrow afternoon, meet us outside Huangcheng.”
“What for?” Yan Wushuang crossed his arms, eyeing them suspiciously, “Why leave the city?”
“I want to test your swordsmanship.”
Xie Gutang explained the reason they had carefully considered for a long time. But hearing it, Yan Wushuang scoffed and said, “You’ve just made an enemy of me, and now you want to meet me outside the city? You’re just trying to beat me up, aren’t you? Do you think I’m stupid?”
“No,” Qin Wanwan quickly explained when she heard that. “We have no such intention.”
“No such intention? Then why are you asking me to go outside the city?”
Yan Wushuang sized them up and said: “Without a reasonable explanation, I won’t believe you. After all, I did beat your master, didn’t I?”
When this question was asked, Xie Gutang fell into silence. Qin Wanwan, after a moment of thought, clenched her teeth and said, “Actually, I just want you to kill my master.”
Hearing this, Yan Wushuang gasped in surprise. “Your sect’s conflict runs that deep?”
“Yes.”
Qin Wanwan nodded, and Yan Wushuang showed a puzzled expression: “Why do you want to kill your master?”
“Because…” Qin Wanwan’s mind raced as she quickly thought of a reason. “He doesn’t allow me to be with Gutang.”
“You want to be with him?!”
Yan Wushuang was shocked and glanced at Xie Gutang: “Has your sect allowed it?”
Xie Gutang understood what Yan Wushuang meant and immediately picked up where Qin Wanwan left off: “I’m willing to change my path for her.”
“You’re giving up your cultivation?”
Yan Wushuang’s eyes began to show admiration, and Xie Gutang nodded. “I don’t need it anymore.”
“Why so suddenly?” Yan Wushuang didn’t understand. But as soon as he finished speaking, his eyes widened in sudden realization. He looked at Qin Wanwan and asked, “Could it be…?”
“What could be?”
Qin Wanwan didn’t understand Yan Wushuang’s line of thinking. Yan Wushuang then asked, each word carefully spoken, “You’re pregnant?”
The entire room fell silent. After a moment, Qin Wanwan raised her hand to cover her stomach and said, “This… you actually noticed it.”
As Qin Wanwan spoke, Xie Gultang reacted quickly, his face filled with sorrow: “The child will be born in just a few months. Her master would never allow such a thing to happen, he would surely kill this child.”
“Hero Yan,” Qin Wanwan looked at Yan Wushuang with a pained expression. “The principles of morality and ethics are paramount. I can’t bear the guilt of killing my master, and I can’t be with Gutang after he kills my master. But the child is innocent. I beg you!”
Qin Wanwan glanced at Xie Gutang, and he immediately reached out, grasping Yan Wushuang’s hand with a sincere expression: “Please, we beg you.”
The two of them spoke in unison: “We must set up an ambush outside the city tomorrow. We’ll lure my master out, and you will kill him!”
“But…” Yan Wushuang hesitated. “I don’t think I can defeat him.”
“It’s alright,” Qin Wanwan immediately responded. “I’ll poison him in advance.”
“He seems to know the Chunsheng Heart technique, so poison might not be very effective.”
“I have a way,” Qin Wanwan continued. “I’ll first use Softening Essence Powder to cripple his cultivation, then I’ll poison him.”
“Then, if his cultivation is crippled, how will he leave the city?”
Yan Wushuang was confused. Xie Gutang quickly offered a suggestion: “I’ll arrange a horse-drawn carriage and get him out of the city.”
“What if he wakes up halfway and runs away?”
“I’ll tie him up,” Xie Gutang continued, “and make sure he can’t run away.”
“Then…” Yan Wushuang furrowed his brows. “You’ve already gone this far. Do you still need me to act?”
Qin Wanwan and Xie Gutang fell silent.
“Actually…” Qin Wanwan hesitated, trying to find the right words. “We can’t do it either…”
“Forget it,” Yan Wushuang shook his head and sighed. “After all, he’s your master. You should go and talk it over first, don’t start fighting and killing right away. Internal conflicts should be handled internally; it’s not our place to interfere. Alright, let’s leave it at that.”
Yan Wushuang took the two spirit stones from the table and raised his hand, calling out, “Next.”
Yan Wushuang drove them away, and Qin Wanwan and Xie Gutang could not stay any longer. They exchanged a glance, stood up together, and returned to their private room.
Nan Feng was waiting for the two in the private room. As soon as Qin Wanwan and Xie Gutang entered, Nan Feng approached to greet them: “How did it go, did he agree?”
Qin Wanwan shook her head: “He is very vigilant and refuses to leave the city at all.”
“It’s okay.”
Nan Feng gritted his teeth: “We have a backup plan. In a little while, the city’s rowing competition will be held. The winner gets the reward of high-grade spirit stones, and Yan Wushuang has been relying on this for years. He’ll definitely participate in it later. The competition has a section of waterway that’s quite open and deserted. Yan Wushuang is incredibly fast at rowing, and whenever he reaches this spot, there’s usually no one around.” Nan Feng threw out a map and pointed to the waterway. “We can take advantage of this opportunity, board his boat, and capture him!”
“It seems there’s no other choice,” Qin Wanwan nodded, then looked at Nan Feng: “Do we need to register in advance for the rowing competition?”
“Registration isn’t important, what matters is having a boat,” Nan Feng said, then continued, “I was lucky this morning and managed to rent the last available boat.”
“That’s great,” Qin Wanwan smiled in satisfaction and raised her hand to point at the map: “We’ll stay parallel to Yan Wushuang, and when we reach this section of the route,” she looked at Xie Gutang, “we’ll capture him.”
The three of them finalized the plan, and just then, the excited voice of Golden Sword Boy came from outside: “Senior Brother, the rowing competition is about to start! Stop the fortune-telling!”
“I’ll be right there!”
Yan Wushuang responded and quickly packed up his stall before following Golden Sword Boy, jumping out of the window.
Seeing them leave, Qin Wanwan, Xie Gutang, and Nan Feng hurriedly paid the bill and ran out after them.
After the group ran off, Jun Shu glanced back at Jian Xingzhi, who had become a terracotta from shock, and gritted his teeth: “Daoist Jian, I’ll go and gather some information. You take your time.”
Pregnancy, murder, killing the master, conspiracy, this was too much information, and it was indeed too cruel for Jian Xingzhi to stomach.
Jun Shu ran quickly to catch up with the group. When he reached the dock, he saw Qin Wanwan and Xie Gutang standing together by a boat. He glanced at the competition flags next to them, and immediately understood; they were here to participate in the race.
Jun Shu grabbed a map of the route and hurried back to the Qingyue Tavern. He shook Jian Xingzhi, who was sitting on the ground in a daze, and exclaimed excitedly, “Daoist Jian! Daoist Jian! Miss Qin and Xie Gutang are heading out on a boat!”
Jian Xingzhi couldn’t process Jun Shu’s words at all. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, his eyes blankly stared ahead as he muttered to himself, “How did she get pregnant?”
Seeing that Jian Xingzhi had completely lost his bearings, Jun Shu couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy. After a moment of thinking, he felt that the timing was right and decided it was time to present his ultimate plan.
“Daoist Jian, please don’t be sad. Calm down and steady your emotions.”
“How could she be pregnant?”
“You’ve seen the situation,” Jun Shu ignored him, sighing deeply with a look of feigned sorrow: “They want to kill you now. It’s either you die or he dies. There’s no way back for you anymore!”
“They only practiced swordsmanship together. I was there the whole time. Can practicing swordplay really lead to pregnancy?”
Jian Xingzhi frowned in deep thought, unable to make sense of it at all.
Jun Shu was speechless. He couldn’t help but raise his voice: “It doesn’t matter whether she’s pregnant or not right now. The most important thing is that the person has to be with you!”
Hearing this, Jian Xingzhi turned to look at Jun Shu, looking rather confused. Jun Shu, frustrated as if dealing with someone hopeless, restrained his impatience and gestured emphatically: “You have to kill Xie Gultang, only then will Miss Qin will belong to you. Do you understand?!”
He understood.
He finally understood, after a long time. Thinking it through, he raised an eyebrow. “You want to kill Xie Gutang?”
Jun Shu corrected him, “Not me, it’s you. I’m just helping you.”
“Oh,” Jian Xingzhi nodded. “So, how do you plan to kill him?”
“They’ve gone to row a boat together now,” Jun Shu said, taking out a map. “This is their rowing route. This area is open and deserted, perfect for the job.”
“So?” Jian Xingzhi frowned. Jun Shu looked at him seriously, “You can kill Xie Gutang here.”
“Does it have to be right now?”
Jian Xingzhi was puzzled, and Jun Shu choked on his words. He had always thought that Jian Xingzhi was a big fool, but at this moment, he actually seemed a bit clever. He decided to administer a more forceful statement: “If you don’t kill him, do you know what a lone man and a woman might do on a boat?”
“What?” Jian Xingzhi frowned.
Jun Shu showed a pained expression, as if facing the ‘decline of society’: “Do some immoral and disgraceful things.”
“Like what?”
“Create little villains.”
Jun Shu had already mastered the essence of chatting with Jian Xingzhi. When Jian Xingzhi heard the words “create little villains,” his breath hitched. It was at that moment that a ‘ding’ sound echoed in his mind, his points had increased again!
He suddenly stood up and ran wildly towards the dock.
Jun Shu was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted and rushed to follow: “Daoist Jian! Take me with you!”
The two of them ran all the way to the dock, but by the time they arrived, the competition had already started. Everyone’s boats had already sped off like arrows. Jian Xingzhi was about to jump into the water as soon as he reached the dock, but someone immediately stopped him: “Wait a minute, the competition is ongoing. The river is off-limits, swimming isn’t allowed now.”
“What competition?” Jian Xingzhi asked urgently. Before he could finish speaking, Jun Shu immediately spoke up, “We’re participating! We’re participating too!”
“Participating?”
The staff frowned: “Do you have a boat?”
Jun Shu panted heavily: “We’ll rent one!”
“Sorry,” the staff shook his head, “all the boats are rented out.”
As soon as the words were spoken, a loud crashing sound was heard from the side. A large tree was split in half by someone, crashing straight down.
Before the tree could hit the ground, it was sliced apart in mid-air by countless sword lights. By the time it landed, it had already taken the shape of a single canoe, complete with an oar. Jian Xingzhi coldly glanced at the staff member: “Now, we have a boat.”
“But…” the staff member hesitated, “You don’t have a water spirit beast.”
A water spirit beast is a type of spirit beast placed behind the boat to propel it forward, essentially acting as an accelerator. Jian Xingzhi anxiously said, “I’ll row myself. What’s wrong with going ahead myself?”
“That’s not allowed,” the staff member said seriously, “It’s unfair.”
“I don’t care.”
“That’s not allowed,” the staff member shook his head, “This is a required piece of equipment, we…”
“We have it!”
Jun Shu suddenly spoke up. Both the staff member and Jian Xingzhi turned to look, only to see Jun Shu holding a crystal-clear, glass-like mask. The mask had a curved tube attached to it, resembling a snorkeling mask.
Jian Xingzhi glanced at the nearby stall selling such masks, then looked back at Jun Shu, who had a determined expression on his face. “I am his water spirit beast!”
“You… aren’t you a human?”
The staff member was confused.
“Who said a person can’t be a water spirit beast?”
Jun Shu retorted.
“Fine, just go ahead,”
Jian Xingzhi made a decisive move, kicking the canoe straight into the water. The canoe landed on the river’s surface. Jun Shu turned around, clenched his fist at Jian Xingzhi, and said, “Good luck!” before diving into the water.
As Jian Xingzhi jumped into the canoe, the staff member hurriedly asked, “What’s your name?”
Jian Xingzhi gripped the oar, creating phantom movements as he rowed. Jun Shu pushed the boat from below, kicking the water furiously. The two of them coordinated perfectly and quickly disappeared down the river, leaving only their voices faintly echoing: “Jian Xingzhi!”
“Attention, attention, temporarily add the seeded players.” The staff member immediately used a sound transmission talisman to notify all the stations. “Jian Xingzhi!”
As Jian Xingzhi rowed furiously, chasing after Qin Wanwan’s boat, Nan Feng and Xie Gutang were also rowing, following Yan Wushuang’s boat at a moderate distance.
The boats from both sides were almost the same, but Qin Wanwan’s water spirit beast was much better than Yan Wushuang’s. Qin Wanwan didn’t intend to alarm her enemy, so she didn’t join the rowing lineup. Instead, she conserved some of her strength, trailing Yan Wushuang from a distance.
Yan Wushuang, seeing that there were no particularly strong competitors this time, didn’t exert his full strength. Leading the Golden Sword Boy, he rowed the boat, maintaining a steady lead of about one zhang.
[T/N: One zhang is a traditional Chinese unit of length, typically equivalent to approximately 3.3 meters or 10.8 feet.]
But even so, he left many boats behind and gradually entered a deep water area.
The surrounding sounds grew quieter, and the reeds on both banks were as tall as a person. Qin Wanwan glanced around, then walked over to Xie Gutang’s side, taking the oar from him: “We’re almost there. I’ll steer the boat close to theirs. You get on their boat and force them to stop. I’ll catch up right away.”
“Okay. ”
Xie Gutang nodded, Qin Wanwan took the oar and started to accelerate.
Yan Wushuang noticed that the boat behind him was speeding up and raised an eyebrow. “Interesting.”
He too began to row harder, accelerating the boat.
The two sides chased after each other. Qin Wanwan gritted her teeth, but fortunately, she was much better at controlling her water spirit beast. When they reached a stretch of lake, Qin Wanwan was on the verge of catching up to Yan Wushuang. She gave a sharp shout: “Brother Xie!”
Xie Gutang stood at the bow of the boat and nodded at Qin Wanwan. As the two boats gradually drew closer, he tapped his toes, leaped towards Yan Wushuang’s boat, and drew his sword in midair!
In that very instant, a ‘hum’ sound rang out from behind, followed by a splash of water, rising as high as a building, and then it came crashing down, splashing all over Xie Gutang’s face!
Xie Gutang instinctively closed his eyes and retreated, landing back on the boat. Through the spray of water, Qin Wanwan saw Yan Wushuang accelerating ahead. Gritting her teeth, she immediately followed suit, increasing her speed!
However, the moment she accelerated, she realized that there was a canoe positioned between her and Yan Wushuang’s boat, blocking the way.
Both Yan Wushuang and she were on large boats, with high hulls. The oars and water spirit beasts were placed at the bottom of the boats, ensuring that no matter how fast they rowed, they wouldn’t stir up large splashes. The water splashes remained beneath the water, a civilized way of rowing.
But this small boat was different—it had no sense of decorum.
It was just a canoe, and with its speed trying to catch up to the two large boats, the splashes couldn’t help but rise extremely high, resembling crashing waves.
That wasn’t the most surprising part, though. The most astonishing thing was that its water spirit beast wasn’t holding back at all. The splashes created by the water spirit beast were just as high.
This made Qin Wanwan unable to see who or how many people were on the boat. All she could see was the towering waves, with the small boat on the river creating a tsunami-like spectacle.
Moreover, the person rowing the boat was clearly using spiritual power, causing the waves to carry overwhelming spiritual energy. If Xie Gutang wanted to leap over the waves and board Yan Wushuang’s boat, it would be difficult for him to land in optimal condition.
At this tense moment, Qin Wanwan found it hard to determine where the spiritual energy was coming from. Her mind was focused entirely on catching up to Yan Wushuang, and fearing that Xie Gutang might not be in the best condition, which could ruin their plan, she quickly instructed him: “Brother Xie, let’s row together and shake off this small boat first.”
Yan Wushuang’s speed had clearly increased. If the small boat maintained this speed, they could shake it off!
Xie Gutang had the same thought. He put down his sword and started rowing the boat!
The competition between Yan Wushuang and Qin Wanwan ignited Jian Xingzhi’s competitive spirit.
When he thought about Qin Wanwan wanting to get rid of him, and about her and Xie Gutang rowing alone on the lake, he felt a surge of determination. No, he couldn’t allow that. He had to stay side by side with Qin Wanwan!
So, he gathered all his strength, using brute force to make up for the boat’s shortcomings. With all his effort, he managed to keep pace with the two large boats, maintaining an equal position all the way!
Yan Wushuang was fast, Qin Wanwan was faster, and he was fastest!
The distance between the three boats was only half a zhang, and all three parties were locked in an intense race. They sped through the originally designated assassination zone, turned the corner, and raced along the river. Amidst the cheers of the crowd, the finish line was getting closer and closer!
Everyone’s minds had completely forgotten why they were there. All they could think about was rowing, rowing furiously!
For the money, for capturing the person, for keeping up!
The only one remaining rational in this group was the barely conscious Jun Shu.
He was on the brink of collapse. His mind told him that if this continued, he might die here. Gritting his teeth, he finally made a bold decision.
He decided to abandon this brute force method. Instead, he would rush forward and sink Qin Wanwan’s boat. Once Qin Wanwan’s boat was sunk, Jian Xingzhi would catch up with them, giving him the chance to kill Xie Gutang. Even if he didn’t take action, he could still accuse Jian Xingzhi of ordering him to sink the boat, thereby sowing discord between Qin Wanwan and Jian Xingzhi!
With this thought in mind, Jun Shu took a deep breath, shouted loudly, and took out a blasting talisman, before charging wildly toward Qin Wanwan’s boat!
In that very moment, Jian Xingzhi’s oar struck him hard on the head. Jun Shu was immediately stunned, and with a gurgling sound, he sank into the water.
With the finish line in sight, all three boats were racing furiously toward it.
At that moment, the blasting talisman in Jun Shu’s hand exploded with a loud ‘boom’, sending massive waves rolling up. The three boats were pushed by the waves. The small boat reacted quickly, and Jian Xingzhi used his spiritual power to form a shield, turning the boat into a sword. With a smooth motion, he soared through the air and swiftly crossed the finish line!
Soon after, Qin Wanwan’s and Yan Wushuang’s boats crossed the finish line one after the other. The three boats all came to a stop at the shore, with everyone lying on their boats, exhausted and panting.
Only Jian Xingzhi and Yan Wushuang were full of energy, while Xie Gutang was barely holding on.
“Congratulations! Congratulations!”
Qin Wanwan leaned on the side of the boat, struggling to lift her head, wanting to see who the person rowing the canoe really was.
Then she saw the crowd rushing toward the bow of the boat. The staff member, holding the trophy, made his way through the crowd to the young man in the blue robe. The young man took the trophy and then jumped toward her, crouching in front of her to examine her.
“Senior?”
Xie Gutang asked in surprise: “Why are you…”
“Do you want the trophy?”
Jian Xingzhi looked at the exhausted Qin Wanwan and handed the trophy to her.
The moment he became first, he understood everything.
Qin Wanwan couldn’t possibly be pregnant; what she said must have been a lie. He didn’t quite understand why she would say such things, but he decided that he would ask her later.
And her participation in the rowing competition wasn’t to spend romantic moments with Xie Gutang. After all, she had been rowing the entire time, fighting to win.
He rarely saw his disciple working so hard. He thought to himself that she must really want the trophy, which was why she was willing to put in so much effort.
He generously handed her the trophy. “Tell me what you want, and Master will help you get it.”
Hearing this, Qin Wanwan immediately understood Jian Xingzhi’s train of thought. She couldn’t catch her breath, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
【Mini Theater】
Question: “What do you think your disciple’s hobby is?”
Jian Xingzhi: “Rowing.”
Question: “Why do you think so?”
Jian Xingzhi: “I have seen her work the hardest in her life, just to get first place in the rowing competition. I think she must really love this sport. Wanwan, don’t worry, as long as you’re with me, I could row across the entire Milky Way for you!”
