Free Web NovelChapter 410: Chapter 195: Honeymoon with the Spear, Spear Intent Takes Form
The master and his two disciples spent a total of five days at the Qiling Governor’s Mansion.
During their stay, both Eunuch Liu and Yan Chengdu came to visit. Chu Lingguang had just been wounded by Xuanyuan Jinkang, and his internal injury had not yet healed, leaving Yan Chengdu somewhat disappointed.
Yan Chengdu had wanted to spar with Chu Lingguang. Remembering a favor from Yan Zhen, Chu Lingguang—despite his severe injuries—shattered Yan Chengdu’s Ultimate Killing Saber Technique with a single thrust of his spear. For the next few days, Yan Chengdu never came to see him again, and the day they had planned to spend exploring the city together never came to be.
「Two days later.」
The master and his two disciples arrived in South City.
Chu Lingguang and Hei Hu had both prepared plenty of gifts. They accompanied Guo Wei to visit Master Yan, who had been very generous and had taken great care of them during their time in South City for the Daoist and Martial Arts Examinations. It was a given that they would visit him when passing through the city.
The three of them stayed at Master Yan’s home for two days. There, they learned that Master Yan was still doing business with the Turkic people. Having learned their lesson from the last encounter, the Turkic people were much better behaved. Although problems still arose from time to time, they no longer dared to seize his medicinal herbs for themselves as they had before.
"Master, Fishing Town is just ahead." freewёbnoνel.com
Chu Lingguang vaguely recalled how, a few days before the Daoist and Martial Arts Examinations, Guo Wei had brought him and Hei Hu to rest in this very town. A local Martial Artist, Nie Maocheng, had arrived with a group of instructors from various martial arts halls to stir up trouble, but Guo Wei had defused the entire situation with just a few words. The group of masters had even ended up sitting down for drinks with them.
That incident had taught Chu Lingguang that sometimes, skill with words was more important than skill with fists.
"Let’s get something to eat at the teahouse."
Guo Wei led the trio to a teahouse to rest their feet.
Fishing Town was a necessary stop for anyone traveling to South City from counties like Baiyang and Qinghe. As a result, it was a bustling hub, with people constantly coming and going.
The teahouse was filled with a clamor of voices.
The patrons included resting peddlers and laborers, Jianghu Martial Artists, and members of escort agencies. Even soldiers could be seen passing through.
As luck would have it,
Tie Zhennan and his disciple, Jin Shan, were sitting in a corner of the teahouse, eating pastries. Both looked travel-worn, as if they were just passing through Fishing Town on their way back from a long journey and had stopped for a quick bite.
The two groups noticed each other at the same time.
Guo Wei found a corner to sit down in and ordered a few of the teahouse’s most popular snacks. An attendant quickly brought over a pot of hot tea.
Chu Lingguang watched Tie Zhennan warily.
Liu Quan had cheated at the Martial Arts Examination. During the lance event, he had nearly stabbed Chu Lingguang. Guo Wei had dealt with him afterward, crippling his cultivation right then and there.
Regardless of Liu Quan’s character, he was still Tie Zhennan’s official disciple. As his master, Tie Zhennan couldn’t possibly ignore the fact that his disciple had been crippled by someone else.
Although Tie Zhennan hadn’t caused any trouble in the past six months, Chu Lingguang had never forgotten the incident.
Now that they had run into Tie Zhennan in Fishing Town, there was no guarantee a conflict wouldn’t break out.
"Brother Zhennan."
"Passing through Fishing Town, and you didn’t stop by my Martial Arts Hall? If word got out in the Jianghu, people would think I, Nie Maocheng, had been a poor host."
Just then,
Nie Maocheng appeared in the teahouse with several of his disciples and walked straight toward Tie Zhennan.
Chu Lingguang and Hei Hu saw a familiar face.
It was Huang Feihu, a fellow candidate from their examination year.
Huang Feihu was the most outstanding disciple of Nie Maocheng’s younger generation. In the Daoist and Martial Arts Examinations, his performance had nearly rivaled that of Da Wang and Xiao Wang, and he had come close to breaking into the top ten.
His strength was comparable to that of Tie Zhennan’s disciple, Jin Shan.
Chu Lingguang and Hei Hu exchanged a look, growing even more vigilant. Nie Maocheng was the top Martial Artist in Fishing Town—the local powerhouse. He had disciples who had become Martial Arts Scholars, and Guo Wei had even once said that one of them had the potential to become a Military Scholar. Meanwhile, Tie Zhennan was the strongest Martial Artist in Qinghe County and also had disciples who had become Martial Arts Scholars.
Both men were experts at the Qi Sea Realm. Even if their strength didn’t match Guo Wei’s, it was likely on par with Hamu’s. ’Otherwise, how could they so easily produce Martial Arts Scholars?’
’If the two of them join forces to make trouble for Master right now, on Nie Maocheng’s home turf, the three of us might be at a disadvantage.’
But to Chu Lingguang’s surprise, Tie Zhennan raised his teacup toward Guo Wei. Nie Maocheng, standing beside him, quickly did the same. Using tea in place of wine, the two men toasted Guo Wei from across the room.
Guo Wei, not to be impolite, raised his own cup in a silent greeting.
All three of them drained their cups.
Nie Maocheng gave Guo Wei a respectful fist-and-palm salute before leading Tie Zhennan out of the teahouse and toward his own Martial Arts Hall. He made no move to invite Guo Wei to join them.
All the local Martial Artists knew that Tie Zhennan’s disciple had cheated during the Martial Arts Examination and had his cultivation crippled by Guo Wei. Tie Zhennan might be willing to let bygones be bygones, but Nie Maocheng couldn’t pretend to be ignorant of their history and force them to sit together.
Nie Maocheng understood that it was best to know one’s limits in a relationship. He and Guo Wei were mere acquaintances. Regardless of how powerful Guo Wei was, Nie Maocheng knew he should keep a respectful distance—neither offending him nor trying to curry favor.
More importantly, he couldn’t risk losing a friend like Tie Zhennan just for a chance to get closer to Guo Wei. Tie Zhennan was a peer, an equal with whom he had a long-standing relationship. He was the one Nie Maocheng should be cultivating a friendship with.
"That Chu Lingguang fellow... in just six short months, his strength is already about to catch up to ours."
Nie Maocheng remarked with a sigh after they left the teahouse.
"He’s one of Mr. Du’s men now. His future is boundless," Tie Zhennan said with a nod.
Common folk might not have known, but Martial Artists like Tie Zhennan and Nie Maocheng had already caught wind of what happened after Chu Lingguang killed Samba: he had won Mr. Du’s favor and been sent to train in the Northern Territory Trial Ground.
They had even heard that Guo Wei had gone on a rampage at the National Border, slaying dozens of Turkic Warriors and revealing his cultivation to be at the True Martial Realm.
Tie Zhennan knew revenge was hopeless. Besides, Liu Quan had brought his fate upon himself—first by betraying Guo Wei, then by trying to harm Chu Lingguang. The fact that Guo Wei hadn’t killed him was an act of extreme mercy. Tie Zhennan now regretted poaching Liu Quan in the first place; if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have had to endure so much criticism lately.
