Free Web NovelChapter 1131: Chapter 350: Swords Rise in Xianyang City
Wei River winds around Xianyang City before rushing northwestward,
Vast and mighty, it is one of the rare rivers that does not connect with the Long River.
Yet Great Qin, a powerhouse among nations, stood before the Wei, in this position northwestward, dominantly overseeing the Western Territory and even casting its gaze upon the whole world.
The strength of Qin is beyond words.
Within the Western Territory, no adversaries were worth mentioning. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
In the year 3917 of the Taoist Calendar, a terrible battle unfolded on the plains of the valley, thrusting Great Qin into the reputation of "ultimate power", subtly surpassing Eastern Qi, and seemingly ready to rival Jinguo, which dominated the Central Region.
With powerful soldiers and formidable magic artifacts, Great Chu, claiming "a treasury abundant for three thousand years, the top techniques in the world", swallowed the bitter fruit of defeat, yielding years of toil in the Western Territory and retreating to the Southern Territory to lick its wounds.
Almost completely losing influence in the Western Territory.
Famous General Xiang Longxiang died amidst the army. Tianjiao Zuo Guanglie was chased for thousands of miles and met his end in an unmarked land of Zhuang Country.
The former was a "present" fold; the latter, a loss of the "future".
Even so, Zuo Guanglie was not just a "hopeful future". Before his death, he was a well-known talent throughout the world, an influential general in Great Chu’s military, the confirmed next head of the Zuo Family, and the successor of Great Chu’s six teachers’ "Red Challenge".
The so-called "Red Challenge" means to "touch" with blood, to courageously confront the sharpest edge. At its core, it embodies the spirit of resisting any enemy to the death.
Yet in the battle in the valley, such a powerful force of the world, the Red Challenge, suffered losses over half its number.
Zuo Guanglie alone broke the formation, and at one point pierced through Hangu Pass... It was not for want of replicating the murderer’s feat of leading a lone army deep behind enemy lines, shattering Summer Country’s forces.
Unfortunately, he ultimately fell short, and the heavenly pride perished.
On the plains of the valley, a battle involving nearly one hundred thousand cultivators and millions of soldiers seemed as if it had occurred just yesterday.
Those who experienced it still lick their wounds, feeling the pain.
But it also seems so distant.
For today’s Xianyang City doesn’t feel the slightest vestige of war.
There are pavilions with greenery leaning against blushing walls, and strong drinks cheered in tall towers.
Passersby are as numerous as threads in a loom, carriages flow like water, horses like dragons.
Some say, "The Qin palace discards oils, yet Wei’s currents swell with grease."
This speaks volumes of the grandeur of Qin’s royal palace, fitting to be described as clouds of beauties.
Only in peaceful times does "beauty" truly shine. Women have the leisure to beautify themselves, men the leisure to pursue.
The world is not peaceful by nature, but Qin enjoys the scenery of tranquility because of its strength.
As the people of Qi Territory stroll freely in the fields, only in small countries do people dare to travel long distances under the protection of a cultivator. The same principle applies here.
In the west of Xianyang City lay the residence of the Duke of Yi’an.
One day, a man with dull eyes and a rather disheveled appearance approached the duke’s residence without a word and walked right in.
He wasn’t dirty, and he had an indescribable aura about him, not quite suggesting that of a beggar.
Particularly, his confident stride, as natural as one returning home, left observers uncertain, possibly hinting at an extraordinary character or natural heir of a noble family.
Therefore, the doormen didn’t immediately resort to driving him away but instead asked with restraint, "May I ask who you are, and do you have a calling card?"
"I don’t have a calling card," replied the visitor lazily. "I’ve just come from the west to Qin, having heard of the Wei family’s heir, known as the number one Teng Long in the world. I’m here to inquire about it."
The so-called number one Teng Long in the world might not be the contemporary best, but at the very least, he was indisputably the finest in Qin.
His name was Wei Yu, the son of Duke Wei Qiu of Great Qin’s Yi’an.
The visitor’s bold inquiry about Wei Yu suggested he had some reliance on his own abilities.
The gatekeeper at Yian Marquis Mansion was no fool; he certainly wasn’t going to offend someone whose background was so unclear.
So he inquired, "May I ask who recommended you to come here?"
The visitor glared with dead fish eyes and spoke somewhat listlessly, "No one recommended me. I found my way here on my own."
This didn’t seem at all like the demeanor of a martial arts expert.
The gatekeeper did not believe this feeble-looking fellow could be a match for his young master.
But he didn’t insult him either. He just looked at the man and said with a troubled expression, "Our Marquis Mansion has its rules. You have no introduction letter and no one has recommended you. I’m afraid I can’t let you in."
He wasn’t afraid the visitor would make a scene, after all, in Xianyang city, there was no one who could break the law and get away with it. In the past, even Lord Wuyang had broken the law and was soundly flogged a hundred times. He was whipped outside the palace gates with his trousers down, for all the common folk to see the royal behind.
Not afraid to be sure, but as gatekeeper of the Yian Marquis Mansion, he was paid well every month and often received extra gratuities. He knew all too well the comforts of his position. Unless ordered by his superiors, there was no need to offend anyone.
Those who recklessly flaunted their influence and caused trouble for their masters were the kind to have no future, and even their lives could be in danger!
Nevertheless, the visitor showed no sign of being troublesome, but simply asked, "Could you perhaps announce my presence? Your young master is hailed as the top Teng Long of the world; he should not fear a challenge."
"Dear sir," the gatekeeper apologized, "I’m truly sorry, but as a lowly servant, I do not dare bother my master over a trivial matter. Why don’t you think of another way or find someone to introduce you?"
The visitor sighed and said, "If that is the case... I apologize for the offense!"
The gatekeeper quickly stepped back and shouted, "What do you think you are doing! This is Yian..."
His voice stopped abruptly.
Because he hadn’t noticed anything, yet between the visitor’s raised right hand’s two fingers, there was a piece of dark black cloth.
He looked down at his own robe to discover, unbeknownst to him, a corner had been neatly cut off.
And the cut was so clean that when he ran his fingers over it, he actually felt a tingling sensation!
As the gatekeeper of the Yian Marquis Mansion, his experience was not shallow, and he knew this person must be a true expert.
"... Why did you cut my robe? I didn’t provoke you," said the gatekeeper.
If this had been a more fastidious person, they might have lost all the demeanor of an expert right then. Which true expert would bicker with a gatekeeper?
Luckily, this unkempt and uninvited guest had no such sophisticated airs either.
He simply flicked his fingers forward,
And the piece of cloth in his hand shot toward the gatekeeper like an arrow off the string, even producing a whistling sound as it cut through the air!
But as it approached the gatekeeper, it gently floated down, landing precisely in his hands.
Only then did the uninvited guest say, "Take this as my calling card. If your master is the real deal, he should come and meet me."
These words should have carried a powerful presence.
Yet his eyes lacked any sparkle, his voice was languid and lacking in force, causing the statement to sound quite "floaty" and hardly invigorating.
But the Yian Marquis gatekeeper had already sensed the visitor’s extraordinary nature.
Clutching the piece of his robe, he asked, "I will go and report this right away... May I have the honor of knowing your name?"
"Xiang Qian," the visitor said as if he were yawning, his statement lacking any kind of impression.
ps: "In the Qing Palace, the fat of abandonment enriches Wei River’s flow." is adapted from "Wei River swells with richness, from the discarded fat of luxury." — from "Rhapsody on the Imperial Park" by Du Mu
"It’s like the old days touring the imperial garden, with the carriages flowing like water and the horses like dragons." — "Nostalgia for the South" by Li Yu
