Chapter 30: Heavy Gold to Hire an Assassin, the Yellow River Gang
After passing through the deepest night, the drum beat for the fifth watch echoed through the long street.
In the courtyard, there was only a dim, orange-yellow lamplight. Beside the stone table and stone stools sat Zhou Yan and Yuyangzi Wang Chuyi. White mist floated in the air. It was a cool morning, like water, yet Zhou Yan felt a comfortable warmth throughout his entire body.
His greatest surprise was that he could use the Quanzhen Internal Energy cultivation technique to merge the gentle warmth emanating from Jade Guanyin into his own Inner Qi, making it pure and Yang.
This Inner Qi’s nourishing effect on the Twelve Standard Meridians and viscera was no less than that of moving Qi and Blood after consuming the Big Treasure Snake, and the Internal Force it stimulated.
Of course, what was also delightful was that Wang Chuyi had also explained in detail the obscure vocabulary and terminology within Taoist cultivation techniques.
For example, One Yang. After a practitioner cultivates to a certain level, calms their mind, and regulates their body and spirit, new life Qi is generated within the body. This life Qi is called Yang Qi, known as One Yang, also called One Hou.
For example, Six Times. In Taoist cultivation, the circulation of the Ren and Du meridians in the human body is divided into twelve Earthly Branches. The Du meridian in the back corresponds to Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, and Si, while the front corresponds to Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai. Because this aligns with the twelve hours of the day, each half is called Six Times.
How would Zhou Yan understand these common concepts? He was now in the Jianghu of Legend of the Condor Heroes and couldn’t just search on Baidu. The original owner was merely an educated Escort, not a learned scholar. External Style martial arts were easy to pick up, but when it came to Internal School cultivation involving the Twelve Standard Meridians and the five viscera, without the guidance of a famous Master, it was truly easy to misinterpret things and encounter problems during cultivation.
Some things are simple to say: just ask a Taoist for clarification and the problem is solved. If it were that easy, Black Wind Shuangsha wouldn’t have practiced the Nine Yin Manual incorrectly. Zhou Yan remembered that Mei Chaofeng’s legs were paralyzed, and it was Guo Jing who explained the cultivation methods of Quanzhen Sect’s Taoist internal energy, which allowed Mei Chaofeng, who understood “Combining the Four Symbols” and “Five Qi Towards the Origin,” to cultivate according to the method and eventually regain the ability to walk.
Zhou Yan could imagine how difficult it would be to comprehend the meaning of the Nine Yin Manual and the Nine Yang Manual, even if he obtained them.
Zhang Wuji was able to achieve great success in cultivating the Nine Yang Manual in a stone cave in the Kunlun Mountains. Without the guidance of his parents and Xie Xun, and the foundation he built later at Wudang Mountain, he would not have been able to fully grasp its meaning.
However, the obstacles Zhou Yan might encounter in cultivating profound techniques were now resolved due to Wang Chuyi, Hong Qigong, and Zhang Wangyue. By mastering the methods of Internal School cultivation, the way of integrating spirit and form, and detailed explanations of meridians and acupoints, his future martial arts path might not be entirely smooth, but Zhou Yan was confident he could achieve “climbing halfway up the mountain and not saying it’s far, one still needs strong feet to reach the peak.”
Wang Chuyi increasingly admired Zhou Yan. Although the other party spoke little and listened much, his gentle, respectful, frugal, and yielding demeanor was truly comfortable from the outside in. Moreover, many talented disciples of the Quanzhen Sect, such as Yin Zhiping and Zhao Zhijing, needed several hours or more to grasp certain key points, yet Zhou Yan would understand them thoroughly in a very short time, even asking follow-up questions that showed he could generalize. Wang Chuyi understood why Hong Qigong would teach him the Subduing Dragon Eighteen Palms; encountering such a talented individual truly makes one’s heart itch.
In fact, Zhou Yan’s excellent analytical and intuitive abilities were naturally due to his knowledge structure and thinking patterns from his previous life. He remembered a saying: “In a backward thinking system, even the most advanced teaching is merely meaningless repetition.”
The reason he could quickly digest and absorb information was perhaps due to the difference in his thinking patterns.
Both were in high spirits. Zhou Yan went to the kitchen to boil water for tea. When he returned to the courtyard, he poured tea for Yuyangzi and then changed the subject, saying, “Daoist Priest, do you know any disciples of the Ancient Tomb Sect?”
Wang Chuyi was surprised, “How do you know about the Ancient Tomb Sect?”
Li Mochou had not told Zhou Yan about her sect, but there would be no problem saying it to Wang Chuyi.
“When I was escorting a Escort in Datong Prefecture, I encountered a woman named Li Mochou. She was traveling down the mountain and ran into the four disciples of the Ghost Gate Dragon King. Those four wanted to capture her and present her to Ouyang Ke. I intervened at that time because I happened to encounter Hong Bangzhu during this incident.”
Wang Chuyi finally understood. Hong Qigong’s willingness to teach martial arts was likely the primary reason: virtue first, character paramount, talent secondary.
“So that’s how it is,” Wang Chuyi said. “Of course, I have met Li Mochou. However, people from the Ancient Tomb are reclusive, and it is truly difficult to encounter them.”
“Are there not many disciples in the Ancient Tomb?”
Wang Chuyi would not tell Zhou Yan about the origin relationship between the Quanzhen Sect and the Ancient Tomb Sect.
“Yes, there are only three. One of them is a little girl.”
Zhou Yan thought that Lin Chaoying was no longer around, so the three must be Li Mochou, Little Dragon Girl, and Lin Chaoying’s maid. That is, Li Mochou and Little Dragon Girl’s master.
“So there are only three, isn’t that quite impoverished?”
“Indeed. My fellow disciples and I have arranged for people to send some food and oil, but they ignore it. However, it is also common for cultivators to endure hardships without seeing immediate results.”
“To temper their minds and strengthen their bones.”
“Precisely.”
“I just wonder what the little girl’s personality is like in such an environment?”
Wang Chuyi smiled slightly, “I’ve seen her once or twice. She’s cute and lively.”
Zhou Yan took a tactical sip of tea to hide his inner shock. However, the warm tea soothed his throat, and he felt his thinking was rigid. Little Dragon Girl was so young; it was a time for innocence and joy. Could she really be as cold as ice as the eighteen-year-old maiden in the Legend of the Condor Heroes?
As dawn broke, the iron-grey of the firmament gradually faded.
Zhou Yan asked Wang Chuyi to rest for a moment and then went to the kitchen to busy himself.
Yuyangzi was not a pretentious person. He sat in meditation with his eyes closed, waiting for the young man’s breakfast.
Cooking smoke dispersed a few feet in the morning breeze, and the fragrance of grains wafted, intoxicating the senses.
Some of the ingredients purchased for the banquet for Huyan Lei, Wang Kui, and others were still available. Zhou Yan made Eight Treasure Rice with rice, red dates, lotus seeds, and longans, and prepared two vegetarian dishes: Shangqing Tofu and Astragalus Bamboo Pith.
This surprised Wang Chuyi greatly. Yuyangzi’s appetite was whetted. During the meal, he thought that when Guo Jing arrived in Zhongdu, he could get acquainted with Zhou Yan; they were both young heroes.
Wang Chuyi had learned about Guo Jing’s deeds in the desert from Danyangzi Ma Yu and admired his character.
As the sky brightened, Wang Chuyi, after his meal, bid farewell to Zhou Yan and left with a flourish. Fate is truly wondrous.
Zhou Yan tidied up and headed to the Escort Bureau.
…
Dense mackerel scale clouds drifted across the sky, and light streamed down from the gaps between the clouds, illuminating the Four Seas Escort Agency.
“How is your recovery progressing?”
As Escort Lu asked this question, Escort Su, whose finger Zhou Yan had broken, felt his finger throbbing with pain as if scraped by a blunt knife. His face contorted, “If I don’t avenge this, I am no gentleman.”
Escort Lu, who had been kicked to the ground by Zhou Yan at Songhe Tower, said, “Not only must we get revenge, but we must also find a way to sabotage Fu’an’s escort mission.”
Escort Su looked at Escort Lu, “Don’t you want revenge? The shame of losing the spear!”
Escort Lu said, “I do have a method.”
“Don’t keep me in suspense, tell me quickly.”
Escort Lu said, “No matter how Fu’an plans the route for this escort mission, they will have to cross the Yellow River.”
“And then?”
“What if something happens on the Yellow River?”
“How?”
Escort Lu whispered, “I know the Gang Leader of the Yellow River Gang.”
“Is that true?”
“What’s so strange about that? Escort agencies traveling south and north often have to cross the Yellow River. If you don’t offer money and favors to grease the wheels, how can you pass safely?” Escort Lu chuckled lowly. “Moreover, the Yellow River Gang Leader is currently in Zhongdu.”
The seasoned escorts of the Four Seas Escort Agency wore ferocious expressions:
“If we offer a large sum of money, the Yellow River Gang can seize the escort and kill people. There will be no problem.”
“But how do we get this large sum of money?” Escort Su asked.
Escort Lu said confidently, “Don’t we still have the Boss!”
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