Chapter 9: Nothing Special
The sun had already slanted to the west, with golden light shimmering on West Lake. It was still early before nightfall, and the tourists on the lake showed no intention of leaving, their interest in boating undiminished.
Zither music like heavenly sounds once again rippled across the lake surface, and the tourists on boats large and small were all entranced by Liu Dajia’s otherworldly zither skills.
Many young masters shed tears unknowingly; they were moved by the lust and boudoir resentment in the zither music, yet also frustrated that it was not played for them.
Everyone knew that today Liu Dajia was to receive a mysterious distinguished guest, and the zither music was played for him alone, unrelated to others…
On the guqin platform of that two-story painted boat, sat the famous Jiangnan courtesan Liu Qianqian, who haunted the dreams of countless men. She was just in her early twenties, dressed in a green silk skirt with a thin white gauze shawl over her shoulders like drifting clouds. Her fairy-like face bore no makeup, her glossy black hair unadorned with any pins, casually gathered at the back of her head and cascading down her slender white neck like a waterfall.
Pure and pristine like an immortal descended from the heavenly palace, she evoked unwillingness to profane her in the slightest.
At this moment, this immortal-like graceful courtesan was gently plucking the strings with her boneless slender jade hands, and the intoxicating zither tones slowly flowed out, leaving Xiahou Lei, seated opposite, unaware of the present moment or his whereabouts.
Xiahou the old mister sat cross-legged on the luxurious low couch, his face full of intoxication as he stroked his beard, his eyes actually glistening with tears… He never imagined that a moment of lust-driven flower-chasing would bring him such a pure spiritual journey. He had completely forgotten his original intent, letting his mind drift along the river of memories with the zither music…
He remembered his youthful days, spending a fortune for a smile. Fame and fortune were but dust, yet mad for a beauty.
He recalled his newlywed bliss, deep affection between husband and wife. Morning and evening together, wishing to be intertwined branches.
He thought of windflower snowmoon nights, tender wife warm in fragrant bedding. Pear blossoms unable to hold back, begonia branches trembling.
He lamented unbearable past days, mandarin ducks beaten apart. Empty pillow facing solitary moon, longing endlessly distant…
Liu Qianqian, playing the zither, looked at the entranced Xiahou Lei and a faint smile curved her lips. Xiahou Lei was utterly lost in that affectionate yet slightly shy smile.
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At the same time, the one-eyed dragon was desperately fleeing in the hijacked small boat, pursued by the assassins. The small boat passed under a stone bridge crowded with pedestrians, and the water ahead suddenly opened wide. It turned out the river flowed into West Lake…
Seeing the small boat enter West Lake, Shankou was not alarmed but delighted; their boat was much faster than the opponent’s, only disadvantaged by its larger size, making it hard to catch the nimble small boat in the busy river channel!
Now on the broad lake surface, where could that one-eyed dragon flee!
Sure enough, the distance between them kept closing: twenty zhang, fifteen zhang, ten zhang…
“Push harder!” Shankou gripped the iron rod tightly, already preparing to jump onto the boat!
But inexplicably, the one-eyed dragon abandoned the oars, leaving only the old boatman to row.
The old boatman looked up with full concern and said, “Young Master, let me help too.” When he raised his head, revealing the scar-crossed face under the bamboo hat, who else but Uncle Bao.
“No. You cover me; if I fail, then we’ll talk.” The one-eyed dragon spoke, his voice that of Lu Yun. It turned out this one-eyed dragon was clearly him in disguise!
“Ah! Young Master, be careful!” Uncle Bao’s face was full of worry, but he could only hold back.
Seeing the small boat drawing ever closer to the two-story painted boat, Lu Yun suddenly said, “Right, Uncle Bao.”
“Young Master changed his mind?” Uncle Bao was overjoyed.
“If I don’t make it back before nightfall, don’t forget to pass a message to my sister, tell her not to wait for me.” But Lu Yun said something completely off-topic.
“Young Master…” Uncle Bao’s face turned black.
Lu Yun said no more; he quietly gazed at the painted boat, casting aside all distractions, fully immersing his mind in the impending action.
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At this time, the Xiahou Clan cruise boat patrolling near the painted boat spotted the three boats rapidly approaching.
On the boat, a warrior furrowed his brows and said in a deep voice, “Stop them!”
“Stop the boat now! No approaching!” The Xiahou Clan warriors busily shouted loudly at the incoming boats.
But the other side seemed oblivious, arriving right before them in an instant!
At the same time, Shankou leaped onto Uncle Bao’s small boat, shaking it violently!
The one-eyed dragon clearly feared him and immediately jumped toward the Xiahou Clan boat! Shankou had exerted all his strength to catch up; how could he let him escape again! Without thinking, he leaped again, closely following the one-eyed dragon!
“Courting death!” The Xiahou Clan warriors were furious, drawing their weapons to hack at the two intruders!
Just as the weapons were about to strike, the one-eyed dragon twisted his body strangely in midair, tracing a graceful arc to barely dodge the long saber, lunging toward the painted boat on the left!
Though Shankou was a Black Rank expert, he lacked such uncanny lightness skill and could only swing his iron rod to block the incoming weapons!
The opponents hadn’t expected him to be Black Rank; caught off guard, they let Shankou land on the boat! This infuriated the proud Xiahou Clan warriors, who frantically surrounded and attacked Shankou!
Shankou was stunned; he hadn’t expected the warriors on this boat to all be Yellow Rank experts, with tight coordination, brilliant moves, far from ordinary Yellow Rank!
But there was no time to think; he could only use all his skills to protect himself!
Shankou’s subordinates also arrived; seeing their boss under siege, they dared not slack and leaped onto the cruise boat, clashing with the Xiahou Clan warriors!
The warrior leader on the cruise boat had wanted to pursue the one-eyed dragon but, seeing this, could only first block these assassins; as for the one-eyed dragon, leave him to those on the painted boat…
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On the painted boat, Xiahou Lei was dazedly immersed in the zither music when he suddenly heard his subordinates shouting loudly outside. His first reaction was annoyance at them daring to disturb his listening. Only upon hearing the cries of battle did he snap back, his face changing drastically.
At this time, the attendant burst in anxiously, “Master, bad news, there are assassins!”
“What panic!” Xiahou Lei calmed down instead, snorting coldly, “With those four here, who can break in? Get out!”
“Master, should we send up a signal for aid?” The attendant had already taken out a firework; once the signal was seen, experts from the temporary headquarters would swarm over.
“Send your ass!” Xiahou Lei glared, “For such a trivial matter, make it known under heaven? Get out!”
The attendant had no choice but to withdraw.
Xiahou Lei looked apologetically at the pale-faced Liu Qianqian, saying warmly, “Miss Qianqian, don’t fear; with this old man here, no one can touch a hair on your head!”
Liu Qianqian was too frightened to speak, but upon hearing this, she seemed greatly comforted and nodded obediently.
Only then did Xiahou Lei gather his mind to consider the situation. Regardless of who wanted him dead, safety came first. He calculated: not to mention the eight Yellow Rank warriors on the cruise boat, just the four Black Rank guards on the painted boat, who had trained the Xiahou Clan’s combined attack technique for over ten years with flawless coordination, could even withstand an ordinary Earth Rank Grandmaster.
In this world, it was already rare for martial artists to cultivate to Black Rank; where were there so many Earth Rank Grandmasters?!
Moreover, though he had dropped off the Earth Rank list two years ago due to age, his strength was still genuine Earth Rank Grandmaster level! As long as no Heavenly Rank monsters appeared, escaping with ease was no problem.
Thinking this, Xiahou Lei fully calmed down, even starting to consider how to handle the aftermath. Recalling his solemn promise to Older Brother before leaving the capital, his head throbbed; he secretly resolved to cover this up no matter what…
While Xiahou Lei was lost in wild thoughts, his heart suddenly tightened as a burly one-eyed dragon appeared at the guqin platform doorway, holding a short knife.
The guqin platform was deathly quiet; even the sound of blood dripping from the knife tip onto the wooden floor could be heard.
Liu Qianqian was horrified to the extreme, Xiahou Lei dumbfounded; seeing no one following behind the one-eyed dragon, he could not help hoarsely saying, “My four guards…”
“Black Rank, nothing special.” Lu Yun rasped, pointing the knife at Xiahou Lei, “Earth Rank, so what?”
