Sword Snow Stride Book 1 Chapter 15

Book 1 – White Horse Out of Liangzhou
Chapter 15 – There Is a Bull Rider on The Mountain

Xu Fengnian led a team of cavalry back to the Mansion and went over to the courtyard where Lao Kui was staying. As soon as he entered the room, he saw a table full of delicious food. In one glance, he looked like a guy who was not happy without meat, not free from worry without wine. _{Translated by foxs}

Lao Kui’s figure was like a small mountain, even when he was sitting, his haughtiness was astonishing, to say nothing of the two chains and two sabers. All the servants hid in the courtyard and did not dare to draw near. When Lao Kui saw Xu Fengnian, he bluntly asked, “Kid [wawa, baby/doll], did Huang Lao Jiu go to break off his life with that Wang Lao Xian [old immortal] of Wudi Cheng?” [Note: the ‘Xian’ of Wang Xianzhi’s name means ‘immortal’.]

His expression desolate, Xu Fengnian nodded and sat on the stool across the table from Lao Kui, whose hair was as white as snow, without saying a word.

The old martial artist laughed and said, “Xiao Wawa, I never thought that you are a master [zhuzi, master/servant relationship] who remembers old friends. On this point, you are much more kind and honest than your Die. Xu Xiao, this Tufu [butcher] is deceitful in many ways, that goes without saying, but he is also sanctimonious, hypocritical and murderous [lit. honeyed words, a sword in the belly]. Sharing trials and tribulations is all right, but to get him to share riches and honor, that will be like tearing off your Niang’s eggs. Hey, Xiao Wawa, are you angry? Relying on your three-legged cat skills, you still want to fight with me? Without Huang Lao Jiu, only if you called out all the remaining few martial art masters hiding in Beiliang Wangfu will you have a battle with Yeye.”

Curling his lips, Xu Fengnian muttered, “Now that Lao Huang gone, you dare to say without a tiger on the mountain, the monkey calls himself the big king.”

Lao Kui’s ears turned bright red, but he was not angry. He said calmly, “If I can’t win then I can’t win, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Huang Lao Jiu‘s level of mastery in sword technique is closely following that of Deng Tai’A who likes to act up with peach blossom branches when he has nothing to do._{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Under the heavens, people who study sword are so many. Even the Wu Jia Jian Zhong [Wu Family Sword Tomb, chapter 6], for nearly thirty years cannot produced a swordsman who can fight Wang Lao Xian’s pair of hands. I, Yeye, lost to Huang Lao Jiu, I accept wholeheartedly. Since my debut, those who use the sword, other than Deng Tai’A and Wang Lao Xian that could be consider a tie, there is also Huang Lao Jiu who is just a notch below, in the whole world, the number could be counted with a pair of hands.”

With this remark, Xu Fengnian’s impression on the old man was a bit better. He felt that this martial art master was worthy of being a martial art master. Looking at this kind of aspiration, it was not something that common people could have. No wonder there were only a handful of martial art masters in the world. So if this Gongzi could not become a martial art master, it would be extremely pardonable.

But just as Xu Fengnian had a bit of admiration, Lao Kui’s next remark undoubtedly ruined the martial art master’s image that he had just established for the sake of one basketful, “Wawa, where can I find a bit more spacious thatched hut [toilet (rural euphemism)]? The chamber pot inlaid with gold and adorned with jade here, Yeye is not used to sitting on it. Holding in at the bottom of the lake all these years, I cannot poop or fart to my heart’s content. Quickly go and find a treasured land with good feng shui that can flow a thousand li for Yeye, I reckon people several li away would be able to smell it, ha ha!” _{Translated by foxs}

Seeing Lao Kui, still with roasted meat stuffed in his mouth wanting to go to the thatched hut to fumigate people, Xu Fengnian’s face stiffened and twitched. He stood up and called the servants to take the old guy sweeping the floor with his chains and giant blades to the latrine. Shizi Dianxia himself quickly applied wind to the soles of his feet to slip far away. Along the way he did not stop cursing with repulsive face, “Martial art master your Niang.”

Wutong Yuan [Chinese parasol tree garden] was the place where Xu Fengnian grew up, because there is an old saying ‘the phoenix [feng huang, male and female phoenixes] perch on the Wutong tree, the Feng [male phoenix] rises, the Huang [female phoenix] leaves the love of her life[1]’.

Da Zhu Guo Xu Xiao loved to say meaningful and heartfelt words, “Son, when your mother gave birth to you, she had a dream about a luan [another mythical bird, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luan_(mythology)%5D and phoenix entered her belly. You are a great talent foreordained by heaven. If Die does not love you dearly, whom should I love?”

At the beginning, Xu Fengnian would retort, “Then why are there no masters from the outside who say that my bones are pure and amazing, that I am a martial arts prodigy?”

Xu Xiao would then explain, “Genuine martial art masters are those individuals whose butts take root in one place and refuse to move. Look at Wang Xianzhi and those old swordsmen from the Wu Jia Jian Zhong, which one would come out for no reason and claim himself to be a martial art master? Those who come out to mingle are all Jianghu charlatans, how could they see my son’s natural talent and amazing endowment?”_{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

After Xu Fengnian’s ears grew callus, he simply ignored this incident. He just felt that as the heir apparent of the only king with a different surname within the imperial court with uncountable grand slaves, he did not need to roll up his sleeves to beat people up. But deep down, he was still a little envious of those who came with the wind, went with the cloud, the da xia [great hero, chivalrous knight] and hao han [hero, strong and courageous person] who leaped onto roofs and vaulted over walls, who compete on the top of the city walls and the housetops for no reason.

And now, after gaining first-hand knowledge of the groom Lao Huang and the white-haired Lao Kui’s skill that reached the heavens, inevitably he felt a little bit of regret. He heard that the god and immortal couples who roamed the Jianghu, whose number could be counted on one’s fingers, the man’s skill reached the peak, the woman was hiding the moon, shaming the flowers [idiom: female beauty exceeding even that of the natural world]. When did he ever hear that the man was a green tree like jade standing in the breeze [describing a man with a tall stature, a nice face, and a kind smile] and the woman had unparalleled martial art skill?

By the time Xu Fengnian entered the Wutong Yuan, his gloomy mood became like thin cloud, gentle breeze. A da yatou [chief/number one servant girl, see Chapter 12] called Qing Niao [lit. blue or (dark) green bird] came up to meet him, the ‘Liu Nian Feng’ [six-year phoenix, see Chapter 3] gyrfalcon perched on her delicate arm wrapped in precious Sichuan embroidery. Seeing Shizi Dianxia, she smiled sweetly and said, “Gongzi, Hong Shu [lit. sweet potato] already warmed the bed, Lu Yi [green ant] is lying on the chess table, waiting for Gongzi to sit in seclusion down in the passage of time with her.” _{Translated by foxs}

Xu Fengnian stretched out his finger to tease the gyrfalcon, he laughed and entered the room. In the outer room there were already two pretty and charming maids helping him taking off his outer garment.

The Wutong Yuan’s four classes, for a total of more than twenty servant girls and maidservants originally had similarly elegant names like ‘Hong She’ [Red Musk], ‘Ying Ge’ [Parrot (elder) Brother] and so on. However, after Shizi Dianxia returned from his travels, other than Qing Niao, who was a bit luckier, most of them had their names changed. Even the da yatou Hong She, whom Dianxia doted on the most due to her body always emitted delicate fragrance – was not spared, her name was changed into the intolerably vulgar ‘Hong Shu’. Others were even more unlucky, such as Bai Gan, which was homonymous with the name of a strong wine. The most unlucky was a yatou, who, because she loved to were yellow clothes, was called Huang Gua [yellow melon, cucumber].

Entering the inner room, Xu Fengnian jumped onto the bed and squeezed himself into the quilt, hugging a sixteen-year-old beautiful girl in the prime of her youth. The whole quilt was filled with fragrance. After some more auspicious time had passed, it would be even more magical. As soon as the yatou in his arms walked out of the door, she would immediately provoke bees and butterflies. She was precisely the da yatou Hong Shu._{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

The servant girl who was an expert in the nineteen lines of Go was called Lu Yi. She was known as the female most highly skilled in the country of Beiliang Wangfu. Some qingke[2] who were skillful in chatting, when they came across her, would have a headache. Usually the chessboard has seventeen lines, but the seventeen was changed to nineteen; it was another feat of Xu Fengnian’s Er Jie [second sister], which stirred up some high waves within the dynasty. In the end, she was the first to be admitted to the Shangyin Academy and received high esteem, only then did she become a mainstream celebrity [distinguished literary person having no official post].

Xu Fengnian played a game with Lu Yi, his mind was elsewhere, naturally he lost quite miserably.

Actually, his chess playing could not be considered lacking. Even Shifu Li Yishan commented that ‘his field of view amazing and good, it’s a pity that toward subtle points and opening [chess jargon], he has the power but lack the desire to seize it.’ Although this does not sound like a compliment, but coming from Li Yishan’s mouth, it was indeed no small special glory.

Of course, to say that Xu Fengnian was a master of chess [qi] and chess-like game [ping], he still did not deserve it. The real national-level master was Xu Fengnian’s Er Jie Xu Weixiong, whose talent and valiant character was capable of making so-called famous Go[3] celebrities were ashamed of being inferior.

Xu Fengnian put aside the endgame that has already come to the final stage early on. He fell on the bed, and let the da yatou Hong Shu massage his temples, while he was lost in thought. Seeing that her zhuzi [master, see above] was not in a good mood, the second-class yahuan [servant girl] Lu Yi did not dare to disturb.

Xu Fengnian got up and said, “You all go out first, without my permission, even if Xu Xiao comes, don’t let him in.” _{Translated by foxs}

Hong Shu was naturally endowed with well-developed figure, her skin fair and clear, she was plump and beautiful, coupled with innate body fragrance and elegant manners, without intentionally striving for favor, she became the most favored. When she got out of bed, Xu Fengnian laughed and patted her butts. Her pretty face blushed, she glanced back with a hundred-charm smile.

After all the maids left, Xu Fengnian immediately sat upright and still. From his bosom he took out the brocade silk that could be more or less called a sword manual. This was Lao Huang’s life-long heart and blood. No matter how not interested Xu Fengnian was in martial arts, he had to treat it solemnly. He went to hide it inside a rectangular box of unknown material under his bed._{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

To open the box, one must activate seventy-two small squares without missing a single step. The box was extremely solid, even if it was chopped with a saber or hacked with a sword, it was impossible to get the contents inside. Xu Fengnian’s movement was so skillful that he could open the box his Niang left behind with his eyes closed, and put the sword manual in, pushed the box into the secret compartment under the bed again, and then lay down on the big bed.

Xu Fengnian estimated the time. That white-haired Lao Kui should be finish with his squatting in the latrine, so he got up and left the inner room. He put on his brocade clothes by himself and shouted, “Huang Gua [cucumber].”

The yahuan who wished she would never wear yellow clothes again immediately went to the annex to get three cucumbers; Xu Fengnian took one in his hand and clamped the other two under his arm, and then chewed and started walking.

At first, he was worried that the entire area within a li of Lao Kui’s courtyard would stink to high heaven. But as he got closer, he knew that he worried too much. The thatched huts in the king’s mansion were equipped with countless fragrance, even if Lao Kui defecating as overbearing as wielding the saber, the smell would not fumigate anywhere.

Not only Lao Kui finished pooping, he even took a bath and put on clean clothes. He was sitting on the steps, looking down, stroking the blade of his saber. Without raising his head, he asked, “Wawa, you are really not scared?”

Xu Fengnian sat next to him, he laughed lightly and said, “Lao Huang said that not only you are the number one saber wielder in the world, but in all your life you have never killed anyone indiscriminately, so no, I am not scared.”

Lao Kui laughed aloud, shook his head and said, “That remark is half true and half false. I don’t kill people randomly, but I am not the most formidable saber user. Wawa, your mouth is too slick, I don’t like it.”

Smiling mischievously, Xu Fengnian said, “As long as the Guniang like it, it’s fine with me. Lao Yeye, if you don’t like it, you don’t like it. After beating that turtle on Wudang Shan, we will part ways anyway. But if Lao Yeye still misses the food in the Wangfu, don’t hesitate to stay and eat and drink as much as you like, you are very welcome.”

The old man chuckled and asked, “That Wudang Shan’s Shizu [martial ancestor/forefather], approximately what rank is he?”

Xu Fengnian pondered for a moment, he said, “It shouldn’t be too high, only his seniority in the school is beyond reasonable limits. A less than thirty years old Taoist priest on Wudang Shan, he could not possibly be too high, right? Besides, he doesn’t have a name in Jianghu.” _{Translated by foxs}

Lao Kui nodded, “Oh,” he suddenly understood, “That should be the Xiao Shidi [little younger martial brother] of Wang Zhonglou, the Zhangjiao [headmaster (of religion)] who cultivated Da Huang Ting Guan [lit. great yellow court pass (like in mountain pass), or closed room (for meditation)] of Wudang Shan. When Yeye entered the Liang territory in the past, I somewhat heard about him. His martial arts aptitude is so-so, but he specializes in great method of Taoism, he is somewhat mysterious.”

Xu Fengnian asked the most concerning question, “Can Lao Yeye beat him?”_{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Lao Kui replied calmly, “Xiao Wawa, let Yeye tell you this: whether you can beat someone or not, you won’t know until you’ve fought with him, isn’t that right?”

Inevitably Xu Fengnian expressed an unspoken criticism, “That sounds like hollow saying full of heroic spirit, but isn’t the result staying at the bottom of the lake for more than ten years?”

Lao Kui knocked Xu Fengnian on the head with the flat of the saber, he said, “Don’t think that Yeye doesn’t know what you are thinking.”

With a hint of smile on his face, Xu Fengnian let out a mischievous laughter and said, “In that case, we go to that dog fart Wudang Shan to make some noise?”

Lao Kui suddenly stood up, his shadow completely engulfed Xu Fengnian’s body, the two strings of chains clanked, “Let’s make some noise!”

… Wudang Mountain has two pools [reservoir/moat], four ponds [deep pool], nine wells, twenty-four deep mountain streams, thirty-six cliffs, and eighty-one peaks, one An [small temple/nunnery] every five li, one Gong [palace or temple] every ten li, with exquisite cinnabar walls and green jade roof tiles, with the Tai Zhen Gong [ultimate truth temple] on Yuzhu [lit. jade pillar] Peak at the center. The eighty-one peaks surround this peak and this temple, in the shape of head hanging sloping down, forming the famous eighty-one peaks facing the big summit. For thousands of years, countless seekers of immortality have retreated [the actual term means going back to one’s native place and live in seclusion] to Wudang, or sitting overlooking the overhanging cliff, or hiding in the immortal’s coffin, listening to the heavenly music of chirping jade knocking against golden Fan [Brahmanism or Sanskrit] musical notes, watching the fog soaring and clouds surging over the green mountains and beautiful water, leaving behind countless legends.

Wudang was a Taoist holy land of the previous dynasty, steadily pressing the Longhu Mountain by a head. After the establishment of the Liyang Dynasty, Longhu was promoted, Wudang was suppressed, which made Longhu Mountain the ancestral main hall of Taoism. _{Translated by foxs}

Wudang has been silent for hundreds of years, but no one dared to despise the thousand-year heritage of this mountain. Although the current Zhangjiao Wang Zhonglou occupied a position among the top ten martial art masters, rumor has it that in the past, using one immortal [celestial being’s] finger he opened up a way for the entire turbulent Canglang Jiang [lit. azure (color of water) waves river]; whether it was false rumor, or an exaggeration of the fact, he was, after all, an old Taoist immortal with virtue and prestige. Especially when he cultivated the Taoism most difficult to understand, most time-consuming Da Huang Ting Guan, which gave the entire Wudang Mountain some kind of silent victory, resounding long and continuous dignified air.

Two hundred Northern Liang armored cavalry were vast and mighty.

A tall and sturdy old military officer dressed in black robes ran across with the long saber trailing on the ground, causing the dust to fly upward.

The mountain burst, the earth split.

The group of people went straight to the ‘Xuanwu Dangxing’ [lit. the time that the Black Tortoise (the seven mansions of the north sky) arises] memorial arch of the Wudang Mountain Gate [monastery main gate].

The leader actually rode straight up and passed through the memorial arch before pulling in the reins.

In the last hundred years in Jianghu, the only one with guts daring to look down on Wulin schools and sects seemed to be Xu Ren Tu, who made the older generation of Jianghu turned pale at the mention of a tiger._{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Would a tiger father beget a dog son?

Riding on a strong and healthy warhorse of Northern Liang, Shizi Dianxia Xu Fengnian laughed at himself; he looked at the group of Taoist priests who came out, attracted by this magnificent formation, and shouted in dark, heavy voice, “I give you half a sichen to get that guy riding the Si out!”

This group of Wudang Mountain Taoist priests were in a dilemma. It’s not that they did not know that there was a Shishuzu [martial granduncle] on the mountain whose seniority was as high as the Yuzhu Peak and liked to ride the Si backward. However, they were just ordinary Taoist priests who offered libation in the Yuqing Gong [lit. jade clear temple] at the foot of the mountain. Moreover, forget about toiling that Shishuzu’s good-self to move, even if Shishuzu was easy to talk to, running to Tai Zhen Gong at the fastest speed would take half a sichen, going back and forth would take one full sichen [reminder: one sichen is two hours]. The newcomers were overbearing, would they wait? _{Translated by foxs}

In front and behind the Yuzhu Peak, there were two lotus flower peaks, big and little. The Da Lianhua Feng [Big Lotus Peak] had more than ten heavenly places happy land where one could live in seclusion for spiritual cultivation. By default, the Xiao Lianhua Feng [Little Lotus Peak] with a cliff on one side belonged only to one person.

At the age of five, this man was taken up the mountain by the previous generation Wudang Zhagjiao and was accepted as his last [lit. closing the pass] disciple, so that at a young age, he became this generation Zhangjiao Wang Zhonglou’s martial brother.

The several thousand yellow-hat Taoist priests in Wudang Mountain’s nine temples [gong] and thirteen monasteries [guan], when they saw this young man, most of them were required to respectfully address him as Shishuzu, or the slightly younger ones must call ‘Tai Shang Shishuzu’ [supreme martial granduncle].

Fortunately, this young sect elder [orig. ancestor] never went down the mountain. He only saw the Xuanwu Dangxing memorial arch when he entered the mountain. Afterwards, he never came close to it again, not even looked at it from afar. For more than 20 years, he spent most of his time either in Tai Qing Gong on the Yuzhu Peak or riding the Si backward on the Big and Little Lotus Peaks. Those who were fortunate enough to see his true face, when they returned, all said that Shishuzu had a great temper, profound knowledge, and extremely wonderful sophistication.

On this side, the mountain gate was clamorous, on that side, by the steep cliff of Xiao Lian Hua Peak, next to the Gui Tuo Bei [Turtle and Camel Monument (an upright stone tablet/stele[4])] – was very quiet._{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

A young Taoist priest with a fresh and elegant appearance was lying on the back of a stone turtle basking in the sun. He waved his hand, and the Si grazing in the distance came over. Hanging on the horns were several Taoist scriptures and ancient texts. He took one off and was about to flip through it when he pinched his fingers and jumped off the turtle’s back, found a dead branch, and drew densely packed ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches [used cyclically in the calendar and as ordinal numbers I, II etc.] on the ground. His face changed slightly, he kept talking to himself, and finally sighed heavily.

He carefully tidied up the collar and the sleeves of his Taoist robe, got on top of the bull, rode backward on the bull, hung the book on its horn, and descended from the Little Lotus Peak, half chanting and half singing, “Straight like a bow string, dead by the side of the road. Crooked like a hook, yet bestowed the title Hou [marquis] instead. Who drags the tail along the way? Who leave the bones in the hall …”

After leaving the Little Lotus Peak, he released the Si, and carefully removed one of the Taoist classics with ‘Ling Yuan Da Dao Ge’ [lit. spirit origin great Tao song] on the cover. He read it with keen interest while walking, heading straight to the foot of Wudang Mountain.

Along the way, occasionally a Taoist priest would stop and call him Shishu or Shishuzu [martial uncle and martial granduncle, respectively]. He would smile and return the greeting; he was quite amiable and approachable.

Everyone just felt that this young Qianbei [senior, older generation] was really diligent and attentive, worthy to be called Shishuzu who had written commentary and sub commentary of countless ancient seal scripts and unique copies in the Yu Qing Gong. No wonder Zhangjiao praised him as ‘shouldering the responsibility of all the martial art study and Taoist orthodoxy in the world’.

Little did they know that this moment, this Shishuzu with fabulous public reputation, was reading a book of erotic novel, the most despised by Taoist school, with his eyes shining brightly. Only it had the cover of ‘Ling Yuan Da Dao Ge’ on it.

The Taoist priest turned the page over and over, because he could not bear to part with it. On the mountain, there is only one book of supreme classic, which he had borrowed from the ill-intentioned Shizi Dianxia in the past. Nearing the foot of the mountain, he looked at one page over and over, and read it dozens of times before putting it away as if he was still not satisfied. His face showing an overwhelmingly unyielding integrity, he said, “Even if you beat me until I get bloody nose and a swollen face, I will absolutely not return this book!”

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[1] (According to zhidao.baidu) The meaning is: the feng huang, this kind of noble bird only perch on Wutong tree, moreover, the male and female birds are inseparable, in life and death they are always together.

[2] Qingke – proteges of the powerful who stay with their benefactions like parasites, refers to the literati who worked for wealthy people in the old days, the artists who taught playing and singing, or it may be another name for plum blossom.

In the old society, people who stayed in the homes of dignitaries or bureaucratic landlords were hangers-on, those who failed in the imperial examinations and had poor official careers had to work as hangers-on in wealthy families. Writing, poetry, drinking and playing cards were their unique skills, so they could cope with the situation.

Qingke sounds very elegant, but in fact it means living under someone else’s roof. To put it bluntly, it means begging for food from a wealthy family.

In history, the Qingke were extremely miserable in their later years, which also serves as a warning to modern people. From ancient times to the present, it has been difficult to make a living through pure literature.

[3] Go – 木野狐 or ‘charming spirit fox’ is one of the nicknames of Go because although Go is made of wood, it is changeable and fascinating, like a charming spirit fox.

[4] Upright stone tablet, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stele