Sword Snow Stride Book 1 Chapter 27

Book 1 – White Horse Out of Liangzhou
Chapter 27 – The Best to Kill

The bull rider was hiding in the bamboo forest, his mouth biting a bamboo leaf, he squatted on the ground, watching the show. To be honest, this young Shishuzu did not have any ill feelings towards Shizi Dianxia, especially after he went up the mountain to train saber. Every time he moved books to Wudang, there would always be one or two good books that have nothing to do with martial arts. The scenery on the mountain was naturally good, otherwise people of ancient times would not have called it the colored glass world [Bhaiṣajyaguru, see Chapter 22]. There are five sacred mountains [of the Taoists] in the world. In the previous dynasties, up to a thousand years ago, Wudang has always been known as Tai Yue [grand/greatest peak]. The buildings on the mountain from the sky met the fate, from the earth met the qi. Any single one of them picked randomly would be superior by a notch to that a-vile-character-flourishes [idiom: an inferior person gets into a position of power, becoming conceited and arrogant] Longhu Mountain. The other three mountains are hard to compete with Wudang. _{Translated by foxs}

Merely the scenery, Hong Xixiang has been looking at it for more than 20 years, he never got tired of it. He also always wanted to see new people and new things, Shizi Dianxia said that this was called enjoying the new and not getting tired of the old, which was a good thing. Concerning the old people and old things on the mountain, the young Shishuzu was happy. Not to mention that Da Shixiong treated him like a loving father.

Chen Shixiong read through the Yu Zhu Jing [Jade Pillar Scriptures], only he was a bit strict. Every time Chen Shixiong went down the mountain and he asked him to get forbidden books, he would, with meaningful and heartfelt words, wring his hands and sigh. His usual practice was that he would walk around in circle like an ant in front of Hong Xixiang, one circle after another, at most more than thirty circles at a time.

There was also Xiao Wang Shixiong [see Chapter 23], who quietly trained sword. His sword technique was outstanding. Other people dug for thoughts [idiom: to search everything for an answer] to study sword move, sword momentum, especially the Wu Family Sword Tomb, who really wished they could use the style to the peak of human power, yet Xiao Wang Shixiong trained sword intention alone on the single-log bridge [fig. difficult path], achieving the wonder of different tunes played with equal skill [idiom: different approach but equally satisfactory outcome] with Deng Tai’A, who was rumored to be very formidable. One time he personally saw Xiao Wang Shixiong stand on the boulder of Xi Xiang Chi [washing/bathing elephant pond, it was ‘White Elephant’ in previous chapters, either new, or typo], using his sword qi to slash the waterfall that it exploded. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

There were also several Shixiong that were even more senior, all have different personalities and all were good people, carrying the airs of ancient Fangshi [lit. alchemists see Chapter 18]; they took an extremely good care of Hong Xixiang.

But after Shizi Dianxia went up the mountain, it became even more interesting.

Hong Xixiang looked at the tense situation [orig. with swords drawn and bows bent (idiom)] outside the thatched cottage, unavoidably he was worried for Shizi Dianxia. Those guys from the Capital, except for the rich noble woman disguised as a man, the other two were difficult to deal, especially the gloomy Dashu [big uncle] who exchanged a move with his Da Shixiong, his internal strength was deep and unmeasurable. Were it not for Zhangjiao Shixiong already mastered the rarely-seen-in-the-Taoist-School-for-hundreds-of-years Da Huang Ting Guan, he wouldn’t have been able to repel the enemy that easily. The outside world only knows that the Mo Lao Guan [lit. latter/final stage prison pass] of their religion was extremely difficult to break the pass, but they did not know that to get out of the Pass [guan, or out of seclusion] of the Da Huang Ting was even more difficult above difficult. The reason why those hundred-year-olds Zhenren of Longhu Mountain could not come out of the Fu Di Dong Tian [lit. happy land heavenly cave] for a long time was because most of them cultivated Da Huang Ting, but could not come out from the tip of the ox’s horn [dead end[1]]. _{Translated by foxs}

The delicate stalemate situation was easily broken by a man with a sword on his back coming slowly from the other side of the waterfall.

The Xiao Wang Shixiong, who was known as Wudang’s number one idiot!

Xiao Wang Shixiong has passed his forties, his appearance was slim, incomparably confident and at ease. The slender peach wood sword with a color as red as copper hanging on his back, was called Shen Tu [divine thistle]. Legend has it that an ancient immortal once used this sword to kill a thousand-year-old fox-spirit who had damaged the country and caused suffering to the people. On the sword, both immortal qi and Mozhang [the demon of temptation] existed together, without great willpower, it could not be controlled.

The old Taoist priest Wang Zhonglou said warmly, “Weapons of war are inappropriate on the mountain, why don’t we all go to Ziyang Gong [purple sun temple] not far away to have some vegetarian food?”

Xu Fengnian laughed aloud and said, “Only when the tummy is full will we have the strength to fight.”

The woman, whose countenance could be considered generally pretty but was hot-tempered said with a cold laugh, “Wudang’s Zhangjiao personally coming out as the protector of the law is not enough, even the best swordsman on the mountain Wang Xiaoping, came with his sword to watch the battle from the sidelines. Wudang’s hospitality is really touching. This kindness, I have made a note, and I will repay you with a generous gift next time we meet.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Xu Fengnian laughed without any care in the world, he said, “Listening to the tone of your voice, Xiao Maque does not intend to be in a tangle with the future husband endlessly. In that case, this Shizi will immediately let these one hundred crossbow-wielding soldiers escort you, Xiao Niangzi [little woman] down the mountain. When you get down the mountain, I will call two or three hundred more armored cavalry to send you off all the way out of Liang territory.”

She gritted her teeth and said three ‘Good,’ words in a row; in her anger, she laughed and said, “All right, all right, all right, I will remember this. Xu Fengnian, just you wait.”

Just as Xu Fengnian was about to speak, Jiang Ni already butted in, still out of place, not understanding the ways of the world, “Vegetable garden, compensate me.”

Xu Fengnian cast her a glance in displeasure, but Jiang Ni glared back, big eyes staring at small eyes, murderous aura was scathing, but in the eyes of a certain woman, she was thought to be bantering flirtatiously. Snorting coldly, she stepped hard on the dirty clay ground, as if she wanted to crush Wudang Mountain under her feet, and then led her two attendants to walk away without a second thought.

On the way down the mountain, she called out to stop for a rest several times. Disregarding her status, she sat on a rock and pounded her calves. Going up the mountain, she bent on humiliating that foe, whom she wanted to dislocate his bones and scatter his ashes the most in the world, without paying attention to the extreme pain on the soles of her feet. This moment she took off her boots, seeing the shocking the eye, astonishing the heart bloodstains, ‘Wah!’ she burst out crying, wailing with ample qi that the mournful sound reverberated on Wudang Mountain.

Although the two attendants behind her, not-daring-to-confront-her-directly both had superior status, facing this master, they were like walking on thin ice. Hearing the sound of weeping, they were nervous even more, and did not even dare to comfort her. _{Translated by foxs}

The woman whose family background was already the most noble in the world cried for a while, then gradually her cry subsided. Putting on her exquisite-beyond-compare crafted boots, she wiped away her tears and talked to herself, “Sun Diaosi, you can’t defeat Wang Zhonglou, Zhang Huan can’t beat that Wang Xiaoping either, ay, if I had known, I would have brought more martial art masters from Da Nei [great interior, the main palace of Yuan Khanbalik[2]] with me.”

Only the top-ranking court eunuchs in the palace were called Diaosi [lit. sable temple] or Taijian [palace eunuch], within the king’s court, there were altogether no more than eight or nine. Seeing these chief of court eunuchs, who have been purified [i.e. to get castrated] and neutered, and therefore have no clear facial hair, even the vassal kings, whose personal relationship with His Majesty the Emperor could not be even closer, or some trusted aides and important ministers who held great power in their hands, would have to pinch their noses and take a detour. Those with rather good relationship with the court eunuchs, might take the initiative to utter a few words of civilities. When the Taizu [Great Ancestor, posthumous title for the founder of a dynasty] of the Liyang Dynasty established the system, thirteen stone tablets were erected in a certain hall, which clearly stipulated that eunuchs were not allowed to interfere in politics or leave the Capital without authorization. Since this Sun Da Taijian [big/main/chief court eunuch] was able to leave the Capital incognito, thus the woman’s identity was like as the water recedes, the rocks appear. Only the disregarding-the-law-and-natural-morality Princess Suizhu would act in defiance of the natural order like this and the current emperor opened one eye and closed the other eye. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

The eunuch surnamed Sun suffered enough humiliation from Shizi Dianxia on Wudang Mountain today, he already thought of a hundred ways to make Xu Quezi [lame person] wear tight shoes [idiom: to make life difficult] after he returned to the Capital. There’s no harm if he failed to bring down the deep-rooted big tree of the Xu Family, it would be all right just to embarrass the Da Zhu Guo several thousand li after leaving the Capital.

The big tree reaching up to the sky.

Reaching up to the sky? As high as the Son of Heaven? Sun Taijian laughed coldly in his heart.

Losing a pair of beloved night pearls, Princess Suizhu raised her head and said fiercely, “Zhang Huan, I know that you are going to write a secret report to my Fu Huang [father emperor], just write that all these years Xu Fengnian has been concealing his strengths and bidding his time, that white silk pants conduct was just a pretense. This Shizi has wild aspiration overflowing the heavens, upon meeting me in Liang territory, he treated me extremely cordially.” _{Translated by foxs}

The prince [huangzi – son of the emperor] of the previous dynasty of vanquished kingdom Dong Yue was stunned, he was unsure whether he should agree or not; if he did not agree, this obstacle before his eyes would be difficult to pass. If he agreed, it would be a serious crime of deceiving the emperor. Dong Yue imperial family already withered away, those remaining were only a few.

Sun Diaosi resolved the fire burning his eyebrows [desperate situation], with a shrill voice like a woman, he said “Gongzhu Dianxia [Your Highness the Princess], national affairs are not trivial matters, we must report according to the facts, Bixia [His Majesty] can’t possibly vent his anger on Dianxia? If Bixia mistakenly thinks that Xu Fengnian really has exuberant wild ambitious, won’t he be more determined to, when the time comes, marry Gongzhu Dianxia into Xu Quezi’s family?”

After serious consideration, she frowned and said, “Hm, when the time comes, I will lose face big time. Passing my days with this kind of straw bag, wouldn’t I be the laughingstock of people under the heavens?”

Sun Taijian and the wielding Qi Dang twin sabers Zhang Huan looked at each other with tacit understanding, both could see that the other was relieved. These two, who were originally at odds with each other, after this trip to Wudang, started to develop some tacit understanding.

Suizhu Gongzhu limped down the mountain, she asked softly, “Sun Diaosi, what do you think of Xu Fengnian?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Sun Taijian sneered and said, “No good, no virtue to the extreme point. In the past, I thought the rumor in the Capital was a bit exaggerated. After arriving in Liang territory, which prefecture, which county is not cursing him? Today I saw it with my own eyes, it is even more so.”

Suizhu Gongzhu had mixed thoughts, lowering her voice, she said, “Zhang Huan, his saber playing is all right? You had to take out two sabers.”

The former imperial family Dong Yue that had fallen into the mud laughed and said, “If I really wanted to kill him, one Qi Dang Jin Dao plus ten moves would be enough.”

‘Oh,’ Suizhu Gongzhu mumbled, she cursed Xu Caobao [straw bag] a bit, but did not continue.

Trailing far behind the three were a hundred intrepid soldiers of Northern Liang watching them.

On the mountain, the headmaster old Taoist priest took his Shidi Wang Xiaoping to leave. Before leaving, he gave Xu Fengnian a bottle of medicinal pill, while Hong Xixiang, with a waning attitude, went to fetch the Si. Xu Fengnian was left standing at the edge of the messy vegetable garden, looking at the staring-blankly-in-the-middle-of-the-vegetable-garden Jiang Ni. _{Translated by foxs}

Shizi Dianxia laughed and said, “She did not compensate you, let me do that.”

Jiang Ni squatted on the ground, gently propping up a young sprout, she remained silent.

Xu Fengnian followed her by squatting down, wanting to help, but was pushed away by Jiang Ni, he fell on his butts onto the dirt.

She looked up in confusion. She noticed that Xu Fengnian immediately covered his mouth, while blood was still seeping out from his five fingers. He seemed to not want Jiang Ni to see this miserable scene, so he stood up suddenly and left the vegetable garden.

Xu Fengnian, who suffered serious internal injuries, swallowed a dark green medicinal pill, which fragrance assaulted his nose – in the small cave inside the waterfall, and then slowly regulated his qi mechanism.

After a desperate fight against the Qi Dang swordsman, his injury was actually not heavy, only external wound on his hand. For Xu Fengnian, it was not a thorny problem at all, in the past half year of training saber, which day it was not like this? But only that guy, who was undoubtedly a high-level eunuch in the palace, his attack was the most fatal. If Wang Zhonglou hadn’t blocked most of it, forget about staggering all the way here, Xu Fengnian might not necessarily be able to crawl back.

After training saber was the time where Xu Fengnian breathed most heavily. He learned without any teacher how to circulate the qi and blood in his body for several small cycles, only then would he get slightly better. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Opening his eyes, he saw Hong Xixiang bringing some food [orig. food given to Buddhist monks as alms].

The young Shishuzu spoke softly, “You are actually a good person.”

Xu Fengnian shook his head and said with a laugh, “My servant girl, I want to hit, I want to scold, I want to tease, that is my Heaven’s law, but how could I let others bully her? Slapping her, wouldn’t that be tantamount to slapping me?”

The bull rider sighed with sorrow, “This, I don’t understand.”

Xu Fengnian mocked him, “You only understand fart.”

The guy bringing food out of the kindness of his heart did not refute. The last time Shizi Dianxia went up the mountain to give him a beating, one, he did not hit his face, two, he did not hit his bird [penis]. Satisfied with his lot, Hong Xixiang was quite glad.

He suddenly seemed to have thought of something; cautious and solemn, he asked, “Is that woman really Suizhu Gongzhu whom you refused to marry?”

Xu Fengnian said with a cold laugh, “You also know that?” _{Translated by foxs}

The young Shishuzu, who did not look like a master of the Taoist school the most, giggled and said, “I heard some young Taoist priests and pilgrims talking about some things down the mountain.”

Xu Fengnian leaned against the wall, his five slender fingers stroked the simple and unadorned Xiudong scabbard. Changing the subject, he spoke, the tone of his voice was calm, “Back then, the old emperor wanted to use the prohibition against armed insurgency to overthrow Jianghu, wanted all the martial art practitioners in the country to submit cheerfully and crawl under the Son of Heaven’s feet and become obedient dogs. But several big vassal kings claimed that they were sick, they bluntly stated that this matter was inappropriate. Whether this blunt statement was to uphold justice or just for profit, several great military generals similarly did not feel like, and did not want to be wicked people doing such damaging-virtue matter. In the end, who did those stuffs bearing the infamy of the world? It was Xu Xiao. The dead quezi [lame person] had just destroyed Si Shu [Western Sichuan] Kingdom and carried the banner with the ‘Xu’ character, he had to aim the spearhead at the martial art people under the heavens. Among them, there was no lack of men with Beiliang army family background, especially some generals and field officers. At that time, the morale of the military was in disorder, more than at any other time. Beiliang main army had not yet started the war, already twenty-thousand old soldiers of a hundred battles resigned and returned home. There were also countless fierce generals with Jianghu family background who grew resentful toward Xu Xiao in their heart, and transferred to other army divisions. But did Xu Xiao complain?”

Hong Xixiang was not surprised that Shizi Dianxia called his own father Xu Quezi. He heard that whenever there was a disagreement, Shizi Dianxia would chase to beat Da Zhu Guo with a broom. The young Shishuzu did not understand the people down the mountain, the things outside the mountain. This pair of the strangest father and son, he did not understand even more. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Xu Fengnian spoke calmly, “Later, the current emperor was dissatisfied with all kinds of things about Shangyin Academy. The Academy said that Si Shu should not be destroyed, because it would harm the fate of the king’s court. The Academy also said that Si Chu [Western Chu] imperial family have to be treated well, otherwise it would turn the hearts of the scholars in the world cold. What could Huangdi Bixia [His Majesty the Emperor] do, except letting Xu Xiao to become the bird who stick out his head. In a spurt of energy, Si Shu was completely destroyed like a hot knife through butter in just two months. As for the Si Chu imperial family, who had won the hearts of the people, even Huangdi Lao’er [old guy the emperor] was stabbed to death by Xu Xiao’s sword. Nearly a hundred members of the imperial family were all hanged on the city wall, almost all of Si Chu died. As a result, Huangdi was able to sleep peacefully, not to mention how Xu Xiao has been doing in these years. Including a white silk pants like me, who, at most have brought disaster to well-bred young lady of the respectable families within the Liang territory, both of us would have been assassinated countless times in various ways. Were it not for my luck has been great, I would have died a long time ago. Jiang Ni is like this; I admit that she, a girl whose parents died when she was only five years old – wanted to make life difficult for me, it is understandable. But why are so many old foxes who have lived for decades not speaking reason? Dragging a group of young smart and accomplished talents who have been cultivated with great difficulty to be buried with them? To be alive, is that not a good thing?”

Xu Fengnian’s countenance extraordinarily turned gentle, he spoke softly, “To die is all right too, I could just accompany my Niang.” _{Translated by foxs}

The bull rider did not dare to speak for fear of being hit on the face, hit on the bird.

Xu Fengnian regained his composure, he said, “You may not believe it, but at six years of age I grabbed a saber, at nine years of age I killed a man. At that time, my wish was to be the number one martial art master in the world, ride the fiercest horse, and use the fastest and biggest path to the saber, when the road is rough, draw the saber to render assistance [idiom: to intervene when one sees an injustice]. Later on, marry a woman, warm and gentle, good and honest like my Niang, that would be considered a happy life. Beiliang several tens of thousands armored horses, what do they have to do with me? But after growing up, only then I realized many things, it is not what you think is what is convenient. Many people you want to reason with, yet they plainly do not want to talk reason. Therefore, when Xu Xiao told me not to touch a blade when I was ten, and then after another ten years he told me to travel for three years, I did it as ordered. Last year, when the missing-front-teeth Lao Huang died, I did not ask Xu Xiao whether he wanted Lao Huang to die on top of the city wall of Wudi Cheng; I did not dare to ask. I train saber today, and I will still train saber in the future. Even if I can’t train well or even if I have to give up halfway, I still want …”

The young Shishuzu broke out in a cold sweat, he kept quiet out of fear.

Xu Fengnian leaned his head against the stone wall, he did not continue expressing his final thoughts. He only looked at the night pearl on the opposite wall; laughing at himself, he said, “You begged my Jie [older sister] to live a better life over there in Jiangnan. If she is unhappy, I will not be polite to you. This is not talking reason, I am just doing what other people in the world are doing.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Hong Xixiang said with a bitter face, “But Xiao Dao [lit. little Taoist; idiom: bribery as a means of achieving a goal; also minor arts (Confucian reference for professions unworthy of a gentleman); there is a play on words here where the Dao used by Hong Xixiang here is the Dao in Taoism, ‘Way’] is the most reasonable.”

Xu Fengnian recalled during his three-year travel on the bank of Luo Shui [River Luo], seeing sweet, fair, and graceful figure from a distance; in a daze, as if he was in a trance, he said, “Xiangsi Dao [yearning saber[3]] is the most capable when it comes to killing people.”

Hong Xixiang was just about to pat the horse’s butts by saying that Shizi Dianxia’s remark was of a great learning, was very sophisticated, but Xu Fengnian saw through him, he said, “Shut up.”

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[1] Dead end: because the tip of a horn is considered to be a ‘dead end’, this idiom means an unsolvable problem or something that cannot be solved to the point that it becomes unworthy of being studied in detail and therefore is treated as an insignificant problem. (Courtesy of Paonakata)

[2] Khanbaliq or Dadu of Yuan (Chinese: 元大都) was the winter capital of the Yuan dynasty of China in what is now Beijing, the capital of China today.

Khanbaliq is the direct predecessor to modern Beijing.

In 1264, Kublai Khan visited the Daning Palace on Jade Island in Taiye Lake and was so enchanted with the site that he directed his capital to be constructed around the garden.

The construction of the walls of the city began in the same year, while the main imperial palace (大内) was built from 1274 onwards.

A year after the 1271 establishment of the Yuan dynasty, Kublai Khan proclaimed the city his capital under the name Dadu as it is interpreted capital city in Hanzi and named Khanbaliq as referred in the state diplomatic letters in Mongolian.

The construction was not fully completed until 1293.

His previous seat at Shangdu (Xanadu) became the summer capital. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanbaliq (Courtesy of Paonakata)

[3] Yearning saber, lit. blade of lovesickness; there is a play on words here where the Dao used by Xu Fengnian here means ‘blade’; he is also referring to his Jie‘s lovesickness for Hong Xixiang. (Courtesy of Paonakata)