Sword Snow Stride Book 1 Chapter 4

Book 1 – White Horse Out of Liangzhou
Chapter 4 – Go to That Mountain to Pick Hawthorns

Xu Shizi tossed a few handfuls of bait; tired of watching the scene of koi churning, he patted his hands and stood up. Originally, Jiang Ni already prepared a brocade with warm water to wipe his hands, but Xu Fengnian did not pick it up. After three years improving himself by practice [orig. sharpens on grindstone], turning from extravagance to frugality was difficult, but turning from frugality to extravagance also required a transition. _{Translated by foxs}

He left Ting Chao Ting alone, but in the end did not forget to look back and reminded:

“Jiang Ni Jiejie [big sister], do not try to sneak into the building and try to lead away a goat while passing by [idiom: casually stealing] a martial arts secret manual. You know, any servant guarding the pavilion is not someone the Shen Fu [divine talisman blade, see Chapter 3] inside your sleeve can deal with. These hired helper old guys are far inferior to me in terms of having tender, protective feelings for the fairer sex [orig. pity for fragrance cherish for jade; idiom]. For girls, the red sleeves replenishing fragrance and white hands grinding more – would be better. Just go, don’t stare at me, the first time I saw you, I knew that Jiang Ni Jiejie’s eyes are pretty.”

Finished teasing the maid, Xu Fengnian walked towards the stable that was reserved exclusively for his and his Er Jie’s [second older sister] use. Along the way, seeing the full-of-life maidservants, he did not forget to reach out and put his arms around her waist, and caress her little hands. If the maidservant happened to be good-looking, naturally he did not forget to fondle their ample breasts, calling them Jiejie, Meimei [older and younger sister, respectively (more intimate calling)], and then frivolously say “Yo, there are a few more taels of meat here, walking around will absolutely not be tiring,” which provoked a series of bashful silver-bell-like laughter.

Xu Fengnian came to the stable, which, in term of magnificence, was more excessively sumptuous compared to ordinary wealthy merchants’ houses. For the time being, there was only one solitary and impoverished red jujube-colored limp horse in it. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

The Old Huang, a servant who has been a groom for the king’s mansion for many years, was chatting with the horse. Seeing Shizi Dianxia, with whom he was mutually dependent for three years, he grinned in a silly smile out of habit, revealing the comical scene of the missing two front teeth. Xu Fengnian rolled his eyes and said in astonishment, “Lao Huang, where is your box, how come you don’t carry it?”

The Old Huang was probably a Sichuan native, he could not get rid of his Western Sichuan accent, which was very unpopular within the king’s court.

The tiny Western Sichuan, with a total of less than 60,000 soldiers, just like the Western Chu imperial court, could not escape their fate of being destroyed by the King of Beiliang, but unlike the much cuter Jiang Ni, Old Huang was content with his lot very much.

These three years of dismal and bleak travel for thousands of li, were it not for the Old Huang able to fish and climb trees, able to imitate the dog and steal chicken, back and forth teaching Xu Fengnian how to weave straw sandals, he, this Heir Apparent, would have starved to death in foreign land long ago.

The old servant always carried a traveling bag wrapped in cloth, the only thing inside was a small, long red sandalwood box. Even if he was beaten to death, he refused to let Xu Fengnian open it to see the mystery inside. _{Translated by foxs}

At first Xu Fengnian thought it was a honed-to-perfection-over-centuries Xuanji [lit. jade and irregular pearl] case used to store divine arm, sharp weapon, thinking that good or bad, his Ol’ Dad would have sent an exceptional martial art master to accompany him, but the first time they came across some bandits, he noticed that this old servant slipped away even more like a stray dog than him, his heart was  completely turning cold.

Every time he cajoled Old Huang to open the case, the old groom simply shook his head and laughed foolishly, Xu Fengnian could only curse and mutter something like it’s not that I want your daughter-in-law strip naked for me to see.

One time in Qinghe County, when Old Huang went to defecate, Xu Fengnian could not restrain his curiosity, he stealthily trying to grope the box, but failed to grasp the main points. He only felt that the small box was bone-chillingly cold to the touch. As a result, when Old Huang saw it, the expression showing in his eyes was a hidden bitterness, secret grudge, more pitiful than the maidens on the streets of Lingzhou whom he took liberties with.

Afterwards, perhaps he suffered divine retribution, the very next day Xu Fengnian caught a cold. It was Old Huang who boiled water to decoct medicinal herbs, and stole sweet potatoes for roasting, so busy that he was badly burned about the head from trying to put out a fire [idiom: hard-pressed]. Afterwards, for the whole half of ten days, the old stable hand carried Xu Fengnian on his back to continue on their journey. His deepest impression was of the Old Huang’s bony skeleton panicking every time he was coughing. Naturally, there was also some unspoken gratitude.

After that, Xu Fengnian never had any thought to steal the case anymore. Only inevitably he would like to think that one day, in a certain month, a certain year, he would find out about this little secret. Naturally it would have to be an innocuous little secret. If an old groom could have such a gargantuan secret, that would indeed be a joke. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

To this day, Xu Fengnian still freshly remembered that after breaking away from the pursuit of the bandits, he asked the old servant, “Lao Huang, are you a martial art master [lit. high hand]?”

Putting on a touching ‘bashful’ expression that could only be found on the face of a beautiful girl, the Old Huang nodded.

Xu Fengnian pursued further, “That kind of very high [see above]?”

Old Huang seemed to be even more bashful, shyly looking away slightly, he nodded again.

Recalling the moving and tragic scene of being chased and beaten by those bunch of men carrying wooden spears and firewood machetes just now, Xu Fengnian resisted the thought of beating his head; he asked again, “How high?”

Old Huang blinked, he seemed to be thinking it over. Half a day later, he stretched out his hand to draw something in the air. It seemed to be about the same height as Shizi Dianxia, but then it dropped down to a much lower height. Thereupon Xu Fengnian, who thought that he was lucky, immediately gave up all hope. _{Translated by foxs}

Therefore, Xu Fengnian has every reason to have grievances against the Da Zhu Guo. Apart from forgetting to arrange for a martial art master to serve as an escort, not only did he not tell him the simple truth that one should not carry jade annulus in his bosom when traveling in Jianghu, he also encouraged Xu Fengnian by saying, “Son, when you go out, the most important skill is to stay alive. Here, put on this black Kui [one-legged mountain demon of Chinese mythology] treasured armor that sword and spear cannot penetrate, fire and water cannot destroy, also put on this glove made of silk thread secreted from ice silkworms’ vomit and blood. Here are also three, four books of exceptional manuals similar to Wudang’s teachings ‘Shangqing Ziyang Jue’ [lit. upper pure violet sun secret (of a skill/trick)] taught by Wudang, take them all; these are all good stuffs. You can casually toss any of these into Jianghu, it could cause foul wind and bloody rain [idiom: carnage]. When you have the time to train it, perhaps you would be a martial art master tomorrow. Look, Die really loves you dearly, take these bank notes, those few jade pendants around your waist are worth several hundred taels of gold, if you have no money, find a pawnshop and sell them, eating delicious food and drinking hard liquor [idiom] should not be a problem.”

In the beginning, Xu Fengnian indeed thought that it was not bad at all. This kind of traveling was a smooth journey, no need to worry about spending money like running water, he could fool around with beauties with totally different abundant charms in all parts of the country, to get to know heroes [hao jie, towering figures] whose reputation shook the heavens, and with Wulin great heroes [xia, chivalrous knights] with resounding names calling each other xiong and di [older and younger brother, respectively]. Thinking about it, he was quite happy. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

But it was only later that he damned realized that he was practically a big fat sheep to be trampled on by others, anybody saw him loved him, anybody saw him pounced on him, this ‘you, this tortoise [bastard] donkey a$s’. In the end, the only use of those secret manuals was to tear them off and use them to wipe his sh1t.

At long last, there was only half a book of the ‘Tun Jin Bao Lu’ [lit. swallowing gold (to commit suicide) treasure record book] that, looking at it horizontally, looking at it vertically, looking at it from any angle, looked like a heavenly book [fig. obscure or illegible writing] – remained that could be put to good use; en route back home, he ran into an arctic fox face, who was more beautiful than any queen of flowers in Lingzhou. He knew the goods and agreed to accept the second half of ‘Tun Jin Bao Lu’ as a payment to escort him back to Lingzhou.

In those a little less than six months, with great difficulty Xu Fengnian finally met a real martial art master without any evil intentions. In a thousand ways, a hundred plans he tried to win favor by fawning on him, but was helpless that the arctic fox face treated him in a cold and indifferent way, even during the trip he intentionally maintain quite a bit of distance, unless they encountered an unsightly bandit blocking their path, otherwise he absolutely did not waste any words.

Xu Fengnian walked into the stable, took a handful of horse grass for the limp horse, and said with a soft sigh, “Hong Tu, oh Hong Tu [red rabbit], if Er Jie [second (older) sister] sees a nice and well han xue bao ma [precious horse with blood sweats; anyone familiar with Jin Yong’s Eagle Shooting Hero ought to remember Guo Jing’s red horse] being tortured into such a shape, it will be hard to guarantee that she won’t get me to eat chestnuts.” _{Translated by foxs}

In the past three years, one eagle, one horse, plus an old servant who might as well not have such a blurred vision of an old person [idiom], that’s all he had.

Xu Fengnian fed the horse for a moment, thinking about the news that the mansion’s informant brought him that the arctic fox face was still staying inside the city, he planned to leave the king’s mansion to have some fun that he hadn’t had for a long time.

This fellow, when he was down and out, from time to time would prick him with words, “If you are a gongzi ge [young master elder brother] shijiazi [son of family influential for generations/aristocratic family], then I am a woman.” Xu Fengnian had no reason not to show off.

In the past, he felt that relying on his Ol’ Dad’s Xu character Big King Banner like the fox exploits the tiger’s might [idiom: to use powerful connections to intimidate people] was heaven’s law and earth’s principle [idiom: right and proper], now he still think so, only he valued it a bit more. After all, after passing more than two years of miserable days of his life where being alive was not better than dead, he knew that the ways of the world’s firewood, rice, oil and salt [daily necessities] did not come cheap.

The Old Huang developed a tacit understanding with Shizi Dianxia, he seemed to know that he was going out to spend his time in drinking and pleasure [idiom], so he rubbed his hands and made a drinking gesture. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Xu Fengnian laughed aloud knowingly and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t forget to treat you to the best and most expensive Huadiao [Shaoxing yellow wine], let’s go!”

As soon as Xu Fengnian and the old groom walked out of the stable, they saw the old Taoist priest who, if he said he was an immortal, people would believe. No need to guess, this old swindler must have come to beg him to persuade his Didi [little brother] to go to Longhu Mountain to learn some skill.

Twelve years ago, it was precisely Xu Fengnian who released the dog to bite this old Taoist. Since during her lifetime his Niang believed in Buddhism, this Shizi Dianxia, who did not believe in destiny [or Mandate of Heaven], that kind of plaything, could still be considered having some respect toward [Buddhist] monks, but whenever he saw a fortune teller on the street, he would definitely make a terrible mess. This Old Taoist of the Longhu Mountain could also be considered having a bad luck.

At that time, the Old Taoist priest who did not care about his appearance and whose body was covered with lice, passed the first hurdle, but he nearly lost his grip on the boy. That one time, the beginning encounter was very unpleasant, but the ending was even more messed up.

Just before parting, the boy Xu Fengnian did not forget to lecture the old Longhu Mountain grandmaster earnestly but in private, “Laotou [old man, definitely not a polite appellation] if you want to cheat people of their money, you have to be willing to spend some capital to get a decent set of clothes. Those Dao Jiao Tian Shi [Taoist (religion) celestial masters] in stories about immortals and mysterious/supernatural things, who, in one belch or one fart can immediately levitate and ascend to the immortal platform, are all in master’s [lit. very able person] attire of yellow crown and Taoist robe; why don’t you copy them? Next time you come like this to the king’s mansion, I will also release the dog to bite you!” _{Translated by foxs}

It looked like the old Taoist surnamed Zhao has indeed learned from experience, he really changed into a brand-new, appropriate-to-the-occasion Taoist robe, plus a yellow crown soaring-into-the-sky on his head, he even added a simple and unadorned peach wood sword. Wherever he went, the old Taoist priest, who, when he wandered the Jianghu during the first half of his life did not enjoy any respect glances, who usually had a rigid face that have not changed for decades on the mountain, found the advice to be very useful.

Xu Fengnian unceremoniously put his arms around the old Taoist’s shoulders, he spoke softly and deviously:

“Niubizi Laodao [Ox-nosed (facetious way to address Taoist priest) Old Taoist], my Didi going to Longhu Shan is a good thing, but your Longhu Shan and my Die have formed such a great [destined] relationship, why you don’t show it the slightest bit? Otherwise, my Di going to Wudang Shan [Mountain] to learn different set of skill, why would we want to take the long way to go to your even-the-birds-don’t-sh1t place? The scenery on Wudang Shan is very good, plus I can visit him every now and then.”

The old Taoist looked awkward; after looking around and seeing no one, he quietly groped his pocket and took out an old-fashioned and yellowed ancient book, and said reluctantly, “This ‘Cheng Long Jian Pu’ [Riding the Dragon Sword Score [as in ‘music score’, or chart/list] book …” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Who would have thought that Xu Fengnian would become hostile on the spot? Without even taking a glance at the sword manual, he raised his finger to point in Ting Cao Ting direction, and said with contempt, “Straight mother thief, Zhao Niubizi [ox-nosed surnamed Zhao], you are really out of the way, if I want secret manuals, whether in practicing neigong [internal strength] or playing with weapon, why do I need to go somewhere else? You don’t think you are not making an exhibition of yourself?”

Accompanying him, Old Huang, who was also an old man who has lived for 60, 70 years, had very good eyesight and perception; following Shizi Dianxia’s lead, he also curled his lips and laughed.

Only then did the old Taoist remember that there was this Ting Chao Ting in the king’s mansion that was known as the ‘armory’; getting a flash of understanding, with an awkward expression on his face, he withdrew his hand and said in  embarrassment, “Then what should we do?”

Lowering his voice, Xu Fengnian said, “Are there any attractive and intelligent young Taoist nuns on Longhu Shan? A bit older is not a problem, but no more than thirty-five; older than that, it will be too old. It will be better if she took a good care of herself, presumably she won’t have any middle-aged but still attractive woman feel about her.”

The old Taoist let out an astonish ‘Ah!’ cry.

Raising his eyebrows, Xu Fengnian asked plainly, “What’s the matter? ‘Ah’ because there isn’t any, or ‘Ah’ because you are unwilling to do it?” _{Translated by foxs}

It looked like the old Taoist was waging war between heaven and men, but it was only a few blinks of an eye before he spoke quietly, “Yes, there are, but they are all the disciples and grand disciples of my Shixiongdi [martial brothers]. In accepting disciples, Pindao [poor Taoist, referring to self] always think that I would prefer to go without than accept shoddy option [idiom], to the extent that my direct disciples are very few. However, since Shizi has the notion to treasure and to study Taoism, naturally Pindao would not mind recommending one or two female disciples from the younger generation.”

Xu Fengnian patted the old Taoist on the shoulder, he gave a thumbs up and said, “Go up.”

The old Taoist began to recite the ‘San Wu Du Gong Lu’ [three or five are all meritorious deed Taoist written charm] to atone for his sins, thinking in his heart, “Zishiye [master founder], please don’t blame me, Pindao is doing this for the Longhu Shan’s thousand-year grand plan.”

Immediately, the old Taoist, who was revered as one of the three great celestial masters on Mount Longhu said anxiously, “The chosen auspicious time for accepting disciple – if we do not set forth to rush to Longhu Shan today – might be missed. Toward Xiao Wangye, it would not be suitable.”

Knitting his brows, Xu Fengnian said, “So soon?”

With urgent and anxious expression, Zhao Tian Shi nodded heavily and said, “So soon!” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Originally wanting to take his little brother going hunting one more time, Xu Fengnian took a deep breath, and ordered the Old Huang to wait on the street outside the mansion first, while he took that ox-nosed old Taoist who, the more he looked, the more he did not look like a celestial master – to look for his beloved little brother Xu Longxiang. Leaving the stable about a hundred paces, intentionally or otherwise, the old Taoist turned his head to look at the old groom standing blankly by the side of the stable with a silly smile on his face, his originally heavy steps finally became a little lighter.

Arriving at his younger brother’s courtyard, both annoyed and amused, Xu Fengnian discovered that the boy was squatting on the ground looking at ants again. He walked over and patted his head, and spoke bluntly, “No need to look anymore, on Longhu Shan over there, the ants are bigger, go over there and look. Learn the skill earlier and go down the mountain, bring Ge a bag of wild hawthorn, do you hear?”

The noble little prince was really an idiot, he foolishly stood up, nodded heavily, and laughed again, naturally it was hard to avoid his saliva flowing down again.

The old Taoist priest was stupefied, this gargantuan difficult task was resolved this easily without any effort at all? That day, the Da Zhu Guo who once singlehandedly turned the entire Jianghu’s sky and earth upside down exhausted his tremendous power [lit. the strength of nine ox and two tigers] yet failed to persuade this disciple.

While wiping his drools, Xu Fengnian laughed and scolded:

“Sha Huang Man, look here, did you see him? From now on he will be your Shifu. When you get to Longhu Shan, you can beat anybody, but just don’t beat this laotou. If anyone dares to bully you and call you an idiot, you can beat him to death; if you are no match for him, let Shifu write a letter, Ge will take our Beiliang armored cavalry to carry out a long-range raid for two thousand li to attack Longhu Shan, straight toward his Niang’s orthodox Taoist school! Remember, don’t let others bully you! In this world, only we, two brothers and our two Jiejie [older sisters] have the right to bully others!” _{Translated by foxs}

Probably not really understanding anything, Xu Longxiang nodded his head.

Hearing that, the old Taoist was heart alarmed, body leaping [fear and trepidation in the face of disaster].

With Xu Fengnian throwing his cap in the ring, Xu Longxiang did not resist at all, the king’s mansion did not wade in mud and water [do a sloppy job] even more. With the adopted son Qi Dangguo leading the way, escorted by forty elite cavalry, and several capable men and unusual warriors under Beiliang Wangfu’s employment monitoring in secret, plus one Longhu Mountain Celestial Master, it could be assumed that no one would dare to break ground on Tai Sui‘s [nickname for someone who was the most powerful in an area] head.

The parting time near at hand, the Heir Apparent Xu Fengnian stood in front of his little brother and spoke softly, “Sha Huangman, in the future Ge has no way to help you wiping your drool for you. But Ge promise you to continue to help you find the most beautiful woman in the world to be your poniang [woman, derogatory], if she is unwilling, I will tie her up inside the bridal chamber.”

The teenager blessed by Laotianye [God, lit. ol’ master of heaven] with the strength of a dragon and an elephant was stupid and slow-witted, his mind did not open, but it did not mean that he has no feelings. On the contrary, in certain aspect, he was particularly strong; for example, he developed such a deep dependence on this big brother, who was the second person in the whole wide world after his Niang who would wipe his drools for him. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

When Xu Fengnian was fourteen years old, he committed a breaking-through-the-earth-splashing-the-heaven disaster. Da Zhu Guo, who never beat or scolded his sons and daughters, nearly took out an iron whip and lashed it out on his most beloved son. No one dared to persuade and no one dared to stop him, it was the Sha Huang Man who doggedly protecting his Gege, not yielding even for cun [unit length, approx. an inch].

Xu Fengnian’s eyes turned red, turning toward the old Taoist priest, he spoke word by word, “Zhao Niubizi, I told you, don’t let anyone bully Huang Man. Although I, Xu Fengnian, am a no-good white silk trousers lacking the strength even to truss a chicken, but what the consequences would be, you should understand.”

The old Taoist priest smiled sarcastically, he nodded with a wry smile.

The entourage gradually traveled far away, neither Xu Fengnian nor his father Xu Xiao saw them off all the way out of the city.

Xu Fengnian found the Old Huang standing by the jade and stone lion by the gate, he laughed lightly and said, “I’m not in the mood to drink today, how about a bit later?”

The old servant’s laughter was very simple and honest, very bright, his old face looked like it sprouted a wide expanse of reeds thicket that could only be seen in the wilderness when one traveled to a distant place. It might not be charming and gentle, or even magnificent beyond words, but it had its own feelings. Like a jar of old wine that has been covered in dust for many, many years.