Sword Snow Stride Book 1 Chapter 50

Book 1 – White Horse Out of Liangzhou
Chapter 50 – The Cross-Eyed Old Man

On his way back to the mansion, Xu Fengnian’s mood was still not bad. The extra two portions of beef marinated in soy paste were given to the Wutong Yuan’s yahuan [plural]. As expected, Jiang Ni was still waiting in the courtyard. _{Translated by foxs}

Nowadays, this little money grubber, regardless of being windswept and battered by rain, not shaken by thunder, still want to read the secret book, ancient records with one hundred thousand words every day, she would not stop until she earned one hundred taels of silver. Every time she mispronounced something, ten wen of money would be deducted, so she must study ten words among the more than one hundred thousand words.

Today, Xu Fengnian sneaked out to see the blind Lao Xu and Jiang Ni was left to dry in the Wutong Yuan, inevitably when they met later, she rolled her eyes.

Xu Fengnian entered the courtyard. Hong Shu, who had been waiting for a long time, handed over a letter sent from Longhu Mountain, in Zhao Xituan, the old Taoist’s personal handwriting, so he had Qing Niao distributing the beef, while he took the letter and walked into the study room alone.

Jiang Ni was squatting in the corner, holding a copy of ‘Zhe Long Quan Pu’ [Hibernating Dragon Boxing Manual], which she read in a low voice. It was only when Xu Fengnian sat down that she was startled. She quickly got up and stood at attention, her face showed angry and resentful look.

Xu Fengnian opened the letter, and sat on a red sandalwood sleeping-immortal chair with auspicious cloud patterns. He laughed and said, “Since you have already been waiting for a long time, wait a bit longer before reading, let me finish this letter first.”

Jiang Ni obliviously not doing like a person standing under eaves [referring to the idiom ‘When a man stands under eaves, he has to lower his head’], she spoke calmly, “Today, one word is two wen.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Xu Fengnian paid her no attention, he was only focused on reading the letter. Staring blankly, Jiang Ni watched Shizi Dianxia‘s face turn from sunny to cloudy, then turn to thunderstorm, until finally it was simply dark clouds pressing down on the city. Momentarily she forgot to repeat one word worth two wen.

Xu Fengnian raised his hand and was about to slap it on the sandalwood handle, but as soon as he moved it down, he pulled back eighty-, ninety-percent of his strength, and finally stopped his hand in time, hence he did not smash a corner of the chair. Even so, his face was still frighteningly gloomy.

Xu Fengnian stood up, walked to the window, and took a few breaths. When he turned around, the clouds had dissipated and the wind calmed. He looked at Jiang Ni and said with a smile, “Come, you read and I listen.”

Finished reading the ‘Zhe Long’, Jiang Ni then read most of a sword manual, by that time it was already very dark outside the window. She discovered that for the first time, Xu Fengnian did not say anything about deducting money today.

Absentmindedly listening to the sound of reading for two sichen,Xu Fengnian laughed and said, “You have saved a lot of money with me now, how about we do another business? One thousand guan buys one secret book, in one year you can buy ten books. Even if you yourself cannot train the martial arts, you could casually throw a few books to Jianghu people, would you still be afraid that they won’t be willing to bite me like a mad dog? This is more beneficial than ending up with ten thousand strings of cash in money belt [idiom] but nowhere to use it; how about this business? Don’t give me that other than unwilling, you think it is outrageous – look, I’m just revealing what’s in your heart. Based on the relationship and friendship between us, there’s no need to be pretentious. Okay, it’s settled. One secret book for one thousand two hundred guan?” _{Translated by foxs}

Jiang Ni really wished she could use the ‘Zhe Long’ as a sword to stab this treacherous guy to death. Laughing coldly, she said, “Is it actually one thousand guan or one thousand two hundred guan?”

His little trick was exposed, Xu Fengnian laughed aloud and said, “The price for friends [a cheaper price than normal because the buyer is a friend] is eight hundred guan per copy.”

Jiang Ni agreed immediately, “All right!”

Xu Fengnian waved his hand. He picked up the secret weighing-every-word, full-of-hidden-meaning-and-way-of-expressing-something letter from Longhu Mountain. Knitting his brows, without raising his head, he said to Jiang Ni who was putting the two secret books back on the bookshelf, “Would you like me to prepare a guifei’s [imperial concubine] bed for you?”

Jiang Ni sneered and said contemptuously, “I still want to live.”

Xu Fengnian declined to comment on this statement. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

As soon as Jiang Ni left, Hong Shu, holding a sparkling and translucent, pure and limpid ceramic glaze cup filled with fruits – entered in. Ceramic glaze was a rare treasure that could be encountered but not sought. Ordinary wealthy family who could obtain ceramic glaze of inferior quality to be used as medicinal jade, their financial resources must be at the peak. But here it was only used as a small article to hold fruits. In the current dynasty, only officials of four-Pin rank and above could wear small pieces of ceramic glaze as an ornament. Moreover, the color and luster were often not transparent enough. Shizi Dianxia was really wasting natural resources recklessly.

Xu Fengnian picked up a snow pear [pyrus nivalis], took a bite, and spoke fiercely, “The bull rider has just sent a manuscript ‘Liang Yi Shen Tong Qi’ [heaven and earth (or yin and yang) jointly agree], Wei Yeye at the Ting Chao Ting casually gave it a couple of glances and immediately he cried with joy. It is said that compared with the ancient book ‘Yijing Shen Tong Qi’ [I Ching, the Book of Changes, the rest are the same as above] in the pavilion, which is called the King of Ten Thousand Pills, it is more in tune with the Way of Heaven. Look here, Zhangjiao gave up Da Huang Ting cultivation without saying anything, I have already gone down the mountain, Wudang was still willing to add flowers to brocade [idiom: add icing on the cake]. And now look at this Longhu Shan. In just over a year, there are already people from the Tianshi Fu bullying Huang Man’er! This bunch of yellow and purple Taoist priests are really courting disaster!”

Hong Shu spoke softly, “Longhu Shan’s momentum is two hundred years old, while Wudang Shan Mountain has been in decline for three hundred years. Moreover, while Wudang Shan is in Beiliang, Longhu Shan is thousands of li away, naturally their styles are different.” _{Translated by foxs}

Xu Fengnian spoke calmly, “I originally planned to visit Longhu Shan, but now I want to go to Tianshi Fu even more to gain first-hand knowledge of Yuyi Qingxiang’s [see Chapter 45] style.”

Hong Shu gently kneaded Xu Fengnian’s shoulders. After training the saber, Shizi Dianxia’s originally frail body grew robust too much, his physical strength and vigor made progress one thousand li a day. If previously Hong Shu’s massaging technique was like embroidery, now even Xu Fengnian felt that instead of striking the bells and beating the drums, it felt more like scratching or tickling.

Hong Shu spoke softly, “Dianxia, do you really have to go out of the Liang territory again?”

Xu Fengnian nodded his head, half true and half false he laughed and said, “But this trip is not like a dog bereaved of his home. The grand style and troops disposition as the Shizi Dianxia has to be put on display. Longhu Shan, Shangyin Academy, the Xuanyuan Family’s Xia Ma Shanzhuang [dismounting (from a horse) mountain village], Yue Wang Jian Chi [sword pond of the King of Yue], Luoshen Yuan [Luo god’s garden] on the bank of Luo Shui [Luo River], these places that I did not dare to go to before, I have to go to. Hong Shu, how about coming with me?”

Hong Shu shook her head and said pitifully, “Can I not go, Dianxia?”

Xu Fengnian dismissed it with a laugh. He told Hong Shu to put the letter away, picked up two pots of wine, and walked out of the courtyard alone toward the Ting Chao Ting. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Every time he saw that ‘Kuiwei Xiong Jue’ four-character plaque [see Chapter 8] Xu Fengnian felt ill at ease. If it was only this ghostly-drawing talisman Nine-dragon Board above his head, it would still be all right. But there were two iron painting, silver hooks auxiliary plaques with the characters ‘Long Fei Bai Shui’ [dragon flying over plain water] next to it. Anything under the heaven would be afraid of comparisons, it only served to highlight the inferiority of the Nine-dragon plaque. It could even be said that the old emperor who unexpectedly passed away when Xu Fengnian was fourteen years old was a man of great talent and strategy, but he really did not dare to speak highly of this handwriting.

Xu Fengnian thought of his Er Jie Xu Weixiong, who also wrote like an earthworm rolling on the mud. He could not help sighing with regret that if Er Jie were a boy, then Beiliang’s 300,000-man armored horses would be firmly in the Xu family’s hands, no matter whether Xu Fengnian was really a real idiot or a fake idiot, none would be lost to desertion.

Xu Fengnian pushed open the door and walked into the Ting Chao Ting’s main hall; helpless, he said, “Er Jie, your bellyful of anger should have subsided by now? If it really won’t do, I’ll go to Shangyin Academy to let you scold me.”

He entered the pavilion this time, other than to look for Bai Hu’Er Lian to have a drink together, he also wanted to research Longhu Mountain’s Tianshi Fu’s ancestral genealogy. Among the four great Tianshi of this generation, Huang Man’er’s convenient Shifu Zhao Xituan ranked second in seniority, but had the least real power. On the surface, Zhao Danxia, Zhao Guoshi [teacher of the state] was the headmaster of Taoist sects all over the world, but he heard that Zhao Guoshi’s younger brother Zhao Danping was absolutely not an oil-efficient lamp. This Tianshi spent most of the year giving lecture on doctrine in the Capital, all kinds of immortals’ deeds, even young children could hear it. His reputation was not inferior in the slightest bit to Zhao Danxia. _{Translated by foxs}

The only one left, Zhao Xiyi, was actually the most senior, yet it seemed like there was never any information on him leaking out to the outside.

Every family has its problems [orig. every family has a scripture that is difficult to recite], let alone the Tianshi Fu with countless Taoist scriptures?

Today Xu Fengnian will go upstairs and give this ‘non-descendants without our lineage, are not qualified to be bestowed the title of Tianshi’ Taoist community[1], a proper getting to know. The outside world only knew that Ting Chao Ting was an armory, but very few people were aware that its accomplishment of collecting inside information and personal matter was even more flourishing.

Arriving at the second floor, he had just turned a corner when Xu Fengnian saw a fresh face, was an old fellow whose arm had been cut off, his stature short and small, growing two strands of goat beards, wearing an old-fashioned and worn-out sheepskin fur coat. He was standing on tiptoes, struggling to pull out a martial art secret manual. Moistening his finger with his saliva, he started to flip it open and read it.

Not feeling any circulating qi mechanism, Xu Fengnian felt like joking. Walking quietly on tiptoe, he said softly, “Lao Xiongdi [old brother], are you here to steal books too?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

The old man did not pay him any attention, he read very rapidly, and turned the pages of the book extremely fast. In the quiet loft, the only sound to be heard was the sound of him turning the pages.

Xu Fengnian stretched out his head to take a look, trying to see the content clearly. But the old man was cautious and stingy, he took the secret book in his hand a bit farther away.

Xu Fengnian pretended to stuff a few books into his bosom, he kindly reminded, “Lao Xiongdi, don’t read anymore, if you can get more books that will be a few more books.”

The old man tightened his sheepskin fur coat, he ignored Shizi Dianxia as if he was deaf.

Xu Fengnian spoke in low voice, “Have you seen one white fox face? He is the man whose appearance is more beautiful than a beauty with a saber on his waist? He has a very bad temper, we’d better take it easy a bit more, and be careful if we can’t eat it all, we’ll have to take it home [idiom: have to take the consequences].”

The old man finally raised his head, his crossed eyes glanced sideways at Shizi Dianxia.

Xu Fengnian pretended to be friendly, he put his arm around his shoulders, and said with great enthusiasm, “Lao Xiongdi, the secret books upstairs are even better and rarer. I bribed Shizi Dianxia’s yahuan at the Wangfu, and I am relatively familiar with it. Shall I take you there?” _{Translated by foxs}

The old man’s cross-eyes became more serious, but he did not avoid Xu Fengnian’s impolite gesture.

It seemed that he was quite disdainful of the kindness of the ‘comrade’ beside him.

Xu Fengnian was about to speak when he suddenly felt the air was stifling. Looking back, he saw that not only Bai Hu’Er Lian was present, even Xu Xiao and his Shifu Li Yishan were also present. Behind Xu Xiao, there were six pavilion guards who looked as if they were meeting a great enemy. What’s going on here?

Bai Hu’Er Lian slowly walked over and glanced at Xu Fengnian whose expression was like an idiot.

Da Zhu Guo Xu Xiao did not come closer, he merely bent his waist down slightly and spoke softly, “Going out of Beiliang this time, Fengnian will have to work a lot more.”

As the only king with a different surname in the dynasty, when and where did this King of Northern Liang ever treat others with such respect?

Even Zhang Julu, the Zhang Shoufu [lit. deputy chief], who was currently like the sun at noon [idiom: at the peak of their power], did not have the qualification?

His hand was still on the old man’s shoulders, Xu Fengnian stiffened. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Watching this excitement, Bai Hu’Er Lian’s peach blossom eyes were filled with taking joy in calamity and delight in disaster [idiom: to rejoice in other people’s misfortune].

Xu Fengnian quietly glared at Bai Hu’Er Lian, he slowly let go of his hand, and put all the books in his bosom back to their original places.

Xu Fengnian looked at Li Yishan, who made an exception and came downstairs. The latter smiled and shook his head, his eyes hinting that he had no comment.

Da Zhu Guo and Li Yishan left together. Xu Fengnian clearly felt that the six martial art masters who were serving as the pavilion guard slaves in Ting Chao Ting for different reasons simultaneously slowed down their breathing, they were no longer tense.

Copying Xu Fengnian, Bai Hu’Er Lian wrapped his arm around Xu Fengnian’s shoulders. Smiling widely, he said, “He has a very bad temper, we’d better take it easy a bit more, and be careful if we can’t eat it all, we’ll have to take it home?”

Xu Fengnian wanted to hug Bai Hu’Er Lian back, but he evaded. He awkwardly explained, “You heard it wrong, I said your temper is extremely good, excellent.”

Confident and at ease, Bai Hu’Er Lian walked away, he climbed up a ladder, and continued to browse the books on the second floor. _{Translated by foxs}

In the end, only Shizi Dianxia and the cross-eyed old man remained, one had his whole head full of fog [idiom: to be completely befuddled], the other was dressed up as ghosts and spirits to deceive people [idiom: to deliberately cause confusion].

Xu Fengnian thought for a bit, he felt that he finally figured it out. Distancing himself slightly from the old man whose origin was unclear, he spoke cautiously and solemnly, “Lao Xiongdi, you are the master invited by Xu Xiao to fight the old monster suppressed under Ting Chao Ting?”

The old man narrowed his eyes into a slit, but was still silent.

Xu Fengnian pretended to be mysterious and deeply worried and sick at heart, he said, “Lao Xiongdi, this matter is dangerous. What benefits has Xu Xiao promised you? If it’s small, you must by all means not agree. The big devil pressed down under the pavilion is very dreadful, he has three heads and six arms, can swallow clouds and blow out fog [idiom], able to move mountains overturn the seas!”

The old man was about to stuff the secret book into the bookshelf, but his movement stopped, and he randomly let go, but what was extremely strange was that the book was unexpectedly hung in the air and did not fall!

The cross-eyed old man turned around and left, disgusted at Xu Fengnian who was making annoying noises in his ears.

Xu Fengnian’s face turned pale, he muttered to himself, “Don’t ever tell me that you are that old demon from the underworld.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

The old man’s hoarse voice echoed in the loft, “How could Ren Tu Xu Xiao have given birth to a son like you? Interesting.”

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhengyi_Dao

In the 5th century Abridged Codes for the Taoist Community, Lu Xiujing laments that Taoist Assemblies no longer observed the proper rules and the position of libationer had become hereditary. By the Tang dynasty, the title of Celestial Master had been debased to the point where any prominent Taoist could claim the title. Celestial Master priests no longer figured prominently in Taoist texts.

Mount Longhu

Emperor Xuanzong (712-756) canonized the first Celestial Master Zhang Daoling during his reign. This brought no benefit to the original base of the Celestial Masters in Sichuan, but rather benefited a temple in the Jiangnan area of Jiangxi province. This temple was located at Mount Longhu, claimed to be the spot where Zhang Daoling had obtained the Tao, and where his descendants still lived. Recognized by the emperor as the legitimate descendants of Zhang Daoling, these new Celestial Masters established a new patriarchy at their base of Longhu Shan.