Sword Snow Stride Book 1 Chapter 60

Book 1 – White Horse Out of Liangzhou
Chapter 60 – Slow Saber Painting

That old man in sheepskin fur coat was the older generation’s Sword God Li ChunGang? To Xu Fengnian, it seemed contrary to expectation and beyond reason. Recalling Xu Xiao’s assessment in Ting Chao Ting, plus a string of water sword and the umbrella sword that were still vivid in his mind, it was shocking to the extreme. Xu Fengnian believes that Jiang Ni’s mouth was without barrier, Li ChunGang was the best for her. No matter how thin the old crane was, it was still not something that a chicken or a duck filling the ground could compare. What harm is there in being defeated by Wang Xianzhi and had his Mu Ma Niu broken off? This old man with cutoff arm still broke through the Fu Jiang Hong Jia with one finger. If he was given another sharp sword, what kind of realm would his sword intention grow to?

Xu Fengnian’s leg was hit no less than a hundred times by Jiang Ni with the ancient fire clay inkstone worth a thousand jin [of gold]. Frowning, he said, “If you continue hitting, my leg will be fine, but your Shushu [uncle, younger than one’s father] Jiang Taiya’s treasure will be destroyed. You, this lass who squanders a family fortune, don’t have regret, I will regret it.” _{Translated by foxs}

After venting most of the anger in her breast, Jiang Ni carefully hid away the ancient inkstone. Actually, where could she hide it?

Without any expectations, Xu Fengnian picked up a stack of fine writing paper [orig. xuanzhi, xuan paper – originally made in Xuancheng, Anhui] on the table, he was a little surprised. Unexpectedly it was not the slightest bit inferior to the Da Qian Xuan [great thousand xuan (paper)], which was sent as a tribute from the Jiangnan Way [administrative division]. He took out one of the thin fine writing papers and shook it. It was as thin as an egg membrane but was extremely tough. This shu xuan [lit. fully cooked fine writing paper], which consumed less ink, was more suitable for technical drawing than sheng xuan [raw xuan]. Xu Fengnian was in a good mood, so much so that he thought of asking the host of this residence for several dozen dao [classifier for sets of one hundred sheets] of this xuan paper before leaving Yingchuan. In this way, Xu Fengnian no longer cared whether he had the fire clay ancient inkstone or not. Personally grinding the ink on the natural toad-shaped Huanglu Stone inkstone on the table, he took a Guandong Liaowei, giving Jiang Ni a cold shoulder on the side, and relying on his memory he meticulously drew the mysterious patterns on the armor of the red armored man. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

For the man in red armor’s chest and back, pair of arms and pair of legs, he used four sheets of xuan paper. Then he gradually separated the several multi-layered cover of the cloud seal illegible writing and drew them into a single diagram. The mist lingered on, the star atlas was cryptic, plus there were numerous Buddhist and Sanskrit texts, it was indeed an endless physical effort.

Xu Fengnian drew these carefully, it was several times more strenuous than training saber. Without him realizing it, the rhythm of the heavy rain beating on the plump banana leaves outside the window had long since disappeared, only to see the twilight was getting deeper. Xu Fengnian rubbed his eyes, his hands were full of ink. Qing Niao gently walked into the room, handing him a hot towel, Xu Fengnian wiped his face and hands, with a tired look on his face. This work was really exhausting, he was afraid that a deviation of a single stroke would lead to a thousand li of misunderstanding.

Qing Niao spoke indifferently, “Dianxia, those people outside the courtyard, nubi [slave servant] told them to leave.”

Xu Fengnian heaved a deep sigh, subconsciously his hand caressed the Xiudong Saber that was close at hand. He nodded lightly and said, “I am busy right now, how could I be in the mood to talk nonsense with them? If by any chance I remember something but don’t have time to write it down, maybe I would have them throw their official hat and their commission that day. Qing Niao, find out for me, who the owner of this house is. Just a cursory look, the painting and calligraphy, the bronze ware, the rubbing from stone inscription, the famous papers, these are not something that ordinary family of riches and honor can display richly. By the way, I want to ask this kind of shu xuan on the table, how many he has in stock, I want fifty or sixty dao for use on the road.” _{Translated by foxs}

Qing Niao nodded and left. From the corner of his eyes, Xu Fengnian noticed Jiang Ni standing on tiptoes to peek at what he had drawn. Not feeling like revealing it to her, he thought of repaying this lass for revealing the mystery known only to heaven. Sword God and Mu Ma Niu. When Xu Fengnian remembered these two long-forgotten names, he could not help thinking of those two swords.

Xu Fengnian swayed his neck. He picked up Xiudong and Chunlei, the pair of sabers, and came to the courtyard. Holding the secret book, Jiang Ni stood in the winding corridor, reluctant to leave. One word one wen of money. She already made several taels less than usual today. Xu Fengnian raised his qi with rapt attention. He drew the Chunlei, and copied the old Sword God’s posture in holding the umbrella and making a sword strike, stabbing it towards the ground. But he only stuck Chunlei into a stone slab, completely lacking sword intention. Xu Fengnian stabbed more than a dozen times in succession, but all along failed to obtain the gate of enlightenment. He squatted on the ground and was silent.

The pattern on the Fu Jiang Hong Jia Ren can be copied, but stealing to learn the sword intention was as difficult as ascending to heaven!

Her heart was filled with a sense of justice, it was indeed a pity that Jiang Ni did not become a nuxia who rooted out the strong and gave people peace. Extremely angry, she said indignantly, “Really shameless, stealing from my master!” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Xu Fengnian closed his eyes and slowed down his movements. Very slowly, so slowly that he could feel the qi mechanism in his body condensing on his right arm holding the saber. He could sense the slight trembling of his muscles, and then fused together with the blade, and finally concentrated at the tip of the saber.

On Mount Wudang, the bull rider taught him the fist technique of drawing circles, which name he did not know. At first, the movements were as slow as the clouds in the sky and flowing like water. The technique Xu Fengnian trained was fast saber, consequently, reading the ‘Lu Shui Ting Jiazi Xi Jian Lu’ [green water pavilion primary lesson on sword record, see Chapter 22] on the mountain, it was all about walking sword technique. Although training saber required speed, he also knew that slow saber was more difficult, only toward the end that he completely forgot about speed and abhorred slow. In his heart, there was no longer a move, a technique, there was only one thought, one intention. The thought arrived, the intention moved. Whether it was a sword or a saber, when one makes his move, there would be no more worries.

It’s just that these are practically no-trace-can-be-sought aspiration in the attic in the sky. How many warriors under the sun have trained hundreds of thousands sabers, several millions swords, in order to seek this realm?

When the tip of the saber was only a cun away from the ground, Xu Fengnian suddenly exerted his strength. _{Translated by foxs}

One saber strike was still a simple one saber strike.

Xu Fengnian was somewhat regretful, he muttered, “I’m too rushing.”

Standing up and putting back the Chunlei Saber, Xu Fengnian stretched his limbs; laughing at himself, he said, “No rush, no rush, listen to Lao Huang, eat the rice one bite at a time.”

Expected something to happen, when she discovered that it was just a loud thunder but little rain, Jiang Ni pursed her lips.

Seeing her expression, Xu Fengnian laughed and said, “You are laughing at me? You, this nuxia who is about to learn sword from the Jian Shen and aspires to become the new generation Jian Shen, come and pick my saber. Forget about Xiudong, even this three-jin Chunlei, if you can hold it with your arm straight out for the time needed to burn an incense stick, I will consider you read ten thousand words.”

Jiang Ni raised the sword manual in her hand, she spoke harshly, “Whether you listen or not, even if you don’t listen, I consider I already read three thousand words!”

Xu Fengnian shook his head and said, “I won’t listen to you today. While I still remember, I have to draw a bit more. Go ahead, just consider you already read three thousand words.”

Jiang Ni looked in disbelief, fearing that there was another trap. After so many years of always being at a disadvantage and in the middle of schemes, she already saw a bow reflected in a cup as a snake [idiom: unnecessarily suspicions]. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Not caring what Jiang Ni think, Xu Fengnian walked into the house. Completely focused, he continued to draw painstakingly while cursing Longhu Mountain’s Lian Qi Shi [see Chapter 59].

This job was really like training slow saber, every stroke must be done with concentration and effort.

No one knew since when, the old Sword God Li ChunGang was already in the courtyard. Jiang Ni, who was having a headache about how to deal with the ancient inkstone, halted her steps. She caught sight of the old man coming to the place where Xu Fengnian stuck the saber; he stopped and looked down.

Wandering aimlessly with nothing to do, the old man was attracted by the last saber strike.

Jiang Ni watched for a moment, seeing the old man was just staring blankly, she left the courtyard.

Li ChunGang bent over, squinted at the peculiar tiny crack made by the last saber strike, clicking his tongue and said, “What saber do you learn? Obviously, learning sword would have more future prospects.” _{Translated by foxs}

The old man tugged at the sheepskin fur coat, one pull and the hair fell off. He turned around and left.

Holding Wu Meiniang in her arms, Yu Youwei stood farther away. The old man glanced at the white cat and the plump beauty, he muttered, “There is something wrong with this kid’s brain, not eating cat meat is still all right, he doesn’t even want to touch this little bitch.”

Yu Youwei was furious, but did not dare to make any noise.

The old man Li seemed to have lice or something in his crotch, so he reached down to scratch to his heart’s content. Luckily Yu Youwei did not witness this scene. She directly entered the courtyard, and saw Xu Fengnian concentrating his attention to draw something. She hesitated for a moment and was thinking about returning quietly. She really did not have anything to discuss, it’s just that suddenly put in a completely strange place, she did not feel too comfortable. Moreover, the small courtyard where she was staying was particularly quiet, serene and hidden in depth. There were dozens of green bamboos planted in the courtyard. After reading many novels and articles about immortals, fox spirit, ghosts and demons, she could imagine that something would float out of the bamboo forest. Compared to green bamboo, she still preferred the gentle and beautiful sparse Japanese banana that appeared like tall trees hanging down its branches to provide shade; didn’t this place have a lot of them?

Before Yu Youwei drew near, Xu Fengnian changed the writing brush from his left hand to his right; he laughed and asked, “Is something wrong?”

Yu Youwei replied quietly, “Just looking at the Bajiao [Japanese banana].”

Xu Fengnian was stunned for a moment, and then he joked, “No way I am going to swap courtyard with you, all my stuffs are here, but if you like to look at the Bajiao, I could have people pull out several big clusters in the courtyard and pile your courtyard full with them. What do you think?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Bashful and angry, Yu Youwei said, “All right.”

Xu Fengnian snapped his fingers, the appearing and disappearing unpredictably like a spirit or a ghost Qing Niao suddenly stood by Yu Youwei’s side. Grinning, Xu Fengnian said, “Have someone move the Bajiao.”

Yu Youwei said “No need” and then turned around angrily, carrying Wu Meiniang which lazily stretched out its claws. Looking from the side, the claws were sliding along the curve of Yu Youwei’s as-round-as-a-ball breasts.

Accidentally catching this charming and gentle picture, Xu Fengnian was a bit spellbound.

Waving his hand to dismiss Qing Niao, Xu Fengnian then he called out to Yu Youwei and said with a laugh, “Come, let us grind ink.”

“Mmm?” Yu Youwei was puzzled.

Xu Fengnian stretched out his finger to tap the inkstone made of Huanglu Stone on the table, saying, “You grind this.”

Then he pointed at Yu Youwei’s chest and made a back and forth grinding gesture. Grinning wickedly, Xu Fengnian said, “And I grind that.”

Yu Youwei’s cheeks turned red, feigning anger coquettishly she said, “Dengtu Zi [see Chapter 3]!”

Looking at the running away in flurry Yu Youwei, Xu Fengnian leaned back in the chair, there was not the slightest bit of lust in his eyes. Narrowing his pair of beautiful red phoenix eyes, he turned his head to look out the window at the moonlit stars after the rain, “I wonder where is Xu Xiao this moment?”