“Have you heard? After two years recovering, the demonic sect is growing stronger every day. They say it intends to swallow the martial world and rule everything!”
“I heard too. They’ve developed well these past years and are clearly rising again.”
“Exactly. The major families will be first in line. They led the attack last time. Who else would the sect target?”
“Now there’ll be a spectacle.”
“What spectacle? It means another bloodbath. Who knows how many innocents will suffer? That sect is rotten!”
Jiang Chan sipped tea casually, taking in most of the teahouse gossip. The demonic sect? It had recovered quickly, already ambitious enough to devour other families.
She had little affection for those families either. But ordinary people inevitably suffered most from conflict. Martial artists were a minority.
She would have to follow this matter. Silently leaving a few coins, she drove away. Recently she had been in Jiangnan. By now, she had visited most of the martial world.
Jiangnan truly possessed beautiful scenery, outstanding people, and a flourishing love of learning. Scholars, poets, poems, and essays were everywhere. No wonder it was renowned for talent.
Perhaps its lovely hills and waters fostered the scholars’ elegant romanticism, different from the north’s bold grandeur, but possessing a charm of its own.
It was June, when Jiangnan’s lotuses bloomed. Jiang Chan lounged in a boat with a flask of Huadiao wine, occasionally sipping. Fine wine and beautiful scenery made for a thoroughly comfortable life.
Suddenly, her ear twitched. Was someone among the lotus flowers, perhaps underwater?
As she listened, a man in a diving suit surfaced beneath her boat. Delighted to see her, he reached up to drag her into the water.
She snorted and lightly tossed her wine cup, striking him between the brows. He immediately lost consciousness and sank, leaving a string of bubbles.
Her action provoked the others. More than a dozen people suddenly surrounded her. Several wielded Emei piercers, alongside long sabers and swords, and attacked.
Jiang Chan sighed. Did they think a lone girl was easy prey? Blades approached her feet, threatening her lower legs.
She moved lightly, rising like a feather on the wind and avoiding their attacks. Then her sleeve swept out, turning the liquor in her flask into arrows of liquid.
The attackers froze, their raised blades unable to fall. Their bodies sank lower and lower until the water covered their heads.
She regretfully examined the wrecked wooden boat. She had rented it for two taels of silver and would now owe compensation. The thought made her thoroughly unhappy.
She did not kill indiscriminately. Seeing them nearly out of breath, she struck the water with her palm, sending all the attackers flying onto shore.
They lay scattered, unable to move. Stepping across lotus leaves, Jiang Chan drifted like willow fluff and, with a slight movement, stood beneath a willow on the bank.
Someone recognized the skill and called, “Excellent martial arts!”
Seeing her land beside them, the attackers regretted everything. Why had they assumed a young girl would be easy prey?
She was clearly a tigress!
She had not struck hard. Their acupoints were merely sealed, without actual injuries.
“You broke my boat. Shouldn’t you pay?” She happened to be short of silver. She earned much but spent much too, always helping those who struggled.
At an inconvenient moment, they had delivered themselves into her hands. Only after taking every bit of their money did she release these small fry.
Seeing people pointing and talking nearby, she waved. A silver ingot landed in the boatman’s hands. “For your boat!”
A moment later, she vanished. The boatman remained, clutching the silver with tears streaming down his aged face. It would improve his household’s life a little.
After traveling more than ten li, she stopped in a grove. “Come out. You’ve followed me since earlier. What do you want?”
A clear male voice answered, “Your martial arts grow ever finer, Doctor Xianyue. You actually noticed me. Seven years apart. Have you been well?”
She looked up. An old acquaintance, Feng Feishuang.
“Eldest Young Master Feng. Long time no see.” Her gaze swept across the jade ring at his waist. Originally intending to send him away, she changed her mind.
“What a coincidence to meet you here. Looking at your right hand, you seem fully recovered?”
“Yes, thanks to your medicine. Otherwise, I would have been crippled long ago.” He raised an eyebrow, still frightened in retrospect.
She shook her head. “Someone as capable as you would accomplish something even without martial arts.”
After studying her for a moment, he laughed. “You truly understand people. What a coincidence, meeting you in Jiangnan.”
“I have no fixed residence and keep traveling. Meeting Clan Leader Feng here really is chance. What business requires your personal attention?”
They had little contact, but she knew what mattered. After his hand recovered, Feng Feishuang had smoothly become the Feng clan’s leader.
Something had probably happened to him previously, leaving the position to Feng Feiyang. Now Jiang Chan’s butterfly wings had changed the story beyond recognition.
“Let me guess. Something important enough to bring out a clan leader… Are you discussing how to deal with the demonic sect?”
Circling him twice and touching her chin, she quickly guessed the answer.
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