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The stairwell was enclosed in wooden railing with decorative carved pattern, surrounded by open space up to three zhang wide, which also served as the hub where corridors leading to the individual rooms converged. It gave the impression of grandeur, as well as wide-open atmosphere.

By the time Kou Zhong and the others rushed out of the corridor leading to the southern hall to the stairwell area, all four corridors were already packed with people. Li Shimin, Tuli, and the group of men under their command, were standing in a row outside the north corridor. Every one was glaring like a tiger watching its prey toward Fu Jian, who was standing by the railing, with his hands behind his back, looking down the stairwell toward the lower floor.

Xing Mofei, Wang Bo, and a group of Tuyuhun martial art masters spread out behind Fu Qian, about a zhang away, showing cold laugh on their faces. It was a tense situation [orig, with swords drawn and bows bent]; their opponent was obviously Li Shimin and Tuli’s side.

Among the crowd watching the excitement on the eastern corridor, Kou Zhong and the others recognized the ‘Passionate Prince’ Hou Xibai and Yun Yuzhen; the others ought to be restaurant patrons who happened to be there just at the right time.

Following Fu Qian’s eyes, Kou Zhong and the others also cast their gaze downstairs. They saw a man lying face down on the stairs between two floors, unmoving; it was unclear whether he was dead or alive. Looking at his hat and attire, he must be a Tujue martial art master who came with Tuli.

Kou Zhong leaned over to Song Yuzhi’s small ear and whispered, “Good Zhizhi, is that Rong Fengxiang?”

Song Yuzhi’s pretty eyebrows were slightly knitted; she appeared a bit uncomfortable at his deliberate show of affection, yet she did not move away, simply because Liu Jing was standing on her other side, thereupon she nodded slightly as a response.

Kou Zhong was referring to a middle age man, who looked to be in good shape; his face thin, tall and lanky, a bit like Wang Bo, but his expression serious, a face that seldom smiled, but giving out the impression that he was a cool-headed and composed man.

His eyes sharp, his nose high and straight; in proportion to the rest of his face, his mouth looked a bit too big, his temples high and bulging, yet he also carried a big boss air on him.

This moment, all eyes were on Fu Qian, yet this gentleman, without the slightest degree of uneasiness, with a despising look on the corner of his mouth, which was barely discernible, spoke coldly, “Tuli, if you want to fight, why should you send your subordinate to throw away his life first?”

Li Shimin took a step forward and spoke indifferently, “Victory or defeat is commonplace in any military operation. May I ask how does Fu Xiong view Mu Tiexiong’s life or death? Other matter can be discussed later.”

Surprised, Fu Qian turned his gaze toward Li Shimin; an amazed and alert expression flitted across his eyes. Frowning, he said, “Who are you, Sire? Why do you speak for Tuli?”

Letting out a cold snort, Tuli said, “Fu Qian, you have eyes but fail to see Mt. Tai, even Qin Wang Li Shimin, formidable renown gives him authority over the whole country, you did not know, yet you still came to the Central Plains and got into this muddy water. Xiaodi really need to wipe your cold sweat for you.”

Although the crowd was still unclear on why Fu Qian and ‘Dauntless Lion’ Mu Tiexiong fought, but they could more or less guess that Tuli deliberately sent out Mu Tiexiong to incite trouble, but he received a ‘lesson’ instead.

As for why Tuli was so unwise like that, apart from the person involved, the rest were at a loss.

Fu Qian let out a long laugh and said, “I have long heard Qin Wang’s name, and today I finally am able to see him. Indeed he is a dragon among men. Fu Qian pays his respect.”

Whether he was talking or laughing, there was some kind of heroic charisma that look disdainfully on the whole world, which was extremely terrifying.

The most amazing thing was the dragon [young dragon with horns] beard on his face, which stuck outright, yet could make people feel that he was a thoughtful, refined man, without the shortcoming of an uncouth, reckless man of the wild.

With a hint of smile on his face, Li Shimin returned the propriety. Grandly, yet modestly he replied, “Fu Xiong flattered me, Shimin’s really ashamed and dare not accept the honor. If Fu Xiong has no objection, Shimin would like to send someone to look at General Mu’s condition.”

Fu Qian sneered and said, “No need to do more than is required. Just let Mu Xiong lay down for a moment and then he would be able to get up by himself. Shimin Xiong please do not blame Xiaodi for showing no mercy for this lowly man; if it weren’t so, it would be difficult to bring everybody out here.”

And then he swept his gaze around. When his eyes landed on Kou Zhong and the others, unexpectedly he smiled and nodded his head in greeting. His manner was calm, and extremely elegant.

This moment Wang Bo interjected, “Please let Ol’ Wang give my impartial judgment: General Mu blocking our way, it was already rude, yet he also publicly insult Wangzi’s clansman. Wangzi made his move, it could be considered reasonable.”

Tuli nodded and said, “The victor is the king, the loser is the bandit; this can be called reasonable. So be it. But Old Wang ought to know the Central Plains’ current situation; it could be said that nothing is reasonable. Since Fu Wangzi dared to lead his troops to the east, naturally he knew that this is not the good time to go on a scenic tour.”

This moment, Dong Fang suddenly appeared from nobody knows where; he said, “Gentlemen, if you have anything against each other, let’s talk. Please give this old man a little bit of face!”

He had not yet finished, Rong Fengxiang already cut him off, “Dong Laoban obviously knows that this matter is not an ordinary Jianghu dispute at all, any damage your honorable building suffer, let ol’ Rong take the responsibility.”

This man spoke with arrogance, without giving the other party the slightest opportunity to argue.

Dong Fang was an extremely slick and sly man; he did not dare to speak too much, but was appealing for help by casting a glance toward Song Lu, while with his mouth said, “Rong Laoban’s verbal confirmation is enough. Even if my humble building is torn down, I, Dong Fang will be able to build another one.”

The tone of his voice was harsh and defiant; apparently he was disgruntled over Rong Fengxiang’s big-rock-crushing-down-the-crab haughtiness.

Song Lu made his way out of the crowd; naturally Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, Song Yuzhi and Liu Jing followed closely behind him, immediately creating a burst of chaos. When Song Lu reached the outermost row of people crowding the south corridor, this martial art master, senior figure of the Song Clan let out an ear-splitting long laughter, imbued by his strong internal energy, so that everybody’s eyes were drawn toward him.

It was only then did Song Lu cupped his fist and said, “Zaixia, Song Lu of Lingnan, would like of offer my humble opinion, wishing everybody to let me speak it out.”

Forget about he demonstrating his profound internal power by his laughter, or perhaps his reputation as the ‘Silver Dragon’ Song Lu; merely the fact that Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, these two shooting-star upstarts of Wulin world, were standing on his side as his attendants, was enough to give his words some substance [orig. if thrown on the floor, it will make a sound], so that people would not dare to ignore him.

Fu Qian’s gaze swept them; when his eyes landed on Song Yuzhi, they lit up with distinct expression of incomparable admiration. Finally they returned to Song Lu and he said in delight, “Old Song’s reputation filled the land under the heavens, a genuine chivalrous hero; of course ol’ Fu will listen.”

When his eyes were fixed on Song Yuzhi’s flowery jade countenance, Kou Zhong, who was standing by her side, was able to sense that although on the surface she acted as if nothing happened, but her heartbeat and her pulses responded by speeding up; he could not help feeling bitter and his heart ached, knowing that toward this martial art master of Tuyuhun royalty, Song Yuzhi was unable to ignore completely.

Song Lu’s eyes flashed brightly, as he swept his gaze across Li Shimin, Tuli, and their men, before finally rested on Rong Fengxiang. He smiled and said, “Rong Laoban, please don’t take offense, we are people who are used to roam the Jianghu, we love our freedom and hold debt of gratitude and grudges in high regards, only seeking the delight of our hearts. But Dong Laoban has poured his heart’s blood into this building; if we fight in here and in the end there are cooked crane or burned qin [zither], it will be a blot on the landscape. Why not we move the troops to the plaza downstairs, and continue our dispute there?”

By listening to his remark, it was obvious that he did not betray Rong Fengxiang’s face, but at the same time he made the opposite party difficult to refute.

Quite surprisingly, Rong Fengxiang was not angry; he only spoke indifferently, “Song Xiong’s advice is proper; how could Xiaodi have any objection?”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, however, shivered inwardly. This man could either bow and submit, or stand tall [idiom from I Ching, Book of Changes]; his speech was in good taste and fitting. He was definitely an extraordinary figure.

Fu Qian laughed happily and said, “Fighting anywhere shouldn’t be a problem. Even in here, ol’ Fu can guarantee that not a single tile or a piece of wood will be damaged. Whether the opponent can do the same, this is something that is out of my control.”

The crowd was in uproar; Fu Qian was so confident that he had full control of his movement.

A long laughter came from Li Shimin’s camp. The heroic, tall and straight Pang Yu walked out in large strides. He smiled and said, “Fu Wangzi’s remark has stirred up Pang Yu’s heart that it is unbearably itchy; I can’t help asking for your brilliant advice. But we’d better set up the rule first: whoever accidentally damage anything will be considered lost; how about that?”

If Pang Yu were from Tuli’s party, nobody would be the slightest bit surprised. All because in recent years the Tujues’ fame and power was more flourishing by the day. In their implementation of aggressive expansion policy toward their nearest neighbors on all sides, they have tied deep enmity with the Tuyuhuns.

But the speaker was unexpectedly a top martial art master from Li Shimin’s Heavenly Policy Mansion; hence everybody knew that this was not as simple as an ordinary quarrel between two men, but involved the great undertaking of vying over the world.

The martial art masters from Tuyuhun side were eager to give it a try; they all wanted to fight in Fu Qian’s place. But Fu Qian stretched his arm to block. His copper-bell like eyes glimmer with a smile, he spoke toward Li Shimin, “If for some reason Pang Xiong lose control and defeated by Zaixia, would Qin Wang personally come down the arena?”

The uproar immediately stopped; the place became ‘crow and peacock made no sound’, everybody wanted to know how Li Shimin would answer this challenge.

Li Shimin’s eyes flickered with cold light. With a sharp-as-a-blade expression he stared at Fu Qian unyieldingly so that people’s heartstrings were pulled tight. Half a day later he laughed involuntarily and said, “Wangzi is indeed heroic and overbearing. Since that is the case, there is no harm in Wangzi and I play a round first, lest someone says that I, Li Shimin, am using a tag-team tactic.”

Even Kou Zhong had no choice but to admire greatly Li Shimin’s guts and poise.

This was a real hero.

It should be noted that no one had ever seen Fu Qian fighting, but just from the fact that he dared to challenge Qu Ao, and the ‘Dauntless Lion’ Mu Tiexiong was still lying on the stairs, people knew that this man was not someone to be trifled with. Li Shimin dared to personally take the risk to fight hand to hand with this enigmatic Fu Qian, he was definitely not a coward.

The crowd began to applause; obviously they also admired Li Shimin from the heart.

Tuli, who was an expert in playing with words, did not interrupt; he vaguely adopted the ‘sitting on the mountain and watch the tigers fight’ stance.

From Li Shimin’s side, Yuchi Jingde and the others did not show the slightest hint of uneasiness; apparently they all had full confidence in Li Shimin’s skill.

Fu Qian nodded his head approvingly. With his hands behind his back, he spoke calmly, “Qin Wang need not have any misgivings. I created the ‘Fu Yang Qigong[1]’, a special technique to bring out the hidden-beneath-the-surface breathing potential. One person or ten, there won’t be much difference. If by luck I win a round against Pang Xiong, it would give me the chance to warm up. The one taking unfair advantage is Xiaodi, not Shimin Xiong at all.”

As soon as he said that, the crowd was in uproar again. On the surface he was extremely modest, but beneath the surface there was an air of arrogance and insulting insinuation, hidden inside the heroic spirit that consider himself unexcelled in the world.

Pang Yu laughed aloud, and took three steps forward, so that he was only about a zhang away from Fu Qian. Cupping his fist in salute, he said, “Since Wangzi already uttered such a heroic words, please forgive Pang Yu for his brazen offense. Wangzi, please bestow your enlightenment.”

This martial art master of the Heavenly Policy Mansion looked like a jade tree standing against the wind; his sharp aura radiated all around, giving the crowd a good impression.

Li Shimin laughed and said, “Since that is the case, Shimin can only stand on the side happily enjoying the show!”

And so it was decided that the fight of Fu Qian versus Pang Yu was inevitable.

This moment Tuli suddenly let out a long laugh and said, “If there is indeed the opportunity, for the next round, would Qin Wang let me experience this Wangzi, whom I have admired for a long time?”

This move was Tuli’s attempt to redeem his face from his subordinate suffering disgrace under Fu Qian’s hands.

Nobody had ever imagined that the House of Dong Restaurant stairwell area would suddenly become the arena were leaders of all parties contending for hegemony of the world to score victory.

If either Fu Qian or Tuli’s side was defeated, their momentum would suffer great damage, it might even be difficult for them to escape unscathed.

The moment Li Shimin and Fu Qian have yet to respond, Kou Zhong suddenly laughed aloud and said, “Really interesting. Things have come to this, would either Wangzi or Qin Wang give Xiaodi the opportunity to have a round as well?”

Inwardly Xu Ziling was severely shaken, realizing that Kou Zhong has made up his mind not to let Li Shimin leave this place alive.

And it was difficult for Li Shimin to decline Kou Zhong’s challenge.

On Li Shimin’s side, all the martial art masters had their countenance slightly changed. All their eyes were turned toward Kou Zhong, evidently they were quite apprehensive toward him.

Song Yuzhi’s fragrant heart was shaken as well. It was precisely Kou Zhong’s heroic spirit, which fear nothing in Heaven or Earth that made her love and hate him at the same time; she was quite out of her wits.

Ever since the assassination of ‘Green Dragon’ Ren Shaoming, up to the stealing of the Jade Annulus of He Clan from the tiger’s head, he had always displayed this kind of fearless spirit.

“Huh?”

A woman’s surprised exclaim came from below, followed by her voice, “Who sealed General Mu’s six meridians using innate qi power that he lies down in here?”

Actually, the lower floor was also packed with spectators, it’s just that nobody dared to approach the stairs. And this woman took this precise moment to walk over toward Mu Tiexiong, and cut off whatever response Li Shimin was going to give to Kou Zhong. Everything was in direct agreement with the Art of War: not only she acted as the buffer between Kou Zhong’s challenge and Li Shimin, but Kou Zhong’s momentum was weakened as well.

The crowd could not help pressing forward a few steps, wanting to look down. They saw a beautiful woman with unique personality traits, lightly kicking Mu Tiexiong, who was lying face down on the stairs. Mu Tiexiong’s legs shook, he moaned lightly, and sat up with blank expression on his face.

Fu Qian’s eyes flickered with strange flashes; he could not hide the astonished expression on his face. “Miss is able to see through Zaixia’s technique, it is indeed out of the ordinary; is it possible for you to reveal your fragrant name?” he asked.

The beauty raised her pretty face to look up, while her right palm, rapid-wiyhout-equal, slapped Mu Tiexiong’s back a dozen times in succession. The latter’s eyes immediately regained their liveliness; he quickly closed his eyes and circulated his inner power.

The crowd was amazed. Only now did they realize that with her kick the woman did not completely unseal Mu Tiexiong’s acupoints; she could only free half of his body and make him sit up, yet she already achieved the effect of gaining the upper hand by a show of strength.

Considering now she was looking up, but her right palm, as if it had an eye of its own, accurately struck the acupoints on Mu Tiexiong’s back, merely this skill was enough to bowl the crowd over.

The beauty unyieldingly met Fu Qian’s gaze face-to-face, aloof and remote, while replying coldly, but calmly, “Qie’s [I, your servant; deprecatory self-reference used by women] former self has already died, and became a person without name and surname. Wangzi may address Qie as either Hong Funu [reminder: red brush lady], or Mrs. Li; either way let it be according to your esteemed opinion.”

Without waiting for Fu Qian to respond, she immediately scolded tenderly, “Kou Zhong, the battle between you and I just now has not yet reached final conclusion, you dare to challenge Qin Wang based on what?”

Kou Zhong looked at Li Shimin and said with a wry smile, “Xiaodi concedes; I take back the remark I made just now. Saozi [sister-in-law], please let Xiaodi off.”

The tone of his words seemed like a sign of weakness, but nobody had the impression that he was afraid of Hong Funu. Even those who did not know the background story could guess that for some reason he did not wish to fight with this beauty.

Xu Ziling sighed inwardly. Only he knew best Kou Zhong’s sentiment. Despite the fact that they had reason to hate Li Jing, when all is said and done, their brotherhood could not be erased that easily, so how could they harm her by being ruthless to her? Besides, against such martial art master like Hong Funu, being lenient was not much different than committing suicide.

Fu Qian shook his head and said with a sigh, “A true hero among women, worthy of my admiration. Mrs. Li, please come up!”

Her countenance as calm as still water, Hong Funu walked slowly up the flight of steps.

By the time she reached the circle of Li Shimin’s people, Fu Qian already took off his outer robe, revealing an intimidatingly magnificent upper body. Letting out a long laughter, he said, “I wonder what kind of weapon Pang Xiong is going to use.”

Pang Yu replied indifferently, “Weapons are inauspicious objects, not suitable to be used in here; why not let us play with our fist and feet? Wangzi, what do you think?”

This man was worthy to be the figure whose name shook Guanzhong; his words concealed a blade, he seized the key moment and grasped the initiative.

Fu Qian smiled and said, “Auspicious or not, it is only in one’s mind. Since Pang Xiong already has this refined and elegant attitude of the mind, ol’ Fu has another proposal.”

Everybody only felt strangely compelled to focus their attention and listen respectfully.

Kou Zhong whispered in Song Yuzhi’s ear, “Above, the battle is over the heart; below, the battle is over power. Good Zhizhi, are you moved by this man because of this?”

“Ah!”

Song Yuzhi’s elbow heavily struck Kou Zhong’s flank, but she did not pay attention to him.

Because of the noise, Fu Qian’s eyes momentarily flashed toward the two; there was a glimmer of laughter on his gaze. In return, Kou Zhong flashed him a bitter smile.

On the contrary, Pang Yu’s eyes had never left Fu Qian; he said in heavy voice, “Wangzi, please bestow your advice.”

Everybody quickly bent their ears to listen respectfully.

[1] Fu Yang Qigong. This is kind of difficult to translate concisely. Fu – lie low/crouching or overcome/subdue, but also the same character of Fu Qian’s surname. Yang – raise or bring up (children or animals) or support. Qigong – a system of deep breathing exercise.