Edict of Peace 76
Chapter 76: Intercepting the Young Miss on the Road
Fifteen chapters?
Li Guanyi recalled what Xue Daoyong had mentioned earlier, the most secretive mind-cultivation technique among the top ten supreme martial arts of the Central Plains, the慕容 (Murong) family’s method, the “Twelve Storeyed Jiangnan Drizzling Rain” chapter. He looked at Murong Qiu Shui, who smiled faintly and said, “It’s just a trifling skill.”
“Many people in the world know this little trick.”
Li Guanyi said, “Many people know this little trick, but how many can actually perform it?”
Murong Qiu Shui reached out and pinched Li Guanyi’s cheek, making it wide, then clapped her hands together, flattening the boy’s cheeks, his mouth bulging out. She chided, “This isn’t important, little rascal.”
“The final part was something your aunt figured out herself.”
“Therefore, besides me, only you will know it.”
Li Guanyi stopped asking.
He and his aunt had depended on each other for ten years. Although many questions lingered in his heart, he didn’t ask if his aunt didn’t say anything. Anyway, his aunt wouldn’t harm him. As long as the cultivation technique worked, he would just cultivate it. However, this seemingly complex technique was enough to make Li Guanyi’s head spin, yet when he actually started to cultivate it, it came naturally.
His body instinctively started to operate it.
It wasn’t learning, but more like remembering.
The internal energy and the shifts of the mind were like the rises and falls of music.
Maintaining the mind was like gently pressing a finger on a string, keeping it taut, producing a long, lingering overtone.
He was completely focused, abandoning all his cultivated thoughts, using only a normal mind.
He cultivated this technique for ten years.
During those ten years, he didn’t treat it as a secret, top-tier martial art; instead, he purely focused on mastering the techniques of playing the guqin (Chinese zither), simplifying the complex, reaching the pinnacle, and then reassembling all the techniques. As a result, he could use them freely and naturally, like sturdy roots supporting luxuriant blossoms.
Every pluck of the string, every note played, was a reflection of the internal energy flow of the technique.
As Li Guanyi was playing the guqin, he heard his aunt’s suppressed cough. He stopped playing and looked at Murong Qiu Shui, who was covering her mouth, saying, “Aunt, your old ailment is acting up again?!” The young man put down his guqin and quickly went over to her.
Murong Qiu Shui had suddenly developed this ailment several years ago.
She coughed incessantly and her face was pale. Before that day, she had been taking care of Li Guanyi.
After that day, the young boy was taking care of her.
Even at the age of thirteen, Li Guanyi worked at the Huichun Hall (Hall of Spring Rebirth), but later he brought his aunt back to the Xue family, meticulously caring for her daily life and diet. His aunt hadn’t coughed for a long time, and Li Guanyi gradually felt relieved. However, this time, it had recurred.
Li Guanyi helped Murong Qiu Shui up, circulating his internal energy, transmitting it from his palm.
Murong Qiu Shui’s body was clearly not physically tempered; she wasn’t a martial artist who regularly fought. Li Guanyi’s internal energy could only transmit an inch before naturally dissipating and collapsing. Murong Qiu Shui gently pressed Li Guanyi’s hand and softly said, “It’s just my old ailment.”
“Don’t worry, Aunt, little rascal.”
Li Guanyi looked at Murong Qiu Shui, who held a faint smile with calm eyes.
Li Guanyi retracted his hand, saying, “Then, Aunt, you shouldn’t overwork yourself. I can play the guqin myself. Later, I’ll ask the kitchen to make you some nourishing soup.”
Murong Qiu Shui immediately embraced the boy, smilingly saying, “Oh, not bad.”
“Aunt just coughed, and my little rascal immediately wants to add to my meals. What a filial child!”
Li Guanyi twitched his mouth: “You!”
“You deliberately scared me again?”
Murong Qiu Shui burst into laughter, smugly saying, “Didn’t Aunt tell you?”
“Be careful of beautiful women; they are the best at deception.”
“Am I not beautiful?”
Li Guanyi grinned, unceremoniously saying, “A middle-aged…”
Then he received a hard knock on his forehead.
Murong Qiu Shui glared at him angrily. Her eyebrows and features were more beautiful than when she was younger and less fully developed, and far more lively than Yao Guang. Li Guanyi covered his forehead and went to play the guqin, his gaze calming down, devoid of the previous playfulness.
His thoughts were in turmoil; what exactly was his aunt’s ailment…
If the technique his aunt taught him was truly, as Old Xue said, the most secretive of the top ten supreme martial arts of the Central Plains, the “Twelve Storeyed Jiangnan Drizzling Rain,”
His aunt must have very high cultivation.
Not the kind of martial artist who kills step by step, but at least a master of the mind.
Something she couldn’t handle.
Li Guanyi subconsciously thought of the deadly poison in his chest.
From when he escaped.
His own poison.
Could his aunt really have escaped unscathed?
His aunt said his father wore a mask, that he was the Taiping Gong (Duke of Great Peace), or were others also masked? After all, in the memories of General Xue, the Chen Kingdom ancestor, the Chen Kingdom Duke, also wore that dark gold mask.
The more he delved into the past, the more mysteries he uncovered.
Li Guanyi suppressed his turbulent thoughts.
Knowing that his thoughts were too chaotic and would be discernible in his guqin music, he played quietly.
His internal energy dissipated when it reached his aunt’s meridians.
This was because after he had completed his body forging, his internal energy could leave his body, but he hadn’t condensed his Qi yet. His Qi wasn’t refined enough, and it would naturally dissipate after leaving his body for a while. It seemed he needed to explain this to Old Xue Daoyong.
To tell him he had completed his body forging.
And that he needed to cultivate the next stage of techniques.
To prevent disciples from becoming too ambitious, most sects and families would pass down their cultivation techniques stage by stage, to ensure that their disciples wouldn’t have unstable foundations due to their desire for rapid advancement.
Li Guanyi hadn’t mentioned completing his body forging in these few days.
Ordinary people needed three years for body forging, yet he had completed it in just over ten days, which was outrageous. He had planned to find a good opportunity to explain in detail to the old man.
But he needed to go to Jiangzhou City.
And thus, he should improve his cultivation.
To figure out his aunt’s health problems, he also needed at least to condense Qi.
And there was also Old Si Ming. Li Guanyi’s “Tiger’s Roar Bone Forging Technique” was at the final stage. According to the cultivation technique, if one could use the various fortunes of heaven and earth during cultivation, it would be possible to push this “Tiger’s Roar Bone Forging Technique” to its limits.
Li Guanyi had been considering starlight.
Now, he would use the roar of the Tu Guhun (a nomadic group) nation’s destruction as the final boost to see to what level he could cultivate the “Tiger’s Roar Bone Forging Technique.”
[Martial artist’s physique improves by one level, refining hidden injuries, removing hidden poisons]…
A thought arose in the young man’s mind.
If he used the fortune of a nation’s destruction to push it.
How much could it improve?
The book didn’t say.
Because none of the past White Tiger Grand Masters, when cultivating this technique, had ever achieved the feat of destroying a country. No, there was one, before him, the only one who, while cultivating this technique at a young age, possessed the fortune of destroying a nation.
Li Guanyi remembered.
It was the opponent of the founding emperor, the Red Emperor, eight hundred years ago.
The warlord of a turbulent era, the creator of the “맹호포천창” (Meng Hu Pao Tian Chang – Fierce Tiger Roaring Heaven Spear).
The strongest White Tiger Grand Master throughout history.
To this day.
The only cultivator to complete this level of Tiger’s Roar Bone Forging Technique.
………………
Li Guanyi quickly mastered the “little trick” Murong Qiu Shui mentioned.
But he discovered a new problem: there was a vast difference between learning the technique and being able to perfectly use it. In the following days, Li Guanyi practiced playing the guqin even more diligently, his technique becoming increasingly proficient, yet he couldn’t maintain the “mental” disguise all the time.
One day, after practicing the guqin, he practiced with his war halberd in the Xue family’s martial arts arena.
He was already extremely skilled in the Xue family’s halberd techniques.
But he still couldn’t use the “Rolling Wave” technique effectively.
He had the weapon, and his body was forged, but he hadn’t condensed his Qi. When unleashing his Qi, it would always dissipate when he completed this move. Li Guanyi wasn’t discouraged, practicing move by move, which made Xue Changqing envious. After Li Guanyi finished, he also went to pick up the war halberd to practice.
Li Guanyi looked around, not finding the familiar figure, and said:
“Where’s the Young Miss?”
Xue Changqing thrust his halberd forward, holding the end with both hands, his hands slightly trembling:
“Ah? You mean my sister?”
“Why don’t you ask me!”
Li Guanyi patted the young boy’s head.
Xue Changqing could only mumble in response:
“An imperial decree came from the palace, summoning my sister to the palace.”
Li Guanyi paused slightly: “To the palace?”
Xue Changqing said: “It’s said that my aunt is lonely in the palace, and the Emperor will be fasting and bathing, meditating to prepare for the grand sacrifice for the next month. He can’t be with her all the time, so he wrote a letter asking my sister to go to the palace to keep her company, and then return with grandfather after the grand sacrifice next month.”
“My sister isn’t very happy.”
Li Guanyi said, “Unhappy?”
Xue Changqing said: “There are so many rules in the palace. My sister only looks like a noble young miss from a prominent family, but she doesn’t really like the many rules in the palace. Even eating, drinking, and walking must follow certain etiquette; it’s enough to drive a person mad.”
“But, it seems that my aunt is six months pregnant.”
Xue Changqing sighed: “Her mood fluctuates frequently, so His Majesty personally wrote a letter. There are many Xue family women who can accompany her now, but for such an opportunity, it must be a direct descendant, so it can only be my sister.”
“Grandfather didn’t hesitate at all and agreed immediately.”
“They’ve already started preparing the carriages and horses.”
“Those noble young ladies all congratulated my sister, envying her; there’s a poetry gathering planned.”
“She probably doesn’t have the heart to practice martial arts today.”
Li Guanyi said: “Like that, huh.”
He thought for a moment and let Xue Changqing practice martial arts while he went to see the Young Miss. He happened to run into the Young Miss as she was leaving. Zhao Dabing was driving the carriage. Xue Shuangtao saw Li Guanyi there and curiously asked, “You didn’t go to practice martial arts?”
Li Guanyi smiled and gestured for Zhao Dabing to make room for him.
Then he sat down, saying: “Nothing. I’m tired of practicing martial arts every day. I just wanted to go out for a walk. Old Brother Zhao, is this alright?”
Zhao Dabing had already prepared salted peanuts and flower tea skillfully.
Undoubtedly, it was alright.
Xue Shuangtao said: “That little guy Changqing told you?”
Li Guanyi betrayed the little fellow readily, sincerely saying:
“Children are loose-lipped; don’t blame him.”
Xue Shuangtao sighed, looking at the familiar scenery outside the window, before saying after a while: “I really don’t want to go to the palace; it’s stuffy and meaningless. Everyone’s words have hidden meanings; they harbor many thoughts. It’s tiring to live there.”
Li Guanyi said: “Can’t you not go?”
Xue Shuangtao said: “If I don’t go, wouldn’t my aunt’s efforts be in vain? I am the daughter of a prominent family, raised by my family since childhood, never lacking in food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. There are gains and losses. When I am needed, I cannot evade my responsibilities.”
“There are gains and losses; it’s always like that.”
“Most daughters of prominent families only want to gain and are unwilling to lose, which is why they are resentful and unhappy.”
She lifted the carriage curtain, looking at the scenery outside. It was already springtime, and the scenery of Jiangnan was beautiful. She rested her hands on the carriage curtain and her chin on her hands, saying: “But I won’t be able to see this kind of scenery for a long time. In the past, I could only see it when going to the private school. Now I just want to take a good look.”
Li Guanyi questioned: “You can see it whenever you want. Isn’t today a spring outing?”
Xue Shuangtao smiled: “Where? Even if we have a spring outing, it will be with noble ladies outside the city, by the small streams, reciting poems and composing verses. They say they want to see me off, but they just want to use this opportunity to get together, comparing this and that, competing with each other.”
“They feel that, aside from family background, they’re not any worse than me.”
“They don’t say it openly; they’ll hint at it, so I have to smile and respond. It’s very tiring.”
Li Guanyi said:
“What kind of spring outing is this? This is clearly a competition.”
“It’s utterly meaningless.”
Xue Shuangtao laughed, very skillfully: “That’s how prominent families are.”
Li Guanyi looked at the Young Miss, noticing her calm demeanor, different from usual. He looked at the dagger at his waist, then at the bow and war halberd on his back, feeling he couldn’t sit idly by. He rubbed his temples and asked, “Then, do you want to go on a spring outing?”
Xue Shuangtao said, “Huh?”
“What do you mean?”
Li Guanyi grinned: “I just asked if you want to see it.”
The Young Miss nodded: “Of course I want to, but…”
Li Guanyi said: “If you want to see it, then let’s go. The view from here is much clearer than that small square window.” He reached out his hand. Xue Shuangtao hesitated for a moment before grabbing his sleeve and getting out. Unexpectedly, the young man grabbed her wrist.
Then pulled her out.
The scenery and sky of Jiangnan suddenly filled Xue Shuangtao’s vision.
The Jiangnan wind, the azure sky, the white clouds, the willow trees on both sides, the young man’s fluttering sleeves, his unrestrained laughter.
It wasn’t the limited view from within that small square.
Li Guanyi grabbed her and pulled her out.
His right hand grabbed a dagger and slashed.
The cold light of the dagger flashed.
The reins of the two horses pulling the carriage were severed. With a clang, Zhao Dabing’s carriage stopped abruptly by the roadside. Zhao Dabing was startled, then saw the young man pull Xue Shuangtao up, Li Guanyi sitting on one horse, Xue Shuangtao pulled up and landing on another.
The young man turned back and shouted: “Old Brother Zhao, I’m borrowing your horses!”
“I’ll explain to the old man later!”
“I’m taking the Young Miss for a spring outing.”
The two horses were about to gallop wildly, but Li Guanyi glanced at them, the tiger beside him was calm, the two horses became docile, and then they galloped away. Xue Shuangtao was wearing a skirt and riding a horse, her eyes wide, saying: “You, you, you, where are we going?!”
“I’ve received invitations, I can’t not go. Let me go back.”
Li Guanyi said: “Those noble ladies’ harmonious and yet scheming poetry gatherings; I find them tedious.”
“If you don’t like it, then don’t go. A sad face doesn’t suit you, Young Miss.”
He joked:
“If you’re in a bad mood, won’t you put my weapons in your account?”
Xue Shuangtao’s eyes widened.
A feeling of violating the established rules filled her, her heart beating rapidly.
She instinctively replied, “But, that’s improper.”
“I can’t not go. What will they say about me if I don’t go?”
Li Guanyi softly said:
“Young Miss, you don’t have to live in the eyes of others.”
“Even in the palace, don’t tire yourself.”
He expressed his concern: “These things won’t affect the Xue family. Within reason, it’s not wrong to make yourself happy. Since you’ll be staying in the palace soon, indulge yourself a little. It’s okay.”
The two horses galloped quickly through the streets, away from Zhao Dabing and the Xue family’s carriage. Old Zhao shouted from behind, “Hey, hey, hey, little brother, be careful, don’t hit anyone!”
The maid Qing’er shouted: “Li Keqing (Guest Li), Young Master, no, Li Guanyi!”
“What are you doing?!”
“How am I going to explain this to those young ladies?”
The young man raised an eyebrow, saying:
“Just say this, Sister Qing’er…”
He turned around, and somehow, although he wasn’t playing the guqin,
His state of mind changed, seemingly in line with the style of the second chapter. A touch of unrestrained and cheerful aura naturally emanated from him. This change wasn’t intentional, he didn’t even realize it, but the cultivation technique began to operate naturally, starting to ascend step by step. He simply smiled,
“There’s a rule-breaker who kidnapped your young miss!”
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