The Affairs of the Martial World - Vol 1: Chapter 4

At the second watch of the night, under the dim moonlight, Zhu Que sneaked into the Lin Family’s pharmacy.

At this hour, there shouldn’t be anyone in the pharmacy. Even if there were, it would just be the assistant watching over the medicine room, who should be fast asleep by now. However, there was light coming from the backyard of the pharmacy.

Zhu Que displayed his lightness skill, silently sneaking into the back of the house, peering inside through the window crack, only to see an old man kneeling in front of a desk, whose figure was none other than Lin Chuntang, the shopkeeper of the pharmacy.

On the desk was a statue of Wusheng Laomu, and in front of the statue was an incense burner with five sticks of incense burning, creating a mysterious atmosphere.

Wusheng Laomu was the deity worshipped by the White Lotus Sect, so it seems that Shopkeeper Lin was a member of the Sect and was undoubtedly connected to the murder of Duanmu Yingyang.

Next to Shopkeeper Lin stood a young woman with a sword at her waist. When Shopkeeper Lin got up, she whispered a few words to him. Zhu Que vaguely heard “Zhou……butterfly……young master……” but couldn’t make out the exact content.

Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Lin nodded repeatedly in agreement. As the conversation progressed, Shopkeeper Lin respectfully saw the young woman off as she left. Judging by their relationship, this woman was likely a member of the White Lotus Sect, with a status higher than Shopkeeper Lin’s.

Once the young woman walked out of the pharmacy, Zhu Que quietly followed behind.

The woman made her way to the city wall, climbed over it, left the city, and headed to Tiger Hill outside the city.

Zhu Que followed cautiously behind her, wanting to see where she was going. Unexpectedly, after passing Tiger Hill, the woman suddenly turned around and scolded him, “Who’s sneaking around and following this lady?” With that, she drew the precious sword from her waist and pointed it at Zhu Que.

It turned out that the woman had already discovered Zhu Que tracking her, but only made it clear here. She must have sensed danger and wanted to silence him. He was confident in his silent footsteps, so how did she notice him without ever looking back along the way? 

Zhe Que snorted coldly and said, “It seems that Duanmu Yingyang was harmed by your White Lotus Sect. How dare you have such audacity to plot against an imperial official!”

The woman said without showing any weakness, “This man is despicable and shameless. He deserves to die. As for saying that the White Lotus Sect killed him, you have no evidence, so don’t make baseless accusations.”

Zhu Que approached and said, “I have been ordered to investigate this matter. I hope the young lady can accompany me and clarify the situation.” As he approached the woman, he noticed something on her head and suddenly understood why she discovered him. It turned out that two gemstones were hanging from the woman’s hair, and the reflection from the gemstones allowed her to see what was behind her.

The woman sneered, “Hehe, I see you and Duanmu Yingyang are birds of a feather. If you want to have this lady, you must prove your skills.” As soon as she finished speaking, she attacked with her sword, using a move called “Sword Pointing to the Southern Sky,” aiming the sword directly at Zhu Que’s face.

Upon seeing her move, Zhu Que immediately realized the vast difference in martial arts skills between them. As her sword approached, he lightly flicked the blade with his folding fan, then swiftly targeted her shoulder pressure point. The woman did not expect his skillfulness, immediately changing her move to a horizontal sweep with the sword, executing a move called “The Jade Maiden Weaves Silk” towards Zhu Que’s waist. Zhu Que waited until the sword was just inches away from his body before stepping back, allowing the blade to sweep past his clothes. His movement appeared unhurried, but his timing was perfectly executed.

After missing two consecutive strikes, the woman realized she was no match for him. She quickly sheathed her sword, turned around, and swiftly walked away. With a light step, she moved as agile as a rabbit and disappeared in an instant, already twenty feet away.

She was fast, but Zhu Que was even quicker. Zhu Que had already seen that she couldn’t beat him and was about to escape. He also displayed his lightness skill, leaping up and landing right in front of her. The woman almost crashed into him; startled, she immediately stopped. Unable to fight or flee, she didn’t know what to do for a moment.

Zhu Que sneered coldly and reached out to grab her.

Just then, with a shout of “Stop!” Zhu Que felt a strong gust of wind coming from behind. He immediately turned around to defend himself, only to see a white-clad woman wielding a sword charging towards him.

Zhu Que watched as the sword’s momentum grew fierce. Not daring to be careless, he drew his sword to block the woman’s incoming sword. The white-clad woman followed the sword’s movement, retreated to the side, and stopped attacking.

Zhu Que knew that the white-clad woman was aiming to prevent him from harming the girl just now, with no intention of hurting him from behind, which made Zhu Que feel slightly favorable towards her.

As the woman stood still, Zhu Que caught sight of her face, and his heart was struck as if by lightning. He stood there dumbfounded, unable to speak a word, thinking to himself, “Is there really such a beautiful woman in this world?!” His mind went blank, completely forgetting that there was still a girl with a sword behind him as if the only thing that existed in the world was this woman in white.

The white-clad woman was naturally beautiful, yet her expression was as cold as ice.

Under the moonlight, the woman seemed to be enveloped in a layer of light. In Zhu Que’s eyes, every move she made, every gesture and step, seemed to exude a sense of ethereality. Although it was the first time he met the white-clad woman, it felt as if they had encountered somewhere before, as if there was some connection, a deep relationship, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall when or where.

In the “Book of Rites: The Great Learning,” it was said that sincerity comes from within and is reflected outwardly. The Tang Dynasty poet Han Yu also expressed in his poetry, “Curved eyebrows, full cheeks, gentle voice and graceful demeanor, beautiful outwardly and kind-hearted inwardly.” This white-clad woman embodies the praise of “sincerity from within and reflected outwardly, wisdom in the heart, and eloquence in speech.” At least, that’s how Zhu Que perceives her.

Cao Zhi’s “light clouds covering the moon, flowing wind returning snow, bright as morning glow, burning like rippling waves” describes the beauty of the goddess Luo, but beauty in the world is universal, fitting just as well when used to describe the woman in white.

In Zhu Que’s heart, thoughts turned into a mix of joy and unease, joy from seeing the beauty and unease from the adversarial situation between them. He stood there, lost and dazed as if bewitched.

The white-clad woman slowly sheathed her sword, feeling slightly displeased as Zhu Que stared at her intently without looking away.

The girl behind Zhu Que took advantage of his astonishment and suddenly made a move, with the tip of the sword stopping at Zhu Que’s vital point. Only when the sword tip touched his body did he react, hearing the girl behind him say, “Have you been charmed by my senior sister? I didn’t expect you to have lustful thoughts at this moment. What else do you have to say now?”

It was only now that Zhu Que regained his composure. Despite the sharp blade behind him, he paid no attention to it and asked the white-clad woman, “May I ask if you are also from the White Lotus Sect?”

The white-clad woman did not answer him, only said coldly, “The one who fought with you just now is my junior sister. She is not your opponent, so please refrain from harming her.”

Zhu Que had not spoken yet, but the junior sister behind him, pointing her sword at his vital point, said, “Now it’s a matter of whether I will hurt you or not. Hmph, trying to capture and take me back, you still……”

Before she could finish speaking, Zhu Que suddenly moved, and the figure of the junior sister was no longer in front of her sword. Zhu Que didn’t know what technique he had used, but he had already appeared behind the junior sister in an instant. The white-clad woman saw his technique and exclaimed, “Shifting Shadows!” Zhu Que thought to himself, rare that she actually recognizes this skill of mine.

Although he had escaped the junior sister’s sword, he felt no sense of triumph. He knew that he had fallen in love with the white-clad woman at first sight today, so he would not force the two women to stay or resort to violence. In that case, leaving some goodwill for the next meeting would be better.

He asked the white-clad woman, “Miss, you are knowledgeable. May I ask for your distinguished name?”

The white-clad woman shook her head and said, “My humble name is not worth mentioning. Must you make things difficult for the two of us?”

Zhu Que also knew she wouldn’t tell her name, realizing he had been impulsive in asking. 

Although he knew it was impolite to keep staring at the white-clad woman, his gaze seemed to be tied to her, unwilling to leave. Finally, he made up his mind, bowed to the white-clad woman, and said, “Today, for the lady’s sake, I will set this matter aside for now. However, since it involves lives, I will definitely investigate it thoroughly. Farewell.”

With that, his gaze fiercely locked onto the white-clad woman as if wanting to engrave her beauty in his heart. He continued walking without stopping, unsure if it was to show off or to shake off the feeling of self-disgust in his heart. Zhu Que retreated, using his lightness skill to the extreme, like a wild goose spreading its wings, gradually moving further away. Only when the two women couldn’t see him anymore did he turn around and head back to the city.

The junior sister knew very well that she was no match for Zhu Que and felt relieved when he left. However, she didn’t want to lose face and stubbornly said, “Hmph, if he wasn’t a fast runner, hmph, hmph…” There was no need to say the rest.

Her senior sister smiled faintly and said, “This person’s martial arts skills are extremely high, and you are far behind him. It’s better to go back and practice with your master again.”

After saying that, she left alone, while the junior sister quickly followed her.

These two were senior and junior martial sisters, senior sister Yi Xue, and junior sister Murong Jiao. They were not formal disciples of the White Lotus Sect, but their master, Yin Wuxing of the Shadowless Sword, was a former elder master in the Sect. Therefore, when Zhu Que mistakenly thought they were from the Sect, they did not bother to clarify it.

Zhu Que returned to the city in a daze, tossing and turning all night, unable to fall asleep. His mind was filled with the figure of the white-clad woman, and it wasn’t until daybreak that he finally fell asleep.