Along the way, Ke Weiqing continuously used his strange eyes on Ying Xingqi. Lifting the curtains to breathe in fresh the air, XingQi turned to find Master Ke riding his horse by his side, watching him; when they stopped by an inn for meals, Master Ke did not eat, but kept his eyes on him, and when Seventeen took the medicine, Master Ke's gaze gleamed at the medicine bowl...Seventeen could no longer stand the attention. For the rest of the journey, he did not open the curtain, took all his meals in his room, and drank the medicine in private. Therefore, Master Ke was unfortunate enough to earn Qi Ge’s sharp glare.
After the night of the measly assassins’ attack, he was once again lucky enough to see the other side of Xing BeiMing. In other words, when he saw Xing BeiMing roaring loudly enough to stun even the passing souls -- that bodyguard, skillful indeed!
Then a heavy thunder fire bomb was thrown. The guard is pregnant! The child he carried may be Xing BeiMing’s! Look up, look down, look left, look right. The guard was all male... Ke Weiqing felt that he had been struck by another bolt of lightning, and that strike was a child! Hold on...Why might the child be Xing BeiMing’s? Did he finish the deed then brush his hands off and refuse to accept responsibilities?
However, no one answered him...
That night, after Xing BeiMing chastised Ying Xingqi for fighting in the battle, he encountered another batch of xiǎo lóu luó. The reason why they are called Xiao, or little, is because their martial arts are not impressive, only relying on their numbers. From this, it may seem that someone deliberately tried to slow down their journey, but no matter how they attempted, the party still arrived at Yan Jia Zhuang before the burial of the late Master Yanzhuang Zhuang.
Yan Yunsheng came out to greet them, dressed in filial piety attire, with grief on his face, but surprise flashed in his eyes.
"The Lord of the World First Fortress arrives....Master Ke from Yueming City arrives..." the host of ceremonies announced. The people outside the main house turned to look at him, their expression the same. Xing BeiMing didn’t pay heed as he walked in. Yan Yunsheng continued to carry on with the formal ceremony. The second son of the Yan family, Yan Lao Er watched Yan Yunsheng walk side by side with Xing BeiMing, his face darkened.
"Huh, this youngster has the ability to invite Xing BeiMing and Ke Weiqing. Why didn't we think of it at the time? Brother Yan?” The Yan Lao Er was displeased, with the World First Fortress Master’s presence, their guests are no longer important!
The elder Yan's expression was vexing, but he still gave a sorrowful appearance after the next guest arrived. "That youngster is relentless. I just find it hard to understand why the World First Fortress would care for such trivial things. Ke Weiqing once said he would not intervene with the martial circle. He must have gone crazy! Who knows what he did! We must be very careful, as everything will be a foregone conclusion tomorrow!"
"Yes, there’s no way they could overturn the table in one day? Brother, do you want to find someone to watch over them?"
“Good idea, send someone to observe Xing BeiMing and Yan Yunsheng, and let me know what's happening!"
On the other side, Yan Yunsheng made accommodations for Xing BeiMing whose party settled in Zhuang Zi, and respectively departed. Ke Weiqing waved the fan in his hand and praised: "Calm, knowing when to advance and retreat, doesn’t bother others with his thoughts, this child is not bad."
Xing BeiMing snorted, "Don't pretend to be an elder when you are not that old."
Ke Weiqing replied without shame, “Compared to him, this Ben Shao is already an elder of Jianghu. When Ben Shao entered the martial scene, he was still asking for candy in his nanny’s ams!"
Xing BeiMing, who also entered Jianghu early, didn’t say more. The image of being held in the arms of others, the happiness of asking for candy from his loved ones, may not be a chance in his lifetime nor a past reality.
Ying Qi, who was a few years older than them, had eyes that were filled with sorrow. Both the Master and his brothers from the Shadow Wing had held a deadly weapon since their youth, but they were still lucky they had met the master when they did. Although, he was just a youth who was not yet a grown man.
************************
At nightfall, in Yan Zhuang's spirit hall, appeared two shadows. Sadly, Yan Zhuang, even in death, still could not have peace.
Shadow Eleven, Ying Shiyi lifted the coffin and glanced inside. He praised, "Yan's family is really generous. The coffin turned out to be hard ice. No wonder the corpse can be kept for so long."
Hard ice is the kind of ice that does not melt in extreme cold places. To transport such a coffin would take a considerable time to reach the Yan’s family Residence. Unless the Yan stores this ice in advance, otherwise the Yan family already knew Master Yan Zhuang’s death was impending.
Shadow Twelve sighed, "The extravagance of this rich and wealthy family!"
Shadow Eleven was curious. "Twelve, have you caught something? Why is this connected to rich folks? When it comes to wealth, our master is even wealthier."
Shadow Twelve said in disdain, "You really are an idiot. If it was someone else they would already have taken a guess, but you...hush, there’s someone."
As the faint footsteps came, Eleven and Twelve covered the coffin and hid in a dark place.
Two people came to the Spirit Hall, looking at how they dressed, they are Yan family’s servants. The two squeezed their arms and leaned against the door post and sat down. Both huddled against the base of the pillar. They grumbled their dissatisfaction. “Why did they make us watch the Spirit Hall? The person is not even good looking. Why fear someone stealing the body? Worrying for nothing!”
Another person echoed, “Yes, very true, but you have to be quiet. I heard someone in the courtyard saying that the Master died under mysterious circumstances. Be careful or the vengeful spirit will come after us both to pay his grievances!”
“Aiya... please don’t scare me, is this really true? What you said did make me think, the Master was also in good health, suddenly he died. Could it be..."
"Hush! Keep your voice down, if the First and Second young Masters hear us, we will be killed! From what I gather, the youngest master is really pitiful. His mother died young, he is not powerful, and now even the Master can't back him up. The family's property will most likely be taken by the hands of the two elder young masters. How could he live in the future..."
The two of them sat and sighed for a long time, forgot about respecting the dead as they talked about others' family affairs, even their fear was gone.
Eleven and Twelve looked at each other, disappeared in the darkness, and went to report to Xing BeiMing.
After Ying Qi finished listening, he said, "It is often heard some wealthier folks will store ice at home, to use during hot weather as a luxury. I did not expect that the Master who lives simply would... But according to ShiYi, some among the Yan family members had predicted he would die and shipped the ice first. Wouldn’t this expose their plan?”
Ke Weiqing went on to say, “Moreover, if someone really harmed him, I don’t think they would deliberately preserve his body. This certainly would not be done by the person who killed him. Yan Yunsheng said that the First and Second young Masters are the murderers, but he was the one who transported the hard ice to save the body of the old man. The problem is that everyone in the martial world knew the third youngest’s situation. Where did he get the money to spare?"
Xing BeiMing only sat and listened, but did not speak. Ke Weiqing was irritated and kicked him. "Master Xingbao, we are all analyzing this for you, at least say something!"
"This is Yan's business, is it not? Nothing to do with me. This Bao Zhu only came for entertainment." Xing BeiMing brushed off his pants and began to chase them out. "It's not early anymore, let's go rest, and continue to watch the show tomorrow."
Ke Weiqing closed his fan and said bitterly, "I made friends foolishly! For more than ten years, this Ben Shao can not see through him!"
Ying Qi looked at him sympathetically: You are not alone.
*************************************
The night passed by quickly. Today is the day of Lord Yan Zhuang’s burial. Along the path, was bombarded with banging, bawling, and screaming to the cemetery. The three young Masters of the Yan family walked in front, all cried with swollen eyes and runny noses. The unaware spectators could not help but think: What filial sons, crying so!
Traveling on a slightly uneven mountain road, the coffin caretaker suddenly stumbled and tripped. The edge of the coffin hit the sharp corner of the stone on the ground, then unexpectedly a gap was opened. The people who carried the coffin were shocked. The coffin was nailed down. How could it be opened with a touch, if not the act of a ghost!
Seventeen, who was walking behind Xing BeiMing looked at the calm figure of his Master. If he didn't just feel a flow of internal energy, he would not think it was related to his Master. Especially when the Master could have done it without his notice. Why did he deliberately let him know?
The three young Masters of the Yan family all angrily rushed over, Seventeen observed closely. The First and the Second of the Yan family were truly in a state of indignation, but Yan Yunsheng, not knowing why, had a trace of panic in his eyes.
"It's so cold!" said a man closer to the coffin, frightfully hugging his arms.
Right now, at the end of summer and early autumn, after walking such a long distance, soaked from sweat, needless to say, but there was someone dared saying it's cold? The man was instantly glared at by everyone. Wrongfully accused, he shrunk back, because it was cold!
Yan Yunsheng on the other hand quickly made people re-nail the coffin, but they had not yet started, when someone shouted, "It really is cold! It seems... seems to be coming from the coffin!" The voice was very familiar.
Seventeen looked at Ke Weiqing, who was pointing at the coffin in horror, and immediately understood the intention of the Master. However, everyone was astonished. Ke Weiqing, Master Ke of the Moon City, who has killed countless people, what could scare such a man?
"There are ghosts--" Abruptly, someone screamed in panic, in a blink of an eye, the whole group went into chao. After being stopped by a prestigious old man of QiZhou, everyone calmed down again, even though they were stiff, and were ready to escape with even the slightest unusual sound.
The Old Man with a solemn expression, lifted his hand, "Close the coffin."
Ke WeiQing’s eyes flashed once more, as the mysterious coffin lid slid down again, immediately he shouted, "M-Move, it’s moving! The corpse is alive!"
“The corpse is a-a-alive—" Instantly the crowd scattered again, this time the old man's voice was useless, but the next moment he was also stunned, because out of nowhere a stiff hand was stretched out of the coffin!
Xiǎo Lóu Luó - 小喽啰 , Little Solders/Warrior
Yan Lao Er - Second Elder Yan
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