Chapter 39: The Overlord
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During the Yuanyou era, twenty years had passed since Shi Fei came into this world.
On this particular day, two unusual visitors arrived in Suzhou.
One was a monk of about fifty, with a dignified, solemn countenance and the bearing of a great Buddhist master.
He was none other than Jiumozhi, the Imperial Preceptor of Tibet.
Had it not been for the man bound tightly at his side, he might have looked even more like a venerable monk.
The captive was strikingly handsome, yet dull-witted and vacant-eyed. He was Duan Yu, heir to the Dali throne.
Not long before, in the Heavenly Dragon Temple of Dali, Jiumozhi had fought Master Kurong and the other monks over the Six Meridians Divine Sword, forcibly abducting Duan Yu in the process.
Years earlier, he had met Murong Bo once and agreed to exchange the Six Meridians Divine Sword for the Murong family’s collection of the Shaolin Temple’s seventy-two supreme techniques.
Thus, he had brought Duan Yu across a thousand miles, traveling from Dali to Suzhou.
Jiumozhi was just about to ask for directions to the Murong family’s Swallow Dock when someone suddenly shouted, “The Female Tyrant is here! Run!”
Amid the rapid clatter of hooves, he turned his head and saw a woman in a black riding outfit, mounted on a tall black horse and wielding a riding crop, galloping through the streets of Suzhou with bold, dashing grace.
The streets of Suzhou were so narrow that only a few people could walk abreast. How could anyone possibly ride at full speed through them? Pedestrians scattered in alarm, afraid of being struck by the fearless horsewoman.
Fortunately, the woman’s horsemanship was extraordinary. She managed to race through the cramped streets without injuring anyone.
“Whoa!”
The woman suddenly reined in her horse and stopped before Jiumozhi.
“Who are you? And why have you tied someone up?” she demanded, pointing her riding crop at him.
“Fairy Sister!”
The moment Duan Yu saw her face, the bound young man cried out involuntarily.
She looked exactly like the Fairy Sister he had seen beneath Mount Wuliang. The resemblance was so perfect that he could scarcely believe his eyes.
Only then did Jiumozhi take a proper look at the woman before him and realize that she was far younger than he had imagined.
She appeared to be no more than eighteen or nineteen. She was extraordinarily beautiful, but most people who saw her would be captivated by her spirited, heroic bearing and overlook her beauty altogether.
“This is a private matter of mine,” Jiumozhi said coolly.
The woman was Wang Yuyan. She gave a cold snort and said, “In Suzhou, there is nothing I, the Female Tyrant, cannot meddle in!”
“If it is something the authorities can handle, I can handle it. If it is something they cannot handle, then I must handle it even more!”
“You have him tied up, so there must be some trouble here. If you were unwilling, you can ask me for help!” Wang Yuyan said to Duan Yu.
Duan Yu merely gazed at her in a daze. Her words seemed like a spell, ensnaring his soul.
For a moment, he even forgot that he was bound.
If being tied up allowed him to see the Fairy Sister, then it was not such a bad thing after all.
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Seeing Duan Yu’s foolish expression, Wang Yuyan said, “So he’s an idiot!”
“Since he’s an idiot, I certainly cannot leave him to fend for himself!” Wang Yuyan pointed her riding crop at Jiumozhi. “Untie him and leave at once!”
Her imperious tone made it perfectly clear that she did not regard Jiumozhi in the slightest.
Anger stirred in Jiumozhi’s heart. He found the woman before him unbearably overbearing.
“Madam, I am Jiumozhi, the Imperial Preceptor of Tibet. I have come to Gusu to pay a visit to the Murong family of Swallow Dock.”
“This man is involved in a private matter of mine. I advise you not to meddle where you are not concerned!”
By the end, displeasure was plainly evident in his voice.
Who was he?
He was the Dharma King and protector of the Tibetan kingdom. His status was incomparably exalted.
In Tibet, the king treated him with the utmost respect. Even when he visited the courts of Great Song, Dali, Liao, or Western Xia, the rulers of those realms would receive him as an honored guest.
Now a woman was pointing a riding crop at him from horseback. The fact that he had not already lost his temper showed remarkable restraint.
When Wang Yuyan heard that he intended to visit the Murong family, she asked, “You wish to visit the Murong family? My cousin’s family?”
“Hm? You are…” Jiumozhi studied the woman before realizing that she had some connection to the Murongs.
“As it happens, I too wish to visit the Murong family and pay my respects at the tomb of the late Lord Murong. Please show me the way,” Jiumozhi said.
“You wish to pay respects to my uncle-in-law?” Wang Yuyan asked, frowning.
Her father and Murong Fu’s mother were siblings, which was why she addressed Murong Bo as her uncle-in-law.
She had no reason to prevent Jiumozhi from making offerings to Murong Bo.
“But what about him?” Wang Yuyan asked, pointing at the dazed Duan Yu.
Jiumozhi thought for a moment before replying, “He is a living sword manual. Years ago…”
He recounted the agreement he had once made with Murong Bo, then declared that he intended to burn Duan Yu before Murong Bo’s grave, offering him as a sacrifice so that Murong Bo’s spirit in the afterlife would know of the matter.
Upon hearing this, Wang Yuyan flew into a rage.
“You vile monk!”
As she spoke, she lashed out at Jiumozhi with her riding crop.
What else could one call a monk who intended to use a living man as a sacrificial offering but a fiend?
The weapon in her hand was a flexible whip, roughly two or three meters long.
Her strike was like a fierce dragon twisting through the air—powerful and swift, whipping straight toward Jiumozhi’s face.
Jiumozhi was no ordinary man. He ducked aside, then reached out with his other hand to seize the whip.
The greatest opening when using such a weapon came just after it had been swung. At that moment, its force had been spent, making it easy to catch.
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Yet he had not expected the whip to seem almost alive. The instant Jiumozhi caught it, it coiled around his left hand like a venomous serpent.
It was not Jiumozhi who had seized the whip.
The whip had seized Jiumozhi.
“Up!”
With a thunderous shout, Wang Yuyan yanked hard.
Jiumozhi felt an immense force surge through him. Before he could resist, his feet left the ground and he was hurled sideways.
Bound tightly nearby, Duan Yu stared in stunned disbelief. From atop her horse, Wang Yuyan had wrapped the whip around Jiumozhi and swung him as though he were a massive stone, smashing him toward the flagstones of Suzhou.
How much strength did that require?
While still in midair, Jiumozhi employed the Thousand-Kilogram Drop technique, forcing himself down and landing firmly on the ground.
But a moment later, he was involuntarily flung into the air again.
“Madam, if you continue this, do not blame me for showing you no mercy!”
After landing once more, he planted his feet in a horse stance and summoned all his strength, attempting to drag Wang Yuyan toward him.
He refused to believe that, exerting all his power, he could lose to Wang Yuyan—
a mere young woman from Suzhou!
Yet Wang Yuyan, seated on horseback, did not move an inch. She merely let out a cold laugh and pulled with all her might.
Jiumozhi went flying once again.
What astonishing strength!
Jiumozhi’s face was filled with disbelief. He had never imagined that he would be defeated by Wang Yuyan in a contest of brute force.
Fortunately, strength was not his only asset.
He also possessed martial arts.
While airborne, he raised his right hand and released two flaming blades.
One severed the whip.
The other shot toward Wang Yuyan.
The Flaming Blade was his signature technique. At the Heavenly Dragon Temple in Dali, he had relied on it to battle everyone in his path and become the temple’s most dazzling champion.
“Be careful!”
When Duan Yu saw Jiumozhi unleash the Flaming Blade, he could not help crying out.
No one understood the technique’s power better than he did.
“Child’s play!”
Seeing the two waves of force rushing toward her, Wang Yuyan flicked her whip with her right hand and shattered one of them.
Then she thrust her left palm forward.
A dragon’s roar suddenly erupted.