Chapter 73: Scatter and Return

Cui Changting's legs were trembling with fear, having been tormented by the fair-faced paper servant. Thus, as soon as he saw Luo Xu, he clung to him like a lifeline, scrambling over and crying out, "Imperial Lord, Imperial Lord!"

Luo Xu retracted his gaze and glanced at Cui Changting. Seeing Cui Changting's terror-stricken face, pointing at Ming Zhuo, he exclaimed, "Imperial Lord, he... Yongze wants to kill me!"

Ming Zhuo replied, "In front of all these witnesses, you shouldn’t falsely accuse an innocent person. You claim I want to kill you, but here you are, with your head intact and all your limbs in place. How does that look like an attempt on your life?"

Cui Changting argued, "The blade was just at my neck. If it weren't for Xueqing Xiao-Shimei's quick thinking, I'd be dead by now! Isn't that an attempt to kill me‽"

Ming Zhuo's lips twitched as if he had heard something amusing, "Oh? That’s strange. I just heard you all saying that with a single command from me, Baiwei warriors would come out to kill. So why would I need to do it myself now?"

The fair-faced paper servant was clearly seen by everyone, making it undeniable. Cui Changting was rendered speechless by his questioning, standing dumbfounded for a moment before stubbornly retorting, "Because you are cunning, knowing this is the Heavenly Sea, with imperial guards all around. You didn't dare summon Baiwei warriors, so—" 

"So you had to use a paper servant as a pretence," Ming Zhuo finished for him, laughing heartily. "Alright, I understand. You mean to say that your Qiankun Sect is all for show, unable to even handle a paper servant when faced with me."

Cui Changting's anger surged, "You! You speak nonsense! If not for your bewitching powers..."

Ming Zhuo took a step forward, entering the courtyard, causing everyone to step back as if facing a formidable enemy. With a look of contempt, he said, "We all practice spiritual arts. You call it borrowing spiritual power when you cast spells, but when I do it, it's called bewitching powers?"

The crowd, having their pride crushed by him and seeing him approach, was terrified out of their wits. Cui Changting, afraid that he might throw another paper figure, hurriedly pleaded with Luo Xu, "Imperial Lord! Don't listen to his cunning words; he used paper figures to kill, clearly intending to silence me!”

Luo Xu lightly flicked his toe, picking up the broken sword from the ground. He held the hilt and examined the broken edge: "The Lord is unwell, yet this cut is so perfect?”

Ming Zhuo, who was feigning illness, glanced slightly and finally looked at Luo Xu, "Because it’s easier to cut a blade than a person.”

This statement had a hidden meaning, implying that the one he most wanted to cut was neither the sword nor Cui Changting, but Luo Xu.

"Indeed," Luo Xu, having just been struck by a paper sword, responded without any politeness, like teasing a cat, "It’s easy to show mercy to people.”

The paper figure was still in his fingers and had gone limp after the "cut." Luoxu didn't intend to return it immediately and glanced sideways at Cui Changting: "Are you Cui Ruishan’s disciple?”

He had already asked this question in the hall before, and asking it again now carried a deeper meaning. Cui Changting was not foolish and understood the implication: Cui Ruishan's swordsmanship was exquisite, so how could you, his disciple, be such a waste?

Cui Changting's face turned ashen, and his voice weakened: "I... I am...”

Luo Xu asked casually, but this question was actually a sore spot for Cui Changting. His Shifu, Cui Ruishan, cared greatly about his reputation and had over a hundred disciples. To stand out, Cui Changting flattered him in every way, serving him by washing his feet and cleaning his chamber pot. After much effort, he became the head disciple of the sect, thinking his future was promising. However, Cui Ruishan secretly withheld teachings, only teaching him eleven out of the sixteen forms of the sect's swordsmanship.

Now that Cui Ruishan was dead, his disciples fought fiercely for the position of top disciple. Cui Changting, unable to use his swordsmanship to convince others, sought another way to make a name for himself at the Heavenly Sea. He was already feeling guilty, and now he was caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to answer or not, and stood frozen in place.

"It's an old rule not to draw your sword before the 'manji' flag," said Luo Xu, lowering his hand and pushing the broken sword back into Cui Changting's scabbard. "Here's your sword returned."

Cui Changting felt something wrong as the scabbard weighed down. When he reached back to check, he was shocked to find that the broken sword had shattered inside the scabbard!

A broken sword indicated inferior skills, which was nothing to be ashamed of. However, a sword shattering within the scabbard had a different implication. Cui Changting prided himself on his cultivation and carried a fine sword. When it broke, it felt like his heart was bleeding. He had planned to have it repaired by a craftsman, but Luo Xu had shattered it completely.

Luo Xu said, "Mu Chao."

The guard named Mu Chao immediately stepped forward and responded, "Imperial Lord!" 

"I just told you to escort the guest out," Luo Xu said, staring at Cui Changting with a hint of a smile. "Didn't you understand?"

Mu Chao walked over in two steps and grabbed Cui Changting. But Cui Changting, still unwilling to give up, clung to Luo Xu's robe. "Imperial Lord! I broke the rules, but—" 

"Escorting out was a polite way of saying it," Luo Xu said coldly, lifting his foot and brushing his robe past Cui Changting's face. "Scram."

Cui Changting was incredulous. "There are more than a dozen sects and clans gathered at the summit of South Emperor Mountain, all waiting for a resolution. Imperial Lord, you, you let…"

Mu Chao yanked Cui Changting up. "Stepping on the nose to get to the face!(1) When the Imperial Lord tells you to scram, you scram! Do you really think everyone under heaven fears South Emperor Mountain?"

Cui Changting's dignity was in tatters, and he continued to shout. But suddenly, he realised something, something that shook him to his core and filled him with immense fear.

Cui Changting stared at the hem of Luo Xu's robe, then abruptly looked towards Jiang Xueqing, more precisely at the outer robe on her shoulders. Both outer robes were black with subtle patterns, differing only in size and length, yet identical in material and style.

"You... you all..." In a flash of insight, he realised many things, pointing at Ming Zhuo's hand in agitation, "So it's you... you all..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Mu Chao dragged him away. Cui Changting thought he had seen through their scheme, but he was tongue-tied and couldn't utter another complete sentence until he was dragged out of the door. His remaining fellow disciples dared not stay and fled like frightened dogs.

As they departed, the courtyard regained its tranquillity. Jiang Xueqing sheathed her sword and took off the outer robe from her shoulders, handing it respectfully back to Ming Zhuo. "Lord, many thanks for your robe."

Ming Zhuo, much taller than her, took the robe but didn't rush to put it on. Jiang Xueqing sighed, "If my eyes hadn't been injured, this misunderstanding wouldn't have happened."

Someone inside the hall called her, and recognising her Shifu’s voice, she bowed to Ming Zhuo and greeted Luo Xu before entering through the parted curtain.

Snow fell heavily in the courtyard, blanketing everything in white. Luo Xu stood under the eaves, snowflakes settling on his shoulders. He looked at Ming Zhuo and said slowly, "You wake up and immediately get busy—guiding people and saving beauties."

Ming Zhuo draped the outer robe over his arm; his own clothes were still in the bathhouse, and he was wearing Luo Xu's. Unaccustomed to such formality, he even buttoned up the collar.

"Give it back," he reached out, and the paper figure dangled from his fingers in mid-air, "my paper man."

"It doesn't have a name written on it," Luo Xu dangled it lazily between two fingers, showing little interest, "how can you claim it's yours?"

"You're supposed to be an Imperial Lord after all," Ming Zhuo remarked, "and you're even stealing a paper man?"

"If I recall correctly, you appointed Luo You as the lord last night," Luo Xu glanced at the sky and then back at Ming Zhuo, "besides, think back carefully. Did I steal this paper man, or did it willingly throw itself at me?"

Ming Zhuo raised an eyebrow. Thanks to the clothes, his lazy demeanour faded a bit, "However it came to pass, give it back to me."

Luo Xu lifted a finger, dangling the paper figure between his long fingers, clearly implying that Ming Zhuo could either snatch it back or leave it with him.

"Fine," Ming Zhuo smiled, "I'll give it to you."

In the next moment, the outer robe suddenly shook in mid-air. He ascended the steps and lunged forward to take it. Luo Xu didn't retreat, slightly curling his fingers as he stared at Ming Zhuo, "You said you'd give it to me, so why are you reaching for it?"

Ming Zhuo retorted, "You want this and that. Your heart is too greedy."

He brushed past Luo Xu's chest, then swiftly turned and grabbed Luo Xu's collar as he did last night with the dog leash. Snowflakes scattered in the air, but unexpectedly, Luo Xu took a step closer and directly countered.

Their steps slightly faltered—

The outer robe, just thrown into the air, fell back down, and Luo Xu caught it. He grabbed Ming Zhuo's wrist and stuffed the outer robe back into Ming Zhuo's arms.

"I let you borrow those clothes," he had a hint of mischief in his tone as he spoke, "that little girl didn't want it anymore, so you threw it away. You threw it away and that's fine, but now you accuse me of being greedy."

Ming Zhuo had the clothes stuffed into his arms, pressed against Luo Xu, if he took another step back, it would be onto the stairs. Luo Xu held his wrist with smooth and deliberate movements, and through the outer robe, he pressed the paper figure into Ming Zhuo's palm.

"I returned it this time," he stepped back a bit, revealing a smile to Ming Zhuo with a fierce gaze, "but next time might be different."

Ming Zhuo's palm tingled, but before he could reply, Luo Xu stepped away. Like a passing wild goose leaving no trace, the lord lifted the hall curtain and formally invited him inside.

The miscellaneous people inside the hall had already dispersed, leaving only Jiang Xueqing sitting there. The young swordswoman had taken off her sword, and somehow produced an old and worn-out book which she was "reading" from. She asked, "Shifu, what is the seventeenth rule of the sect?"

Jiang Shuangke stood beside her, speaking softly and humbly, "The seventeenth rule? Who remembers that..."

Jiang Xueqing interrupted, "It doesn't matter if you remember. Aiya, sect rules are so dull, they're not meant to be remembered. But as I was walking in the wind, I remembered when our Posuo Sect was first founded, it was also winter..."

Jiang Shuangke's forehead twitched, "You shouldn't... or else—"

Ignoring Jiang Shuangke's warning, Jiang Xueqing continued casually, "That winter, when the water froze into ice, our founding ancestor, Grandmaster Popo,(2) met a few nearly starved beggars under North Heron Mountain. Out of compassion, she took these beggars as her disciples. Among them was one named Jiang Sigu, whom you're familiar with as your Shifu’s Shifu. She established the sect rules..."

Jiang Shuangke pleaded for mercy, "Let me think, I'll remember it right away."

Jiang Xueqing paid no attention, "There are a total of twenty sect rules, each personally written by her on North Heron Mountain. There's a line you probably don't remember anymore, she said, 'Any disciple of the Posuo Sect shall never...'"

Jiang Shuangke knelt down with a "pūtōng", "I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong! The seventeenth rule is about not drinking and causing trouble while away from home! Please don't recite it anymore, I remember it all now! Xueqing! It was Shifu’s fault!"

Just as Ming Zhuo stepped in, he retracted his leg and bumped into Luo Xu behind him. Holding the outer robe, he turned back and asked, "Is this how you scatter distinguished guests?"(3)

His tone was as if he had seen a ghost, yet also as if he had been duped.

The Author Has Something to Say

A concise summary (eyes closed)

Mumbling and kneeling, thanks for reading

Foot Notes

1. 蹬鼻子上脸 (dēng bí zi shàng liǎn) is an idiomatic phrase that means to “climb over” or “take advantage”. 

2. 婆婆 (pópo) is a respectful term of address for a maternal grandmother, old woman, or mother-in-law. 

3. He says 君 (jūn) here, not “distinguished guests”, referring to Sanhai-Jun and Luo Xu’s lack of formal send-off.