Chapter 1255: Seeking Swords and Blades for Thirty Years (Part 1)

"...'Golden Eye Thousand Feathers' lives up to its name. After all these years... he still runs so fast."

It was past midday, and the sunlight wasn't too strong. At the foot of Nine Immortals Mountain, beside the road near Lotus Cloud Pool, Tie Tianying looked at the grey-robed man in the small teahouse, a trace of realization and even a hint of surprise on his face.

As it was a prearranged setup, the simple teahouse was devoid of an owner. The grey-robed man pulled down the mask he wore as a poor disguise, revealing a beard of mixed black and white, and a face that didn't seem particularly old.

"Golden Eye Thousand Feathers," the moniker given to him in the pugilistic world, referred to his keen perception and sharp eyes, his ever-changing tactics and ingenious plans, and his remarkable lightness skill. He was younger than Tie Tianying among the constables of that time, but now he was also in his fifties.

"I'm old. Running is also difficult," he said.

"I knew someone from our side would come this time," Tie Tianying walked over slowly, smiling. "I suspected it was you... Brother Fan, who's your master today?"

"I take people's money and solve their problems. I don't ask questions," Fan Zhong picked up the teapot on the table and poured tea for both of them.

Tie Tianying sat down at the table and said, "Then Brother Fan, why not come over to our side? Now is a good time, with the Sage Emperor on the throne..."

Fan Zhong waved his hand.

"Can Brother Tie guess what I'm planning today?"

"I have a rough idea."

"But you still came."

"You have a smoke rocket signal in your sleeve. Once it's launched, the soldiers and constables in the city will arrive in an instant. I've observed your surroundings. It won't be fatal immediately, but if I keep an eye on you, it won't be easy for you to escape into Nine Immortals Mountain. I'll take a gamble," Tie Tianying said with a smile, speaking eloquently. He paused. "Besides, I'm getting old. The world hasn't been good these past few years. It's not easy to see old colleagues. I also want to reminisce."

Fan Zhong nodded, picked up his teacup, and took a sip of tea.

"I remember Brother Tie used a sword back then."

"I practiced with a saber when I was young," Tie Tianying said. "Later, I became the Chief Constable of the Six Doors and felt I was of high status, so I started using a sword. That Ju Que sword was precious and a good sword, but I don't care about such things anymore..."

"Heh," Fan Zhong shook his head and smiled. "Back then, you and I both thought that for martial artists like us, reaching the position of Chief Constable of the Ministry of Justice, it would be extremely difficult to rise any further. At that time, I was unwilling and wanted to get ahead, so I tried to get close to the Zuo family. Who knew that Zuo Jilan was just a fancy showpiece and Zuo Houwen... was useless. He was hailed as a great Confucian scholar, but when Zuo Duanyou got angry, he couldn't even utter a single word before he was done for... But you, I didn't expect that trip to the Northwest would allow you to get on Li Pin's good side, and now... you've become the most important one among us."

"...Times have changed," Tie Tianying thought for a moment and shook his head. "I'll say it again. Why doesn't Brother Fan come over to our side and work? Martial artists weren't valued in the past, but things are different now. If you come, you might become a duke or marquis for generations to come."

"The Wu Dynasty was so powerful back then, with a vast territory and hundreds of millions of people. Now you're dealing with some local gentry in this small place in the Southeast and can't even win. You dare to talk about being a duke or marquis for generations?"

"His Majesty is working hard to govern, to eliminate corruption and reshape the foundation, which is why there is temporary weakness. Now is the time to build a foundation. Whether it's joining or investing, those who can come in now will be no different from founding heroes in the future when they achieve success. Brother Fan, to put it another way, it's not that His Majesty had no choice, but he chose the most difficult path. You and I have tasted blood on the edge of a blade and fought for half our lives. How can we not know that this is the greatest courage in the world?" Tie Tianying said, "You and I have sought fame and fortune for half our lives. Now is the perfect time to come over."

The sun was setting, and on the dirt road beside the teahouse, a pedestrian leading an ox passed by, turning his head to look at the two people sitting at the wooden table inside the teahouse. Fan Zhong was silent for a moment.

"A year ago, Chen Lianyi came to your place and you killed him."

"Times have changed, meaning that people can be good people, officials can be good officials, and they can have a good career as a result. Chen Lianyi was collecting money under my name and also bullying men and women. Of course I had to kill him as a warning to others. Brother Fan had great ambitions back then. I remember you weren't like Zong Feixiao."

Fan Zhong laughed. He poured tea, took a sip, and laughed for a long time. When he spoke again, his voice was slightly low.

"...Back then... back in the Northwest, when we assassinated Ning Yi, our last meeting, you protected Li Pin as he went south, and that's how you got your fame and fortune today. Do you know how I lived?"

"..."

"The Shame of Jingping, and then the search of the mountains and seas, the Central Plains was already in chaos. I had martial arts skills and was no longer in the Six Doors, so I lived freely... Brother Tie, what's wrong with living like Zong Feixiao? Did I practice martial arts for forty years just to be a miserable wretch? To be honest, after thinking it through, I've had a good life these past few years. Later, in Jiangnan, I did well... Now I have descendants and many wives and concubines... But I can't come to your side. Does Brother Tie have more to say?"

"I see," Tie Tianying smiled. "Before I spoke, I was prepared. I thought of it."

"Then why bother saying so much?"

"I said, when people get old, sometimes they just want to reminisce with people," Tie Tianying looked up at him. "Fan Zhong, you and I weren't even good friends back in the Six Doors, and now we can be described as 'old friends are like new acquaintances'. Do you think I'm really curious about your thoughts these years? No, it's because you've seen the younger version of me. I just want to say one thing to you, Fan Zhong, you need to know that whether it's status or personality, today's Tie Tianying is far superior to you all... This is my vanity, and today, I'm saying it to you dead men."

In the teahouse, Fan Zhong laughed loudly. Tie Tianying also laughed. The two of them had countless collaborations and partnerships since their prime, witnessing the ups and downs of the Wu Dynasty for thirty or forty years, from the assassination of Liu Dabiao to the Yongle Uprising, from the fight against the Mani sect to the power struggles between various clans, to Ning Yi's regicide and the Jin people's four invasions of the south that brought about the destruction of the world. At this moment, they were both white-haired, and even though their positions were completely different, their laughter ultimately contained decades of time in the picture.

Fan Zhong waved his hand and rolled up the hot tea on the table. Tie Tianying waved his sleeves and sent the tea, cups, and pot into the sky. Fan Zhong's feet seemed to sink into the ground, his fists sank, and his grey robe rolled like waves. He punched out, directly hitting Tie Tianying. The table between them turned into fragments, flying everywhere. Tie Tianying stood up. He drew his saber and slashed angrily.

What flew into the air was not only the wooden planks of the table. The moment he threw his fist, a steel fan suddenly rushed out along with the momentum of Fan Zhong's fist. The other hand also moved the small stove on the side of the table, causing charcoal to fly towards Tie Tianying. His nickname was "Golden Eye Thousand Feathers," precisely because he was resourceful and had many tricks up his sleeve. With the initial overturning of the tea, all the objects at hand rushed towards Tie Tianying like a raging tide. Tie Tianying's figure swelled as he stood up, growing like a giant. The long saber in his hand slashed across the sky, and in the blink of an eye, he unleashed five simple slashes. The saber's energy howled like waves.

Bang bang bang bang bang—

The steel fan in Fan Zhong's hand had opened for a moment, spinning in the air like a giant umbrella, but then it converged. Under Tie Tianying's saber light, the tables and chairs that pounced on him shattered, and the charcoal exploded. Fan Zhong retreated while waving the steel fan. When he stopped, even though he held the steel fan with a majestic posture, one could still see the shock in his eyes at that moment.

Tie Tianying threw out the smoke rocket signal, sending it flying into the sky. With a wave of his hand, his figure seemed to cross a cloud of smoke exploding, and he said, "After all these years, you still have these unimproved tricks."

More than ten years had passed, and Fan Zhong had naturally not made no progress. He dared to come to Fuzhou and even use himself as bait to lure the other party out because, although he had begun to enjoy life in these ten years, he had always worked hard and diligently practiced his martial arts. Now, in the outside world, he could be considered a grandmaster—Fan Zhong naturally understood that such a grandmaster was unworthy of the name, but for a former enforcer like the Chief Constable of the Six Doors, the peak of skill that people could reach in their lifetime was probably at this level. To go further, for figures like Liu Dabiao, Zhou Tong, and Lin Zongwu who entered the Dao through martial arts, the Six Doors only needed to use schemes to encircle and annihilate them.

But at this moment, Tie Tianying's head was covered with white hair, but the long saber in his hand was extremely strong and simple. After becoming a high-ranking official of the court and being "well-fed and well-clothed" for several years, his saber technique had vaguely crossed the threshold that ordinary people could hardly cross, possessing traces of being able to do as he pleased and all techniques returning to one.

Fan Zhong laughed.

He understood the meaning of the other party's words just now.

In his old age, he wanted to show his achievements to his former colleagues, and these achievements were not just official positions and the so-called difference in personality, but also the visible improvement in martial arts. As a former clerk of the Six Doors, he had now left everyone behind and entered the realm of a martial arts grandmaster, and this was also a major bargaining chip for his willingness to risk his life.

And at this moment, in the small woods shielded by a dirt slope not far behind the teahouse, a figure was rushing towards here at full speed, and even further away, a greater commotion was stirring.

The one rushing in the front was the "Divine Monk" Tun Yun.

Further away were several green forest experts whose martial arts were slightly inferior.

With the court's control in the city today, after Tie Tianying's smoke rocket signal was launched, reinforcements would indeed arrive soon. However, gathering his and Tun Yun's strength, plus several first-rate experts, to kill Tie Tianying within a few breaths was what they were betting on today.

The moment the many movements sounded, Tie Tianying naturally understood this. He just sneered and stepped forward, his astonishing killing intent enveloping Fan Zhong.

Song Xiaoming was originally a disciple he had cultivated to succeed him or even see him off, and at this moment, the enemy was already in front of him.

Fan Zhong swallowed and cleared his mind, welcoming him.

And to the side of his vision, Tun Yun had not yet arrived.

Just as that figure rushed out, a gust of wind whistled out from behind the dirt slope, and a long spear swept past the dirt slope, stabbing Tun Yun in the back. Tun Yun changed his pace and dodged the long spear. A tall, long-legged female figure also ran out from there at full strength, intercepting him. It was Yue Yinping, who was skilled in the Five Steps Thirteen Spears.

And beside Yinping, another figure gritted his teeth, and for a moment even burst out with a speed faster than her, shouting loudly and running straight towards Fan Zhong's side.

——Yue Yun.

"Dare to be distracted—"

Bang—

The saber energy slashed over, and Fan Zhong retreated sharply holding the fan. He wanted to get rid of Tie Tianying, but the killing intent locked him in, suffocating him. He only heard the other party shout, "These are all things that this old man has already played with, and you dare to come out and show off—"

At the end of his vision, Yue Yun was pushing his strength to the limit, rushing the most fiercely. In the blink of an eye, he had arrived nearby, wanting to join Tie Tianying to surround and kill him first. And the monk Tun Yun was indeed powerful. His figure rushed forward, closing the distance with Yue Yun in the process.

In the blink of an eye, three figures rushed over.

At this moment, Fan Zhong held the steel fan, Tie Tianying wielded the saber, Yue Yun used his fists, Tun Yun swung his iron sleeves, and Yinping held the spear. The five great experts collided together in the blink of an eye, and in the midst of the fighting, they shattered the teahouse made of withered wood, sending it flying to the side of the road.

Two farmers who were passing by carrying loads on their shoulders looked at this scene in horror, and further away, several people were coming with swords and spears.

……

A little further away, at the corner of a dirt road.

A young man with a mournful and unlucky face and another middle-aged green forest man who had been beaten black and blue were walking side by side towards here, and they saw this scene that shocked them.

Behind them, the strong, short Little Devil took a piece of floral cloth and covered his face. He looked at the scene of fighting on the street and the white-haired old man wielding the long saber.

Just like what his military advisor said, that lowly little vixen named Chen Shuangran was indeed playing such a third-rate trick...

The military advisor is awesome, the military advisor is beautiful, the military advisor is so cute!

He rushed forward two steps and kicked the young man who was hesitating slightly under his feet, causing him to fall on his face.

"Go, where is your boss..."

He shouted fiercely.

"Let me tell you, if you can't find him, you'll die too—"

They were fighting in front, so he had to fight even harder than that group of people! Scare these bastards to death—

(End of chapter)