Chapter 47: The Unparalleled Martial Arts (Part 2)
The Li family had a prodigal son in this generation, after squandering the family property, he opened the emergency secret vault left by his ancestors. In addition to treasures, this secret vault also hid a book called "Wu Jing".
The prodigal son had squandered all the money in the secret vault, so he took this book he couldn't even read and went to the pawnshop with a glimmer of hope, wondering if he could exchange it for a few taels of silver to eat his fill for a few days.
This unlucky spendthrift met a thief on the street and by the time he got to the pawnshop, his book was gone.
So this extraordinary secret book fell into the hands of a thief named Tang Zheng.
Tang Zheng's family was wealthy when he was young, and as the only son, he was his parents' darling. When he wanted to study literature, his father hired the best tutors for him; when he wanted to study martial arts, his father sent him to the best martial arts schools; even the internal skills that were not passed on outside, his father spent a lot of money to teach him.
When Tang Zheng grew up, he was a good-for-nothing who indulged in eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, causing trouble everywhere. After his parents died of anger because of him, Tang Zheng squandered all the family property left by his parents, and then began to wander around, doing all sorts of evil things such as cheating, deceiving, stealing and robbing.
One day, Tang Zheng inadvertently saw the prodigal son who was hiding and dodging with a package in his arms, so he targeted him. For someone like this, Tang Zheng, an old thief, naturally had a way to deal with him.
Tang Zheng received the package and opened it to find a book. He couldn't help but curse loudly, but when he saw the content of the book, he was overjoyed.
Ten years later, a lecherous thief known as the Red Silk Guest appeared in Jianghu. He stole everything, but what he liked to steal most were women...
The next day, Xiao Ziyang got up at around 9:00 am, and his injuries had mostly healed.
After going out, he found a large group of guardian martial artists guarding the door. Seeing him coming out, everyone first presented their thick-backed knives and then congratulated him one after another, making Xiao Ziyang bewildered.
He didn't understand until he listened carefully, that these people were carrying the corpse of Hong Zong back into the house. After a thorough search, they not only found several sections of red silk in his arms but also discovered that this person's face was fake. This person's disguise technique was extremely sophisticated, and if it weren't for the fact that the corpse happened to be scratched by a tree branch on the way, nobody would have noticed.
Most importantly, everyone discovered that the soft sword used by this person was actually the famous Purple Wei sword that had fallen into the hands of Hong Zhaolü many years ago.
These martial artists were so happy, not because they were virtuous, but because the rewards for capturing or killing the Red Ribbon Guest in various parts of Xiliang added up to at least two million taels of silver, and these people naturally wanted a share of the spoils.
Xiao Ziyang naturally didn't want to show off or receive any rewards, but the 200,000 taels of silver were indeed very tempting, and if possible, he wouldn't mind not giving it up.
At this time Wen Jin squeezed in, "Wu Da Xia, my master has invited you."
Xiao Ziyang nodded towards the crowd of guards and followed Wen Jin into the main hall.
Walking through the small path in the garden, Xiao Ziyang saw Wen Yuan standing at the door waiting for him from afar.
He saw Xiao Ziyang and immediately came forward to welcome him, cupping his hands and saying, "Wu Da Xia, you are truly the savior of my Wen family." As he spoke, he bowed even more deeply.
Xiao Ziyang hastily helped Wen Yuanbo up: "Old Wen, why must you be so polite, it's killing me."
One of the attendants reached out and grasped Xiao Ziyang's wrist, leading him towards the front hall.
In the hall, only a young maid stood, holding a tray with a pile of glittering gold sycee on it, about two hundred pieces. The person holding the tray was a familiar face, none other than the sweet-looking maid who had brought the red silk guest to the Wen family, unaware of the great calamity she had caused.
"The waiter pointed to the tray and said: 'A small token of my sincerity, though it's not enough to express my heartfelt feelings. I hope you'll accept it with a smile.'"
Xiao Ziyang, despite having a large sum of money, thought to himself that his "Zi Yu Sheng Yan" had only reached the fourth chapter, and the medicinal materials needed for the configuration of medicine and decoctions already cost hundreds of taels of silver per set. If he were to practice further, who knows how much those rare and expensive medicinal materials would cost? Therefore, when it came to silver, more was better, so after a slight hesitation, he accepted it.
The official was overjoyed to see Xiao Ziyang so pleased. He waved his hand and let the maid stand aside, but did not let her withdraw, and asked Xiao Ziyang to sit down with him. "Wu Xiake, I have an unreasonable request, I hope you will consider it."
"Please go ahead and speak."
"General Wu's martial arts are powerful and his wisdom is abundant, I deeply admire him. My family has many businesses in Chu State, but the roads are not safe now, goods are transported back and forth, and there are many losses. If General Wu is willing to stay and help me, I have a position of a ninth-grade guard captain that can be yours. In addition to the official salary, I will also give you 500 taels of silver as an annual stipend, and I will marry this Wen Xiugu to you. What do you think?" Mr. Wen said with a smile, looking at Xiao Ziyang.
Xiao Ziyang listened and sneered in his heart, although he was disdainful, but still pretended to be unable to help himself and looked at Wenxiu. He saw that this girl's face did not have a surprised expression, obviously she had already known about it beforehand. However, from her slightly furrowed eyebrows, it could be seen that she was extremely dissatisfied with the matter.
Xiao Ziyang pretended to be dazed and looked at her for a moment, until she couldn't help but reveal a hint of impatience on her face before withdrawing his gaze. With a disappointed expression, he said to Wen Yuan, "Alas! To be honest with you, I came to Chu State as a fugitive. I offended a powerful martial artist in my hometown and was pursued by his men for thousands of miles. This person won't let me off the hook, and if I stay at the Wen residence, not only will I be unable to help you, but I'm afraid I'll also bring disaster to your family."
"How can this be! With Wu Da Xia's skills, even the famous Red Silk Guest was cut down by his sword, yet he still can't contend with that person?" Wen Wai asked in shock.
Xiao Ziyang sighed and said, "The Red Guest is famous throughout the land only because of his notorious reputation. Although he has exceptional lightness skills and swordsmanship, at most, he can be considered a top-notch expert. But my arch-nemesis is an unparalleled master, also the leader of a large sect, with several disciples under him whose martial arts skills are on par with Red Guest's. I was able to kill Red Guest only by relying on hidden weapons and ambushes. Alas, to be honest, in the eyes of that arch-nemesis, I am nothing but an ant."
Wenxiu breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Xiao Ziyang's answer, and seeing Xiao Ziyang's dejected appearance, she glanced at his eyes with a thick disdainful expression.
It's no wonder that Wenxiu looks down on Xiao Ziyang. Now in the Western Cool State, Chen Ping has been in power for hundreds of years, and the status of martial artists within the country has gradually declined. Before Wenyuan resigned from his post, he took charge of military affairs in Jiangzhou as a civil official, which was also due to this reason.
Miss Wen was a talented woman who claimed to be proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, as well as being well-versed in history and literature. Her personal maid also took pride in her literary skills, so naturally she looked down on Xiao Ziyang, a man from the jianghu who wasn't even considered a martial artist.
