Chapter Twenty: The Mediocre Talent

  Li Xiangzong looked at the row of people standing in front of him and couldn't help but rub his increasingly swollen cheek again. Although he was looking at the people in front of him, his mind kept thinking about the fight he had with that perverted woman at Yunji Dog Meat Shop earlier. Since leaving the Martial Arts Academy, he had never been beaten so satisfyingly.

  To know that even in the Martial Arts Institute, among the initial batch of students who could beat him did not exceed three people. These three people were all recognized by the Great Sui as geniuses among geniuses. He was beaten because he happened to belong to the category of geniuses. In fact, looking at the entire Great Sui, those who entered the seventh rank at the age of 26 could be counted on one hand, and even if he carefully thought about it, he could still rank in the top ten. Of course, perhaps there were many more hidden talents living in seclusion somewhere.

  It was like this that the arrogant and self-important Li Xiaozong was beaten into a pig's head by that overbearing woman in the dog meat shop.

  He thought carefully, and it should be his own punch first. His intention was to shatter the cabinet in Yunji's house with one punch, and let the woman know her place. But because he broke Yunji's furniture, he provoked the woman's fierce beating like a storm.

  There is no room for resistance at all.

  He smiled wryly and shook his head, thinking that if this were to be spread back in the Imperial Capital, wouldn't those three people laugh him to death?

  "General Li, what brings you here?"

  Looking at Li Xiangzong shaking his head and smiling bitterly, Wu Peisheng couldn't help but turn pale: "Just now the horn sounded clearly, our family also saw the soldiers gathering in the big camp and then dividing into two groups to come out. Why did our family only walk halfway, and those soldiers all went back? Just now our family received news that Fang Jie, a spy of the Mongol Empire, was going to escape from the west gate. You don't intercept him, what are you doing standing here?"

  Li Xiaozong shook his head and said, "Fang Jie is an outstanding soldier in the border army of the Great Sui Dynasty. Since he joined the army, he has made twenty-one great achievements, big and small. According to the rules set by the Emperor of the Great Sui Dynasty, any soldier who has achieved more than twenty merits, regardless of age or background, can take part in the Imperial Military Academy examination. I have already prepared a certificate to recommend Fang Jie to participate in this year's Imperial Military Academy entrance examination in Chang'an."

  "What did you say?!"

  Wu Peisheng's face turned extremely ugly, and he pointed at Li Xiaozong's face with his finger, angrily saying: "A spy of the Mongol Empire, how did you become a meritorious official again?!"

  "Half a time ago, he was indeed a spy sent by the Mongol Empire to infiltrate our Fan Fortress, and anyone who caught him would be rewarded. But half a time later, he became a meritorious officer of our Great Sui Border Army."

  "Give us a reason!"

  Wu Peisheng's face was cold, but he suppressed his anger and said.

  "The reason is very simple."

  Li Xiangzong pointed to his own face, unashamed, and said seriously: "Not long ago, a friend of Fang Jie beat me up badly. Then she went to rescue Fang Jie, I reckon by now the people you sent have been taken care of. Fang Jie is fine, and I couldn't defeat his friend, so he can't be a traitor, only a meritorious official."

  "Admire three!"

  Wu Peisheng coldly ordered: "Take him to the west gate and take a look. I'd like to see how many gods are hidden in this small Fan solid city!"

  "There is no fairy in Fanggu Castle."

  Li Xiaozong smiled and said, "This place is very small, no more than three and a half miles long and three miles wide. There are 800 soldiers from the border army and 2,261 civilians. There isn't a single immortal hiding here, they're all human... but it can't be denied that the more you think a place is unremarkable, the more likely some extraordinary people will like to hide out there."

  Wu Peisheng hummed and ignored Li Xiaozong: "Mu San, you go. There's nothing here, our family doesn't believe that General Li would dare to do anything to us. Now it's not important whether we catch the spies of the Mongol Empire or not, what's important is that Mu Da and Mu Er might have died here. Your Dalisi Temple can't afford to lose this person, neither can our family."

  "Ah!"

  Mu San responded with a single word and led over a dozen officials from the Dalisi Temple to rush towards the west gate. Li Xiangzong didn't even think of stopping them, instead he smiled and stepped aside. The smile caused his swollen face to ache.

  "We only now realize that the spy sent by the Mongol Empire was not that insignificant border soldier named Fang Jie, but you, a high-ranking officer of the fifth rank. What you did today, Li Xiang... even if I wanted to help you get out of this, it's impossible. Letting a traitor kill a high-ranking official of the Sui court, no matter how much favor you have with His Majesty, you will not be able to escape death."

  Li Xiangzong sighed and explained, "If I don't change my mind, I'll die before Your Majesty can kill me. Even if I must die, it's better to die a few days later, isn't it?"

  Wu Peisheng sneered, "You're so sure you can kill us? Don't even say you didn't think of it, since you planned to let Fang Jie go and watched Mu Da and Mu Er being killed, then you definitely won't let us off."

  "Since it's clear, why did Master let Mu San go to West Gate?"

  Li Xiangzong asked.

  "Because you can't kill our family, and those who rebelled tonight will be killed by our family."

  "No wonder..."

  Li Xiangzong sighed and said, "You're that broken mirror's symbol master from years ago, right? You've been hiding really well... No wonder the Emperor trusts you so much. A eunuch who is a sixth-grade symbol master - if this gets out, I'm afraid not many people will believe it. I knew the imperial capital was full of hidden dragons and sleeping tigers, but now I see that even among eunuchs, there are also some... impressive ones."

  ……

  ……

  Wu Peisheng slowly opened the large cloak draped over his shoulders and casually threw it onto the snowy ground: "Li Xiaozong, you should know that when facing Master Fu, you have no chance of winning."

  Li Xiangzong nodded: "Even ordinary people know that in a fight between people of the same rank, martial artists are absolutely no match for symbol masters... but, it seems we're not on the same level, you're upper sixth rank, not even seventh rank yet. Even so, my chances of winning aren't great, but at least I have a chance to win now."

  "You're wrong..."

  Wu Peisheng smiled slightly, trying to hide his pride: "Sixth rank... what you said is the past, not now. I've seen the records from the Ministry of War and knew that when you were at the Martial Arts Institute, you were already a sixth-rank expert. These three years in the border city must have helped you break through to seventh rank. Unfortunately... I broke through to seventh rank three years ago because His Majesty gave me a sable coat, which made me so happy."

  Li Xiaozong's face changed color and he subconsciously took a step back.

  "You think of quitting now? It's a bit late for that."

  Wu Peisheng smiled faintly and slowly raised his right hand, pointing at Li Xiaozong from a distance. His hands were very beautiful, slender and clean, if one didn't look at his face but only at this pair of hands, they would probably be mistaken for a woman's hands. Even among women, these hands could be considered delicate and pretty.

  The fingernails were trimmed extremely short, and not a speck of dirt could be seen in the nail crevices. The fingers were slender and the palms slightly thick, it was clear that he took great care of his hands every day and maintained them very well.

  At the moment his hand was raised, Li Xiang immediately did something.

  Run away.

  He tapped his foot suddenly, and in the next second he was already more than a dozen meters away. His movements were extremely fast, and his reactions were even faster. This made Wu Peisheng have to reevaluate him: "In the Imperial City, there are still people who say that your future prospects are unpredictable. Director Zhou has even said that if you don't die by the age of thirty, it's possible for you to become the youngest governor in the history of our Great Sui Empire since its founding. A second-grade official with a fiefdom, with limitless glory."

  "Unfortunately... Director Zhou was right, you won't live to be thirty years old."

  Li Xiaozong didn't respond, but instead fled again towards the distance. In an instant, he had already gone out of sight by over a dozen meters, his movements so fast that even eyes couldn't keep up. But Wu Peisheng seemed not to be in a hurry at all, his hand stretched horizontally in mid-air curled back four fingers, leaving only his index finger, slowly drawing a spell in mid-air.

  At this time, Li Xiaozong was already thirty meters away.

  Just as Li Xiaozong was about to withdraw after his fourth move, he suddenly sensed the crisis behind him. At the critical moment, he suddenly plunged forward and fell on the snowy ground. Three sharp ice cones, although not large, appeared abruptly behind him, if he hadn't dodged in time, they would have pierced his body fiercely. One at the back of his head, one at his neck, and one at his heart.

  This is how the Fu masters wage war, defending against which is impossible.

  "You can't escape, our family's specialty is writing water talismans. On this cold and icy day, the water has frozen into ice, and the power of the water talisman has increased greatly. Even if you move quickly, can you be faster than the snow that covers the entire city of Fanggu?"

  Wu Pei Sheng smiled triumphantly, his fingers moving faster and faster as he drew symbols. With each movement of his hand, more and more ice cones the size of chopsticks appeared around Li Xiao Zong's body. No matter how he dodged, those ice cones followed him like a shadow. A seventh-rank master was not commonly seen even in the military. As Li Xiao Zong had predicted, if he returned to the imperial court, it wouldn't take long for him to be promoted to fourth-rank Eagle General, with boundless prospects. But now, this future noble of the Great Sui army, who had boundless prospects, was being forced by a fellow seventh-rank symbol master to have no power to fight back.

  With a whoosh, one of the icicles finally pierced Li Xiang's body. The seemingly fragile icicle easily tore through his down jacket. A thread of blood slowly seeped out from inside the jacket, but Li Xiang didn't even have time to examine his wound. In the brief moment he froze, at least thirty icicles surrounded him.

  "Is it very stuffy?"

  Wu Peisheng smiled and said, "A seventh-grade expert, yet he didn't even have the power to fight back. If it were me, I would feel very stifled."

  ……

  ……

  Li Xiaozong was panting heavily, his single knee kneeling on the ground had little strength left. His body was covered with wounds, and there was an ice cone deeply embedded in his shoulder, slowly melting as it was warmed by his blood. The cotton robe on his body had been cut to shreds, and many of the holes were stained with blood.

  Wu Peisheng slowly waved his fingers, and at least twenty ice cones floated up again, aiming at Li Xiangzong: "From the moment you wanted to kill me, you made a mistake. You are a martial artist, and apart from close combat, you have no chance of killing me. But you didn't seize the opportunity, do you know why?"

  He said with a smile: "Because from our house, we saw the border soldiers retreat, so we began to suspect you. Since we suspected you, how could we not be on guard against you?"

  He snorted: "The genius of the Martial Arts Academy... is just like a dog, crawling in front of me and panting heavily. You should cherish the taste of the air in this world, because the smell in hell can't be as fresh as this. Li Xiaozong... after I return to the capital, I will tell His Majesty that you died fighting bravely while capturing traitors. This is good for both you and me, and for your family, the Li family of Longyou."

  "Thank you."

  Li Xiaozong solemnly said two words.

  "Haha! You can still say 'thank you' after all this? Are you thanking me for saving your face?"

  Li Xiaozong shook his head and slowly stood up straight: "It's thanks to you being so smug, that's why you've revealed so many weaknesses."

  Wu Peisheng was shocked, his hand just about to move when a sharp pain hit the back of his head. Immediately after, an icicle protruded from his forehead, exposing itself for an inch or so. Wu Peisheng looked at Li Xiaozong in incredulity, unable to utter a word before he softly fell to the ground. As he fell, the icicles floating beside Li Xiaozong all dropped to the ground.

  Li Xiaozong let out a long sigh, walked slowly to Wu Peisheng's side and squatted down, looked at the ice cone and smiled with some satisfaction.

  "You know I'm a genius from the Martial Arts Institute, so you should know that geniuses always want to learn more. Being suppressed by those three guys at the institute for three years, if I don't practice some skills, how can I suppress them back when I return? But my cultivation of symbol magic has only been for three years after all, and it's not as smooth as yours, so I need to prepare in the world. If you're not satisfied, how can I deceive you? How can I kill you? You might not know why I volunteered to come to Fanhu last year... because it's too remote, no one knows I can cultivate symbol magic... When I return, won't those three guys be shocked?"

  "Oh... no."

  Li Xiangzong smiled and said, "Actually, I just wanted to try out my talismanic skills. Even if they're not effective, you can't kill me. As for the injuries on my body...I need to accumulate some experience for the future. What if I encounter an even more powerful talisman master? There are too few of them, and now that I've finally met one, I naturally want to play around a bit."

  He pulled out a short and light crossbow from his sleeve, then patted Wu Peisheng's face that refused to close its eyes: "Those who don't make at least two preparations are fools."

  Just then, footsteps sounded from behind him.

  Li Xiangzong stood up and turned around, only to see the woman wearing a coarse and tattered blue cotton padded jacket with floral patterns, one hand grasping Mu San's ankle as she slowly walked towards him. The icy cold Mu San had become an icy cold corpse, just like a dead dog being dragged by the woman, leaving a trail on the snowy ground.