Chapter 739: The Shi Clan Citadel
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The frozen river had just melted but the wind was still as chilly as ever. Being surrounded by mountains that showed no signs of civilization, Meng Qi had not imagined that he would end up disturbing others.
“I apologize. I got too carried away due to having encountered a joyful event.” Meng Qi cupped his hand and replied politely.
At the same time, he became alert as the man must have extraordinary skills to not be noticed by him when he was just two to three miles away. However, it didn’t seem like the man had any malicious intent. He was either a grandmaster or someone who was skillful at hiding.
A white-haired elder walked out of the thick woods. He wore dirty clothes that were full of patches, held a light green bamboo stick that was as thick as his wrist, and had eight sacks resting on his shoulders. His brows were thick and wrinkles filled his forehead and the corners of his eyes. However, he did not seem old or evil as he had a pair of eyes that were as clear as a child’s.
“Eight-Sacks Elder of the Beggar Sect?” Meng Qi gasped silently. He had a bit of a grudge with the Beggar Sect and now he met one of them without changing his looks and was thus shocked.
Of course, if the other party did want to start a conflict, Meng Qi would not be scared and act accordingly. He had offended many powerful people, and Beggar Sect was never his top concern!
The old beggar sized up Meng Qi. “Young and vigorous. Understandable. I, too, had experienced such youth in the past. Eh...”
He suddenly paused and looked suspiciously at Meng Qi. “Are you ‘Killing Blade’ Su Meng, Young Master Su?”
“Young master?” Hearing this title, Meng Qi answered thoughtfully, “Yes. And you are senior?”
It seemed like the old man wasn’t hostile.
The old beggar coughed and spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm, showing nothing of his powerful nature. He laughed and continued, “Waves from behind pushes waves in front all the time, and young masters do the same to old ones. How dare I address myself as senior when I am just a few years older.”
“Eight generations old Beggar Sect Elder loves being dirty and does not seem to be protective of their sect...” Meng Qi tried his best to recall information given by the Six Fan School while sizing up the old man. He discovered that he was lacking an ear and recognized him immediately. Cupping his hands, he smiled and paid his respects. “Senior ‘Manic Staff’.”
“Mendicant of the Manic Staff” Ling Yue was a direct disciple of the Beggar Sect. He cultivated “Pith of the Divine Beggar” and had a terrible temper and a lack of manners. However, he was courageous, upright and loved helping juniors. He also showed no mercy to any evil members of the sect. It was precisely because of his presence that the Beggar Sect was not known as a heretical sect.
Seeing that Meng Qi recognized himself, Ling Yue snapped his lips in satisfaction. “Do not worry about what happened in River East as it was right to kill those human traffickers. If I chanced upon them, I would have stroked too. Sigh. The creator of our sect was born in poverty and begged when he was a child. After becoming a Dharmakaya due to his adventures, he vowed to help and unite all beggars in the world. Unfortunately, within us beggars, there existed many criminals and bastards. It would be wise to kill them off rather than to help them!”
He criticized his predecessor without any hesitation.
More than half of those who begged even though they had hands and feet would not be good people.
“Indeed as expected, he is irascible and forthright...” Meng Qi praised the accuracy of the information silently and gave no attention to Ling Yue’s words. There were way more bastards than good men in Beggar Sect, and the few that were chivalrous dared not disobey the teachings of the predecessors and so would not be able to change the entire sect. Even though he told Meng Qi not to worry, the latter was sure that many masters of the Beggar Sect sought revenge on him, albeit discretely!
Fortunately, he did not expect to be on good terms with Beggar Sect as well.
“I did not know that senior was resting here and had accidentally disrupted you. I’ll leave now. Please forgive me.” Meng Qi decided on leaving now.
Ling Yue nodded at first before suddenly speaking. “Wait a moment, there is a matter I want Young Master Su to witness.”
“Witness?” Meng Qi parroted, doubtful.
Ling Yue explained with a smile, “I have known Shi Tianjin from the Shi Clan Citadel for years and both of us possess equal strength. We have dueled multiple times and each of us had had our fair share of victory and defeat. Thus, none of us admit being weaker than the other. Now, both of us are about to breakthrough to the second level of the Celestial Ladder and require only one last step. Thus, we wanted to have a real duel to the death in order to breakthrough to the realm of grandmaster.”
“Although we have already made a life-and-death contract that stated for our family and clan to stay out of this regardless of who died in the duel, we did not manage to find any unrelated master to act as a witness for the match as we were in a hurry. The contract alone will not be credible enough.”
“With Young Master Su’s reputation in Jianghu currently, you can replace most grandmasters. It is of great luck to meet Young Master here. Please offer your help here tonight for the duel.”
The Shi Clan Citadel was a famous place in the Jianghu of North Zhou Dynasty, and Shi Tianqi himself was a master of the Martial Artists Community. He specialized in trade with North Zhou and the Great Plains and had countless close ties with aristocratic families and sects. His pair of iron rods were known to “shape Yin and Yang and create life and death”. He himself was known to be one of the Peerless Master Pros that was most likely to become a grandmaster.
Although Meng Qi loved minding other people’s business, he was uninterested in the battle of two Peerless Master Pros. He was about to reject the request when he heard Ling Yue’s last sentence.
“I have a higher reputation in Jianghu today than most grandmasters?” Meng Qi’s heart was secretly full of joy and he could not help but raise his head and accept the request. “I have to agree since senior placed so much faith onto me.”
As a reputable and just Young Master, how can he not testify for others’ life-and-death duel?
Ling Yue laughed and raised his thumb in approval. “Such straightforwardness worthy of the name, Killing Blade!”
“I’m starting to regret my decision after hearing that...” The smile on Meng Qi’s face froze as he continued to talk to Ling Yue’s about his past adventures, such as running thousands of miles to ambush masters of the Golden Camp who were robbing at the Southern Great Plains, or venturing deep into the Plains to rescue Young Masters who were kidnaped, or offending Cui Family of Ge state due to righteousness.
Ling Yue beamed as he talked about his past, as one couldn’t help but recall the past eventful years before a duel to the death.
Time passed as water flowed and moon soon shone brightly on the sky. Ling Yue frowned and flew up, sensing the surroundings. “Where is Shi Tianqi? He always kept his words...”
“Could it be that Senior Shi has met an accident, or had other things to deal with?” Meng Qi suggested.
Ling Yue frowned. “It has already been half an hour. I’ll wait another half an hour before paying him a visit.”
He had forged a deep friendship in his repeated duels with Shi Tianqi, otherwise the duel today could not have been arranged.
Shi Tianqi was completely foreign to Meng Qi and thus he could not use Jade Virtual Divination to deduce the location of the master. Furthermore, this duel had nothing to do with him and thus he wasn’t worried at all, waiting calmly alongside Ling Yue.
As the moon began to set, Ling Yue could not wait any longer. “Old Shi always kept his words. Even if he had urgent issues to attend to, he would inform me. Something must have happened. Young Master Su, can you accompany me to the Shi Clan Citadel to prove that he did not come to meet me.”
Meng Qi agreed to go after some hesitation.
Two streams of light flew across the clouds like meteors southwards towards the Shi Clan Citadel.
More than half an hour later, Meng Qi saw the Shi Clan Citadel, which was a castle built dangerously on a cliff. The buildings had thick walls and were surrounded by protective spells like a fortress.
At this time, there was a commotion below.
When Ling Yue and Meng Qi descended, only a few masters of the Shi Clan Citadel reacted. The rest were all in a state of agitation and confusion.
Shi Tianqi had a son and a daughter, both more than twenty years of age. The son, who was muscular and strong, had a rigid expression while the pretty daughter, who wore a purple dress, had a blank look on her face.
When they saw Ling Yue and Meng Qi, they rushed up to meet them. “Uncle Ling, my father’s soul lamp has been extinguished!”
“What?” Ling Yue was shocked but he immediately regained his composure. “Speak slowly.”
“This is?” The teary-eyed Si Xiaoxiu did not forget to notice the stranger amidst them.
Ling Yue introduced, “Young Master Su Meng, the Killing Blade.”
“‘Killing Blade’ Su Meng?” Instantly, all the masters of the Shi Clan Citadel turned silent in shock. “That’s someone more famous than Senior Ling Yue!”
Forcing herself to remain composed, Shi Xiaoxiu bowed and explained with a wail, “At evening, father suddenly left without leaving any clue. At midnight, second brother, who was in charge of guarding the ancestral hall, discovered that father’s soul lamp had been extinguished. Please, please help the Shi Clan Citadel!”
“It must be an extremely important matter for the Fort Master of the Shi Clan Citadel to leave so hurriedly...” Meng Qi frowned as he made calm deductions on the matter.