Chapter 640: A Grudge Is Settled on the Spot

He did not think Qiu Qianren could receive his strike without injury; although he could not kill him, the deserved lesson and the face to regain were still necessary.

Around, many sect members had come, originally intending to go straight to Shaolin, but they hadn't expected to encounter this scene; instead, it was unexpected.

"So it's Qin the great demon; it looks like Qiu Qianren is in for bad luck, tsk tsk!"

"Qiu Qianren is, after all, a gang chief and has practiced Iron Sand Palm for years; he shouldn't be unable to take even one move from Qin the demon, right?"

"Exactly, both are post-natal perfection; they're about equal, and moreover, with internal strife at this critical juncture, isn't this giving Shaolin an opportunity?"

The crowd debated heatedly; most thought Qiu Qianren wasn't that bad, while some major sects wanted to stop this farce.

Quanzhen Sect's Qiu Chuji took the lead, blocking before Ye Qin could act. He glanced at Ye Qin and Qiu Qianren, then said: "Gentlemen, Shaolin is about to reopen its mountain gate; don't fight among yourselves, Qin Sir, please restrain yourself a bit."

Upon hearing this, Ye Qin frowned, his face darkened, and he coldly questioned: "Daoist Qiu, could you tell me what you mean by 'restrain yourself'? Put bluntly, the one most affected by Shaolin reopening its mountain gate is you, not me."

Qiu Chuji wanted to speak in a lecturing tone; this wasn't mediation, it was clearly picking a fight.

"Qin the demon, don't act tough; others fear you, but I don't!" Qiu Chuji said coldly, not taking Ye Qin seriously at all.

He thought that even if Ye Qin were fiercer, he wouldn't dare act against him before the heroes of the world, after all, in public.

"Hahaha!"

Ye Qin looked at Qiu Chuji as if he were an idiot, then after a moment sneered: "Daoist Qiu, you're quite eloquent; clearly you're using power to suppress me, trying to force this court official. I'd like to ask Daoist Qiu, since you disregard the court, are you planning to rebel?"

Or is it that your entire Quanzhen Sect harbors this idea, planning to support a king and establish yourselves? Have you considered the common people and where you would place the imperial court?

These words, like a barrage of cannon fire, exploded, leaving Qiu Chuji ashamed and angry, unable to retort, nearly fainting on the spot.

"You……"

He stared fixedly at Ye Qin, face ashen. Ye Qin unjustly slapped a big label on him, which he couldn't shake off, and also dragged Quanzhen Sect into trouble. Once the Zhao Song court truly believed Quanzhen Sect intended rebellion, even if they were the largest sect under heaven, they would be doomed.

Those around, including Qiu Qianren, were all dumbfounded; Ye Qin's opening words about rebellion and establishing a regime shocked them.

"Should I help Qiu Chuji, who spoke up for me?" Qianren pondered, but upon recalling Ye Qin's abilities, he immediately shook his head and rejected the idea.

If his Iron Palm Gang were also branded with rebellion, the Imperial City Guard could easily fabricate evidence; even jumping into the Yellow River wouldn't clear his name. It's not worth it for a stranger like Qiu Chuji.

Thus he remained silent, practicing the inward gaze: eyes to nose, nose to mouth, mouth to heart.

Qiu Chuji glared at him furiously and shouted: "Gang Chief Qiu, do you really accept this humiliation?"

Who would have thought Qiu Qianren would coldly retort: "Daoist Qiu, your words are too heavy; this gang chief and Qin Sir are merely exchanging blows normally, yet you thrust yourself in—could it be you truly intend to rebel and establish your own rule?"

"You'd better stay away from me; I fear being implicated!"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Chuji's last shred of hope for Qiu Qianren vanished completely; he stared blankly and said: "It turns out you're all in the same boat; my Quanzhen Sect isn't easy to bully!"

Seeing Qiu Chuji nearly blinded by anger, Qin Xuan's face sank and he coldly said: "You think Quanzhen Sect is hard to deal with, but am I easy to bully?"

Although Quanzhen Sect claims to be the greatest under heaven, he Qin Xuan has never feared it.

At this moment, Qiu Qianren instead sneered from the side: "Daoist Qiu, I appreciate your good intentions, but regarding your predicament, I can only express sympathy."

A master who has grasped sword intent—he himself isn't a match; Qiu Chuji, where do you get the courage to clash head-on with him?

"You're no saint either!" Qiu Chuji glared at Qiu Qianren angrily: "I spoke up for you out of goodwill; if you don't appreciate it, fine, but you also despise me—what kind of reasoning is that?"

His worldview seemed to collapse completely at this moment.

Who would have thought, Qiu Qianren shrugged indifferently and said: "Originally, my grudge with Qin Sir could be settled in a single move; now your meddling has ruined my plan completely."

He's not stupid either; with Qiu Chuji interfering like this, the grudge may be impossible to resolve.

It's all because of that damned old Taoist with a cow nose!

"You, you don't know good from bad!" Qiu Chuji shouted furiously: "I'm clearly doing this for your own good, yet you don't appreciate a kind heart!"

His old face flushed crimson, like pig's liver.

To the side, Qin Xuan watched Qiu Chuji's performance indifferently, a cold smile curling his lips: "How about it, Daoist Qiu, do you just want to let this matter go today?"

Even if the Seven Masters of Quanzhen all came, he wouldn't fear them; let alone now only six remain, the Big Dipper Sword Formation can't be formed, their strength greatly diminished—what does he have to fear?

Dare to obstruct his disciplining of others, and this grudge will become a major feud.

"What do you want?" Qiu Chuji asked, voice trembling: "Although you hold an official post, I'm not easy to provoke either—I……"

"Enough, I know you're not a vegetarian; stop the nonsense." Qin Xuan cut him off before he could finish.

Qiu Chuji's old face darkened with anger from those words, nearly fainting.

"Now Shaolin is our common enemy; your internal strife is just letting Shaolin reap a free benefit." Qiu Chuji lectured, frowning: "With a major foe before you, still fighting internally—isn't that letting Shaolin laugh at you?"

His gaze was gloomy, tinged with chill, and he believed what he said was factual.

But Qin Xuan felt deep malice; whether Shaolin opens its mountain gate matters little to him, and he didn't even know the agreement made years ago by the various sects at Qin Lake with Shaolin, so he doesn't understand the nuances here.

Qiu Qianren thought Qin Xuan's demand was reasonable, not like extermination, but rather a settlement to go separate ways thereafter; however, Qiu Chuji interfered and ruined the plan. "No, you're wrong." Qin Xuan smiled and suddenly said: "Actually, the ones who should worry are you; you spread your teachings worldwide, competing for a thread of incense, whereas I need none, so I am different from you."

Serving in the court, he holds an official post, can draw a strand of the nation's fortune, and his cultivation proceeds smoothly; but Qiu Chuji and his ilk are different—without contention, they have nothing.

Qiu Chuji, just stunned by Qin Xuan's reprimand, even if he considered himself strong and Quanzhen Sect mighty, dared not respond, fearing to be branded as rebels; should the court settle accounts, even a vast force might collapse.

So there was nothing he could do.

He could only suppress his anger for now, planning to settle the score with Qin Xuan later, but he didn't know Qin Xuan always bears grudges and never leaves overnight grievances—any grudge must be settled on the spot.

He didn't care about Qiu Qianren's minor grudge, but Qiu Chuji blamed him in front of all the Qin Lake people; even a clay figure has three parts temper, let alone he is a court official.

Before Qiu Chuji could speak, Qin Xuan again said coldly: "You've repeatedly offended me; I have forgiven you time and again out of respect for Quanzhen Sect's past service against the Jin, yet you keep provoking me—do you really think I dare not kill you?"

Suddenly, an icy, extreme aura surged like heaven collapsing and earth splitting toward Qiu Chuji; Qin Xuan's eyes were like swords and lightning, as if imbued with spirit, sword intent shooting forth.

Boom!

Qiu Chuji was frightened into sitting on his buttocks, his face extremely grim, trembling as he said: "You, what do you intend to do?"

"What you want to do depends on whether you cooperate." Qin Xuan smiled gently, but to Qiu Chuji it seemed as terrifying as a demon.

!

He hastily shouted: "Stop, my senior brothers are coming soon; then our Quanzhen Sect won't let you off. If you cease now, we can pretend nothing happened, and I can also pretend nothing happened—how about that?"

If he truly fought Qin Xuan, he seemed unlikely to win.

"If you want me to let go, you can also cripple one of your arms; I'll spare your life out of respect for Quanzhen Sect's reputation—how about that?" Qin Xuan asked with a smile.

After discarding one arm, this person is crippled; not everyone can, like the Divine Eagle Hero, still break through to the Innate Realm after losing an arm, but Qiu Chuji lacks such luck.

When Qin Xuan looked at Qiu Chuji with a half-smile, Qiu Qianren knew this brat was up to no good and couldn't help feeling sympathy for Qiu Chuji: "Daoist Qiu, although you spoke up for me and thus brought this disaster upon yourself, but in Lord Qin's presence, if you don't want trouble, you'd better discard an arm quickly; besides, being crippled isn't the same as having nothing."

You...

Qiu Chuji instantly flared with rage, his old face turning bright red; since following True Person Chongyang in cultivation, he had never suffered such humiliation; he glared at Qin Xuan and shouted: "Qin demon, do you truly intend to be enemies with my All Truth Sect, to the death?"

Qin Xuan shook his head, speaking calmly: "You are not worthy of being my eternal enemies; in my eyes, you are merely a bunch of fools, not worth mentioning."

Of course, if you want to say I am enemies with the All Truth Sect, that's fine; the All Truth Sect intends to rebel and establish itself—what do you think the authorities would think if they knew? Would they send a fifty-thousand-strong army or a hundred-thousand-strong army?

I am narrow-minded and petty; I like to repay grudges on the spot—I don't know if Daoist Qiu can give me a chance to get my revenge?

The grievance he suffered cannot go unanswered; he must regain his standing and dignity, otherwise he would become someone everyone can trample and beat.

"Let's change the condition!" Qiu Chuji's old face darkened, but he finally decided to endure a little; when under another's roof, one must lower one's head, since his fellow disciples haven't arrived yet, and he alone cannot hold up.

"No change, this is the condition." Qin Xuan waved his hand, speaking nonchalantly: "Don't deliberately stall; it's no good for you, you can't escape the debts you owe, and you won't get out of the ones you don't owe."

Even if Ma Yu arrives, he'll say the same, and won't fear or retreat; at worst, we'll fight before the Young Forest Temple reopens its mountain gate—as long as the All Truth Sect isn't afraid, Qin Xuan feels he isn't either; if we're going to play, let's play big—just ask if the All Truth Sect dares to accept!

At that moment, a faint voice came from not far away: "Lord Qin, your words are mistaken!"

Ma Yu, wearing a Daoist headscarf and holding a long sword, walked over slowly; seeing Qiu Chuji in a sorry state, he involuntarily said in a deep voice: "Lord Qin, Qiu Shi-di is after all a disciple of my All Truth Sect."

Moreover, I think his words are reasonable; the Young Forest Temple reopening its mountain gate has far-reaching influence; we absolutely cannot cause internal strife at this time, otherwise letting others reap the benefits would be a loss not worth the gain.

His words openly revealed blame, clearly showing dissatisfaction with Qin Xuan's actions.

Qin Xuan gave a faint smile and suddenly said: "What does this have to do with me?"

What impact the reopening of the Young Forest Temple's mountain gate will have, he doesn't care; anyway, the world won't fall into chaos, at most the Young Forest Temple will gain a few more believers who pray to Buddha and seek gods, and the struggle for fortune is a matter among those sects that preach and teach; as he holds an important post in the Imperial City Office, he naturally won't be affected.

Lord Qin, you are also a person from Qin Lake...

Ma Yu took a deep breath, began to advise earnestly, but before he could finish, Qin Xuan interrupted: "Wait, Daoist Ma, you're overstating it; I am merely half a person from Qin Lake. In my view, whether it's the All Truth Sect or the Young Forest Temple, both are subjects of the Great Song, and they really shouldn't be feuding!"

The implication is that your junior disciple Qiu Chuji came without cause to obstruct and provoke me, hoping to gloss it over with a few words—there's no such easy thing, not even a chance.

Ma Yu stared at Qin Xuan, a flush rising on his upright, honest face; he was truly astonished at Qin Xuan's talent for speaking lies with eyes open. After a moment's thought, he asked: "Lord, how do you intend to settle this matter?"

We can't keep this stalemate going, can we?

Although he knows Qin Xuan will not let it rest easily, the pressing matter right now is handling the Young Forest Temple affair; as for the trouble from Qin Xuan's side, he can only suffer a bit, treating it as a minor matter.

Upon hearing that, Qin Xuan nodded satisfactorily and said: "That's fine; my demand isn't high—just severing Daoist Qiu's arm will do, a simple matter."

Simple, my ass!

Ma Yu silently cursed: "You great demon, you actually still want to sever my junior disciple's arm—if he loses an arm, is he still himself?"

What's the difference between that and being castrated into a eunuch? What meaning is there left in living?

Qiu Chuji on the ground hadn't yet gotten up; hearing this, he turned pale with fright and hurriedly said: "Just now you said only to cripple it, so why now sever it?"

This is less than the time it takes to finish half a cup of tea; the speed of changing one's mind is too fast.

Who would have thought, Qin Xuan joked: "Just now was just now, now is now—different time, naturally different conditions."

Cripple and sever are completely different. If crippled, it's still there, though one can't exert strength or do heavy labor; eating and drinking are still possible, but if severed, it's completely gone—later one lacks a hand, making many things difficult to do.

You, you're going too far!" Qiu Chuji said angrily: "I only said a few words about you—why must you sever a person's arm?"

You know, once a martial artist loses an arm, how can he still wield a sword or brandish a blade? (End of chapter)