Chapter 84: Eighty-Nine, The Twin Champions of Yunmeng

Eighty-Nine, The Twin Champions of Yunmeng

When the top speaks, the bottom runs itself to exhaustion.

After the morning meeting ended, the entire Longcheng County Office buzzed back to life due to a single remark from the young county magistrate.

After returning to the Western Hall, County Assistant Diao gathered the heads of the Six Bureaus and announced the new plan, assigning new tasks.

Well, he only had to open his mouth—after all, if the sky fell, the tall young magistrate would hold it up, and the subordinates would handle the rest.

County Assistant Diao strolled into the meeting hall with his hands behind his back, ready to give a brief speech, but suddenly turned at the door and spotted a thin, tall man with a blank expression trailing behind him.

Holy hell, how is this guy walking without a sound? Like my wife sneaking up on me catching her husband in bed?

But aside from the muttering, he was a familiar face near the young magistrate—County Assistant Diao naturally recognized him.

He guessed this was someone sent to inspect the post.

Not particularly surprised, County Assistant Diao nodded slightly to Liu Ashan, then turned and entered the meeting hall.

Soon after, the hall was filled with over a dozen senior clerks from the Six Bureaus and various departments.

“Nothing much? Barely?”

Gu Wenjian glared at his teasing senior brother, his tone slightly irritated, then continued:

Earlier, you raised your head, your delicate eyebrows lifted, your clear eyes fixed on a cluster of blooming Jian orchids by the window, and you exhaled slowly.

The Qi Refiner interrupted curiously: “You still haven’t watered your orchids? Isn’t it inconvenient to move around?”

The Qi Refiner bit into peach flesh, speaking unclearly: “Wu Guo Wu Jian, what’s the matter?”

From before the shadow wall near the outhouse stepped out a thin, tall man with a blank expression.

Gu Wenjian pondered a moment, then explained:

“After Tao Ouyang Rong won, Xue Zhongzhu publicly rejected that claim, yet still allowed any junior to observe the Ding—this reignited heated debate across the Tiannan Jianghu.”

After eating, the Qi Refiner packed the food box but didn’t leave immediately.

Xie Ling asked gloomily: “Should we notify Brother Yan to handle it…?”

“The pace is acceptable…”

You hid your slightly curved lips and asked curiously:

After the meeting ended, each bureau and department filed out, returning to their respective clerical offices to organize.

“Got it, kind of interesting,” the Qi Refiner nodded, then added with mild disinterest:

“The Sword Bureau clerks are even less interesting—and even more watched.”

Hearing the expansion was going smoothly with little need for his help, Gu Wenjian quietly relaxed.

Eight rods of sunlight remain; afternoon is about to begin.

“By the way, there’s one more thing—possibly related to our Longcheng flood.”

“Who won? Not that Zhao Qingxiu, the one your sister can’t stand?”

He paused, thought a moment, stood up, straightened his sleeves, and lowered his gaze:

“Not that absurd, but close enough,” Bai Wenzǐ shook his head, sighing:

“The former is technique, the latter is Dao. Senior Brother can roughly understand: the former’s contest restricts spiritual energy and cultivation base; the latter’s contest allows full expression, life or death unbound.”

“Ding?”

After a while, another horse-faced cook emerged from the outhouse, first heading to the stable to feed the county office’s horses.

Again, the same boudoir, the window open, sunlight falling on the table.

“After Tao Ouyang Rong, no one in the Tiannan Jianghu questioned it. But lately, Yunmeng Lake’s repeated floods have left several prefectures of Jiangnan Dao destitute—some say it’s tied to a Ding guarded by Yunmeng Nüze, and that Bai Wenzǐ is secretly manipulating the floods for unspeakable ends.”

Gu Wenjian shook his head and sighed: “I don’t know the exact title of the seventh-rank lineage of Yuenan, but according to the official reports, when Xue Zhongzhu entered the lower rank, extraordinary signs erupted—not only did ten thousand peach blossoms fall, but a white monkey with a sword in the valley let out a long, piercing howl…”

But of course, the inspiration for this new plan didn’t come from nowhere.

He wasn’t sure whether Big Sister had learned from Auntie, but having finished her nagging, Bai Wenzǐ nodded reluctantly in agreement.

“Thank you, Senior Brother.”

The Qi Refiner listened, growing more amused, treating it like a digestible tale, chewing the apple until Gu Wenjian suddenly turned and said:

Silence fell for a moment.

Hearing the sensitive word, the mischief-maker instantly perked up: “What’s that?”

“Ashan, dealing with someone like Liu Ziwen boils down to four words: guard against dirty hands, use open, righteous strategy. Crush him with overwhelming force so he has no counter.”

The Qi Refiner asked Xie Ling curiously.

But you must teach Big Sister well.

Recently, a young man who had stopped reading, begun flipping through books randomly, and subtly brushed against the first-rank threshold furrowed his brows, then relaxed them.

“This county office is already leaky; you can’t plug every hole or catch every thief. Next time, no matter how carefully you guard, the accounts still burn.”

“Eight people: one dead, one injured, one crawling off the stage in disgrace.”

Bai Wenzǐ asked curiously: “What’s the difference between sword technique and sword Dao?”

…

“But even that wasn’t the end—when someone stepped onto the stage, Xue Zhongzhu turned her gaze to the lone seventh-rank sword cultivator present, a senior disciple who carried overwhelming frost-white sword qi, stepped forward into Purple Qi Seventh Rank, becoming one of the rare lower-rank sword cultivators. Within the final hundred breaths, she dominated with pressure, defeating him in a single move… leaving the entire hall stunned.”

“The eldest among these young lords had barely reached Vermilion Qi Eighth Rank—still not enough to claim the top spot in the Jianghu. Why not let it go to Qingzao Pavilion of the Baqing Sect, or the more openly renowned Taiqing Longhu Mountain, equally reclusive but more prominent?”

The former took it, opened the fingers, lowered his gaze, and swiftly read through it.

But few opposed it—after all, these county office veterans were all outsiders to flood control, and their main sources of graft weren’t here.

“Senior Brother, rest more. I see your eyes are sunken today. Sleep well at night. Set flood control aside for a while. Mental strain is harder to bear than physical labor, and you’re doing both.”

At the front of the crowd, a chubby Gu Wenjian half-heartedly responded to his colleagues’ chatter. When the crowd dispersed, he walked to a corridor, where two people waited.

In the long corridor near the west gate of the county office, Fat Bai Wen emerged from an outhouse, his expression serious as he returned to the official quarters, as if merely passing by.

The young magistrate put down his brush, rubbed his wrist, and looked up with a light smile:

After the Qi Refiner stepped out, he glanced at the blooming Jian orchids in the courtyard and said casually: “You’re growing these orchids wrong.”

County Assistant Diao put down his teacup and announced the new plan with a serious face; everyone began to buzz with discussion.

He turned and silently watched the direction where Fat Gu Wenjian had left.

Some may have entertained thoughts of secretly profiting from Zhe Yiqu, but remembering the new magistrate’s heroic deeds—and the lesson of heads hung on the city wall after the East Warehouse chaos—they quietly abandoned most of those ideas; no one wanted to be the first to stick out.

The Qi Refiner asked curiously: “You wouldn’t stand alone and fight ten, would you?”

“Anyone with eyes can see you deliberately suppressed your rank to establish dominance in Tao Valley. Such a sharp, aggressive Wu-Yue male cultivator hasn’t appeared in Yunmeng Nüze for a long time—his momentum even surpassed this generation’s Yue Chuzi.”

“Xue Zhongzhu’s methods were brutal. Only the top-tier mid-rank Nü Jun of the era dared to face her alone on the stage—not just eighth-rank, but first-rank, because the heavens have few who can cultivate orthodox sword qi to reach lower-rank Purple Qi. Few Nü Jun of Yunmeng Nüze ever made it to the male jun hall, and even Xue Zhongzhu, the senior sister of the male jun hall, had no more than eighth-rank spiritual energy…”

As if heading out to buy feed, the horse-faced cook greeted a colleague, drove an empty cart, and slowly headed out the west gate.

The guiding maid said earnestly: “No, I’m not thanking Lady Xie for nurturing us—she taught us how to care for them.”

The Qi Refiner handed a steaming bowl of white rice to the pale, weary Xie Shigui.

“Soon, no one dares step onto the stage to challenge the arrogant Bai Wenjun. Lose, and you forfeit your sword and crawl off.”

You smiled: “But after this Tao Ouyang Rong, all those doubters should fall silent.”

At the front desk of the main hall, the young magistrate sat quietly listening to the thin, tall man’s report.

“And Xue Zhongzhu was extremely frugal—eight swords. For every opponent, she used no more than eight.”

The guiding maid breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

“Oh.”

She washed two more apples, tossed one to Big Sister, took a bite herself, then pulled out a large bamboo slip from her sleeve and handed it to Big Sister.

Su Fu’s front courtyard.

Indeed, if Senior Brother were as busy as when he ran the relief camp, he probably wouldn’t have time to deliver meals daily—though perhaps Auntie Zhen was keeping him in check.

“Fine, fine, fine…”

Someone arrived punctually with lunch, greeted warmly by the maid.

The young man hid his thoughts behind his face, nodding:

“The two male jun of Yunmeng Nüze’s Sword Hall have claimed the twin champions of sword technique and sword Dao—hardly surprising.”

“Not quite overwhelming, though.”

The Qi Refiner shook his head:

“Mm.”

A courtyard recently hung with a sign reading Yilan Xuan.

“Still, it’s understandable—this male jun seems to be the acting head of Yunmeng Nüze’s Sword Hall. The other male jun, including Yue Chuzi Zhao Qingxiu, were all overseen by her during their ascension.”

Actually, Lady Xie often went out these days—visiting Lady Su next door, tending orchids in the courtyard, or practicing archery—but every noon, the lively Lady Xie would instantly grow quiet, returning precisely to change clothes…

Bai Wenzǐ paused, set down his bowl, and described the situation at Zhe Yiqu, including today’s new plan.

The seven gradually departed.

Fat Gu Wenjian glanced back, then turned silently toward the west gate, as if going to the outhouse…

Gu Wenjian quietly observed the handsome woman’s attire today, watching her, with no sign of disgust, pick up a single grain of rice from the table and pop it into her mouth—it wasn’t surprising; she’d clearly grown used to it these days.

“A male jun named Xue Zhongzhu defended the Bai Wenzǐ Ze’s Lei , and the final sword Dao champion was this man—but she won in a rather…”

The guiding maid smiled sideways: “Lady Xie cultivated them…”

“A bit unexpected, yet perfectly reasonable.”

“That time, the sword technique contest was held in a peach grove. The finest sword cultivators of the heavens entered the grove, using peach branches as swords. After eight sticks of incense burned, only one emerged alone—the silent, icy Yue Chuzi.”

The former shook his head in silence.

“How’s Zhe Yiqu going?”

“Yet the Jianghu has always harbored doubts—some Bai Wenzǐ claim this generation of Yunmeng Nüze isn’t fit to lead the Tiannan Jianghu, since nearly none of the next generation of Yue men survive, Yunmeng Nüze’s Sword Hall isn’t even full, and they lack even a single lower-rank Nü Jun.”

That time, the last eight to take the stage were all eighth-rank Baiwenzi: one renowned swordsman, one Chang’an sword hero, one Lower Qing Daoist.

So slow? It seems even the Dragon King Liu family isn’t as calm as we imagined—there’s white sweat brewing, and the truth is about to show?

Keep them fed for now; it’s hard to catch a few rats, but maybe we can use them tomorrow… Let’s go, back for lunch—Big Sister still needs feeding. By the way, how is the wound still bad? Didn’t you go easy when you hit her?

Damn it, everyone who tipped and voted after reading the last chapter—get them all locked up, I’m giving you two solid punches! You didn’t vote before, now you do? Damn it, I’m a serious author—I wrote these details naturally to create realism and immersion, not to omit scenes lightly. It’s not intentional! Don’t misunderstand me! (serious face)

(End of Chapter)