Chapter 23: Horizontal Sword Technique

A crane's cry rang out in the sky; Zhou Shuo raised his head, looking at the snake eagle that had fallen from the heavens before him, he reached out and took the ceramic bottle it delivered with its beak, feeling the slightly warm and cool bottle, the corner of his mouth curled up a faint smile, not to brag, this trip was a profit—he saved a girl and also gained some money.

Hall Master.

"Speak up!" Zhou Shuo put away the ceramic bottle, turned his head to look at the disciple of Fangsheng Hall entering the courtyard; a thought crossed his mind, and the snake eagle beside him spread its wings and flew up into the sky.

Wei Lao Da has arrived.

"Wow, that guy actually came in person—where is he?" Zhou Shuo looked at the reporting disciple, his eyebrows jumping; Wei Zhuang had actually come to find him personally—what could this be for?

He's outside, and Wei Lao Da even brought someone with him.

"Come on, bring—well, you go ask them to come in." Zhou Shuo opened his mouth; Wei Zhuang's nature was that he never actively sought people out, and once he did come looking for someone, he inevitably brought trouble, so there was no need for Zhou Shuo to go greet him.

Zhou Shuo had someone lead Wei Zhuang over, while he himself set out a small table and clear tea; after the tea was ready, the outside disciple brought Wei Zhuang in, behind him following a slender figure—a lovely girl dressed in peach-red garments, adorned with various exquisite silver ornaments, wearing peach-red long boots, her bearing both charming and noble.

"This is Han Xiong's younger sister!" Zhou Shuo gazed at the lovely girl, unconsciously twitching his nose, he picked up the teapot and poured green tea into the cup before Wei Zhuang.

"Who are you?" The girl glanced at the man sizing her up while speaking with Wei Zhuang, and she couldn't help but feel displeased.

"You've noticed—do you have a solution?" Wei Zhuang sat upright, lifted his gaze from the green tea, and looked straight at Zhou Shuo.

"Why do you think I have a solution?" Zhou Shuo turned to meet Wei Zhuang's gaze, set the teapot on the table—this girl is Han Fei's younger sister, currently the Princess Honglian of Han State, future Heavenly King of Flowing Sand Chilian; because of Wei Zhuang's mistake, she was mistakenly led to the Cold Palace, captured that night by Tian Ze, who planned to assault the palace; Wei Zhuang rescued her, but it was too late—her body had gone wrong, and even from three zhang away one could smell an unnatural fishy odor.

"Hey, I'm asking you—did you hear me?" Honglian the girl looked at the man speaking with Wei Zhuang, ignoring her own companion, and she felt so angry she wanted to stomp her foot.

"I've seen you practice; your body is changing." Wei Zhuang lifted his tea cup and took a sip of the clear tea.

"But some things aren't suitable for everyone." Zhou Shuo shrugged; even from three zhang away he could smell a fishy odor on the girl's body—that was poison, flowing in her blood, completely permeating her constitution; in other words, she had become a poisoned person. Wei Zhuang's idea was to have him teach Honglian a cultivation method to exchange her blood, to see if she could shed this constitution—this idea wasn't impossible, but one needed a genuine Marrow Washing Blood Exchange Technique; his half-baked Mixed Qi Cultivation's Marrow Washing Technique wouldn't do.

"We have to try." Wei Zhuang set down his tea cup, then produced a bamboo slip from somewhere and handed it over.

"Wow, Horizontal Sword Technique—you really are willing to part with it." Zhou Shuo looked at the three seal characters on the bamboo slip, his eyebrows twitching; he turned his gaze to Honglian, wondering whether Wei Zhuang was doing this for Han Fei or for Honglian.

"What are you looking at?" Honglian the girl gazed at Zhou Shuo's eyes, instinctively pouting her lips; if she weren't in his presence, the princess would certainly make him regret it!

"I wasn't looking at anything, but I have a question." Zhou Shuo turned his head to Wei Zhuang.

"Ask." Wei Zhuang's reply was just one word.

"Who are you doing this for?" Zhou Shuo, being nosy, wondered whether it was for principle or for love.

That doesn't matter.

"All right then! Tell me her condition in detail; if your proposed method works, my current cultivation methods won't suffice, but I know where there is a method that can cure her." Zhou Shuo looked at Wei Zhuang's unchanging face, raised his eyebrows, and simultaneously gazed at the girl Honglian.

"Treatment? I'm not sick!" Honglian the girl immediately retorted upon hearing this; she was furious—she, a princess of a state, had come here without even a seat, standing there watching them, no one offered her a chair, which was fine, but to say she needed treatment—it was they who were ill!

"To be precise, you're not ill—you've been poisoned, a serious poison. What happened after Tian Ze took you away?" Zhou Shuo looked at the indignant, angry Xiao Honghua, lifted his tea cup, and took a sip.

"Heaven, you mean the guy who snatched me—he first locked me up somewhere, then had an old man bring me to a snake pit, saying they were refining some gu, and Xiao Hong was killed by them." Honglian first froze, then reacted, instinctively speaking as she spoke, her expression somewhat dejected and even more doubtful.

"What is Xiao Hong?" Wei Zhuang's eyes flickered slightly.

"A snake, very beautiful, with red, black, and gold scales on its body; sadly it was killed, but it let me eat its poison sac." Honglian gazed at Wei Zhuang, unconsciously averting her eyes, feeling a little downcast and sad.

"It looks like the problem may lie here." Zhou Shuo looked at the grieving, disheartened Chilian, feeling a sigh inside—it was hard to imagine what such a blossoming princess would become.

"Only there can we find a cure." Wei Zhuang looked toward Zhou Shuo.

"I'll tell you— that place you can't go, even I wouldn't dare go there." Zhou Shuo glanced at Wei Zhuang with the corner of his eye, then shook his head; three months had already passed, and the people of the Supreme Ultimate Dao basically act on their word—surely they are already hunting him down.

"How much time is needed?" Wei Zhuang didn't hesitate much.

"I don't want to go there either now." Zhou Shuo turned to glare at Wei Zhuang, "Damn it, don't be so presumptuous—I never agreed to this."

Three months.

"I—" Zhou Shuo opened his mouth, seeing the three months again, "Do you have to be such a pain in the ass?"

"Then it's settled." Wei Zhuang looked at Zhou Shuo's open-mouthed expression and rose from his seat.

"You're not afraid I'll run?" Zhou Shuo looked at the standing Wei Zhuang, narrowing his eyes, "Damn it, believe it or not, I'll make you end up like He Wusheng—trying to draw water with a bamboo basket, all for naught."

"You won't run." Wei Zhuang glanced at Zhou Shuo's unfriendly gaze, then lifted his eyes to look at Honglian.

"What confidence do you have to say such a thing!" Zhou Shuo lowered his gaze, reached out to pick up the tea cup, and took a sip of the cooled tea.

"No confidence." Faced with Wei Zhuang's answer, Zhou Shuo nearly spat out the tea he'd just swallowed— "You have no confidence yet you're so cocky; who do you think you are, putting on airs like that?"

After the words were spoken, Wei Zhuang didn't linger, taking the bewildered princess girl away; Zhou Shuo watched the two figures depart, curled his lips, and turned his gaze to the bamboo slip on the table—what kind of mindset does this guy have, clearly lacking confidence yet leaving things behind—what is he planning?

"I really don't understand the thought process of a pretentious youth." Zhou Shuo pondered for half a day, still couldn't figure it out, reached out and took the bamboo slip, spreading it to view—this is a sword manual, the Guigu School's Horizontal Sword Technique manual, and also the payment Wei Zhuang gave him.

Zhou Shuo unfolded the sword manual; at the beginning of the bamboo slip was engraved a diagram, one marking the distribution of the human body's meridians; the entire manual contained only this diagram, followed by sections of mnemonics detailing the essentials of sword combat in practice, the circulation of true qi during swordplay, and discussions on the Dao of the sword.

Zhou Shuo had also studied sword use, but compared to the Hundred Beasts Sword Manual, which focuses on vicious killing moves and sword momentum, the Guigu School's Horizontal Sword Technique has already entered the realm of the Dao, emphasizing momentum and seeking profit; understanding the purpose of a sword strike, when sword and spirit unite, the technique arises naturally—no need for any particular move to kill, embodying the idea that formlessness defeats form.

"Looks like I can't take part in the later plot." Zhou Shuo looked at the sword manual in his hand, couldn't help but purse his lips; he was about to return to the Yang Spirit World, a shame he couldn't go see Ying Zheng or the later plot—what a hell of a coincidence.