Chapter 38: White Tiger, Seven Stars of the Night—Slaying the Wicked!

A fated pact.

Li Guanyi looked at the starlight surfacing on his palm; upon the bronze cauldron, the Bai Hu Dharma Idol had been fully activated and could now leave his body entirely. In its place, the Crimson Dragon Dharma Idol was pressed flat against the bronze cauldron, unable to extend even a single claw.

The little Bai Hu Dharma Idol lifted its head on the youth's shoulder, stepping proudly along.

This power was not false.

Li Guanyi's very first thought was to go back at once.

To let that Tiele Kingdom Third Prince, who bore the Grey Wolf upon his back, also have a taste of Dharma Idol martial arts.

But at this moment, he was, after all, exhausted.

He could only plan to recover his spirit and come again tomorrow.

Yet toward the beautiful Yaoguang before him, Li Guanyi still harbored an extremely strong wariness.

There is no hatred in this world without cause, nor goodwill without cause. To obtain something, one must pay something. And as for the so-called rhetoric of heavenly mandate, Li Guanyi had heard its like before; he instinctively rejected this destiny laid out before him, and so replied:

"A fated pact, but unfortunately, I already have one."

The youth's voice was composed and sincere.

"Earlier, an old gentleman named Master Siming got there first."

"Perhaps you could go speak with old gentleman Master Siming about it."

"To see which path I ought to take?"

Best that the two of you quarrel over it.

The silver-white-haired Yaoguang's voice remained calm, without a ripple: "I am only an aide, not a guide. Your path is one you choose yourself, not one bestowed by anyone. And following the ancient pact, if you are the hero who shall set right this troubled age, it will be I who assist you."

"If you become the sovereign who kindles the fire of this troubled age, then it is Pojun who shall seek you out."

"Whether Yaoguang or Pojun, they are different aspects of the very same star."

"The king who sets right the troubled age, and the hegemon who kindles its fire—both of them can equally be you."

Yaoguang rose once more, returned to sit beside the bonfire, kneeling quietly with lowered eyes, and said: "This place was completed five hundred years ago by my predecessor together with that generation's Bai Hu Da Zong—a mystical realm. There is much star-lore and many maxims here. I shall continue my studies within. You do not trust me, so I will not insist on traveling together. Only, if you still require the guidance of starlight, you may come find me."

"I know our bond will not be severed."

Li Guanyi looked up at the stars in the sky and said without hesitation: "The night is already deep, so I shall take my leave for now."

He donned his clothes, lifted his heavy Ink Blade, slung the Su Ni Bow across his back along with twelve arrows, and left at a brisk pace. Yaoguang, hooded, sat before the bonfire, her eyes quiet. The youth who had fled for ten years did not look back, and the silver-haired Yaoguang only watched the bonfire in silence.

The two of them passed each other.

After a long while, the mountain stream fell quiet once more.

Yaoguang reached out, took the roasted mantou, flipped through a scroll, and slowly bit into the mantou.

The sound of pages turning.

Crunch.

Yaoguang's movements paused.

"…………"

"So hard."

She switched to the other side.

And kept gnawing.

……………………

"This world is truly not right—first Master Siming, then this Yaoguang, the Eastern Lands' Star-Gazing School…" Li Guanyi walked briskly through the night outside the city. Whether their intentions were good or ill, they all pointed to one very obvious meaning.

Trouble.

A word most hated by the wanted and the fugitive.

Li Guanyi raised his head to look at the night sky; the stars burned bright and splendid.

He had had quite enough of a life spent fleeing from place to place.

Five days ago, he had already gone to the authorities to submit his travel documents.

Once he entered the country, once he had mastered the Xue Family's inheritance, he would leave the State of Chen. When he left, he would write a farewell letter, telling Grandfather Xue everything about the Xue Family's Mystical Realm, to repay the kindness. Not now—at this moment it was still not entirely safe.

What heavenly mandate, what Siming—they have nothing to do with me.

Looking at the clear, beautiful night of this era, the youth's spirits finally lifted, and he walked briskly toward Yicheng. Yicheng had no curfew, but the city gates still had to be closed; they would not open until the sky's edge grew faintly pale. Li Guanyi planned to arrive early and wait.

The night was too still, so sounds carried especially far.

As Li Guanyi hurried toward Yicheng, a weeping sound suddenly came on the wind, followed by a sound that made Li Guanyi's hair stand on end in an instant.

A sharp, clear ring—the sound of steel tearing through the air.

The hum of a blade! Li Guanyi's pupils contracted. He hid himself behind a great tree, pressed his right hand against the trunk, circulated his inner Qi, and his body shot up more than a meter. In two or three quick moves he scrambled up the tree and concealed himself among the leaves; the aura of the bronze cauldron flowed through his eyes, strengthening his sight.

The Bai Hu Dharma Idol crouched on his shoulder, also looking over in that direction, curiously sizing up the distance. Dharma Idols each possessed their own qualities; even without an extremely high Martial Path Realm, they could still be put to use.

The Bai Hu, Guardian of the West, repels the foe.

Cries of wailing came on the wind, not far from here: "No, help!"

"Help me!!"

Li Guanyi looked down from his vantage and saw a thick-limbed old man kicked aside, his head smashed open with a sword hilt until blood streamed down his face. The cart beside him had been knocked over, vegetables rolling across the ground. Another person had his wrist twisted behind him. The leader was vaguely like a bamboo pole with a burlap sack thrown over it—a round, flat face covered in pockmarks.

Li Guanyi had a good memory; he recognized who it was—

Qian Zheng.

A wanted criminal who had been wanted together with General Yue Qianfeng.

Li Guanyi recalled what the imperial riders had said that day: Qian Zheng, a Border Army squad leader, had become a routed soldier, leading over a dozen men to rove about committing crimes. Ruthless and bloodthirsty, he had taken over a dozen lives and violated many women. Of late, common folk, entering or leaving cities and villages, must not travel alone.

This was precisely outside the city, one hour before dawn—the very time when villagers brought their vegetables in.

A Border Army squad leader—this was an elite Martial Path Realm martial artist.

Li Guanyi fell silent. He slid down from the tree, turned, and quietly retreated. A Martial Path Realm martial artist, leading over a dozen men—Li Guanyi, a youth who had not even entered the Martial Path Realm and had been broken by the Tiele Third Prince, was certainly no match. Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, the best is to walk away. He had taken only a few steps when the cries were about to fade from hearing.

"We're just poor folk going to Yicheng to sell vegetables, sir, sir, please have mercy." "Nier! Nier, run!"

"Hahahaha, big brother, there's a little girl with some looks here too!"

"Good, good!"

"Old man, old woman, open your eyes and look at your daughter's state, hahaha."

The young man's footsteps slowed more and more, then stopped. The Bai Hu Dharma Aspect on his shoulder drooped its head, looking dejected and dispirited. He gazed at the constellations in the sky and pressed his lips together.

Toss a copper coin; heads, he turns around; tails, he runs.

He took out a copper coin, flicked it into the air with a bent finger.

The copper coin spun.

Before it had even landed—

The young man had already gripped the Su Ni Bow and was striding away.

The temperament left behind by the bloodline of his past life still churned within his soul, not so easy to disperse. A lineage that only wanted to farm the land—don't push me into planting you into the ground. There were several good reasons to leave right now: the enemy had superior numbers, he had not yet Likely to Enter the Realm. But only one reason was needed to do this thing.

His heart was unpleased.

Fight first, give it everything; if you can't win, then scram!

Li Guanyi nocked an arrow and swiftly climbed the tree, raised his hand and drew the bow. The Su Ni Bow made no sound as it was drawn in the night. The arrow was aimed at one of the men. Li Guanyi's heartbeat slowed. His fingers released, and the bowstring's keen cry was clear in the night, like a hawk taking wing.

The man was reaching for the girl when an arrow pierced straight through his throat.

A wolf-fang arrow forged of fine steel—one tael of silver apiece.

Given by the Young Lady.

Twenty to a quiver.

Cost price, fifteen taels of silver.

The first tael of silver!

A whole month's wages at the Hall of Returning Spring, gone.

In the night, the blood spurting from the severed artery made the surroundings fall silent in an instant. The leader, Qian Zheng, was a former border soldier; his eyes instantly grew sharp. He rolled, pulled a great rattan shield from his back. The rest were like ordinary mountain bandits. Li Guanyi steadily drew and shot, the arrows tearing through the air with a fierce whistle.

Two!

Three!

A divine archer on the battlefield is an absolute nightmare. As he killed, the Bai Hu Dharma Aspect gradually changed—shook out its body, its fur bristling, its eyes gleaming with fierce light, its Heavy Breathing growing rougher. And Li Guanyi's distracting thoughts vanished entirely; the arrows rained through the air.

Qian Zheng brought his blade down Heavy Blade, splitting a spinning arrow in two.

But the broken-off front half of the arrow kept flying forward.

His inner Qi burst from his body. He spun, his left hand's five fingers snatched out and caught the arrow, yet still felt his palm ache sharply. His expression changed drastically: "This is a heavy bow, a strong crossbow—at least a fine bow worth three hundred taels or more, only such a bow could fire an arrow this steady."

Over there, one of his underlings tried to grab someone as a human shield.

But before he could get there, an arrow pierced his throat, and he collapsed clutching his neck.

Fast speed, high rate of fire, the bow's resilience superb, the arrow's center of gravity stable.

And the accuracy was extremely high.

A scion of a noble house! Yicheng, the Xue family?! Qian Zheng realized, and roared: "He's in the tree to the southwest, everyone rush over there, keep your bodies low, hold your shields, don't bother with hostages. This is an archer of the Xue family of the divine bow—at least ten years of training, the arrow speed is extreme, the moment you turn your side he'll shoot you dead!!!"

"Quick, quick!!!"

The remaining men grabbed their shields and closed in on the tree.

Li Guanyi nocked an arrow, his inner Qi circulating. The arrow shot out explosively. The spinning arrow was the Xue family's archery that Xue Shuangtao had taught him. Though it failed to pierce the rattan shield, the spin alone was enough to throw his opponent off balance, and the second arrow was enough to pierce their throats.

Nineteen arrows, fifteen vicious bandits, all dead.

The smell of blood was thick. Only Qian Zheng—when an arrow was fired at him, he would shift his shield along with it, deflecting the force while letting the arrow scatter. He slammed his shield Heavy Shield into the tree, his inner Qi erupting in an instant, and the tree was smashed clean through!

Li Guanyi couldn't keep his balance and leapt down.

Qian Zheng hid his body behind his shield and charged like a raging rhinoceros.

Qian Zheng's eyes were bloodshot.

At this moment he only hoped that the Xue family archer across from him was not like those divine archers at the border passes, skilled at more than just archery.

Li Guanyi nocked his last arrow onto the Su Ni Bow.

All the changes were just like his battle today against the Third Prince of Tiele.

But this time was different.

The Bai Hu Dharma Aspect raised its head and roared. The youth's sideburns and black hair flew up. As his body leapt backward, he drew the bow. On the arrow, a golden flowing wind coiled around it, staining his pupils with a faint, tiger-like flowing light.

The next instant, even the bow itself let out a fierce, humming shriek.

The arrow tore through the air.

Like a thread of gold.

In an instant it pierced straight through the rattan shield.

Qian Zheng barely dodged, but the arrow was too fast. Even an Duke Jingwu had his inner Qi defense pierced in an instant—the arrow shot through his left shoulder, and the tearing golden wind ripped half his shoulder clean apart, leaving only flesh and white bone. Its momentum unchecked, it shot skyward.

Qian Zheng let out a howl.

He drew his blade and hacked off his own left arm, gasping for breath.

The rattan shield that had once shared life and death with him was already shattered. He had a dazed feeling, as if his own life too would break apart like that shield. He gritted his teeth, drew his blade, and stared at the Xue family archer across from him.

The Seven Stars of the Bai Hu had already risen to the zenith of the sky.

Then he saw the young man across from him toss the war bow wrapped in golden threads onto the ground.

Slowly, he drew A Heavy One black war blade.

From his body, a killing intent like that of a veteran of a hundred battles rose up.

(End of this chapter)