The boat drew closer and closer to the shore. Suddenly, Ah Zhu said in a low voice, “Ah Bi, look. This doesn’t seem right.” Ah Bi nodded. “Right. Why are so many lanterns lit?” She let out two quiet laughs, then said, “Sister Ah Zhu, is your home celebrating the lantern festival? There’s so many bright lanterns and lamps. Maybe it’s a birthday party for you?” Ah Zhu remained silent, eyes transfixed on those bright lights.

From far away, Duan Yu could see eight or nine buildings on the islet. Two of those buildings were two-storeyed buildings. There was light emanating from the windows of every building. He thought to himself, “As Ah Zhu’s home is known as the ‘Waterside Pavilion of Fragrant Sounds’, I imagine it should be much similar to Ah Bi’s ‘Pavilion of Zither Melodies’. The reason there are so many bright lights here is no doubt because sister Ah Zhu likes to keep things noisy and lively.

When the boat came within one li of the shore, Ah Zhu halted her oar and said, “Miss Wang, enemies have come to my home.” Wang Yuyan was startled. “What? Enemies have come? How do you know? Who are they?” Ah Zhu replied, “I don’t know who they are, exactly. But take a whiff. The smell of alcohol reeks to high heaven. It must be that wicked visitors are causing trouble here.” Wang Yuyan and Ah Bi both sniffed hard, but neither could notice any scent. Duan Yu, in turn was attenuated to the scent of maidens, but otherwise was normal and had no special smelling abilities.

Ah Zhu’s nose was extremely sensitive. She said, “Oh no, oh no! They’ve destroyed my jasmine nectar and my rose nectar. Ack! They’ve even ruined my winter plum nectar…” At this point, it seemed as though she was about to cry.

Duan Yu was astonished. “Are your eyes so keen that you’ve seen them?” Sobbing, Ah Zhu choked out, “No. I smelled them. It took me a lot of care and effort to distil those nectars. These evil visitors must have taken them for alcohol and drank them!” Ah Bi said, “Sister Ah Zhu, what should we do? Should we avoid them, or should we go and fight?” Ah Zhu said, “I don’t know if the opponent’s are very powerful…” Duan Yu said, “Right. If the enemies are very powerful, the best choice would be for us to avoid them. If they are just ordinary characters, it would be best for us to go teach them a lesson and prevent sister Ah Zhu’s precious treasures from being ruined even more.” Ah Zhu was feeling very unhappy. Now, listening to Duan Yu’s pointless speech, she replied, “Avoid the strong, bully the weak. Who doesn’t understand this logic? But how do you know if the opponent is very powerful, or just ordinary?” Duan Yu opened his mouth to respond, but had no idea what to say.

Ah Zhu said, “Let’s go take a closer look and find out. However, all of us need to change our clothes and dress up as aged fisherman and old ladies.” Pointing to the east, she said, “An old fisherman and his wife live there. They both know me. Let’s go borrow their clothes.” Clapping his hands, Duan Yu laughed, “Wonderful, wonderful!” With a tug of the oar, Ah Zhu sent the boat eastward. When she thought about putting on new disguises, her spirit was instantly invigorated, and she no longer was to distraught about enemies having come to her home.

Ah Zhu first disguised herself, Wang Yuyan, and Ah Bi. She disguised herself as an old fishwife and turned Wang Yuyan and Ah Bi into middle-aged fishwives. Lastly, she began to work on Duan Yu, changing him into a forty-year old fisherman. Ah Zhu’s disguising skills were truly matchless and incomparably wondrous. She obtained some flour and some mud, then spread a little here and pasted a little there. In the blink of an eye, everyone’s appearances totally changed. Next, she borrowed a fishing boat, a fishing net, a fishing pole, some living fish, and the like, before paddling the boat towards the ‘Waterside Pavilion of Fragrant Sounds’.

Although Duan Yu, Wang Yuyan, and Ah Bi’s appearances had been changed, their voices remained the same. It was the weak point in their disguise. Even if they had years, they wouldn’t be able to master Ah Zhu’s skills in disguise. Wang Yuyan laughed, “Ah Zhu, if anything happens, you’ll have to take the lead in dealing with it. We’ll just have to pretend to be mute.” Ah Zhu laughed, “Right. I promise to keep you from being exposed.”

The fishing boat slowly glided towards the back of the pavilion. Duan Yu saw that weeping willows grew all around the pavilion, but bursts of loud, uncouth yelling sounds continuously emanated from within the building. Such wild shouts and screams were totally at odds with the quiet, ingenious, and tasteful layout of the building and the surrounding plants.

Ah Zhu let out another sigh. She was totally unhappy. Ah Bi whispered into her ear, “Sister Ah Zhu, after we chase the enemies away, I’ll come help you fix the place up.” Ah Zhu squeezed her hand to show her thanks.

The four of them entered the kitchen from the rear. The chef, old Gu, was so busy that his head was covered with sweat. He was unceasingly spitting his saliva into the boiling cauldron, then rubbing his dirty hands together and causing the mud and the dirt on his hands to fall into the cauldron as well. Ah Zhu was half-amused, half-angry. She called out, “Old Gu! What are you doing?” Old Gu was so startled, he jumped. Frightened, he said, “You…you…” Ah Zhu laughed, “I am miss Ah Zhu.” Old Gu was overjoyed. “Miss Ah Zhu, a lot of bad men came. They forced me to cook dishes and broil vegetables for them. Watch!” As he spoke, he blew his nose and dripped his snot into the middle of the vegetables, then began to laugh. Ah Zhu wrinkled her forehead. “You cook such nasty dishes!” Old Gu hurriedly said, “Miss, when I cook for you, I wash my hands clean before I do anything else. But when I am forced to cook for scoundrels, I’ll make the dishes as disgusting as possible.” Ah Zhu said, “The next time I see food which you have cooked, I’ll think of this and be nauseated.” Old Gu said, “No, no. That’s different, that’s totally different.” Although Ah Zhu was a servant to young master Murong, she was the master of the ‘Waterside Pavilion of Fragrant Sounds’. She had her own servant, chef, boatman, gardener, and other subordinates.

Ah Zhu asked, “How many enemies are there?” Old Gu said, “First came a gang of around eighteen or nineteen people. Then came a second gang of around twenty.” Ah Zhu said, “There’s two separate groups? What type of people are they? How are they dressed? Judging from their accents, where are they from?” Lao Gu cursed, “F*ck their mothers…” As soon as the vulgarity left his mouth, he hurriedly covered his lips with his hands, a look of terror on his face. He said, “Miss Ah Zhu, old Gu deserves to die. I…I’m so angry, I’ve gone stupid. One of the two groups of bad men consists of rough fellows from the north. They look like bandits. The second group comes from Sichuan. They all wear white gowns, but I don’t know where they are from.” Ah Zhu said, “Who are they looking for? Have they hurt anyone?” Old Gu said, “The first group of bandits came looking for the old master. The second group of weirdos came looking for the young master. We told them that the old master had passed away, and that the young master wasn’t at home. They didn’t believe us and ransacked the place searching for him. The servant girls have all run away already. I’m the only one who stayed, because I was too pissed. ***….” He was just about to curse again, but just as the vulgarity began to escape his lips, he managed to retract it in time. Ah Zhu saw that his left eye was blackened, and half of his face was heavily swollen. He must have taken a few nasty blows. She no longer blamed him for taking out his resentment on the dishes by spitting and blowing his nose into them.

Ah Zhu muttered to herself, “We need to check it out ourselves. Old Gu wasn’t able to make things clear.” The four of them left the kitchen from a side entrance. They passed by a jasmine flower terrace and two jade cavern gates before arriving outside the flower pavilion. They were still a number of meters away from the window, but could already hear an uproar from within the building.

Ah Zhu quietly snuck to the window, then used her fingernail to poke a hole in the paper window screen. She peeped into the crack. The inside of the main hall was very bright, but only the lanterns on the east side had been lit. There, eighteen or nineteen coarse and burly men were having a little party. The tables were covered with dinner dishes and cups, and the chairs were scattered across the floor. A few people were sitting on the tables. Others were holding chicken drumsticks or pig feet in their hands and chomping away happily. Others brandished their sabres, chopping the meat on the dishes with them and then spearing the meat with the tips of their weapons before delivering the meat to their mouths.

Ah Zhu glanced towards the east side of the room. At first, she didn’t notice anything. But after taking a few more glances, she couldn’t help but feel cold as goosebumps appeared on her flesh. More than twenty or so men dressed in white gowns sat there solemnly. They lit a single candle on the table in front of them. The candlelight did not spread more than a few feet in circumference. She saw that the seven or so people closest to the candlelight had frozen looks on their face, displaying neither happiness nor anger, as though they were but corpses. The entire time, those people sat there without speaking or moving. If it weren’t for the fact that a few of them would blink every so often, she really might have taken them all for dead people.

Sneaking forward as well, Ah Bi grasped Ah Zhu’s hand. Ah Zhu’s hand was icy cold and quivering as well. Ah Bi immediately poked a second hole in the window to take a look for herself. She peered directly into the gaze of a yellow, sallow-faced individual, and their eyes met. That person who seemed half-dead, half-living stared at her. Startled, Ah Bi couldn’t help but let out a quiet cry. With a pair of slamming sounds, the two windows were shattered. Four people jumped out of the windows simultaneously. Two of them were northerners, with the other two being the weirdos from Sichuan. They shouted in unison, “Who are you?”

Ah Zhu replied, “We caught a number of fresh fish and came to ask if Old Gu wanted them or not. The shrimp we have is still living and jumping about.” The words she spoke were of the native Suzhou dialect. The four men initially did not understand, but seeing as how the four of them were dressed in fishermen’s garbs and carrying live fish and shrimp, they figured out what Ah Zhu was saying. One of the men snatched a fish away from Ah Zhu, then shouted loudly, “Cook! Cook! Take this and go make some broth for us to drink to help dilute the alcohol!” The other northerner reached out for the fresh fish Duan Yu was holding.

Seeing that they were fish-sellers, the two Sichuanese men paid them no more mind. They returned to their seats. When they two passed by her, Ah Bi smelled a heavy, masculine musk, and couldn’t resist stretching her hand out to cover her nose. One of the Sichuanese men shot her a glance and saw that when she covered her nose, her arms slid out of her sleeves slightly, revealing skin that was as white as snow and as tender and smooth as rouge. Instantly, he became highly suspicious. “How could a middle-aged fishwife have such white and tender skin?” With a backhand, he grabbed Ah Bi by the wrist and asked, “G’dammit, how old are you?” Startled, Ah Bi wrested away from his grasp. “Whaddya doin’, yeah? Touchin’ people like that.” Her voice was soft, tender, clear and melodious, and her movements were nimble and dexterous. The Sichuanese man only felt that his arm suddenly went numb, and with a stagger he crashed out of the room.

Now, their secret had been totally revealed. As the four men outside of the building cried out at the same time, ten more people exited the room, fully surrounding Duan Yu and the others. One of the men reached for Duan Yu’s beard, tearing it off. Another man tried to grab Ah Bi, but she dodged and gave him a shove, knocking him to the floor instead.

The men began to loudly roar, “Spy, it’s a spy!” “They are crooks in disguise!” “Hang them up and flog them!” They pressed the four of them into the room, then reported to an old man who sat at the east side, “Stronghold-master Yao, we captured two spies in disguise!”

That old man had a large, imposing build, with a grey beard that stretched to the pit of his stomach. He shouted, “Spies, who sent you? Sneaking around and disguising yourselves…what foul deeds are you plotting?”

Wang Yuyan said, “It isn’t any fun dressing up as an old lady. Ah Zhu, Ah Bi, I’m not going to maintain the disguise anymore.” As she spoke, she stretched her hand out and rubbed the mud away from her face. The mud and flour fell away, taking her ‘wrinkles’ with them. Before their awestruck, gaping eyes, the men watched as a middle-aged fishwife was suddenly transformed into a maiden of unsurpassing beauty. In the blink of an eye, silence reigned, and not even a whisper could be heard. The Sichuanese people to the west also had their eyes glued onto her.

Wang Yuyan said, “All of you, remove your disguises as well.” She laughed towards Ah Bi, “It’s all your fault. You revealed our secret!” Ah Zhu, Ah Bi, and Duan Yu immediately rubbed away the mud and flour from their faces as well. Everyone stared at Wang Yuyan, then at Ah Zhu and Ah Bi. None of them could believe that there were such beautiful women in the world, who looked as though they had been chiseled from pure, white jade.

After a long moment, that large old man said, “Who are you? What are you doing here?” Ah Zhu laughed. “I’m the master of this place. Isn’t it a bit odd for outsiders to ask me what I am doing here? Who are you? What are you doing here?” That old man nodded. “Right. So you are the master of this place? Wonderful. You are the young miss of the Murong family? Murong Bo is your daddy, then?” Ah Zhu smiled. “I’m just a servant. How could I have the fortune of being the old master’s daughter? Sir, who might you be? What business have you here?” That old man heard he say she was but a servant girl, but did not immediately believe her. He muttered to himself for a while before saying, “Please invite your master to come, and I will tell him the purpose of this visit.” Ah Zhu replied, “Our old master has passed away. The young master is out on a journey. Sir, what important task do you have here? Just tell us. Can it be that you cannot even reveal your name to us?” That old man said, “Fine. I am Yao Bodang, and I lead the Qin family stronghold of the province of Yunnan.” [The term ‘stronghold’ in its Chinese context usually refers to a mountain stronghold of bandits.] Ah Zhu replied, “Pleased to meet you, pleased to meet you.” Yao Bodang laughed. “You are just a little girl. Why would you be pleased to meet me?”

Wang Yuyan said, “The Qin family stronghold of Yunnan province is most famous for its ‘Five Tigers Shattering the Gate’ sabre technique. In the years after elder Qin Gongwang invented the sixty-four stances of this technique, his descendants forgot five of the stances. I hear that only fifty nine of the stances have been passed down. Stronghold-master Yao, how many stances have you learned?”

Yao Bodang was greatly astonished. He blurted out without thinking, “How is it that you know that that the Qin family’s ‘Five Tigers Shattering the Gate’ sabre technique originally had sixty four stances?” Wang Yuyan replied, “That’s what the books say, so it probably isn’t wrong, right? The five stances that you have lost are the stances, ‘White Tiger Leaps Over a Ravine’, ‘Birthing the Wind With a Roar’, ‘Free-Flowing Chopping Pounce’, ‘Powerfully Tyrannizing Many Mountains’, and…right, that fifth stance is named, ‘Lion Emerges From the Appearance of Defeat’. Am I right?” Yao Bodang stroked his beard. He was aware that five of the most exquisite stances of his school of martial arts had become lost, but no one knew what the names of the techniques which had been lost. Now, hearing her speak with such certainty, he was both shocked and suspicious. He didn’t know how to respond to her words.

From the west side of the room, a thirty year old man wearing white said in a deliberately strange voice, “Stronghold-master Yao is an important person with many matters to deal with. He has already forgotten the five stances which the Qin family’s ‘Five Tigers Shattering the Gate Technique’ is missing. Young miss, what relationship do you have with Mr. Murong, Murong Bo?” Wang Yuyan replied, “Old master Murong is my aunt’s husband. Sir, what is your respected name and surname?” That man smiled coldly, “Miss, you are well-learned and are intimately familiar with stronghold-master Yao’s martial arts technique. I would like to invite you to guess what my own origin is.” Wang Yuyan smiled. “First, you need to demonstrate some of your abilities. I can’t guess anything just based on a few words.”

That man nodded. “True.” He stretched his left hand into the sleeves of his right arm, and did the opposite for his right hand, as though his hands were chilled by winter’s cold. He immediately snapped his hands out. Each hand was holding a strange weapon. In his left hand, he was holding a metal awl which was six or seven inches long. The tip of the awl was split in two. In his right hand, he wielded a small, eight-faced mace. The shaft of the mace was over a foot long, and the head of the mace was smaller than most people’s fists. Both weapons were small and exquisitely made, appearing almost as though they were children’s toys. They seemed to be totally useless for actually fighting off opponents. As the men who sat at the east side of the room saw the weapons, some of them immediately began to loudly laugh. One of them laughed, “You’re actually humiliating yourself by displaying the toys and baubles which Sichuanese babies play with?” The people who sat at the west side all glared at him angrily.

Wang Yuyan said, “Right. This is the ‘Thunder God’s Explosion’. Sir, I imagine that you are an expert in qinggong and hidden weapons. The books say that the ‘Thunder God’s Explosion’ is the unique weaponry of Sichuan’s Qingcheng sect, located on Mt. Qingcheng. Within the ‘Qing’ character, there are nine attacks; within the ‘Cheng’ character, there are eighteen destroying strokes. The strangeness and cunning of the techniques are difficult to fathom. Sir, I would like to guess that your surname is Sima, right?”

That entire time, the man’s face was very somber. But upon hearing this girl say those words, he couldn’t help but be shaken. He exchanged a few glances with three of his assistants that stood next to him. After a long time, he family said, “Gusu’s Murong family is well-known for having a deep, broad, and profound understanding of martial arts. You really live up to your reputation! I am Sima Lin. Miss, might I ask you if there truly are nine strikes within the ‘Qing’ character, and eighteen destroying strokes within the ‘Cheng’ character?”

Wang Yuyan replied, “This is an extremely good question. In my opinion, it would be more appropriate to say that there are ten strikes within the ‘Qing’ character. Although the ‘iron Bodhisattva strike’ and the ‘iron lotus seed strike’ seem superficially similar, they have totally separate usages and really shouldn’t be mixed together. With regards to the eighteen destroying strokes of the ‘Cheng’ character, it seems as though there is nothing particularly special or exquisite about the ‘armor destroying’, ‘shield destroying’, and ‘tablet destroying’ stances. It seems as though they were simply thrown in there to fill up the spaces needed for there to be a total of eighteen stances, whereas in actuality they can be discarded or perhaps merged together. In which case, there would be a total of ‘fifteen destroying strokes’ or ‘sixteen destroying strokes’, which would actually be more refined.”

Listening to her words, Sima Lin was struck dumb. He had only learned seven of the techniques within the ‘Qing’ character, and knew nothing of the differences between the ‘iron Bodhisattva strike’ and the ‘iron lotus seed strike’. In addition, the ‘armor destroying’, ‘shield destroying’, and ‘tablet destroying’ stances were the stances which he felt the most proud mastering about all his life, and which had always be considered a unique, consummate skill of his sect. He never would have imagined that this girl would say that they could be abolished. At first, he was startled; then, he was extremely angry. He thought to himself, “It’s natural that the Murong family has long since known of my name and my martial arts. They want to humiliate me, and so have spun these lies and ordered this maiden to come here with scorching, humiliating words.” He didn’t immediately flare up. He only said, “Thank you for your advice, miss. I’ve suddenly seen the light.” Immediately, he turned to an assistant by his side and said, “Apprentice-brother Zhu, why don’t you ask this young miss for a few pointers?”

His assistant, Zhu Baokun, was an ugly man with a face full of pock marks. He appeared to be somewhat older than Sima Lin. Aside from the white gown he wore, he also tied up his hair with a strip of white cloth, as though he were in morning. Underneath the flickering light of the candle, he appeared very sinister and secretive. He rose to his feet, cupping his hands respectfully, then withdrew his weapons as well. He also withdrew a small mace and a short awl, both of which were identical to Sima Lin’s ‘Thunder God’s Explosion’ weapons. He said, “Miss, please advise me.”

All the onlookers thought to himself, “Your weapons are totally the same as that of Sima Lin. If this girl knows his martial arts, then obviously she knows yours as well.” Wang Yuyan also said, “Sir, as you wield the ‘Thunder God’s Explosion’ weapons, naturally you belong to the Qingcheng sect as well.” Sima Lin said, “This martial-brother of mine already possessed some martial arts before entering our school. Miss, I’d like to test your wisdom and see if you can discover what sect he originally came from.” He thought to himself, “Even I am not too sure about the origins of brother Zhu’s martial arts. It’d be rather strange if you could!” Wang Yuyan thought to herself, “This is a difficult question.”

Before she had a chance to say anything, the Qin family stronghold’s Yao Bodang interjected, “Sect-leader Sima, what’s the point in having this young lady guess about the origins of your martial-brother? Isn’t this extremely uninteresting?” Astounded, Sima Lin said, “Why is this extremely uninteresting?” Yao Bodang laughed. “Your apprentice-brother face is now filled with pock marks, which seem to be meticulously carved into his skin. Thus, his true features can’t be too exquisite to look at.” Everyone on the western side of the room exploded into laughter. [True features and true origins can share the same characters.]

All his life, the thing which Zhu Baokun hated the most was others making fun of his pockmarked face. Now, hearing Yao Bodang so openly ridicule him, he could he hold his temper? Without caring that Yao Bodang was a famous hero of the north and the master of a stronghold, he aimed the steel awl in his left hand towards Yao Bodang’s chest, then struck the awl with the steel mace in his right hand. A violent ‘chi’ sound split the air with a sharp roar as a host of hidden weapons shot forth from the awl and towards Yao Bodang’s chest.

As soon as the Qin family stronghold and the Qingcheng sect had entered the pavilion, they had taken each other’s measure. Neither side offered any greetings to the other. They glared at each other and humphed at each other. In all likelihood, if Wang Yuyan and the others had not arrived, they would have gotten into a fight with each other by now. In insulting Zhu Baokun, Yao Bodang originally only wanted to tease him a little. He never would have imagined that the other party would attack so quickly. The secret weapons flew towards him with great haste. He didn’t even have the time to draw out his sabre. With his left hand, he snatched a candlestick which lay on top of the table in front of him, then chopped at the hidden weapons. With a clanging sound, the hidden weapons were redirected upwards, and with a thudding sound embedded themselves into the ceiling. Now, they could be clearly seen. The hidden weapons were three-inch long steel needles. Although the needles were short, the force behind them was tremendous. Yao Bodang’s left hand went numb, and the candlestick slipped from his grasp. With a clanking sound, it hit the floor.

The bandits of the Qin family stronghold pulled out their sabres. In a loud voice, they cried out, “So you are using hidden weapons to harm others?” “What a valiant hero you are!” “Shameless! I’ll f*ck your grandmother, hard!” A very fat person was filled with the most obscenities, even cursing eighteen generation’s worth of the other party’s ancestors. But the people of Qingcheng sect only continued to sit there in that strange silence, as though neither seeing nor hearing the words from the Qin family stronghold.

Earlier, when Yao Bodang snatched the candlestick to block the hidden weapons, he didn’t have a very firm grip. But having his weapon being shaken from his hand by tiny steel needles despite his decades of internal energy training was, by the accepted rules of wulin, a loss for him. He thought to himself, “The opponent’s martial arts are extremely strange. From what the young lady said, within the Qingcheng sect’s martial arts, the ‘Qing’ character has nine strikes, all of which are based upon hidden weaponry. If I’m not careful, I’m going to be in trouble.” He immediately waved his arm and quieted the noisy calls of his subordinates. He laughed, “Brother Zhu, this technique of yours was extremely handsome, but also extremely vicious! What is it called?”

Zhu Baokun let out a cold laugh, but did not respond.

The fat man amongst the Qin family stronghold said, “Most likely, it is called, ‘No sense of shame or face, launching ambushes against others!’” Another middle-aged person laughed, “He never had any face to begin with. The name you just gave is very good. It’s quite appropriate and suits them. Clearly, you are well-learned and lettered! Well-learned indeed!” Within his words was a hidden ridicule directed once more to Zhu Baokun’s pock-marks.

Wang Yuyan shook her head. In a soft voice, she said, “Stronghold-master Yao, now you are at fault.” Yao Bodang said, “How?” Wang Yuyan said, “It’s possible for anyone to suffer an illness or be wounded. When a person is young and trips and falls, it’s possible that his leg might become crippled. When fighting with others, it’s possible to lose a hand or an eye. It’s extremely ordinary for the people of wulin to have wounds or scars on them, am I right?” Yao Bodang could only nod his head. Wang Yuyan continued, “When he was young, Mr. Zhu suffered from a foul disease which left him with some scars. What’s so funny about that? In judging whether a male is a true, stalwart man, the first thing to consider is his character and his moral quality. The second thing to consider is his ability and his competence. The third would be his learning and his martial arts abilities. What does his facial appearance have to do with anything?”

Yao Bodang was rendered speechless. He broke out in loud laughter, then said, “There is some reason in your words, miss. By that logic, this old man is at fault for mocking brother Zhu.”

Wang Yuyan laughed, “Old master, for you to be able to freely admit to your mistakes shows that you are an upright, honest, and honorable man.” She turned her face to Zhu Baokun, then shook her head and said, “Won’t do, that won’t work.” When she said these words, a gentle, tender, sympathizing look was on her face, as though she were an older sister who was watching her younger brother exhaust himself trying to do something which he didn’t have the strength to do. Her words were both admonishing and intimate.

Zhu Baokun, upon hearing her say that it was very normal for people of the wulin to have battle scars or wounds, and that a man should be judged first and foremost by his character and his accomplishments, felt very happy. All his life, he had been unhappy about his pockmarked face. He had never heard anyone address the issue so sincerely and reasonably. Now, hearing her say, “Won’t do, that won’t work,” he asked, “Miss, what do you mean?” He thought to himself, “Is she saying that this needle technique of mine, the ‘Lord of Heaven Replenishes the Heart’, won’t do, and won’t work? She doesn’t know that there are twelve steel needles hidden within my awl. If I didn’t stop and instead repeatedly struck it with my mace, I would have taken that old fellow’s life a long time ago. Only, I cannot reveal my secret in front of Sima Lin.”

Only to hear Wang Yuyan said, “This ‘Lord of Heaven Replenishes the Heart’ needle technique of yours truly is a overbearing hidden weapon technique…” Zhu Baokun’s body trembled, and he let out a soft cry. Sima Lin and two other experts of Qingcheng sect also let out a simultaneous shout of, “What?!” The expression on Zhu Baokun’s face changed, and he said, “Miss, you are wrong. This was not the ‘Lord of Heaven Replenishes the Heart’ needle technique. It is our Qingcheng sect’s hidden weaponry technique, the fourth strike within the ‘Qing’ character, named the ‘Green Hornet’ nail technique.” Wang Yuyan smiled. “It did appear as though you used the ‘Green Hornet’ strike. When you executed the ‘Lord of Heaven Replenishes the Heart’ needle technique, the tools and techniques you used are the same as that of the ‘Green Hornet’ nail technique. But the essentia