Chapter 48: Flying a Paper Kite
The straw-sandal boy had been delivering letters every day to Peach Leaf Alley on Fortune Street these past few days. Almost every gatekeeper recognized the messenger, so his presence was not unusual. Moreover, the boy appeared perfectly at ease, trotting along the bluestone street as usual, and even if passersby noticed, they paid no mind. When Chen Ping'an approached a certain mansion gate, in front of which stood a half-man-height stone statue of a warrior, a Shigandang talisman used to ward off evil, he knew this was the Li family estate. Along Fortune Street, where every household was wealthy and noble, each family's methods for warding off evil differed. Even the door gods pasted on the gates were divided into civil and military types, making them easy to distinguish.
He quickly glanced around before continuing forward. A bit further ahead was the Song family, and beyond that was the Kiln Affairs Supervisory Office. At the boundary wall between the Li and Song estates, a locust tree grew, with an old gnarled trunk and lush branches. Though not as ancient and imposing as the town's old locust tree, it still made an impression.
According to the elders, this locust tree and the towering old locust at the town center shared the same lineage. The latter was called the Ancestor Locust, while the one before Chen Ping'an was called the Descendant Locust.
The reason Chen Ping'an had come to the Li residence, rather than to Lu Zhengchun's house of the Lu clan, the leading family in town, lay in what the elderly steward had said while seeing him out of the office building the day before. The steward had casually chatted about various household matters, such as how the Zhao family's scholarly seed, Zhao Yao, had already left the town and was destined to become a top scholar and high official; or how the neighboring Song family had a young lady who had reached marriageable age but couldn't even do needlework, only liking to play with swords and spears—hardly fitting for a noble daughter; wasn't that funny? Amidst a heap of trivial anecdotes, the old man had slipped in one seemingly insignificant piece of information: the Li residence had just received a distinguished young guest, a little girl as delicate and exquisite as an imperial porcelain piece. As long as she didn't have a dramatic change in appearance, she would definitely become a beautiful woman. Who knew which family would be lucky enough to marry such a daughter-in-law?
On the way out of the office building's rear hall earlier, the boy had said little at first, walking deliberately slowly, carefully observing the building's layout. Occasionally he would ask an off-topic question, like a poor man curious about the wealth and opulence of powerful families. The elderly steward had answered everything, using the neighboring Song family and the farther Li family as examples to explain the courtyard layouts and various rules of large households.
The young man fully understood the steward's true intentions.
But from start to finish, Chen Ping'an had never intended to follow their wishes.
Now, as he trotted slowly along the street, seeing no one around, Chen Ping'an suddenly exploded into action. He accelerated and ran straight toward the old locust tree. Leaping up, he planted four rapid steps on the trunk before starting to descend. But by then, the agile youth had already grabbed a branch, and in an instant, like a mountain monkey, he was sitting on the protruding limb. He stood steadily, then climbed further, and in a few blinks, he was crouching on a slanting locust branch, just above the two-zhang-high courtyard wall. Hidden among the dense locust leaves, he held his breath and narrowed his eyes, not rushing to enter.
During the trip back to town from the covered bridge with Ning Yao, Chen Ping'an had asked many questions.
For instance, how fast could that old ape from Zhengyang Mountain actually run and how high could it jump within the town's boundaries? How tough was its body, precisely how "iron-skinned and bronze-boned"? If he threw a punch that would be no more than an itch to the old ape, then using a slingshot or a wooden bow, how much damage would it cause at twenty paces versus forty paces? Did so-called "immortals" like the Zhengyang Mountain ape have fatal weaknesses—eyes, crotch, throat? If the opponent was willing to get hurt to kill him, would he die for sure?
At the time, Ning Yao almost wished she were deaf and mute to escape the boy's barrage of questions.
According to the black-clad girl, regardless of whether they were Qi cultivators or pure martial artists, those with higher cultivation suffered greater pressure in this place. It was like cavalry assaulting a pass—they could only hold the line, relying on a continuous breath to sustain themselves. If they opened their mouths, they would suffer damage like seawater flooding in. Imagine facing a raging flood, then trying to open a tiny hole in the dam.
But in the end, Ning Yao's final verdict was still that if Chen Ping'an fought the Zhengyang Mountain ape one-on-one, he had absolutely zero chance of victory.
Within the locust's shade, the boy's gaze was resolute, his face cold. He muttered to himself, "Don't let the old ape get within ten paces. Ten paces, at the very least maintain that distance."
Ning Yao had said that as long as the old ape wasn't cornered into a desperate fight, there was a chance to survive.
But Chen Ping'an had replied that he had to force the old ape to kill him with all its might; otherwise, it would be meaningless.
He had to make the Zhengyang Mountain ape angry, make it willing to expend its internal Qi, so that it would truly consume the cultivation it had painstakingly accumulated over a thousand years. Maybe the old ape thought that people like him and Liu Xianyang—town commoners—had no value at all. But Chen Ping'an wanted to know, when the old ape watched its cultivation and Dao base dwindle, would it feel regret? Would it still think they were worthless?
Of course, the prerequisite was that he not be killed in one punch at the first encounter.
The boy looked down at the bustling activity in the mansion—people crossing corridors and passing through buildings—and murmured, "Even if I can't escape, I have to take a few more hits."
Chen Ping'an had never thought about killing the old ape, nor had he ever thought he would survive.
---
At the Li family compound, the little girl from Zhengyang Mountain, being the direct granddaughter of the Tao family patriarch, was treated like a bodhisattva by the entire Li household. Apart from assigning several first- and second-rank maidservants to the separate courtyard, these homeborn girls were clean and efficient, but most importantly, they had known backgrounds and clear records, with families that had been loyal to the Li clan for generations.
The separate courtyard was centrally located, not adjacent to Fortune Street.
The little girl was named Tao Zi, nicknamed Peach. She was the apple of the eyes of several sword immortal ancestors at Zhengyang Mountain—not because of her cute appearance or personality, but because of her future potential in the sword Dao, which was enough to justify the mountain's willingness to invest massive resources.
Over the past five hundred years, in terms of bone structure, talent, temperament, and fortune, Tao Zi ranked among the highest of all ancestral masters of the various peaks at Zhengyang Mountain. Simply put, the little girl Tao Zi was a miraculous existence with one very long plank and no short planks at all.
This was truly a once-in-a-century phenomenon, not the cliché polite praise.
At the moment, the little girl didn't have the Mountain-Moving Ape by her side. Alone in a completely strange place, she wasn't exactly shy or nervous, just a bit bored and a little regretful. From what Uncle Ape had said, it seemed they wouldn't be able to move a mountain peak from here. That made the little girl feel disheartened. Back at Zhengyang Mountain, Sister Su, when she had reached the middle fifth realm, had been given a mountain peak as a gift by the ancestors, becoming her private territory. That mountain peak had been carried back to Zhengyang Mountain by Uncle Ape, who had traveled thousands of miles, and was placed in the northeast part of the mountain. Although it wasn't large, the little girl had always been envious.
Feeling stuffy in the study, she walked to the main hall, put her hands behind her back, and looked up at the plaque for a long time, affecting an air of maturity.
Two delicate maidservants followed closely behind her. One of them had been recognized by the Li family as gifted since childhood and cultivated as a martial artist, achieving some minor success. To the Li family's direct line, such behavior was no different from raising flowers, birds, or fish. They didn't expect the girl to become a martial grandmaster. Behind the walls of a great household, cases of servants bullying masters weren't unheard of, and if servants had too high ambitions and potential, it might not be good for the next generation.
The little girl walked toward the gate, hopping and skipping around the courtyard. She didn't leave the yard on her own, not wanting to trouble the servants. Uncle Ape had warned her that people from Wind and Thunder Garden had also arrived in town, and she couldn't leave the yard until he had dealt with them. Although young, she had grown up hearing about the treacherous and dangerous cultivation world, and her family had strict discipline, so she wasn't a troublesome child who gave her elders headaches.
Bored beyond measure, the little girl finally lay down on a stone table. On the table was a birdcage containing a bird that seemed to be called a Snake-catching Eagle. It hung its head, looking sickly and listless, with dull gray feathers—not pretty at all. The little girl had tried to play with it earlier, but the eagle ignored her, so she found it dull. Now, with nothing else to do, she whistled at the feathered creature.
Inside the cage were two small, exquisite porcelain bird-feeding dishes, privately made by the Li family's kiln—one plain for water, one colorful for food.
But since being captured, the Snake-catching Eagle had refused to drink or eat; it had been almost two days.
In this town, Snake-catching Eagles were rarely caught. Occasionally, whether young chicks or adult eagles, they all starved to death without exception.
You could never keep them alive, let alone train them into hunting eagles.
The whistling little girl saw that the eagle still had no reaction. Finally losing patience, she stood up and turned to leave.
A loud bang.
One of the bird-feeding dishes in the cage shattered violently.
The little girl was frozen for a moment, then instinctively grabbed a tall maidservant and shoved her in front of herself as a shield.
The tall, fully-figured maidservant felt as if iron wire were tightly binding her wrist; the pain was so sharp she almost screamed.
The shorter maidservant, with keen eyes, immediately positioned herself in front of the little girl and quickly scanned the surroundings.
The second bird-feeding dish in the cage exploded with a bang, like a firecracker on the table.
"There's an assassin, on the roof of the Qingxin Courtyard!" The martial arts-trained maidservant finally caught a glimpse of a figure crouching on the ridge of the neighboring courtyard's building.
She started running. The wall of the separate courtyard was not high. She vaulted up, grabbed the top, and, using her impressive arm strength, quickly climbed onto the wall.
For a moment, she hesitated. The separate courtyard and the opposite Qingxin Courtyard were not far apart, but the assassin was on the main building's roof of Qingxin Courtyard, which was close to Fortune Street. The person could easily jump over the wall and escape. So, in a flash, she made a decision: instead of jumping down and running toward Qingxin Courtyard, she crouched and ran along the wall, then leaped onto the roof ridge of her own courtyard. Throughout, she kept an eye on the assassin's potential ambush.
Oddly, the assassin neither hindered her movements nor seemed inclined to retreat immediately.
The eaves of the two courtyards were about three zhang apart.
The maidservant watched the assassin's movements while quietly backing away on the eaves, then took a deep breath and prepared to sprint.
Her heart pounded. The assassin, standing in distant confrontation, turned out to be a thin, shabbily dressed boy!
He had two small bundles tied around his waist, but no weapon visible in his hands—probably already hidden. She guessed the most likely weapon was a slingshot.
She was also puzzled. If he were aiming at her head, even if it didn't kill her outright, it would definitely cause serious injury. With the boy's terrifying accuracy, intentionally shattering the two bird-feeding dishes, could he really not hit her or the little girl from Zhengyang Mountain?
In the courtyard, the little girl shouted angrily, "Idiot! Be careful of the trick to lure you away! Get back fast!"
Capturing the assassin and interrogating him was important, but guarding against the unexpected and protecting her own life was more critical.
The little girl released the tall maidservant's arm, raised her hand, and slapped the startled girl hard to wake her up. "And you! Go inform everyone right now! Don't you know? If I die, everyone in this mansion will die!"
The maidservant on the roof didn't jump into the courtyard immediately but shouted, "There's an assassin!"
Then she started sprinting, leaping from the edge of the eaves, flying through the air toward the ridge of Qingxin Courtyard.
The assassin boy, who had been gauging her arm strength, leg power, and force through her series of movements, crouched down and picked up two roof tiles. He threw one with his right hand, aiming at her forehead. Still in midair, the maidservant crossed her arms to block her head. Two impacts sent piercing pain through her bones, and the force was far greater than she expected. Her forward momentum was severely hindered, and she regretted her bravado.
Just as she barely landed on the opposite eaves, a punch struck her abdomen, sending her reeling backward.
But the assassin inexplicably grabbed her ankle, paused for a moment, then let go.
She didn't land gracefully, but at least she wasn't seriously injured.
Her mind was in a fog.
Glancing around and noticing black dots appearing on the horizon, the boy turned and ran.
His speed, stride length, rhythm, and especially his perfectly timed breaths—if the maidservant could see them, she would think the boy had been practicing martial arts for years and was no novice.
The boy quickly disappeared from the roof ridge, like a light bird, like a Snake-catching Eagle freed from its cage.
---
About the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the burly old man hurried back to the Li estate, murderous aura radiating from him.
From Li Hong, the Li family patriarch, to the maidservants in the separate courtyard, no one dared to breathe loudly. The martial arts maidservant was kneeling on the ground, her cheeks swollen red. She said nothing, not daring to show any resentment.
The little girl, now calm as usual, saw the old man and sighed, shaking her head. "Uncle Ape, it seems the Li family are all a bunch of useless people. How could you entrust me to them?"
The Mountain-Moving Ape knelt on one knee, still taller than the little girl. The white-haired old man said guiltily, "Miss, this old servant was wrong."
He turned his head and growled, "Li Hong!"
The Li family head, who had a rough understanding of the orthodox elegant language of the East Bottle Gourd Continent—coincidentally the same as Zhengyang Mountain cultivators' speech—this man who had the final say in his family, could only smile bitterly and apologize. "This time, it is indeed our Li family's fault, no excuse. Based on the information we have so far, the assassin is a boy, most likely not a cultivator. The office has not yet provided useful intelligence, only saying they will send capable personnel to guard the mansion day and night."
Tao Zi thought for a moment and said, "That assassin didn't seem to be here to kill me."
Then she added, "At least not today."
The Li family head's heart, which had just begun to settle, leaped back into his throat.
The white ape frowned and asked, "Was the boy thin, dark-skinned, about this tall? And wearing straw sandals?"
The kneeling maidservant nodded vigorously.
The white ape grinned, his eyes dark and sinister. "Good man! So he came to provoke and show off!"
He waved his hand and said, "Don't interfere with this. I know the assassin's background—he's an ordinary boy from Mud Vase Alley."
The little girl said softly, "Uncle Ape, don't take it lightly."
The Mountain-Moving Ape hesitated, then stood up and ordered Li Hong, "Have the office produce the household registry files for the boy. Dig up the backgrounds of his ancestors for eighteen generations. As for guarding this courtyard, better to have a few elite rather than many mixed hands."
The old man's tone turned grim, and he sneered, "Li Hong, I advise you to invite out the pillar of stability stationed here. Don't treat this lightly. If something happens to my young lady here, even this old beast you see can't bear the consequences. Can your Li family's collateral branch bear it?"
Li Hong quickly bowed and apologized, panicking. "Elder Ape, you flatter us. The Li family could not bear that."
The Zhengyang Mountain guardian ape sank into thought, muttering, "Is that kid from Wind and Thunder Garden using this to pick a fight? Or is it Song Changjing's scheme from the office?"
Finally, he shook his head, finding it absurd. "No matter who put him up to coming to die, you couldn't find a better pawn? A puny little grasshopper—not even enough to fill a tooth gap? Good. I was just regretting not having an excuse to kill someone. This is a decent pretext. First kill the mud-born from Mud Vase Alley, then I'll clean up that little bastard from Wind and Thunder Garden."
The old man smiled at the little girl. "Miss, this old servant will take care of the mess for you this time. There won't be any more incidents."
The little girl beamed brightly, raising her fist to boost the mountain guardian ape's morale.
Before leaving, the old man glanced at Li Hong, who smiled bitterly. "I'll go invite the ancestor to come out and serve as Miss Tao's personal guard."
The old man nodded and strode away.
He blatantly took the bait, following the fishing line straight toward Mud Vase Alley, making it clear: I've taken the hook; come and kill me.
Outside the town, this Mountain-Moving Ape wouldn't dare be so arrogant, but in this realm, where spells, divine abilities, and artifacts were all unusable, he actually had a huge advantage. That was why Zhengyang Mountain hadn't dispatched a sword immortal.
As the old ape walked, nearing Mud Vase Alley, he suddenly realized something. "Could that alley boy be doing this just to avenge a friend?"
Before, the old ape had been thinking in terms of deep conspiracies involving hidden traces spanning thousands of miles. Now realizing this possibility, he found it utterly absurd.
The old ape laughed, quickly understanding. "If so, it makes sense. Not being a cultivator, he wouldn't be so afraid of death. After all, it's just a cheap life."
Still, to be cautious, the old ape didn't swagger into Mud Vase Alley from one end.
No matter what, this trip wouldn't be wasted. The little bastard favored by Wind and Thunder Garden would just live a little longer than the mud-legged boy from Mud Vase Alley.
Taking a long detour, the old ape entered Mud Vase Alley from a small corner near Gu Can's house.
In truth, the old ape doubted whether the assassin boy had the guts to stay in his ancestral home and wait for death.
If he were clever and timid, he might die after the young man from Wind and Thunder Garden.
The old ape grinned.
Then his smile froze.
In the twilight, Mud Vase Alley's path was dark and blurry.
The burly old man looked up sharply.
A thin boy somehow stood high above the alley's entrance, his feet wedged into freshly dug holes in both walls, giving him leverage.
The boy carried a quiver on his back and held a fully drawn wooden bow, the arrow aimed directly at one of the old ape's eyes.
The boy was utterly silent, his bow drawn like a full moon, and even his faintest breathing seemed to have stopped.
So much so that the guardian ape of Zhengyang Mountain only sensed the boy's presence above through his keen awareness of danger.
Before the old ape could react further, the arrow shot forth, whistling with force.
After shooting that arrow, the boy made no second move. He ducked, quickly slung the wooden bow over his shoulder, and used his toes to push off the walls, climbing to the eaves and vanishing in an instant.
The old ape withdrew the hand he had raised to block his forehead. The arrow was embedded in his palm, not deeply, with a visible split in the skin.
But the old ape felt a delayed fear.
If, in the town, someone had shot an arrow into his eye from such close range, it would have been a tragedy where calling to heaven and earth would have been futile.
He casually pulled out the arrow, snapped it, and dropped it into Mud Vase Alley.
His fists clenched, he looked up at the sky above the alley, his face livid. A low, suppressed sound rumbled in his throat, like an ancient beast enraged to the extreme.
The old ape used both hands and feet to climb to the roof in an instant. But as soon as his head emerged, a second arrow arrived instantly.
The prepared old ape casually raised his arm, letting the arrow embed itself shallowly, and strode forward with a sinister grin.
The boy, having put away his bow again, turned and ran.
A series of cracking sounds echoed along the continuous eaves on one side of Mud Vase Alley.
The old ape's strides were far longer than the boy's, gradually closing the distance. It was only a matter of time before he caught up to the thin youth, who was actually quite agile.
The old ape burst forward, leaping into the air to pounce, one massive palm like a winnowing basket reaching for the boy's head.
The boy seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. At the critical moment, he twisted his waist, dropped into a crouch, then turned and leaped toward the opposite roof.
After a light landing, he continued to sprint.
The old ape was equally agile and swift. He forcibly turned and leaped toward the other side of Mud Vase Alley.
The boy suddenly stopped.
By the time the old ape realized something was wrong, it was too late.
The roof was uninhabited, long neglected and dilapidated. It couldn't bear the old ape's two-hundred-pound jump.
With a crash, man and tiles fell into the house.
The old ape landed heavily, one hand bracing the floor. He twisted his head to dodge a cunning arrow.
The arrow embedded itself directly into the ground.
It wasn't that the boy lacked strength, but that the old ape was simply too thick-skinned.
Standing at the edge of the hole in the roof, the boy skillfully stowed his wooden bow, raised his middle finger, and cursed, "Old beast! Go fuck your mother!"
Suddenly, his expression turned odd. He slapped himself and muttered, "I'm the one who loses out!"
The old ape rose abruptly, but the boy was already far away.