Ugly Hero - Chapter 14

Between heaven and earth, everything was vast and boundless. As far as the eye could see, there was only a glaring expanse of white. The biting cold wind rushed against the face, mixed with chunks of snow, scraping painfully against people’s skin.

On the ground were several rows of footprints, some deep and some shallow. This jianghu was vast in territory. In the south, it was still warm as spring, flowers blooming in clusters. But in the north, the long winter had already arrived.

Five men trudged forward through the sky full of snow. Even wrapped in thick felt cloaks, they could not resist the bone-piercing wind and snow.

A layer of snow had already accumulated on their felt cloaks. In this kind of weather, the weapons in their hands had instead become a heavy burden.

Driven by the cold, the hands they used to hold their weapons had already gone numb from freezing.

“Fourth Young Master, we can’t keep going forward!” one of the men shouted at the young man leading them. His voice was quickly scattered by the cold wind.

“That’s right, Fourth Young Master. The snow is getting heavier and heavier. I think we should find a place to take shelter!”

Xia Qinrun nodded unwillingly. The five found a cave and lit a fire to warm themselves.

“Fourth Young Master, if you ask me, we were definitely tricked. There’s no one in this place at all. If we go any farther, we’ll reach Tianshan territory. That place is forbidden ground.”

“Oh? Why is it forbidden ground?”

“Ai… A hundred years ago, Jun Moxiao fought the renowned martial elders. After defeating them, she forced everyone to swear a blood oath upon the peace of their ancestors and descendants, vowing to retreat and keep their distance upon seeing Jun Moxiao. Our Huaxia Manor’s ancestor also signed it. We really can’t go any farther!”

Xia Qinrun clenched his fists and said viciously, “In a few more years, that wretched girl will take control of the manor. On what basis? Why is it that every disciple of our generation can only have names following the water radical, but only she can follow the heart radical? To do whatever she pleases? If I can obtain the Canglong Sword, and with Grandfather helping me, perhaps there will still be a chance for things to change. Even if there is a blood oath, it should go find Young Miss Xia Qinyi. It can’t find us!”

“But Young Master, think about it. The climate here is terrible. Finding the Canglong Sword would certainly be good, but if we keep going, we may very likely lose our direction. Besides, Tianshan is only a legend. Very few people have ever been there. And right now, things are at the height of the storm. The Ugly Hero wouldn’t be stupid enough to hide in the place where Jun Moxiao lived in seclusion and wait for us, would he?”

…

Xia Qinrun fell silent. They had already traveled for many days. When had he ever suffered such hardship? Yet his feverish desire for the Canglong Sword and the divine martial arts manual drove him onward.

Everyone fell asleep around the bonfire. Early the next morning, they were awakened by a burst of cooing.

A man took the carrier pigeon at the cave entrance. “Fourth Young Master, it’s from the fourth branch!”

“Bring it here.”

For Fourth Young Master’s perusal: The Ugly Hero has appeared in Cangzhou and fought the Four Heroes of Cangzhou, achieving complete victory. Martial heroes have already begun to move. Return quickly!

After Xia Qinrun finished reading the letter, he swung his fist and smashed it heavily against the stone wall.

…

The Ugly Hero, who had vanished without a trace for over four months, reappeared in the jianghu and fought the Four Heroes of Cangzhou, winning completely.

On the same day, the Know-It-Alls in teahouses and restaurants everywhere all disappeared.

These Know-It-Alls had appeared out of nowhere, stationed themselves in various places, and earned a fortune. Then, overnight, they vanished together.

Some said that the Know-It-Alls were merely a gang of jianghu swindlers who had provided false information and were afraid their buyers would come looking for them.

Others said that the Know-It-Alls actually belonged to a mysterious organization. They had spread information about the Ugly Hero only to force the Ugly Hero to appear, and their true goal was to seize the Canglong Sword and the martial arts manual left behind by the Eccentric Hero.

…

Lu Nanzhu was dressed in women’s clothing, wearing a bamboo hat on her head. In her hand, she still held that old, worn literary sword, and on her back, she carried a long box.

No one would think that inside this long box was the Canglong Sword that countless people wanted to seize. Looking at Lu Nanzhu’s appearance, they would only assume the wooden box contained some kind of musical instrument.

A few days ago, she had passed through Cangzhou. Once one entered Cangzhou, one was in the Central Plains. Lu Nanzhu had changed back into the Ugly Hero’s outfit and challenged the Four Heroes of Cangzhou.

After winning, she changed back into women’s clothing, swiftly left Cangzhou, and headed south.

She had already planned it clearly: travel while fighting, fight while traveling. This was her method of protecting Tianshan, and also her road of cultivation.

Lu Nanzhu discovered that the gains obtained from actual combat were far greater than those from training alone. She would improve herself step by step until she reached the prestige her master once possessed.

Through the light gauze on her bamboo hat, Lu Nanzhu saw the large characters at the city gate: Changzhou.

The Raging Saber Sect had been founded here. As it happened, she had almost run out of travel money. Tonight, she would return to her old trade.

Night fell. Lu Nanzhu blew out the oil lamp in her room, flipped out through the inn window, left the window slightly ajar, and disappeared into the night.

The Raging Saber Sect was indeed worthy of being one of the five great sects. After the Demon-Slaying Assembly, its guards had become even stricter.

Lu Nanzhu hid in an ancient tree outside the Raging Saber Sect. There were also two people guarding the rear gate. She curved the corner of her lips, weighed the two stones in her hand, flipped her wrist, and with a “sou,” one stone struck a tile on the west wall.

“Who’s there!” Under the silent night sky, the sound of impact was extremely clear. The two disciples immediately drew the sabers at their waists and exchanged a glance. One of them raised a torch and rushed toward the source of the sound.

Lu Nanzhu flipped her wrist again, and the stone struck the wall tiles on the east side with perfect accuracy.

The remaining disciple raised his torch and ran over.

Lu Nanzhu openly leaped down from the tree and walked into the Raging Saber Sect.

Seeing firelight in the courtyard, Lu Nanzhu hid behind a tree. Presumably, the voices of the gate-guarding disciples just now had drawn their fellow disciples over.

Lu Nanzhu slowed her breathing and quietly waited for the two disciples who had come to support them to draw near. Like a ghost, her figure flashed behind the two disciples.

Lu Nanzhu formed two hand-chops, carefully controlling her strength, and struck the backs of their heads.

With two muffled sounds, the two disciples collapsed limply to the ground.

This was not Lu Nanzhu’s first time coming to the Raging Saber Sect. She used qinggong and headed familiarly toward the storehouse.

Along the way, she encountered many patrolling disciples, but Lu Nanzhu easily avoided them all.

When she reached the storehouse, Lu Nanzhu tore open the seal on a wooden chest. The chest was full of silver ingots, neatly stacked.

Yet she was not greedy. She casually took a few ingots, wrapped them into her traveling pack, and carried it on her back. “I didn’t expect the Raging Saber Sect’s patrolling disciples to be this useless. Ai…”

Lu Nanzhu felt somewhat helpless. When she reached the rear gate, she deliberately made some noise, allowing the two gate-guarding disciples from earlier to notice her.

“Who’s there?!”

Finally, she had been discovered…

“The Ugly Hero.”

“What…” The two gate-guarding disciples held their sabers before them, looking as if they were facing a great enemy, but neither dared take a single step forward.

And so, under the gaze of the two disciples, Lu Nanzhu flew away with carefree elegance.

After Lu Nanzhu left, the Raging Saber Sect was brightly lit. After checking the inventory, they discovered that only eighty taels of silver were missing from the storehouse, along with two unconscious patrolling disciples.

When the matter was reported to the sect master, Hou Rulie, he was so furious that he shattered a small table with one palm. The sect’s disciples knelt all over the floor. “Bold Demon Cult fiend, daring to openly provoke my Raging Saber Sect!”

Early the next morning, Lu Nanzhu changed into women’s clothing and walked through Changzhou City. Disciples of the Raging Saber Sect could be seen everywhere in the streets and alleys.

They moved in groups of three, carrying portraits of the Ugly Hero as they searched everywhere.

Lu Nanzhu openly walked to the city gate. There were also Raging Saber Sect disciples guarding it. Several disciples looked at Lu Nanzhu in women’s clothing, then saw the literary sword in her hand, waved, and let her leave the city.

The entire Raging Saber Sect mobilized and searched Changzhou City for three days, causing the people in the city to complain bitterly. In the end, they still did not find the Ugly Hero and had no choice but to stop.

In a fit of anger, Hou Rulie ordered that all trees within a hundred steps outside the mountain gate be cut down. With this, the Raging Saber Sect became like a young girl stripped naked, standing all alone in the middle of a forest without the slightest cover.

Hou Rulie was furious, yet there was nothing he could do. The Ugly Hero had easily entered the Raging Saber Sect and stolen only eighty taels of silver. No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand. In the end, he could only conclude that this was a provocation by Demon Cult fiends against the five great sects.

Hou Rulie ordered the disciples of the sect to keep silent, but the news that the Ugly Hero had visited the Raging Saber Sect still spread without legs. Added to Hou Rulie’s act of ordering the trees to be cut down, it was obvious he was trying to guard against the Ugly Hero visiting again.

For a time, the Raging Saber Sect became a laughingstock. One of the mighty five great sects had actually been forced by a single person to cut down trees as a precaution.

After Hou Rulie heard about this, smoke practically poured from all seven orifices. He heavily punished the disciples in the sect, then sent wanted notices to the major bounty hunters of the jianghu: one thousand taels of silver for the Ugly Hero’s head.

On the other side, ever since news spread that the Ugly Hero had fought the Four Heroes of Cangzhou, many jianghu wanderers coveting the Canglong Sword rushed nonstop to Cangzhou, only to unexpectedly hear not long after that the Ugly Hero had appeared in Changzhou.

These people immediately set out again and hurried to Changzhou. Wherever jianghu people gathered, friction was always unavoidable. Added to the Ugly Hero’s elusive movements, which made people anxious and restless, it was said that before anyone had even seen the Ugly Hero’s shadow, these jianghu guests had already fought several rounds among themselves.

When these people braved the stars and moon to rush to Changzhou, they then heard that the Ugly Hero’s traces had appeared in Mosu City. The news had been released by Huaxia Manor and was extremely reliable.

Meanwhile, Xia Qinrun had just arrived in Cangzhou with his trusted men when he heard that the Ugly Hero had appeared in Mosu City. That place was Xia Qinyi’s territory, and the businesses in the city all belonged to the main branch.

By now, Xia Qinrun had long since lost his refined gentlemanly appearance. His face was exhausted, and half of it was covered in stubble.

Upon hearing that Xia Qinyi had grasped the Ugly Hero’s whereabouts, physical and mental exhaustion mixed with fury attacking his heart. His vision went black, and he fainted in the street…

Inside the council hall of Huaxia Manor, three armchairs stood in the main position. Seated in them were the three old masters. Xia Qinyi sat in the first seat on the right, while the other disciples of the manor each took their seats. The fourth branch’s Fourth Young Master, Xia Qinrun, was nowhere to be seen.

The Second Old Master, who sat in the center, cleared his throat and slowly spoke. “Recently, the Demon Cult has been stirring restlessly and has attacked the Tianqiong Sword Sect several times. Fortunately, all attacks were defended against one by one. The Tianqiong Sword Sect is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It guards the boundary between the orthodox martial world and the Demon Cult. If anything happens to the Tianqiong Sword Sect, the Central Plains martial world will be in danger.”

The Fourth Old Master picked up the thread and continued, “Recently, there has been news that the Demon Cult fiend, the Ugly…”

At this point, the Fourth Old Master paused for a moment and frowned. He truly did not want to say the word “Hero,” but for the moment, he could not think of what word to add after “Ugly” that would be more appropriate.

In the end, he could only unwillingly continue, “Especially that Demon Cult fiend, the Ugly Hero, who has openly provoked the orthodox martial world. First, he issued a challenge in Cangzhou, then went to the Raging Saber Sect to steal. Most recently, he appeared in Mosu City, among my Xia family’s businesses…”

Hearing this, Xia Qinyi’s heart jumped.

That person… had gone to Mosu City to redeem her hairpin.

“Achoo…” Lu Nanzhu rubbed her nose. Why had she suddenly sneezed…