The Root of Trouble (Part 1)

This young man named Su Xiao doesn’t look too bad at all.

His face looks handsome, his pearly whites look well-kept, his nose is tall and straight, and he’s tall in stature. He’s the kind of young pretty boy girls would fall head-over-heels over. It’s just… He’s too thin for a man… His shoulders aren’t wide enough. They’re narrow like a lady’s. And he looks a bit too feminine.

Is he cross-dressing?

Ptui.

“My name is Su Xiao, I’m from Nanjing. I’m sixteen this year and specialise in wielding broadswords.”

Oh~ a sixteen year old flower. It’d be a waste if he didn’t cross-dress as a maiden.

s.h.i.+t! That was such a dirty thought…

But what I’m really interested in the young man who’s his opponent.

He looks the complete opposite of Su Xiao. His eyes are filled with fight, yet he’s calm and collected. He’s the kind that stands there and says nothing. Not many young people have that temperament.

He said his name was Tang Ye.

They began fighting after bowing to each other.

Su Xiao definitely learnt his sword techniques from his family.  I’ve peek-… “cough, cough” seen all the broadsword techniques of famous sects already, but not this one. First, most family styles are only pa.s.sed-down to their sons and not their daughters, so outsiders can forget about even catching a glimpse of it. Second… If he learnt all that bull c.r.a.p there from a famous sect, then that sect would undoubtedly be extinct by now.

Tang Ye however isn’t bad. He’s dealing with a sword empty-handed without any problems. In fact, he’s giving Su Xiao an opportunity, so that he leaves an impression on the examiners. But after twenty moves, he eloquently struck Su Xiao’s wrist, took his sword off him, and used that same hand to knock him out by striking his pressure point.

He beat Su Xiao with just one arm.

That style is pretty overpowered.

However, the examiners were quite impressed with Su Xiao as well, so they allowed them both to continue on to the next round.

After pondering it silently for a while, Junior s.h.i.+yi rubbed her chin and asked: “Feizhen, what do you think?”

Without a thought, I blurted: “They’re worlds apart. Tang Ye is young, but his martial arts skills are quite good. He could give a good number of top ranked fighters a run for their money. He’s almost on your level.”

Realizing that I said something I shouldn’t have, I quickly added:  “However, he lacks experience. He wouldn’t last more than thirty moves against you.”

She pouted a little before replying with a smile: “Yeah, I agree. Be careful when you fight him.”

“Me fight him? Why would I have to fight him?”

“There are three parts to the exam: In the first part, you just have to display your martial arts skills. Winning and losing isn’t important, you’ll pa.s.s the first round if the examiner is happy. The second part is a scholastic test. The third part is where you’ll face off against each other, which will be scored. Didn’t you read the information on the examination process?

Well, I came running when I noticed that the monthly salary was seventy silver ingots. I didn’t pay attention to all those other details…

If that’s the way it’s going to go, then I’ll need to be wary of Tang Ye. Well, I’ll just make a note for now.

While I’m at it, let me remind you that when I say “be careful”, I don’t mean that I’m afraid of losing to him, but that I’ll have to get serious.

I specialise in all different styles. I’m good at Shaolin, Wudang, Emei Huashan… I could just choose one and pretend that’s my style, but if I get serious, then I’ll end up revealing everything.

Forget the other school’s techniques, if I use the Demon Sect’s Spring Wind Rainy Night manual’s techniques, they’ll kill me. n.o.body in the world hates the Demon Sect more than these guys. I’ll bet anything that at least thirty armed guards will come out from all directions to hack me.

This will be a bit difficult indeed.

After all, I never followed a training system. I’ll end up using whatever if I’m not careful. After training for all these years, I’ve combined everything I’ve learnt together. I don’t think about it when I fight. What shall I do…?

“Ming Feizhen, Ming Suwen, Ming Feizhen, Ming Suwen. You’re together, right?”

I was too busy enjoying myself, I forgot it was our turn.

“You two came together and share the same surname. So you two are…”

Before she could say anything, I blurted: “We’re a married couple!”

I turned to look at my surprised and blus.h.i.+ng young s.h.i.+yi, and pulled a smug “no need to thank me” look.

I never expected the guard to get angry and say: “How dare you! Don’t you know that you’re not allowed to marry someone with the same surname as yourself? Who are your parents, how did you get acquainted with this maiden and how did you two date? Explain yourself!”

I became a mess after he gave me that earful.

Meanwhile, my young s.h.i.+yi was giggling behind me. She cheekily raised an eyebrow at me to say: “That’s what you get for getting stuck-up and trying to take advantage of me.”