Jianghu Qimen Lu

Chapter 15 Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams

The old master laughed wildly, saying, "I'm not afraid of many people!" He leaped up, crouched low, and used his grappling techniques, his hands flashing and retracting, throwing several more men out of the circle in an instant. However, these warriors, instilled with the blind loyalty of "a great reward brings forth brave men," were all fearless, charging forward with relentless ferocity, one after another, ready to die for their cause! It turned out that these Qing soldiers, though stationed in their camps, were poorly paid and had always been destitute. This morning, they suddenly heard that the Imperial Envoy, Lord Bai, would give each of them ten thousand taels of silver as post-battle supplies, on the condition that they fight to the death on the battlefield! Ten thousand taels of silver was an astronomical sum at that time, an amount that was difficult to earn in a lifetime! For their families, for their wives, children, and parents, it was worth risking their entire lives! Seeing that the old master didn't kill them, but merely grabbed and threw them without injury, the warriors shouted, rose from the ground, and attacked even more fiercely! He stopped dodging and began to relentlessly attack, using every attack possible! After a while, even the old master, with his superb martial arts skills, was exhausted. He was panting heavily, and his attacks became noticeably slower!

Seeing the sudden change in the situation, Bai Nian Dian and the six renowned boxers rallied their spirits, brandishing their weapons and leaping into the circle. They unleashed their deadly attacks at every opportunity, each move ruthless and deadly! Caught off guard, the old man felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. With a hiss, Bai Nian Dian slashed him with his sword, tearing his clothes and drawing blood. The old man screamed wildly, then suddenly pulled a short, thin steel pipe from his waist. He pressed a switch, and a cloud of black smoke billowed out. Two of the surrounding warriors were instantly hit, their vision going black before they collapsed to the ground! The old man continued to massage them, but several more fell to the ground, unable to get up.

"Damn it, isn't that the Beggars' Sect's prized Dog-Beating Stick? How does he have it... Could he be a member of the Beggars' Sect?" Bai Shandian immediately thought of Huo Shaoyun and was suddenly shocked: "No wonder this so-called Sun Gate is so well-informed. Could it be that Huo Shaoyun orchestrated this whole thing?" He roared angrily, "You treacherous villain, you actually deceived me!" He tore off his headscarf to cover his mouth and nose, and rushed forward with all his might, thrusting his sword from behind! The old gentry man didn't expect a sneak attack and hurriedly dodged the direct hit. However, he was careless and felt a jolt of electricity in his right wrist. He was stabbed squarely, the sword tip piercing through his wrist. The Dog-Beating Stick fell to the ground on the spot, blood splattering all over his sleeves! Before he could even pull out his sword, a middle-aged shrew suddenly rushed up from the left. A fist the size of a wine bowl, accompanied by a whirlwind, struck his left temple. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness! White Lightning rushed forward and ripped off the old master's flesh-colored mask, revealing a burly man with a thick beard—none other than Fire Cloud!

The middle-aged shrew was none other than Hung Kuen. She immediately ran up, pulled out a rope from her waist, and quickly tied Huo Shaoyun up tightly!

"This man's kung fu is quite good, do you know him?" Xiang Quan approached, carrying his youngest son, Bai Jin. Bai Shandian's expression was unreadable. He sighed and said, "This man is Huo Shaoyun, the leader of the Beggars' Sect. He's cunning and scheming, feigning ignorance, with only one goal: to obtain the 'Complete Book of Jianghu'! But I wonder what he intends to do with it?" This remark reminded Xiang Quan, who immediately ordered Hong Quan to search Huo Shaoyun. Unexpectedly, Hong Quan searched him thoroughly but found nothing! Cai Li Fo Quan, considering the impropriety of men and women touching, hesitated to search his private parts, so he quickly knelt down and searched again, but found nothing there either! Had that extraordinary book vanished without a trace?

Bai Shandian stepped forward, took his son from Xiang Quan's arms, and the two cuddled for a while. Suddenly, Bai Shandian asked seriously, "Son, when this person carried you over, there was someone else in the bamboo forest, wasn't there?" Little Bai Jin blinked his bright eyes and said, "Yes! But that person also had a big beard, and his face was exactly the same as this person's! Could he be Sun Wukong from 'Journey to the West,' capable of seventy-two transformations?" Bai Shandian quickly put him down, squatted down, and used his hands to peel off Huo Shaoyun's face, revealing another human skin mask. It was a wretched old man in his sixties, with a weasel-like face and an unpleasant appearance. Bai Shandian didn't recognize him. Xiang Quan, however, exclaimed, "Isn't this the Wanli Piao, the master of the Bewitching Eight Trigrams Blade, one of the four great martial arts families of Cangzhou, who is as famous as me?" He quickly ordered Hong Quan and the others to untie him. The crowd was puzzled. Hong Quan said, "This old man may not look like much, but he's highly skilled in martial arts. We finally managed to capture him; if we release him, wouldn't that be like letting a tiger return to the mountains?" Xiang Quan said seriously, "Since our founding, the four great families of the martial arts world have always considered themselves reputable and righteous sects, sharing the same name as the Shaolin and Wudang sects, the pillars of the martial arts world. Each of our four families has upheld proper family traditions and followed the rules without ever deviating from them. Unexpectedly, Master Wan has become a lackey of the Beggars' Clan today. There must be some misunderstanding. We cannot be disrespectful to him!" Hong Quan had no choice but to untie Wan Li Piao's ropes. But she was still furious at being tossed around like a toy by him earlier. She walked up to the old man's thin face and slapped him twice. This move actually worked; Wan Li Piao moved a few times and slowly woke up.

"Greetings, Master Wan, I am Xiang Quan." Xiang Quan stepped forward and gave a deep bow, which made Wan Li Piao's old face turn red. He returned the greeting with shame and said in a low voice, "Just now, when I saw that you were old acquaintances, I couldn't bear to kill you. I deliberately used the Beggar Clan's famous hidden weapon to conceal my identity and take the opportunity to slip away. I didn't expect... alas, you still saw through my identity!" Xiang Quan smiled slightly, "Master, you are famous throughout Hebei. How did you end up with the Beggar Clan?" Wan Li Piao sighed and said sadly, "Years ago, by chance, Huo Shaoyun caught me red-handed. For many years, I have been at his beck and call. I have no choice but to do this. I am even more reluctant to do this deal with you, but I have no choice but to bite the bullet and come." Bai Shandian sneered and recited, "Reputation is worth a thousand pieces of gold, why hurt your self-esteem? A worthless disciple is guilty, better to be a good person!" Sure enough, Wan Li Piao's face changed drastically. He stared intently at Bai Shandian and asked in a trembling voice, "Who exactly are you? How do you know about that incident from twenty years ago?" Bai Shandian said coldly, "Don't worry about who I am. Just see if I'm right: For you famous people, you cherish your reputation even more. It is precisely because of this that some people have seized this weakness to persecute you and make you subject to their control! In fact, if you see through the world and regard fame and fortune as fleeting clouds, those pitfalls will naturally crumble and vanish!" Wan Li Piao's face turned as red as if he had been slapped!

Taking this opportunity, Bai Shandian solemnly asked, "You gave the extraordinary book 'The Complete Book of Jianghu' to Huo Shaoyun. Where is he now?" Wan Li Piao replied, "He's probably still inside the Bamboo Forest Formation! This is a Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Yin Gate Formation, arranged according to the Eight Trigrams Formation of Zhuge Liang, the famous strategist of the Three Kingdoms period. Inside..." Suddenly, his words were cut short. A deep gash appeared on his neck, blood gushing out... Wan Li Piao swayed precariously and finally collapsed to the ground, dead. Everyone was shocked. Looking down, they saw a snow-white piece of paper lying on the ground beside the corpse! Xiang Quan recognized it; it was torn from the cover of her own "Complete Book of Jianghu"! She couldn't help but shout, "Huo Shaoyun, come out here! Come out here!" But the autumn sun was waning, a gentle breeze blew through the bamboo forest, and there was no sign of anyone.

Hung Kuen and the burly Mok Kuen roared and charged into the bamboo forest, only to find themselves suddenly blinded, stumble, and fall headfirst into a trap! Despite their superior martial arts skills, they quickly bent over and tried to pull themselves up, but the bamboo skewers scattered throughout the pit pierced their thighs and hands, drawing blood. The slender and beautiful Wing Chun practitioner swiftly threw out a rope dart, quickly scooping up Hung Kuen and Mok Kuen and pulling them up. Liu Kuen, who happened to be a doctor, quickly opened his medical kit, poured out some Yunnan Baiyao powder, and bandaged the wounds. White Lightning and Fragrant Fist exchanged bewildered glances, at a loss. Although White Lightning was a secret agent of the Imperial Guard, he was not a high-ranking military commander and knew nothing about military formations or military strategy. While Fragrant Fist was deeply versed in martial arts, he had little knowledge of Sun Tzu's Art of War or any military formations. At that moment, the same thought arose in both of their minds: knowledge changes destiny, and similarly, ignorance is tantamount to suicide!