Chapter 18 (1/2)
FRS: Chapter 18 – Unknown Truth (9)
Translator: Momoe Pom
TLC: Puissansa
Editor: Isabelle
Quality Check: Kai
First Published on Ainus.h.i.+.
Making the Xianlian Sword public was just the beginning of the reformation. However, under the silence of Song BoLin and Wu ChangBo, the helplessness of Zhu LiaoDa, and the vigorous support from Guan Xing, Fan JiJing's bold and decisive reforms were executed one after another. Just over a month later, the Jiuhua Sect was already sporting an earth-shakingly different new look.
Also, the attention of every big sect in the pugilistic world had been focused on the Demonic Sect at first, followed by the Xuetu Hall which had come later. All this time, their eyes had been moving about in circles and were unable to rest. Only when they finally came to a break did they realize that in a twinkling of an eye, the influence of the Jiuhua Sect had already spread out from the west of the Huai River all the way to northern and southern sides of the Long River.
Many people might not have heard of the name of the Xianlian Sword, but it was an undeniable fact that Bu LouLian was ranked eleventh on the list of martial arts experts. To be able to learn the special skill of the eleventh expert in martial arts was undoubtedly a temptation too enormous to resist.
For some time, martial arts enthusiasts from all over the world gathered at Mount Jiuhua. Despite the fact that sects such as Wudang and Shaolin were ill.u.s.trious, not all of their martial art skills were open to all of their disciples after all. In comparison, the Jiuhua Sect which promised the right to learn the Xianlian Sword to anyone who joined was so attractive that they would swarm to it.
Yet, seeing the Jiuhua Sect become more and more bustling, Song BoLin was quite worried on the inside.
The concern reached its apex when Fan JiJing casually announced the decision to expand the Jiuhua Sect.
In the end, he could not bear it anymore and once again came to Fan JiJing’s door.
Fan JiJing was reading a letter. As he saw Song BoLin pus.h.i.+ng open the doors and coming in, he calmly folded the letter, put it inside his sleeve, and called with a helpless tone, ”s.h.i.+shu.”
Song BoLin justly defended himself. ”I was going to knock the door at first, but it couldn’t stand any knock and opened by itself. Whose fault is this?”
”My fault.” Fan JiJing responded extremely fast, with a faint smile on his face still.
This kind of smile naturally generated a different explanation as it fell into Song BoLin's eyes, but he was reluctant to fuss over trivial matters like this at the moment. He directly sat down and went straight to the point. ”Are you really going to teach the Xianlian Sword to all of the disciples?”
Fan JiJing quipped, ”Haven't I done so already?”
”That's different.” Song BoLin explained, ”All disciples who are learning it now have already been in our sect for many years, while many people that we have recruited recently have come from other sects.”
Fan JiJing slowly asked,”So, s.h.i.+shu’s point is?”
”How can the special martial arts skill of our sect end up in the hands of those people?!” Song BoLin fretfully continued, ”How can you tell whether those people have evil intentions or not, only coming to attain the skill?”
Fan JiJing responded indifferently, ”So what if they do?”
”So what if they do?” The tone of Song BoLin's voice changed abruptly, ”Don't tell me you want to ruin the entire Jiuhua Sect?” This sentence was like a bright light at night, lighting his thoughts up immediately. ”I see. Bu LouLian was not the only one you wanted revenge on, but the entire Jiuhua Sect too! After making the Xianlian Sword public, the Jiuhua Sect would no longer have the capital to claim a place in the pugilistic world, and its decline would be just a matter of time.”
”s.h.i.+shu is oversensitive.” Fan JiJing heaved a faint sigh, ”I've never thought this way.”
”Hmph. But your conduct is.”
Fan JiJing asked, ”Does s.h.i.+shu know who invented the Xianlian Sword?”
”Of course. It was the Founder.”
”That's right. The Founder established the sect and invented the Xianlian Sword. However, seven generations have pa.s.sed ever since the Founder, but not even one zhangmen created a new martial arts skill. Do you know why?”
Song BoLin was startled. He indeed had never thought about this question.
”Because there was no need to.” Fan JiJing slowly explained, ”The Xianlian Sword could be pa.s.sed on to only one person, and therefore, for every generation, zhangmen was the number one expert in the Jiuhua Sect. Their position in the Jiuhua Sect was so majestic that no one was even comparable with them, so naturally they would not invest efforts in coming up with any new skills.”
Song BoLin asked, ”How does it relate to you teaching the Xianlian Sword to the public?”
”A person's view can be biased, but strength surely cannot bias. It's said that literature has no first place while martial arts has no second. Since everyone is able to learn Xianlian Sword, the martial arts level of the disciples in Jiuhua Sect, and who is better or worse at it, will be clear. The martial arts of the Jiuhua Sect will naturally come to greater heights. In this way, whoever can succeed as zhangmen must be an expert who surpa.s.ses all the others — the one chosen amongst a hundred. Then why worry about the decline of the Jiuhua Sect?”
Song BoLin asked, ”What if that person doesn't want to be the zhangmen?”
Fan JiJing answered, ”When the Jiuhua Sect becomes one of the biggest sects in the world, who will have the heart to abandon the position of zhangmen?”
Song BoLin was speechless.
Fan JiJing held his sleeve between his fingers, his fingertips brus.h.i.+ng against the envelope inside the sleeve while his gaze s.h.i.+fted out of the window.
It had been cloudy on Mount Jiuhua continuously for more than a month.It was if Hua HuaiXiu had taken away that clear sky above with him when he left.
”s.h.i.+shu.” He softly uttered.
It creeped Song BoLin out now to hear Fan JiJing calling him ”s.h.i.+shu”, so he replied in a fierce manner despite being shaky inside, ”What?”
”Everything in the sect is more or less settled. I want to leave for a month,” Fan JiJing said, staring at the sky outside the window.
Song BoLin was happy in his mind at first, but he soon asked with some uncertainty, ”Where are you going?”
”I want to go back to the Hua family to visit to my grandparents,” said Fan JiJing.
Song BoLin pondered for a moment. He thought that since he had become the zhangmen of the Jiuhua Sect, it could be regarded as an honor to his family and going back to show it off would just be human nature. However, Fan JiJing was such a shrewd person. At a time when so many things in the Jiuhua Sect were waiting to be done, would he really hand over them to someone else? Or perhaps he had other intentions?
Fan JiJing turned his head back. Seeing Song Bolin's face filled with suspicion, he smiled, ”During my leave, I was thinking of asking s.h.i.+shu to temporarily take the place of zhangmen.”
If Fan JiJing was still the old Fan JiJing, Song BoLin would definitely be wild with joy after hearing the news. Yet, all he could think of at the moment was what kind of pit was before him, waiting for him to jump in. So of course he could not follow through with Fan JiJing's intentions. ”I'm already old. It would be better to let young people handle this kind of matter.”
”If that's the case, I have no choice but to ask eldest s.h.i.+xiong to subst.i.tute for me temporarily.”
Not only was Fan JiJing not surprised at his declination at all, he even appeared to have foreseen it long ago. Only now did Song BoLin realize that his various concerns had actually gotten himself caught up in Fan JiJing's schemes. He could not help but feel wretched.
All of a sudden, a disciple hurried over and shouted outside the doors, ”Zhangmen! We have a problem! Zhu s.h.i.+xiong lost control of his qi.”
Song BoLin was shocked. He hurriedly asked, ”Where?”
”In his room right now.”
Just as Song BoLin was about to leave, he turned his head and saw Fan JiJing still standing in place. The sight of the other's perfectly composed expression made him feel as if cold water was splashed onto him. He told the disciple outside the door, ”You go first. Zhangmen and I will arrive in a moment.” After the sound of the disciple's footsteps faded, he said in a low voice, ”Zhangmen does not seem to be surprised?”
Fan JiJing replied calmly, ”To lose control over one's qi when practicing martial arts is like p.r.i.c.king one's hand when doing embroidery. It's something that should have been expected.”