Chapter 36 (2/2)

Thus, he went to drag over the fairy-like beauty, jealously striking his arm towards the other gentleman. Yet one dodged while the other rose to block, resulting in an unsightly scene of tug-of-war. With no other choice, the masked beauty threw aside her qin and grabbed both men before stalking off.

After that, two figures disappeared from the world. One was the leader of the martial arts circles, the other a general’s son from the previous dynasty who had been branded a lifelong criminal by the imperial court. His looks were handsome, and he had in possession a treasured map and many unique martial arts manuals. Sadly, he was too frail to practice the techniques himself, and couldn’t talk because he was a mute.

As for the qin, which broke in half upon being flung to the ground…

Rumors say it was s.n.a.t.c.hed away by the ma.s.ses and a single fragment of its strings or wood could be sold for up to ten thousand gold taels.

But these are all rumors…

However, the qin playing expert gained Seven Princes[5] as followers. No one knew what they looked like, because no one could enter their house.

The First (Yi’er) spoke little but had ruthless business methods and was rich in acc.u.mulated properties.

Of the Second (Er’er) and Third (San’er), one was immune to hundreds of poisons while the other poisoned everyone on sight, making them two sides of the same jade.

Fourth (Si’er) was proficient in techniques of the Five Elements and naturally talented in the art of face-changing.

Fifth (Wu’er) was reportedly very ugly, but had unfathomable internal energy.

As for Sixth (Liu’er), he was as beautiful as Fifth was ugly, and his lightness technique[4] was incomparable. Unfortunately, he couldn’t speak.

Seventh (Qi’er) was lively, energetic, and possessed a spirited intelligence. He was the only person the qin player had brought from back home and was the obvious favorite. Typically, he was the one who took charge of everything.

As for this qin playing expert, his courtesy name[6] was Zang (葬) and his given name[7] Hua (华). He self-professed to be a carefree idler.