165 The Teahouse (2/2)

The guests consisted of the weird and the grotesque. There was old folk so wrinkled that you could not guess their age, grotesque creatures who had facial birth defects and looked frightening and many cripples with amputations. The common characteristic of all of them was that they seemed generally uninterested and without a care for the world, focusing all their attention on drinking the tea that was placed in front of them.

The counterjumpers were normal looking though, but they purposely overlooked serving the new guests, keeping a distance away from them.

”Where is Qi Da?”

”I don't know. It is said that he hides here, but no one said whether he was drinking tea on the first story or having his fortune told on the third story.”

”Call the counterjumper to come over here.”

The reluctant Xu Xiaoyi stood up, and after a while, managed to call a reluctant counterjumper over to their table.

”What is it?” From the tone of the counterjumper, it was as if he was a supervisor in the Stone Castle with real authority.

Gu Shenwei placed a gold nugget on the table and said, ”I'm looking for Qi Da.”

The counterjumper glanced at the gold nugget and said, ”Wait a moment.” He turned and left them, as if the guest had just told him the name of a dish.

Gu Shenwei was a little taken aback that things would be so easy.

The counterjumper was gone for a while before appearing again with a man who was over thirty years old. The man had applied a thick layer of powder on his face and had a pair of naturally worrisome eyes which seemed filled with rage at this moment.

Xu Xiaoyi shook his head, indicating that this was not Qi Da.

”Get out, you lot are not welcome here,” said the man with make up loudly. The other guests acted as if they had not heard a thing and did not even bother to avert their gazes from the commotion.

”I'm looking for Qi Da.” Gu Shenwei repeated his request while placing a gold nugget on the table again.

”He is not here, search for him somewhere else.”

Gu Shenwei thought in his heart that someone else had already came looking for Qi Da. He placed his saber beside the gold nugget and said, ”Why don't you think again, perhaps he is in this very building.”

The man with makeup took two steps back and pursed his lips tightly shut. Three guests sitting nearby suddenly stood up and stared at the youthful killer in silence.

The three guests had each lost their entire right arm and one of even them had a slight limp. They drew their short knives as if they were performing a magic trick. The short knives were wide and sharp.

Xu Xiaoyi sensibly shut his eyes and lied flat on the table. He was experienced in such situations and knew that Brother Huan's machete skills were first class; after lying still for a while, he would see three corpses when he opened his eyes.

But Xu Xiaoyi had thought wrong, and there was not a sound from the surroundings. He sat up straight and noticed that the three one-armed machetemen were still silently facing off against the two youthful killers, as if no one had any intention to make the first move.

Gu Shenwei knew that he had been careless. As no one had mentioned that there were kung fu masters in Hope Alley, he had treated the place like a Pleasure Alley that was replaced with men, and never would he have thought that he would meet masters here.

The three one-armed men were highly skilled, and not those common machetemen who were only good at fighting, but experts in killing.

Slave Jing drew his machete first, and as his hands made its first movements, Gu Shenwei drew his as well. From the view of an onlooker, the two youths had made their moves at the same time.

As so it was that both of them were suppressed at the same time as well.

Their machetes were only drawn out of their scabbards for a few inches before being returned back in.

Gu Shenwei and Slave Jing had channelled their Internal Breaths while drawing their machetes, and felt as if a massive rising tide of lake water had faced obstructions and gushed back immediately. Their bodies shook a little and they nearly fell over, a red glow starting to appear on their faces. They only managed to return back to their original state after channelling their Internal Breaths for a few cycles.

A youth who was of over twenty years of age stood in front of the two youthful killers. He was decked entirely in pale purple, and looked handsome, classy and demure. He had female-like features but did not apply any makeup on his face. The killers stayed fully alert, entirely unaware of when he had made his appearance.

The youth withdrew his hands and took a step back, giving a slight bow. ”Tonight an unlucky constellation is in the skies, and it is not suitable for violence.”

Gu Shenwei had never met anyone with such a high level of kung fu and felt feelings stirring up inside him. He could not find his tongue for a long while.

The man with makeup applied and the three one-armed men treated the youth with the utmost respect, and showed their respects with a deep bow behind his back. They kept their machetes and retreated at the same time.

The youth looked at the faces of the three guests one by one and studied them for a while before saying, ”Immortal Peng wanted to call for one of you, but did not mention whom, I guess - it is you.”

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