901 Discernmen (1/2)
Dog Butcher couldn't go to the Four Noble Truths Temple, but he didn't want to return to the army camp of the Dragon King either. He sat on his horse and watched the snowy wilderness as well as the distant mountains for quite a while. It suddenly struck him that this trip of his had not been in vain.
It was destined that only a very small number of people would become legends in Jianghu. Ignoring the exaggerated ones, true legends were even fewer.
'The Dragon King counts as one of them,' Dog Butcher thought. But the Dragon King was under huge pressure because of it, and he had to pay an unimaginable high price. After thinking of this, Dog Butcher felt that everything was very fair.
The clatter of horse's hooves was heard. Dog Butcher thought that it would be a soldier of a certain army on patrol, but when he turned his head around, he saw a riderless horse back. He looked more carefully and then realized that Old Man Mu was the rider.
Old Man Mu could also count as a legend. Back then, he had been notorious in the Norland and the Western Regions for killing innocent people indiscriminately, which made him someone Dog Butcher was even less willing to imitate.
”Hey, Old Dog, what are you standing around here for?”
”No–Nothing,” Dog Butcher answered perfunctory. If he told Old Man Mu the truth, then he would surely laugh at him for the next few days.
Old Man Mu reined the horse back and then moved his right leg to the left side of the horse to sit on it laterally. ”Good. Actually, I've come back specially for you.”
”Does the Dragon King need my help?” Dog Butcher was somewhat excited.
”Ha-ha, of course not. The Dragon King was born to be a loner. Even if he wants your help, he will make it seem like it's your own business. But the reason why I've come back does have something to do with the Dragon King. I heard that a camel came here from the Central Plains. I'm a little curious about it.”
”It's not a camel, but the Hedong Luo Village, which is very famous in both Jianghu and the Imperial Court. Do you still remember that swordsman in white clothes whose name was Luo Qibai? Luo Qikang is his elder brother. People call him the First Sword of the Luo Family. There are also some others who call him 'The Sword of the Emperor.'”
”The kung fu skills of you Central-Plains guys are just average, but your nicknames are so fancy. Let me ask you something. Why is he called 'The Sword of the Emperor?' Don't think that I've never read the book, Zhuang Zi. 'The Sword of the Emperor,' with… what's-its-name as its blade and… something as its edge. Well, he swings it at a cloud in the sky and then slashes it at a rock on the ground… Er, the author Zhuangzi was from the Central Plains, and he was really good at bragging.”
Old Man Mu was deviating further and further from the point. Dog Butcher smiled and shook his head. ”It has nothing to do with that. There are too many kung fu celebrities in the martial arts world of the Central Plains – hundreds of thousands of them actually. And Luo Qikang is the only one who once displayed his swordsmanship in front of the Emperor and acquired his compliments. That's why he is called 'The Sword of the Emperor.'”
”Isn't the Emperor of the Central Plains only a teenager? What does he know about swordsmanship?”
”Not the incumbent Emperor. The former one. The former Emperor liked sabers and swords a lot and he was a master himself, which was why he had great discernment.”
Old Man Mu curled his lip, ”So Central Plainsmen not only like to brag, but they also like to fawn. This is the Western Regions, and it's hundreds of thousands of miles away from your former Emperor. No matter how loudly you fawn on him, he can't hear it in the underworld.”
Dog Butcher had gotten used to Old Man Mu's sarcastic ridicule. Speaking of bragging and fawning, among all the people he had met, none of them were better at these two things than Old Man Mu was. So, he smiled. ”It's just a Jianghu nickname. There's no need to take it seriously.”
”I won't take it seriously. I just want to ask you something else. Both of us once saw the Dragon King and Lotus cooperate with each other and beat the shit out of that 'white camel.' Do you think this 'Kang camel' stands a chance?”
This was the very question that Dog Butcher had been pondering. The Dragon King's sabersmanship was incredible and he had defeated opponents more powerful than him many times. But his strength had its own limit, and he couldn't radically change his combat style. ”I don't know,” Dog Butcher answered honestly. ”but if he fights him today without Lotus by his side… then I'm afraid he's no match for Luo Qikang.”
”Nonsense. The Dragon King will never have a fair kung fu competition with him. He will surely walk up to him and say with a big smile, 'so you're the renowned 'The Sword of the Emperor.' I'm honored to meet you. Alas, look at your sword. I can tell that it's no common sword just from its sight. And look at your face. Wow, you're a genius among genius. I heard that your mother gave birth to a second son who looked very much like me.' And then with a 'Puh,' the Dragon King will kill him with a single saber strike.”
This was a despicable method that only Old Man Mu would stoop to, but Dog Butcher understood the connotation of his words, and it was also what he had been wondering about – were those profound martial arts moves of prestigious sects really better than the pragmatic Jianghu techniques?
”Luo Qikang is not that easy to deal with. He once displayed swordsmanship in front of the Emperor, and he has also been traveled through Jianghu for many years. He once broke into a bandit fortress alone and defeated a dozen people consecutively when he was only fifteen.”
”So he once defeated a bunch of bandits. What's the big deal?”
”He used to be very staunch with great moral integrity when he was young, and he offended a lot of people. Rumor says that he survived dozens of assassinations without getting a single scar.”
Old Man Mu made a slightly more favorable comment, ”Having no scar doesn't necessarily mean that his kung fu skills are good. It could also mean that he doesn't dare fight to the death.”
Dog Butcher could still name a lot of other legendary deeds of Luo Qikang, but all of them had the same flaw – those who had been defeated by the Sword of the Emperor were all famous in the Central Plains, but hardly anybody from the Western Regions would know about them, which meant that using them as examples was pointless to Old Man Mu. After pondering it over for a while more, he suddenly jumped off of his horse and displayed an extremely complicated kung fu move. And then he said, ”How would you handle this move?”
”It's hard to say. If my internal energy is still more potent than yours, then I will surely make the first move, which means that you would be the one who needs to handle my move.”
”Let's just assume that our internal energy is evenly matched and that I'm the one who makes the first move.”
Old Man Mu also thought for a decent while, ”This move of yours is tricky. It's a three-pronged attack at the upper, middle and lower part of the opponent. They're all feints, but they can also turn into real attacks at any time. If we were evenly matched, then I would have two options. The first is to take evasive actions. Your move is too complicated, which makes it difficult for you to pursue me. I'll fight back the moment your move loses its momentum. The second one is to launch sham attacks that can turn into real attacks just like you do. Chances are that you will expose your vulnerability if you're not decisive enough.”