Chaotic World Book
Chapter 105 - 103 Spring Water Sword Technique

Chapter 105: Chapter 103 Spring Water Sword Technique

Zhao Changhe hesitated for a while, originally planning to leave Sword Lake City today, but after thinking it over, he decided to visit that brothel and find Tang Wanzhuang first.

Hmm, he was already a familiar customer in the brothel now, even the gatekeepers at the back recognized him. Seeing him come over, they didn’t even ask any questions and let him in directly.

Zhao Changhe asked, "Is Miss Tang... still here?"

The gatekeeper said, "It’s said that she’s preparing to leave today, you’ve come just in time."

Zhao Changhe always had a sense of déjà vu when he visited Wanhu Building to look for familiar ladies... Really, does he truly not care how others sneer and gossip about him?

When he reached the bamboo building, the burly men around cast questioning glances at each other, held back, and didn’t stop him. Zhao Changhe just walked up the stairs on his own.

Tang Wanzhuang was still bent over her desk writing something, while a little maid beside her was busily packing up things, seemingly indeed ready to leave.

Zhao Changhe appeared at the doorway, and the maid, holding a zither, turned around, startled, "You you you... How did you come here?"

While speaking, her face turned a bit red, she muttered, "So frivolous and immoral."

Zhao Changhe, "?"

So, you were really monitoring my inn, right?

Tang Wanzhuang set down her pen, "Don’t mind Bao Qin, we only knew that Xia Chichi left your inn in the middle of the night, and it was her own wild guessing beyond that."

Zhao Changhe glanced at the maid, so because you’re holding a zither, your name is actually Bao Qin, huh.

He said aloud, "She makes a bunch of wild guesses, what about you?"

Tang Wanzhuang said, "You had previously shared a room with her for a long time... It’s quite normal for her to leave your room, isn’t it? What’s there to guess about?"

"You decided not to meddle anymore?"

"There’s no point," Tang Wanzhuang was not keen to continue this subject and asked, "I thought you would leave today, yet you came here, what is your intention, sir?"

Zhao Changhe saluted with his fists, "Miss Tang is ranked within the top three of the Earth List, with exceptional strength. Zhao wishes to ask for some guidance."

Tang Wanzhuang paused for a moment.

Well, actually, she did plan to give Zhao Changhe some pointers before, but she retracted the thought. Things of the Imperial are different from the Worldly Society’s mentality. Yue Hongling could casually decide how to teach, but for her, it could easily become a transgression, aspiring to become the Emperor’s Master, which would be troublesome even if it isn’t crap.

She hadn’t noticed Zhao Changhe showing any intention to ask for her teaching before; he probably didn’t want to get too entangled. Owing the debt of a teacher-student relationship could be troublesome... So what is with him today...

Seeing her expression, Zhao Changhe knew she had misunderstood, and said helplessly, "Vice Leader, these are just the customary words of courtesy in the Worldly Society, meaning I want to spar to see how formidable the third on the Earth List really is and how big the gap is between us. If you think there’s no point, you could call over Brother Wu Weiyang. I reckon although he’s not on the Chaotic World Book, his strength should be close to the Human List. Let him have a match with me to see."

Tang Wanzhuang looked at him for a long while, then nodded and suddenly made a sword with her fingers, pointing towards Zhao Changhe’s throat.

Zhao Changhe felt that he had never fought such a strange fight in all his years of practicing martial arts... Those green jade fingers seemed very slow, the path was clear, but when he instinctively tried to dodge, he found himself unbearably delayed, and her fingertip was already on his throat.

The scene looked like she made a move, and Zhao Changhe was subdued without even reacting.

Zhao Changhe was astounded, "What is this? A domain? A Qi Field?"

Tang Wanzhuang slowly explained, "None of that; to be frank, it’s not marvelous, just a warning: do not trust your eyes and ears too much, both sound and images can deceive you."

She coughed lightly again, whispered, "What you need is a real fight, not a sparring session. Even sparring with Han Wubing is boring for you, yet you suddenly come looking for a match at the Demon Suppression Department, not logical. There must be another reason. You might as well speak plainly; whatever I can do to help, I will do my best."

This woman is so clever... Zhao Changhe simply said, "It’s because no one has guided me; I feel I have hit a bottleneck."

Tang Wanzhuang pondered for a moment and said, "I inquired about your first fight when you entered the Chaotic World Book against Vice Leader Huang of Beimang—don’t look so shocked, the Blood God Sect certainly has people in the Demon Suppression Department. Many things you’ve done in Beimang, including various credible and non-credible rumors, we have a pile of information on our desk... for example, the woman claiming to be Yue Hongling."

Zhao Changhe sighed, "Alright."

"During your fight with Vice Leader Huang, you used clever strength. At that time, perhaps it was a reluctant clever tactic due to insufficient strength, but as your power grew, you preferred the Broadsword, fond of overwhelming force, and never used that early clever strength again, did you?"

Zhao Changhe disagreed, "I can still use the Broadsword to shave!"

Tang Wanzhuang shook her head, "That’s not the same as clever strength and Soft Strength used in battle, and you know it in your heart."

Zhao Changhe stopped arguing, and with a sigh, he asked, "So, combining strength and softness is still the supreme path, huh?"

"I know you like the feeling of overwhelming power, personal temperament determines that, and it doesn’t need to be changed nor should it be changed, but you need to understand the principles that ’the harder they come, the harder they fall’ and ’fullness won’t last long.’" Tang Wanju said, "There are many ways to interpret the combination of toughness and gentleness, and even if you follow a path of extreme ferocity, that doesn’t mean you can’t also be gentle."

Zhao Changhe said, "That sounds a bit too mysterious..."

Tang Wanju said, "It’s like a river breaking its banks, naturally, it’s overwhelming. But the water itself is just water, no matter what weapons you try to block it with, they’re meaningless; hence nothing can withstand it."

Zhao Changhe felt a slight stirring in his heart, as if he had gained some insight.

Tang Wanju said, "This is just an ordinary exchange in martial arts, I haven’t taught you anything."

Zhao Changhe chuckled, "Understood."

Tang Wanju tilted her head to think for a moment, then suddenly asked, "If I suggest that you should read more, write, or even play musical instruments and paint, would you think I’m being nonsensical?"

Zhao Changhe also thought for a while, then answered, "Perhaps it’s profound wisdom. But now may not be the right time... One day, I may ask the leader for advice."

Tang Wanju nodded slightly, saying nothing more.

Zhao Changhe’s aptitude and understanding were naturally first-class in the world; otherwise, how could he have made a name for himself without the guidance of a famous teacher or top divine skills? A hint was all it took for him to gain insight.

Zhao Changhe was about to take his leave, but thinking it strange to come all this way just to say a few words and then leave, he looked for another topic: "What’s the situation with the Maitreya Sect?"

This was him showing an initiative to find something to do.

He had noted the Maitreya Sect’s attempt on Chichi’s life in his little notebook, finding it was a good opportunity and in line with Tang Wanju’s previous directive for him to deal with the Demon Sect.

Tang Wanju said, "The Demon Sects often spread perverse and heretical teachings to bewitch people. Sects like the Four Symbols Sect and Blood God Sect genuinely believe in deities, aiming more towards divine descent and returning to the heavens of ancient times, and so on. The Maitreya Sect, however, is just a facade for gathering followers and wealth, and they often indulge in licentious and wicked acts. To us, they’re all the same when it comes time to rebel and cause chaos, but perhaps there’s a difference in your heart?"

"There is indeed." Zhao Changhe said. "I was in Beimang for so long and never heard of the Maitreya Sect, nor in Hebei... Maybe I just wasn’t there long enough? What’s their main area of activity?"

"Jiangnan."

Zhao Changhe nodded, "Then my next step is to take a walk in Jiangnan. The Sword Lake affair didn’t involve me and they probably haven’t noted me down, have they?"

"They shouldn’t have."

"Alright then, I’ve been wanting to see the misty rain of Jiangnan."

Tang Wanju said, "You carry the badge of the Demon Suppression Department’s secret agent. If you can’t cope on your own, remember to use it. Also... the Tang family is located in Gusu."

Zhao Changhe looked at her and suddenly smiled, "I can guess... If it weren’t that kind of water town, it couldn’t have produced a beauty like you."

Having said that, he turned and ran off: "I take my leave."

Tang Wanju watched Zhao Changhe depart without a word. Bao Qin snickered, "Miss, that last sentence of his... Was he flirting with you?"

"Not at all," Tang Wanju smiled faintly. "He’s just letting himself live a little more freely."

Over there, Zhao Changhe returned to the inn and took out the gold foil.

Of course, he had sought advice from Tang Wanju to test this thing.

The gold foil indeed started to repeatedly show the pointer from Tang Wanju, proving that this thing could record and replay in real-time, and it didn’t need to wait till the next day. However, as this new recording appeared, the previous chess game with Han Wubing showed up less frequently, only appearing occasionally.

It seemed that you couldn’t keep things stored on this device; once used, you had to quickly assimilate it, or else it would be replaced by something new.

As for the pointer itself...

From this playback, in slow motion, his own movements seemed as slow as a turtle’s crawl, but the pointer appeared to be at normal speed. The contrast clearly showed it was absurdly fast, no slower than Cui Wenjing’s supersonic sword that time. But at that moment, why had it seemed so slow to him, feeling like he could surely dodge, but before he moved, it was already over...

"Don’t trust your eyes and ears too much, both sounds and images can deceive you."

Like the incessant spring water, the shimmering waves, seemingly clear and shallow in the water, and the fishes right there, but when you try to catch them, you find they’re not actually in that place.

The top three on the Earth List... Have they already started to comprehend and apply the understanding of light?

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PS: There’s more tonight. Seeking a monthly ticket~