The Blade-Wielding Legend
Chapter 51: Court and the Pugilistic World

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Court and the Pugilistic World

Outside, two disciples carried lanterns.

It was deep into the night, and the courtyard was filled with the howling of the autumn wind and the rustling of the grass and trees. An elderly man stood behind the lantern, his hands clasped behind his back.

He wore a green robe, his facial features were profound, with three frown lines between his eyebrows, and his mouth corners drooped, completed by a pair of triangular eyes, making him look distinctly uncomfortable.

His stature was tall, and his arms were unusually long, yet his chest was sunken and his back hunched, resembling a white-haired macaque with its hands behind its back, with meticulously groomed white hair and beard.

Following him were two actual macaques, continuously scratching their ears and cheeks, and baring their teeth at everyone.

The visitor was none other than Zhou Pan, the president of the Xianyang Divine Fist Association!

As he glanced coldly at them, all the members of the Eight Great Kings, even the furious Zhou Peide, lowered their heads, not daring to utter another word.

Zhou Pan did not speak either, but walked past everyone into the house. Facing the severely injured Zhou Bai, he just gave a brief glance and coldly huffed, "Come with me."

The courtyards of the Zhou Family were all bungalows, lacking any tall buildings or pavilions, yet they were quite spacious. Six large courtyards connected to one another, each having a practice field, where numerous disciples patrolled back and forth with lanterns.

Everyone arrived at one of the large halls in a large courtyard. After Zhou Pan sat down at the upper seat, he casually began to peel a small mandarin beside him and calmly said, "What’s this, you all prance around imposingly on regular days, but start infighting when it comes to crunch time?"

The Eight Great Kings all stood below the hall, unconsciously dripping cold sweat from their foreheads.

Zhou Peide clenched his teeth and bowed, "Brother..."

Mid-sentence, seeing Zhou Pan’s expressionless face, he felt a jolt in his heart and quickly changed his words, "Master, it’s not that I acted recklessly. It’s really that Yuan Qu harbored evil intentions and used spells to cause mischief."

"Thinking back, Zhou Bai was clearly having the upper hand at that time, but suddenly became completely disordered. It must have been an issue with the spells!"

Yuan Qu kept his head down, not uttering a sound.

"Enough!"

Zhou Pan frowned, "Yuan Qu was the one who proposed this, originally letting Zhou Bai understand the monkey’s intent in advance to avoid complications. Unexpectedly, we still lost."

"Yuan Qu, you’ll manage Zhou Bai’s expenses from now on."

"Yes, Master."

Yuan Qu sighed in relief and hastily bowed in agreement.

He knew this matter was now passed.

"Master... Master."

Zhou Peide watched Zhou Pan in disbelief.

Zhou Bai was the most promising disciple of the next generation of the Zhou Family. Now, with his life and death uncertain and all prospects ruined, was everything settled with just some silver?

Recalling how Zhou Pan cared for and admired Zhou Bai on regular days, and then, after his severe injury, merely glanced at him and ignored him...

At that moment, Zhou Peide suddenly felt a chill in his heart.

"Ha!"

Zhou Pan glanced at Zhou Peide, seemingly guessing what he was thinking, and said coldly, "Do you think those people endured ten years, why did they dare to strike now?"

"The root of this matter is not in Xianyang, but in Chang’an, in the court!"

"Some days ago, the court decreed that Lv Qing, the Governor of Shan State, was to be investigated and imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison due to corruption. The vacancy will be filled either by Vice Governor Lu or Vice Governor Li..."

As soon as these words were spoken, several of the Eight Great Kings’ eyes lit up.

The military and administrative power of the whole Shan State was mainly handled by three departments—the Provincial Administration Department, the Procuratorate, and the Commander Department.

Among them, the Provincial Administration Department had the greatest authority.

The Zhou Family was able to rise over the years because they had connected with the left Vice Governor, Lu Kang. And after Governor Lv Qing’s imprisonment, it very likely would be a promotion from among the Vice Governors.

Among the Eight Great Kings, a scholar-like middle-aged man thoughtfully said, "I understand now, some people want to find faults through the Master!"

"Glad you understand."

Zhou Pan coldly said, "The life-and-death match was the first step of probing by that old ghost Zhang. If Zhou Bai had won, it would have not only preserved the reputation of the Zhou Family but also made those fence-sitting old fellows hold off temporarily."

"As it concerns the future of the Zhou Family, that’s why I agreed to this. The members sent from the City God Temple also feigned ignorance. Peide, do you still have grievances in your heart?"

Zhou Peide opened his mouth and bowed deeply, "Master is far-sighted; I dare not harbor grievances."

Though he said he dared not, how could he not?

Zhou Pan was directly sacrificing Zhou Bai’s future.

Zhou Pan glanced at him, too lazy to bother further, and sternly said, "Old ghost Zhang is pressing step by step, trying to force an error out of me."

"Declare to the outside tomorrow that I am ill and will close up for healing and not see outsiders. We’ll endure this situation for the time being and let them run wild."

"Once the situation is definite, we’ll clean up one by one!"

"And you all, anyone who isn’t clean had better clean up now, don’t blame me when it’s time for me to purge!"

"Yes, Master!"

All disciples bowed in unison.

Zhou Pan nodded and looked out the window, opening calmly, "Ever since that foolish Li Hu died, I realized one thing."

"This pugilistic world is never about who is imposing now, but who can laugh till the end."

"Humph! When the mountain has no tiger, the monkey becomes the king..."

"Do you really think I still care about this!"

...

As the sun just began to rise, Teacher Zhang arrived at the Wendao Temple.

"What are you doing here?"

Sha Lifei was about to leave when he saw him and immediately asked with annoyance.

He was no fool; warned by Li Yan, he immediately knew that this father and son duo seemed loyal but actually treated them as disposable tools.

"Yo, what did you just eat? Why the long face?"

"You love easy pickings, don’t you?"

Zhang Shitong stared with dead fish eyes, immediately striking a nerve in Sha Lifei.

Just as Sha Lifei was ready to start a big quarrel, Zhang Shitong waved his hand dismissively, "Alright, alright, we’ll argue another day. I have important matters today. Where’s Li Yan?"

"He’s lying down, not seeing anyone!"

"He’s dead?"

"Rest assured, he’ll live longer than you!"

Sha Lifei had just cursed when he saw Zhang Shitong twist his body and bypass him, striding into the yard.

"Stop right there!"

Sha Lifei reached out to grab his collar.

Zhang Shitong, without even looking, dodged to the side, and then used a Coiling Silk move to seize Sha Lifei’s wrist, laughing playfully, "Yo, Sha the hero, where did last night’s majestic stone-throwing beggar’s fierceness go?"

Sha Lifei, not to be outdone verbally, retorted, "If you have the guts, stay there and I’ll show you!"

Creak~

While the two were entangled, Li Yan came out pushing the door, with bandages still wrapped around him, coldly looking at Zhang Shitong.

Zhang Shitong chuckled, letting go of Sha Lifei, and shook his head, "No need to pretend, it’s useless; the Zhou Family won’t move against you for now."

Upon hearing this, Li Yan frowned slightly, and Sha Lifei quickly asked, "What happened... what’s the problem?"

"The old monkey has announced his retreat and will not meet outsiders."

Zhang Shitong remarked, then laughed, "How about it? Won’t you invite me in to talk it over thoroughly?"

Li Yan expressionless, gestured with a lift of his hand.

Zhang Shitong, undisturbed, chuckled and walked inside.

...

"That’s the situation..."

After sitting down inside, Zhang Shitong no longer hid any details and recounted everything, shaking his head, "Actually, even without you, we would inevitably have to act."

"Once Vice Governor Lu Kang takes power, Zhou Pan will surely go to Chang’an, vying for the position of president of the Shan State Divine Fist Association. With overwhelming power then, we’d be left without a place to hide in the sun and would have to seek refuge in other provinces."

"My father told me to inform you because it’s unavoidable unless you choose to live incognito as an outlaw."

Li Yan, having listened, grew grim, "You have another option."

"Oh, what?"

Zhang Shitong’s eyes suddenly lit up.

Li Yan’s eyes flickered murderously, he spoke in a grave tone, "Deal with it at the source. Find some experts to kill that Lu Kang!"

Zhang Shitong was shocked and took a moment to recover, swallowing spit, "You... you’re planning a rebellion?"

Li Yan sneered, "Even the greatest power is just a head; when there’s no way out, do you still plan to stick your necks out for the chopping?"

"Stop, it hasn’t come to that yet."

Zhang Shitong, feeling somewhat intimidated by Li Yan, spoke more earnestly, "Not to conceal the truth, the Right Governor Li Sizhuan is deeply connected with us; even if we fail, there’s leeway for maneuver."

"If you act recklessly, you’ll break the rules."

"Breaking the rules, everyone will want your life!"

"What follows is simple; the Zhou Family has withdrawn, but they’ve done plenty of evil over the years and acquired a lot of silver for the Lu Family. Finding enough evidence, Governor Li can rise."

"Then, it’ll be the Zhou Family’s turn to suffer."

Sha Lifei, amused, said, "The Zhou Family is notorious in Xianyang City; finding evidence against them is like picking up stones on the road. The government office could hardly hold all their lawsuits, could it?"

"Not enough!"

Zhang Shitong shook his head, "For commoners, a dozen decapitations is enough. But for an official, especially one like Lu Kang, that’s nothing."

Li Yan thoughtfully said, "So, you want to keep pushing the Zhou Family until they slip up?"

Zhang Shitong nodded, "That’s the only way now. Courteous in the government, ruthless in the pugilistic world. All eight of Zhou Family’s top fighters are being watched by peers from the pugilistic world."

"Forget it... you better not get involved, lest you cause a major chaos."

"Out of respect for our family’s generations of friendship, I’ll warn you, if you sense anything wrong, immediately go incognito and leave Shan State!"

Clearly worried that Li Yan might act rashly, Zhang Shitong repeated his advice before leaving the Wendao Temple.

"Damn, how to deal with such a big mess?"

Now aware of the whole story, Sha Lifei was noticeably apprehensive.

Li Yan pondered, "Since the Zhou Family dares not act rashly at this juncture, we should continue as usual and find ways to enhance our strength quickly."

"Even if we have to run later, we need to have sufficient funds first."

"Also, get me information on the eight top fighters; they might just be the breakthrough..."