Chapter 1 The Visitor

Dong, dong, dong—

Cheng Wei gently knocked on Wang Qiong's bedroom door.

Years of experience had taught him that a knock of this strength was enough to wake his master.

"Who is it?" Sure enough, after a short while, Wang Qiong's half-asleep voice came from within.

"Master, it's me..." Cheng Wei replied, paused for half a second, and then continued, "There are… guests requesting an audience in the courtyard."

"Huh?" Wang Qiong turned over, glanced out the window, and saw that the sky was still pitch black. "What time is it?"

"Replying to Master… Yin hour (3-5 am)." Cheng Wei replied.

A normal person hearing this might immediately shout something like, "Are you crazy? Who receives guests at four in the morning?"

But Wang Qiong's reaction was different—he instantly became alert.

Wang Qiong knew Cheng Wei well, and he also knew how tight the security measures protecting him were. So, when he heard "Yin hour," Cheng Wei's deliberate emphasis on "in the courtyard" in his previous statement sounded somewhat serious.

Looking at the entire martial world, the number of people who could arrive in Wang Qiong's courtyard at this hour was few and far between. What was even stranger was that Cheng Wei, as one of his guards, had actually come to announce the arrival of the guest? What was going on?

"Hmm..." Wang Qiong pondered, thinking over many things in that instant. Then, he said, "Let them in."

"This..." Cheng Wei hesitated for a moment. "Directly into your room?"

As he asked this question, Wang Qiong inside the room had already moved the small table next to his bed onto the bed and lit the oil lamp on the table with a fire starter.

"Ah, right, you can come in too." Wang Qiong replied as he extinguished the fire starter.

Seeing the light in the room, Cheng Wei didn't say anything further. After replying "Yes," he turned and led the two "guests" to the front of the room.

Soon, Cheng Wei pushed the door open and entered. Behind him followed a man and a woman.

"Master." Cheng Wei said respectfully to Wang Qiong after entering the room, "The guests have arrived."

"These two are..." Wang Qiong asked as he sized up Jue Ge and Ruo Yu.

"That's easy to explain." Feng Bujue took the lead and casually clasped his fist in a perfunctory salute to Wang Qiong, saying, "I am Feng Bujue, the leader of Broken Sword Teahouse." He gestured towards Ruo Yu. "This is my martial sister, Li Ruo Yu."

He didn't refer to Ruo Yu as "my wife" this time, not because he didn't want to, but because Ruo Yu had told him beforehand not to take such "slightly childish" advantage.

"Broken Sword Teahouse?" Wang Qiong's reaction upon hearing these words was unexpected. "Broken Sword Teahouse… Broken Sword Teahouse…" He repeated the words softly, lost in thought. After a full minute, he looked at Jue Ge and asked, "Are you really Feng Bujue of Broken Sword Teahouse?"

At that moment, Jue Ge keenly noticed something. He smiled and said, "Oh? I didn't expect Mr. Wang to have heard of my name."

Wang Qiong ignored the other party's probing and continued to ask, "Can you prove it?"

"What kind of proof do you want?" Feng Bujue spread his hands.

"It doesn't matter, do whatever you see fit." Wang Qiong's reply was also impeccable.

"Hehe… good… you're very good." Feng Bujue smiled, and his gaze towards Wang Qiong became meaningful.

Having said that, Jue Ge lifted his leg in place and took a step "upward."

His movement was very ordinary, as if he were stepping onto a step. However… there was no step in front of him.

But he still went "up"—using [Treading the Void], he stood in mid-air, floating a foot above the ground.

Naturally, Ruo Yu was used to this, but Cheng Wei's expression was quite something to behold.

Butler Cheng's martial arts skills were not low, and he had seen quite a few amazing qinggong (light body skill) techniques, but he couldn't comprehend this kind of ability to "stand in the air" without any preparation.

"Hmm… it seems you may indeed be Feng Bujue." Wang Qiong seemed quite calm when he saw this scene, as if he were watching some kind of magic trick.

"Just 'may' be, not 'definitely'?" Feng Bujue followed up.

"I still need to ask you a few questions to be sure," Wang Qiong said.

"Ask away." Jue Ge replied simply.

"May I ask Leader Feng… how old are you this year?" Wang Qiong asked.

"I don't know." Feng Bujue blurted out almost without thinking, and quite confidently.

"Don't know?" Wang Qiong repeated the three words with a questioning tone.

"I looked like this during the Cangling Sword Debate; I looked like this during the duel at the Forbidden City; and I still looked like this when I went sightseeing in Burial Heart Valley…" Feng Bujue was extremely witty. He already understood that age was not the focus of the other party's test; the focus was on this information. "If you want to ask me how old I am, I can only tell you… I've lived too long, I can't remember."

"Hmm…" Wang Qiong nodded. "That makes sense." He paused. "But it still doesn't completely prove your identity."

"Oh?" Feng Bujue asked strangely. "Isn't that enough?"

"Not enough." Wang Qiong replied. "You may be Feng Bujue himself, but it's also possible that you're just someone with great qinggong and who, like me… has read the *Forbidden Martial Arts Records*."

The *Forbidden Martial Arts Records* he spoke of was a top-secret book, one of the "Three Forbidden Scrolls."

It was said that these three scrolls were hidden deep within the imperial palace, and only the current Emperor had the right to read them. Anyone else… who dared to break the seal would be guilty of a crime punishable by the extermination of their entire family.

Since the secrets recorded in the other two "Forbidden Scrolls" were irrelevant to the current story, they would not be mentioned here. Let's just talk about this *Forbidden Martial Arts Records*—this book was written in the "late Ming Shengping era" of this universe. In that year, Yuan Qi, the martial arts alliance leader who was revered as a myth, died of illness. In order to compete for the martial arts skills he left behind and the position of alliance leader, a struggle that could be described as a catastrophe broke out in the martial world. The result of this struggle was… the martial arts powers suffered heavy losses. The imperial court seized the opportunity to intervene, reaping the benefits like a fisherman. They wiped out all the forces, leaving no survivors (traditional powerhouses such as Shaolin and Wudang were destroyed at that time; among the old gangs, only the Beggars' Sect still had a little incense remaining). The few remaining gangs could only survive by accepting "recruitment and appeasement."

It was in that year that the "martial world" of this world became nominally extinct.

The nature of the *Forbidden Martial Arts Records* was like an epitaph written for that "martial world." Most of the information in this book was provided by spies from the imperial court who had infiltrated various sects, and it recorded many unknown and secret stories.

The matter of "Broken Sword Teahouse" and "Feng Bujue" was naturally also mentioned in the book. Of course… as a book written from the imperial court's standpoint, they were not so concerned about the Cangling Sword Debate and Burial Heart Valley. Instead, they focused on the incident where Jue Ge fought with a beautiful woman on the Forbidden City…

Back to the topic.

Wang Qiong had obviously read that book. As for why he had read it and how he had seen it… these were not important.

Because he was Wang Qiong, he naturally had his ways.

In a sense, this also explained why the Emperor insisted on killing this merchant.

"I've never heard of the book you're talking about," Feng Bujue said after a few seconds. "But I can roughly guess what's written on it…" He shrugged. "Anyway… that's not important, I have many other ways to prove my identity."

As he spoke, Jue Ge lightly raised his hand and conjured a black light card out of thin air with his two fingers.

"This… shouldn't be considered qinggong, right?" Feng Bujue then asked.

Wang Qiong stared at the card for a few seconds: "This… is this useful for anything?"

"Many uses." Jue Ge replied calmly. "The simplest and most direct use… is to throw it out."

"What will happen if you throw it out?" Wang Qiong asked.

"It can hurt people," Feng Bujue said.

"To what extent can it hurt people?" Wang Qiong asked again.

"At least it can leave that brother on your beam half-crippled." Feng Bujue still had a smile on his face as he said this.

But Wang Qiong's expression changed slightly. "Hmm…" He thought for a few more seconds and finally made his final judgment. "It seems you really are Feng Bujue."

Mr. Wang no longer needed Jue Ge to provide further proof. When the other party sensed the existence of the "person on the beam," it explained everything.

The person hiding on the beam was named Cheng Yong, Cheng Wei's younger brother.

As mentioned earlier, Wang Qiong had two close guards, one was Cheng Wei, who also served as the butler, and the other… was Cheng Yong.

Compared to his older brother, Cheng Yong was far inferior in terms of scheming, manners, and etiquette. But in one aspect, Cheng Yong was stronger than Cheng Wei—martial arts talent.

Cheng Yong's martial arts were very high, so high that Wang Qiong felt "safe."

No one knew what kind of kung fu he practiced, and no one knew how powerful he was. People only knew that once Cheng Yong made a move… the opponent would die.

In fact, he didn't have many chances to make a move. The few times he did, he faced top experts in the martial world or in the imperial court. Only such top experts had the ability and opportunity to come before Wang Qiong.

However, none of these people survived more than five moves in Cheng Yong's hands.

If Cheng Wei was Wang Qiong's arm, then Cheng Yong was Wang Qiong's shadow. There was nothing more reliable than a shadow, because it was always by its master's side.

There were even times when Wang Qiong was assassinated in bed and was saved by Cheng Yong…

Having seen this, everyone must understand why Wang Qiong dared to talk to so many martial arts experts face-to-face at close range without fearing that they would suddenly launch a sneak attack.

"Then…" Wang Qiong paused for half a second and asked, "What is the purpose of the legendary Leader Feng… coming to me, Wang, in the middle of the night?"

"Mr. Wang is a businessman." Feng Bujue said. "I'm here to talk business with you, naturally." As he spoke, he walked forward and casually sat on the edge of the bed. "As for why I chose this time, I was helpless…" He explained unhurriedly, "During the day, there were some 'situations' in town that made it inconvenient for me to enter. Fortunately… an hour or so ago, that 'inconvenience' no longer existed."

"So from an hour or so ago until now…" Wang Qiong wasn't too concerned about Jue Ge's sitting on the bed, and calmly continued, "…what have you and your martial sister been doing?"

"Hehe…" Feng Bujue smiled. "We found someone, asked him a few questions, and then cut off his head and brought it here." After he finished speaking, he seemed to remember something and added, "Oh, of course, before entering your courtyard, we also knocked out the guards around your mansion, and after coming in, we chatted with Butler Cheng for a few words."

"Oh…" Wang Qiong nodded. "Right, I haven't asked yet…" He suddenly looked at Cheng Wei. "Old Cheng, what kind of wind is blowing today? How could you obediently help them deliver the message?"

Cheng Wei didn't answer the question. Ruo Yu was the one who responded to Wang Qiong.

"Because he lost." She said in a cold tone.

"He fought you?" Wang Qiong asked.

"No," Ruo Yu replied.

"Then how did he lose?" Wang Qiong asked again.

Before he finished speaking, Ruo Yu slightly raised her right hand and grasped the hilt of her sword.

In that instant, her eyes moved, and a sharp killing intent instantly filled the entire room.

The killing intent was like a pair of invisible hands, tightly gripping the throats of everyone in the room. Even Jue Ge felt the suffocating pressure.

Chi—

No sooner said than done, as soon as Ruo Yu's killing intent rose, a black shadow darted down from the beam.

The shadow was as fast as a startled swan and as powerful as thunder. In the blink of an eye, it had reached Ruo Yu, and its hands had already gripped its weapons.

Then, its movement stopped.

It wasn't just a slight pause, but a complete freeze.

A drop of bean-sized cold sweat trickled down Cheng Yong's forehead, slid to the bridge of his nose, and split in two.

He stood there, his eyes wide, looking at the female swordswoman in front of him.

Her appearance looked no more than in her early twenties, and her otherworldly temperament and beauty were unforgettable at first glance.

But at this moment, these visible appearances had been covered by the heavy sword intent and had become negligible.

Ruo Yu's hand didn't move, and the sword was still in its scabbard.

But from Cheng Yong's perspective, the other party's sword was already pressing against his throat.

He didn't move, because he couldn't move.

His hands, his feet, his torso, even his fingers and eyelids… he couldn't move.

As long as he moved, he would be killed.

This was what Cheng Yong felt in that instant…

Silence lasted for about ten seconds.

Ten seconds later, Cheng Yong's body relaxed, and he collapsed to the ground like a pile of blocks, gasping for breath.

Cold sweat had covered his horrified face.

At this time, Ruo Yu, who had withdrawn her killing intent and sword intent, walked steadily to the edge of the bed.

She casually took out a blood-soaked head wrapped in cloth from her bag and placed it on the table.

As she put down the head, Ruo Yu continued her unfinished sentence, "That's how he lost."