Chapter 27: Beiluo Lake Island, Nie Tries Out His Knife
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Six deafening blasts boomed in a row!
Internal Blasting Resonances come from Grandmasters, and the more blasts there are, the higher the Grandmaster’s power level is.
Chen Beixun was in full scholarly dress and a matching head piece. It made him look both learned and handsome.
He had neatly combed his hair with a comb soaked in flower petals, which gave his hair a unique fragrance.
But just when he stepped into Lu Fan’s courtyard…
He heard the deafening sounds of a Grandmaster’s Internal Blasting Resonance, and a violent blast of Qi and blood blew his way.
It blew so hard his hair became all messed up.
He looked deeper into the courtyard. Lu Fan was in his wheelchair, a woolen throw covering his legs. Under the suns.h.i.+ne, he looked fairly lazy and relaxed.
Nie Changqing was seated cross-legged in front of Lu Fan. The six Internal Blasting Resonances had come from this man.
A Sixth Resonance Grandmaster!
Chen Beixun’s heart dropped.
A Grandmaster martial arts pract.i.tioner of this level was considered one of the best martial arts pract.i.tioners in all of Great Zhou!
He knew who Nie Changqing was. He was known as Daoist No. 10, Unparalleled Knife.
He hadn’t expected to find that Nie Changqing was still alive. Moreover, his cultivation ability had been restored and he had made a breakthrough to the Sixth Resonance!
With the addition of Nie Changqing, Lu Manor now had three Grandmasters. What an incredible and terrifying power that was!
“Chen, you’re here early.”
Lu Fan leaned back in his wheelchair and fiddled with a black chess piece in his hand. The chess piece seemed to be made from pebbles. It gleamed under the sunlight, but it felt cool and round, and felt nice to the touch.
“Oh, no. Not early at all. I just couldn’t wait to deliver the t.i.tle deed to Young Master Lu. After you left yesterday, I immediately rushed to Liu Manor and Zhu Manor to discuss this matter regarding the t.i.tle deed of Drunk Dust Court with the heirs of the two families. After they understood that this was a request from you, we had a good chat, and we’re all very willing to give it up.” Chen Beixun bowed slightly and laughed, his hands clasped together.
Nie Changqing was still seated cross-legged on the floor when he opened his eyes and glanced over at Chen Beixun. He masked the agitation on his face as he got up, gripped the hilt of the butcher knife at his waist, and stood behind Lu Fan.
He was stern, serious, and emanated the overwhelming aura that was unique to Grandmasters.
Behind Chen Beixun were two well-dressed young men.
They were clearly also martial arts pract.i.tioners. Qi and blood actively flowed in their bodies and pulsed in their temples.
But then again, they were probably only Second Tier Pract.i.tioners.
The moment they had entered the courtyard, they became alarmed by Nie Changqing’s six Resonance Blasts.
“Young Master Lu.” The two heirs of the Liu and Zhu family quickly forced a smile to their lips.
Lu Fan glanced at the two of them and bowed his head slightly. He couldn’t even be bothered to say a word in reply.
“I’ve set my eyes on Drunk Dust Court. Do any of you have any objections to that?” Lu Fan asked as he looked down and played with the chess piece in his hand.
Liu Ye, the heir to the Lius, stealthily glanced at Chen Beixun, then said with a smile, “Since Young Master Lu has set his eyes on it, we wouldn’t dare to raise any objections.”
Zhu Yishan, the heir to the Zhus, also smiled politely.
The two of them took out the t.i.tle deeds and held them out to Lu Fan. Nie Changqing took a step forward, glanced at the both of them, then took the t.i.tle deeds and held them out to Lu Fan.
Liu Ye and Zhu Yishan’s faces were all red. Nie Changqing’s overwhelming Grandmaster Qi and blood made them feel extremely uneasy.
Liu Ye and Zhu Yishan were different from Chen Beixun. They didn’t hail from one of the Hundred Schools of Philosophy, so they didn’t know who Nie Changqing was. “Young Master Lu, who is this senior over here?” they asked.
“Oh… Nie? He’s my coachman,” Lu Fan calmly replied without lifting his head, looking through the t.i.tle deeds.
Chen Beixun was standing further apart from the rest, and the smile on his face froze when he heard this.
Daoist No. 10, Unparalleled Knife… had become Lu Fan’s coachman?
“Coach… coachman?!” Liu Ye and Zhu Yishan exchanged glances and gasped in shock.
A Sixth Resonance Grandmaster as a coachman?
Even an emperor wouldn’t treat such people like this!
“Excellent.” Lu Fan tapped the two t.i.tle deeds in his hand and added the t.i.tle deed from Chen Beixun.
From today onward, Drunk Dust Court belonged to the Lus.
When Lu Fan thought of this, his mood improved.
The sun shone on Lu Fan’s red lips and white teeth, and one could even see the hairs on his face.
“There’s no better time than now, so let’s go right away to take a look at Drunk Dust Court.” Lu Fan smiled faintly, then looked intently at Chen Beixun, who was standing off to the side with his head lowered, looking downward.
Liu Ye and Zhu Yishan’s eyes also flashed, and they quickly put a smile on their faces.
“Nie, prepare the carriage.”
“Sister Ning, push me out of the house,” Lu Fan said as he lightly tapped a finger on the thin woolen throw.
Nie Changqing took his leave without saying a word.
Ning Zhao’s dress whirled about as she quietly and swiftly moved behind Lu Fan, placed her pretty hands on the wheelchair, then pushed it along slowly.
Chen Beixun, Liu Ye, and Zhu Yishan smiled and made way for them, then walked behind Lu Fan.
Ni Yu was still doing a half-squat on the ground, an upset expression on her fat little baby face as she stared at Lu Fan with huge eyes.
Young Master was going out to have fun and wasn’t bringing her along…
After winning the chess game, had she… fallen out of his favor?!
“Ni, carry the chessboard and come along,” Lu Fan said, one hand under his chin, as he glanced at the upset Ni Yu and tried not to laugh.
“Oh, yay!” Ni Yu immediately burst into a smile, and the unhappy look on her face disappeared.
She then picked up the chessboard and walked closely behind Lu Fan.
As for Nie Shuang, who was also in the courtyard, he stubbornly remained half-squatting on the ground.
They walked out of Lu Manor.
Outside the manor…
An exquisite horse drawn carriage was parked outside.
A Ferghana horse was pulling the carriage. It snorted, white wisps of air coming out of its nostrils.
Nie Changqing was seated on one side of the driver’s seat and was leisurely twirling the horse whip in his hand.
Lu Fan had asked a carpenter to specially make this horse carriage for him. The carriage door was at the side and opened downward, making a slope for the wheelchair to be pushed inside.
The carriage was larger than a typical carriage, so its interior was wider than most. It was also padded with soft cotton and covered with hand-woven fabric, ensuring its pa.s.sengers’ comfort without making them feel claustrophobic.
After Ning Zhao pushed the wheelchair into the carriage, she gathered her skirts and sat on the other side of the driver’s seat.
As for Ni Yu, she had special permission from Lu Fan, so she hugged the chessboard and happily hopped into the carriage.
Nie Changqing glanced at Chen Beixun and the other two men with him, and ignored them all.
He raised the horsewhip in his hand.
Pak!
There was a loud neigh.
The horse reared its legs, then landed hard on the green tiled road before das.h.i.+ng forward.
Chen Beixun looked on, stroking his beard, as the carriage disappeared into the distance, and his eyes flashed.
Soon, a servant brought some horses over. The three of them each got on one, took the reins, and followed the carriage.
…
The horse carriage dashed through the main road at an extremely high speed.
Nie Changqing had never been a coachman before, but with his Grandmaster martial arts ability, it wasn’t difficult for him to control the Ferghana horse.
Beiluo City was very developed, since it was near the capital, and there were many buildings on both sides of the main road.
The exquisite carriage was swiftly pulled through the main road by the Ferghana horse, and all the pedestrians moved to the side the moment they heard the sound of a horse galloping down the road and a carriage’s rolling wheels.
Several hawkers, who’d set up shop on the main road without permission, frantically pulled their stalls away from the road.
Then a head poked out from behind a small stall and saw the elegant horse carriage with the word “Lu” on it fly past.
It was the horse carriage from the City Master’s residence!
The Young Master of Lu Manor was going somewhere!
The horse carriage tore through the main road, then turned onto the road around Beiluo lake. A protective wall of white marble encircled it.
The horse carriage finally slowed down, and the horse neighed.
Nie Changqing pulled on the reins, and the Ferghana horse snorted and slowly came to a stop.
“Young Master, we’ve arrived,” he said. “Drunk Dust Court is on Beiluo Lake Island, but no road leads to it, so we’ll have to take a boat.”
Lu Fan’s faint laughter came from within the carriage. “Nie, you’re pretty familiar with the way to Drunk Dust Court, huh?”
Nie Changqing’s wizened face instantly reddened.
What man in Beiluo City wasn’t familiar with the way to Drunk Dust Court?
Of course, he didn’t have the money to go to such a place. He had merely pa.s.sed by it occasionally and looked across the lake at it before.
Ning Zhao hopped off the carriage, dusted off her dress, then opened the door and carefully wheeled Lu Fan out.
Lu Fan alighted and looked at the gleaming surface of the lake through the white marble wall, and felt at ease.
To tell the truth, this was actually Lu Fan’s first time here.
The Lu Fan of the past had rarely gone to Drunk Dust Court since… his legs were paralyzed.
Many people say that the areas south of the Yangtze River are misty with fine rain droplets.
Beiluo City’s in the north, but the area around Beiluo Lake seems fairly similar to those areas.
It rained heavily the night before, so there was a mist on the surface of Beiluo Lake, but the sun sometimes peeked through the clouds. It was exactly like that poem about West Lake in Hangzhou.
“Chen Beixun and the rest haven’t arrived yet?” Lu Fan asked as he looked out at the lake.
Ning Zhao shook her head slightly, her delicate hands pus.h.i.+ng the wheelchair, and made a displeased sound through her pretty nose.
“Interesting.” Lu Fan looked away from the misty surface of the lake and dusted the t.i.tle deeds in his hand, the corners of his lips curling upward slightly.
“Looks like they’re not coming. Sister Ning, find us a boat. We’re going to Beiluo Lake Island.” Nie Changqing placed a hand covered in calluses on the hilt of the butcher knife at his waist as he looked out across the misty surface of the lake. He could barely make out one lonely boat on the water, which faintly loomed in the mist, and there was a rather skinny figure inside it.
“Young Master, do you really want to go?” Ning Zhao’s expression became grim. “This lake…might not be that calm.”
In response to the concerned Ning Zhao, Lu Fan merely smiled faintly and smoothed the creases in the thin woolen throw that covered his legs.
He looked at the bluish-green misty surface of the lake, and his eyes narrowed.
“No problem. It’s a good chance for Nie to… try out his knife.”