The Legend of the Condor Heroes: Starting from the Bodyguard

Chapter 268 Listening to "The Song of the Azure Sea" to Comprehend Sword Qi
Zhou Yan's figure was like an elusive ghost, weaving and circling among the hundreds of swords wielded by Jiang Kui, the chief镖头 (bodyguard) of the Longmen镖局 (escort agency). He countered with the Hengshan sword technique, the cold, emerald-green light of which burst forth like flashing snakes of lightning. The two swords clashed, creating countless tiny sparks.

Hong Qigong was overjoyed. This young man's martial arts had improved since his time at Shaoshi Mountain; he was truly gifted. What a pity, what a pity, that he wouldn't become the old beggar's successor.

Helian Chuncheng, Nimo Xing, and the others on the bow of the large ship all had increasingly sinister expressions. They could all see the improvement in Zhou Yan's martial arts. The former young master of Changfeng thought that at this rate, in another seven or eight years, who would be able to control this scoundrel? Before he reached the point of being unruly, they should try to eliminate him by all means.

As Helian Chuncheng was thinking this, he suddenly heard a "bang". He looked over and saw that the bamboo raft under Zhou Yan and Jiang Kui's feet suddenly sank, and the two of them were lifted up at the same time. The two sword lights, green and white, collided more than ten times in the air. In the dense clash of metal, a long trail of sparks also fell as Zhou Yan and Jiang Kui rose up.

Zhou Yan landed on the bamboo raft, and his Qingfeng sword, like a cold rainbow, condensed into a thick, towering ribbon that fell towards Jiang Kui. Jiang Kui also recited the last two lines of "Spring River Flower Moon Night": "I wonder how many people will return by moonlight, the setting moon stirs emotions among the trees along the river."

Jiang Kui suddenly arched his back and bent his body, not dodging in any direction where there was still an opening, but instead rushed down with incredible speed. The cold light of the long sword in his hand intertwined, forming a large circle that looked like a falling moon at first glance.

If it were anyone else, they would inevitably lose their composure in the face of this sword technique, where the sword light intertwines like a moon wheel and the reality is hard to discern. However, Zhou Yan did not hesitate and his Qingfeng sword went straight up and pierced into the moon wheel.

In the astonishingly dense clash of metal, the moon-shaped sword shattered, and Zhou Yan and Jiang Kui staggered backward. With a sudden crash, the bamboo raft broke into pieces.

Two figures landed lightly on different bamboo poles, each rising and falling to reach another bamboo raft.

Zhou Yan and Jiang Kui's breathing was a bit disordered. Jiang Kui was secretly surprised. For more than 20 years, as long as he used this "Spring River Flower Rain Night" sword technique, he had no invincible opponent. Unexpectedly, he was unable to do anything against his opponent, who used to be a bodyguard in Fu'an. How did he practice swordsmanship?
Zhou Yan was also shocked. Hu Yanlei's claim that Jiang Kui's martial arts were no less than those of the Northern Beggar and the Southern Emperor was an exaggeration. Before Hu Yanlei said this, he had never seen Hong Qigong make a move. However, the chief镖头 (head镖师) of the Longmen镖局 (Longmen Escort Agency) did indeed possess unparalleled swordsmanship. If it weren't for his enlightenment on swordsmanship after practicing the first volume of the Nine Yin Manual at Chaya Mountain, he might not have been able to withstand this "Spring River Flower Moon Night" move.

Sun Bu'er once gave Zhou Yan a saying passed down from Wang Chongyang: "The swordsman senses nature and expresses it through meditation; this is the way to comprehend the sword, to grasp its true meaning, and then the sword style will come alive."

Sun Bu'er was far from reaching this level, but in Zhou Yan's eyes, Jiang Kui had already entered it. Zhou Yan's surprise lay in the fact that Jiang Kui's swordsmanship was derived from poetry, which meant it was infinitely variable and inexhaustible.

"Zheng zheng zheng..." The sudden sound of the zither pulled Zhou Yan back to reality. Listening closely, Zhou Yan felt that the zither music carried the momentum of a chorus of drums and galloping horses. However, in an instant, a wisp of flute music mingled with the zither's sound. Although the iron zither's sound was loud, it could not drown out the flute's sound. The two sounds mingled, creating an extremely strange tone. The iron zither was like the cry of apes in the Wuxia Gorge, while the jade flute was like the cry of a phoenix on Kunlun Mountain. One was high and the other low, one advanced and the other retreated, neither yielding to the other.

Zhou Yan was taken aback. He recognized the sound of the flute; it was Huang Yaoshi's "The Song of the Azure Sea and Rising Tide." If the Eastern Heretic had come, the only one who could make Huang Yaoshi fight back with the sound of the flute was Ouyang Feng.

The Western Poisoner has also arrived.

However, it was normal for Ouyang Feng to be here when Helian Chuncheng and his group appeared. Zhou Yan was surprised that Huang Yaoshi had come to Dongting Lake.

Hong Qigong on the light boat laughed heartily, "Wonderful! Brother Yao and Old Poisoner are both here. Old Beggar, go and take a look."

Hong Qigong's figure soared into the air, like a giant water bird flying across the lake, landing on the shore and quickly disappearing into the distance.

Zhou Yan withdrew his gaze from Hong Qigong and fell upon a bamboo raft approaching from afar. He saw a woman with long, flowing hair, dressed entirely in white, and possessing an exquisite beauty that was almost blinding – none other than Huang Rong.

Jiang Kui was clearly also attracted by the sound of the flute and zither coming from Yueyang Tower, and did not launch a third attack on Zhou Yan. Huang Rong quickly approached and jumped onto the bamboo raft.

"Hey, we meet again."

How did you get here?

"If I hadn't come here, I would have missed another good show." Huang Rong said with a smile, "My father and I have been traveling all the way here. We took a boat from Xiangyang and arrived here. We were thinking of going to Luxi and Baicaogu. By the way, Ouyang Feng and Huogong Toutuo are in Yueyang Tower. There seem to be Manichaeans inside as well, but all the other people should have left the tower by now. They couldn't stand my father's 'Blue Sea Tide Song'."

"Luckily, I was far away." Zhou Yan recalled the scene when he first met Huang Yaoshi by the river in Jingzhou. When Huang Yaoshi played the flute, his internal energy was scattered and he was almost going into a qi deviation. He still felt lingering fear.

Huang Rong explained, "It's not that distance can negate the effect of the 'Blue Sea Tide Melody'. Father's melody transforms internal energy into the sound of the flute, stimulating the opponent's internal energy, disturbing their blood and mind, and then resonating with their internal energy, making it like a sword, traveling through the meridians and damaging the meridians and internal organs. If one cannot maintain a focused mind and transform the sound outward, within the same distance, the one with higher cultivation is more likely to suffer internal injuries."

"Internal energy is transformed into the sound of the flute?"

"Just like luck resides in a weapon, and a weapon can bear internal energy, so can the sound of a flute."

Huang Rong's martial arts skills were far inferior to Zhou Yan's, but Huang Yaoshi was both her father and teacher. As the daughter of the Eastern Heretic, her vision and knowledge were not only no less than Zhou Yan's, but in many areas, they even surpassed his. "But weapons are physical, while the sound of the flute is ethereal."

"If you don't take the sound of the flute as 'illusory,' then it's fine. As the saying goes, 'Seeing a mountain is not seeing a mountain, seeing water is not seeing water.'" Huang Rong's eyes sparkled, clearly enjoying the sensory experience that Zhou Yan didn't understand, but which she could vividly describe.

Zhou Yan had a sudden thought: "Seeing mountains as not mountains, seeing water as not water, this is a kind of difficulty for people to see the essence of things, like looking at flowers through fog. Once you pass through this realm, you will return to simplicity after gaining insight into the world."

Look at mountains as mountains, water as water.

What if we consider the body as a xiao (a type of Chinese flute)? Qi flows through special meridians and major acupoints, and internal force surges from these acupoints. These acupoints are like the five notes of the pentatonic scale, and the sound of the xiao is invisible, yet it can kill people as easily as picking up a mustard seed.

What if I treat the sword as a flute? And the internal energy as the sound of the flute? Then what I produce is... sword energy.

Zhou Yan's eyes suddenly brightened: "I think I understand now."

Huang Rong's words were clearly heard by Yanbo Diaosou, Helian Chuncheng, and Nemo Xing, but none of them had Zhou Yan's level of understanding. Helian Chuncheng sneered, "Seeing a mountain as not a mountain? Is it you? You're just being mysterious."

Zhou Yan paused for a moment, then asked, "What are the five notes of the pentatonic scale?"

Huang Rong smiled and said, "Niwan, Zhiyang, Kaiyang, Weilu, Guanyuan."

The two seemed to be speaking in cryptic language, leaving the listener completely bewildered. Zhou Yan was actually asking about the method of guiding the breath in "The Song of the Rising Tide on the Blue Sea".

"What's wrong with you?" Huang Rong suddenly asked.

"There was a past conflict with the Longmen Escort Agency in Lin'an."

Huang Rong chuckled, "Isn't the martial world better? If you were in Fu'an, you would always have to worry about the safety of the escort agency, which would make you feel constrained. Now you don't have any worries. You can do whatever you want. Just like me."

"That's true."

The longsword in Jiang Kui's hand emitted a deep sword sound, "Young Master Zhou, one more move."

"it is good!"

Zhou Yan said to Huang Rong, "You should leave for a while."

"Okay, be careful!" Huang Rong pushed off with a bamboo pole, and the bamboo raft swayed gently.

As Zhou Yan's thoughts returned, the sounds of the flute and zither filled his ears, which he listened to attentively.

"Take this!" Jiang Kui shouted, stepping forward and drawing his sword.

"The fertile waters flow eastward endlessly. I shouldn't have planted the seeds of longing in the first place. Even in dreams, I can't see you in paintings..." As this poem "Partridge Sky" was recited, Zhou Yan suddenly felt that every move his opponent made was a thread of love, a thousand threads weaving a net of affection, trying to ensnare him.

Suddenly, he thought of the Tai Chi Swordplay from the world of Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. The sword strikes were like winding silk, with fine threads accumulating more and more, forming clumps of silk floss, which would make the opponent's sword moves sluggish, allowing him to seize the opportunity to win.

With a soft whistle, Zhou Yan moved like a snail, stepping on several bamboo rafts and spinning rapidly around Jiang Kui. He used the Ancient Tomb Lightness Skill to move freely without fighting, while his mind was focused on the "Blue Sea Tide Song" coming from Yueyang Tower. He circulated his internal energy, letting it flow between the meridians of the five major acupoints, feeling the wonder of the intangible becoming tangible.

(End of this chapter)