The sky over the rivers and lakes is very clear

Chapter 162

The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Part One: The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Chapter Three (1)

No one knew where this woman came from. She was like a Udumbara flower blooming in an empty mountain after the rain, appearing without a trace and disappearing without a trace, suddenly appearing in the martial world.

She was stunningly beautiful, yet capricious and unpredictable. Relying on her incredible poison skills, she acted recklessly, her nature wicked and her methods ruthless. Once, she blinded someone simply because he glanced at her, and she once poisoned the entire family of relatives who had bullied a pitiful widow and her orphan...

She had only been in the martial arts world for three short years, yet she had made countless deadly enemies. However, it seemed that the more enemies she had, the happier she was; the more difficult people she was to provoke, the more she wanted to provoke them; and the more she was in ambush, the more carefree and unrestrained she was.

Yet this seemingly wicked and psychologically twisted beauty, when being relentlessly pursued by her enemies and desperately trying to cross the sea by boat, descended like a goddess into the battlefield where Chinese heroes clashed with Japanese pirates, and risked her life to turn the tide of battle.

Although Yu Xiaoyao was evil, she sacrificed herself for her country in the battle of Giant Whale Island in the East China Sea, and everyone admired her. Therefore, she was no longer called a demoness in the martial arts world, but was respectfully called "Tabo Xilai" to commemorate the small boat that flew across the waves in the bloody battle, covered with the glow of the sky.

While family feuds cannot be forgotten, national hatred outweighs them. Therefore, even the enemy led by the Tie family of Jiangnan kept silent about the blood feud, as a way of showing some respect to the brave yet vicious woman, Yu Xiaoyao.

Thinking back to the past, the swift and decisive triumphs of their predecessors, and the tragic and heroic legends of the martial arts world, both of them felt a sense of longing.

There was silence inside the painted boat for a long time. Then, the man in the blue shirt straightened up slightly and lifted the window screen.

Outside, a misty rain had fallen.

A light drizzle dampened the cool stone path, the white-walled, gray-tiled buildings, the slender figures reflected in the carved windows, the swaying water plants by the river, the arched bridge curving like the moon, the sound of oars gliding across the water... it was like a tranquil yet dynamic ink painting.

He sighed softly: "The mountains of Jiangnan are shrouded in mist, and the waters are gentle and moist. They are still more charming and beautiful than my island by the sky!"

Fine raindrops drifted in from the window, landing on the handsome face of the young man in white. He casually dabbed his cheek with his finger, gazing at the damp spot on his fingertip: "The person is gone, but the 'blood-stained robe' has not disappeared from the martial world!"

The man in the blue shirt sighed again.

The young man in white asked, "Brother Fang, has the second favor I asked you been fulfilled?"

The man in the blue shirt poured the boy more tea: "In the past month, there have been at least four similar massacres that wiped out entire families!"

The young man in white was somewhat moved: "Around here?"

"The first incident occurred twenty-seven days ago at the Donglin Escort Agency, where all thirty-three members, including the escorts, porters, and staff, perished. According to the official analysis, the head escort, Tang Lin, killed all the members of the agency with a mad slash while they were having a meal in the dining hall, and then chopped off his own head with the slash."

"The second incident was twenty days ago in Wuque Village. A fire broke out suddenly in the middle of the night. Because the fire was so big, the nearby villagers were too late to put it out. All sixty-one people in the village perished, and almost all of their remains were burned. On the surface, it was a fire caused by candles that had not been extinguished at night, but the coroner examined the few surviving remains and proved that the bodies were burned after death."

"The third incident occurred fifteen days ago. The Zhou family, including the Zhou couple and their three children, died suddenly overnight. Even the mother and daughter who were staying at their home were not spared. After that, sixteen people from the Zhou family's neighbors died suddenly one after another. Their bodies were all black and swollen. The villagers suspected it was a plague and cremated the houses and bodies together."

"The fourth case involves an old man surnamed Sun who was guarding a mortuary. He was found dead in his residence there. Because the mortuary was located in a remote area, it did not implicate anyone else. The reason this case is connected to the others is that before the incident, a gambler saw several strangely dressed people enter the mortuary from a distant hillside. One of them was carrying a large hammer, and another was carrying a knife. They disappeared in a flash, and at the time, he thought he was seeing things..."

The boy's brows furrowed: "A hammer? And a knife?" Images of shattered skulls, severed heads, and dissected chests and abdomens flashed before his eyes...

The man in blue hummed in agreement: "The village you visited is called Half Moon Village. The villagers are all native farmers. Although the farmers are strong and muscular, none of them know any martial arts! In fact, apart from the Donglin Escort Agency, everyone is just an ordinary person. They would avoid any fights with hooligans and have absolutely no connection to martial arts feuds!"

The young man in white pondered for a moment: "Besides the fact that most of them were ordinary people and that their entire families were massacred, are there any connections or commonalities among these families?"

"Yes! There definitely is—" the man in blue said solemnly.

The young man raised an eyebrow: "Oh?"

"—But we haven't found it yet." The man in blue shrugged innocently.

He paused abruptly, looked at the sheathed sword pressed against his throat, and carefully pushed it away with two fingers. The sword's sharpness, even before it was drawn, made his neck ache with a chilling aura.

"It was just a joke, there's no need to resort to knives and swords!" the man in blue said, sounding "wronged."

The young man in white slowly put down his sword and said leisurely, "I was just joking."

The man in the blue shirt stared at him, then suddenly smiled.

This young man in white, the color of maple leaves and snow, possesses a gentle and refined demeanor that conceals a powerful spirit within. He truly deserves to be called a leader among the younger generation!

He picked up the now-cold teacup: "Please, my beauty, sing me a song!"

With a casual wave of her blue sleeves, several courtesans lying on the floor let out soft moans and slowly opened their eyes.

The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Part One: The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Chapter 3 (2)

"Her evening makeup was just finished, a touch of sandalwood and agarwood lightly applied. She subtly revealed her clove-like teeth, and sang a clear song, briefly parting her cherry lips. Her silk sleeves were stained with a faint crimson, and the deep cup was stained with fragrant wine. Leaning against the embroidered bed, she was charmingly helpless, chewing on red velvet, and laughing as she spat it at her lover."

The courtesans were singing Li Yu's "A Measure of Pearls".

The "Cherry Blossom" painted boat slowly drifted down the Liuhua River amidst the melodious and beautiful songs sung on the clappers.

After walking for a short while, they arrived at Peach Blossom Ferry, where flower boats and small boats gradually appeared on the river.

Peach blossoms lined the banks, pink mist drifted, and a soft fragrance filled the air.

Amidst the ten miles of peach blossoms, tourists stroll leisurely in groups, walk alone under green bamboo umbrellas, or engage in lively discussions in twos and threes; under the misty rain, beauties vie with the red rain for charm, and scholars compete with Liu Lang for elegance, truly a scene of unparalleled elegance.

The "Cherry Blossom" boat moored at the shore. The man in the blue shirt had someone open the window of the pleasure boat, and he and Feng Xuese sat inside, drinking wine and admiring the flowers through a thin gauze curtain.

“‘A cluster of peach blossoms blooms unattended, lovely in both deep red and light red.’ Countless poems have been written about peach blossoms throughout the ages, but I believe that Du Fu’s line is the most affectionate.”

“Brother Zhou, you are mistaken. Du Zimei was indeed deeply affectionate, but when it comes to praising peach blossoms, I think Li Bai’s ‘Peach blossoms drift away on the flowing water, a world apart from the human realm’ is a masterpiece.”

"No, no, I think Mr. Mengde's lines, 'Half of the hundred-acre courtyard is covered in moss, the peach blossoms are gone and the rapeseed flowers are in bloom. Where has the Taoist who planted the peach trees gone? Liu Lang has come again, just as before,' are very simple in words but extremely poignant in sentiment..."

On the shore, beneath a peach tree in full bloom, three pedantic scholars were engaged in a lively debate, their voices growing louder and louder.

The man in blue smiled helplessly, "These people are talking so enthusiastically, but they're being quite noisy."

Upon hearing this, Feng Xuese couldn't help but smile slightly, raising her cup to invite the man in blue to drink together.

Just as he was about to order someone to steer the boat to find a quiet place, he suddenly heard a great commotion on the shore, and someone shouted, "Get out of the way! Be careful not to get splattered with blood!"

The two looked toward the source of the chaos and saw a strange and unusual group of people approaching from a distance.