Trrsh! My sword moved; faster than my body, faster than my legs, but synchronized with my thoughts.
Wrrsh! I spun around and lightly pushed myself up in the air. I caught a wisp of breath and slightly moved my left foot. Like a shot arrow, I landed firmly on the ground a few steps ahead.
Wrrsh! Again, I pushed myself forward. My sword cut the air, timed with my thoughts.
I began looking all around; front, up, left, back, down, and right. My thoughts moved faster and so did my body. I started running forward in a complex manner, sometimes zigzag while sometimes spiral.
Wrrsh! Wrrsh!
I could sense the familiarity of this movement. Previous Zuifan had used this technique once. This was it. I knew I could use my legs to oscillate my upper body like a pendulum, while moving forward at twice the speed. Now, to distribute my weight and to coordinate my muscles- to imitate a snake's movement,
Not when it slithers but when it bites; that sudden movement, that incisiveness...
My both feet left the ground and I struck the tree trunk ahead of me. Not a slash, but a jab; there was no sound this time.
The sword went in, piercing the tough wood effortlessly. The tree shook and green smoke came out from where I'd thrust.
Hssss... The smoke came for me and I instinctively pulled my hands away. The smoke lingered near my sword's hilt for sometime and disappeared, turning pure black.
My sword, my only sword; it was stuck.
'Meh, Gang family will give me another one. If not, I'll just buy one for myself,' I still had the money I'd painstakingly robbed from the fallen youths. 20 something gold kins, it would be enough to buy a sharp and sturdy weapon.
There were also other things with me that I didn't have the time to examine closely. Starting from the time when I robbed Dou Chai; I remember there were some vials of medicine and a broken piece of wood.
I'd already pawned the metallic fan to a pawn shop for 40 silvers. The time limit was exactly two months. Dou Chai's metallic fan wouldn't enter the market anytime soon. Ahough I'd have to pay double or even triple price to buy it back, I wouldn't have to be worried about being tracked.
'Heh, and who's going to buy it back anyway? That fan would've cost 60 silvers at best,' Thinking so, I smiled and left the training grounds.
Going straight for the bath house, I kept thinking. I still hadn't yet figured out what use those medicines had.
'I'll ask that medicine granny about it later. As for that piece of wood..,'
I felt like throwing it away. It looked like a useless item. Honestly, how did I not notice that I was carrying a second junk with me? I shook my head.
'Well, those things are with Chunu for now. I'd have to meet up with her first, she should've reached rank 4 by now... Ah, here it is,'
I'd reached the bath house. Wait, what?
It said women's bath.
...
When the light of the sun began coloring red, I emerged out of a pavilion that sold high quality weapons. This pavilion was under the Gang family and required their identity token for outsiders to enter.
Although I had joined the family, my surname wasn't Gang. I had gone through the hassle of pestering Gang Wei to get me a token and finally got to enter.
I felt the two short swords' scabbards tied to my back. They cost me 12 gold kins altogether.
'Worth every kin and effort I spent,' I thought.
These were top quality weapons. More than one longsword, two short swords complemented my technique and fighting style: nimble, opportunistic and random.
That would change when I reached Qi gathering stage. Though, it would take a couple years to reach. For now, this fighting style suited me better.
I went towards a more populated area of the market. I was wearing another pure white robe and my hairs were tied back, finally making me seem presentable. There was one hour left before my meeting with Gang Wei. I'd asked him about it earlier, but he didn't speak all.
"Maybe it is something important. I'll disappear if he gave me a lengthy and tedious job, though," I muttered. No way I was going to work for these people.
"Ah, sorry!" Someone bumped into me while exiting a shop. I didn't mind and kept walking, this road was narrow anyway. Casual bumps happened everyday in such places.
"Hah, this damn heat," I cursed. Was it just me or the sun seemed to overheat when evening approached? Tsk, I hated sweating after taking a bath.
Turning sharply, I entered another large pavilion. This was a restaurant, owned by a middle-aged woman whose husband was the guard captain of Pinchu town.
'Three-rings Pavillion,' was it's name. This place had a reputation for satisfying any customer within three servings.
Today, it was packed. It took some time for me to find an empty table. There were only two short chairs for each circular table. Sitting on one of them meant reserving another. People didn't really like to dine with strangers.
I sat and waited. I didn't come here for no reason. After some time had passed, she arrived.
Dressed in pink robes, she had light make-up on her face. The same red lipsticks, artificial blush on her cheeks, and dark eyeliners. Those weren't as sophisticated and aesthetic as worn by women on earth. Yet, they still gave a local charm that accentuated her beauty.
She was a girl, a little younger than Gang Bing, but blessed with assets meant to please lustful men. Short black hair, dark irises under long eyebrows, v-shaped chin, and a cute nose; her oval face had everything to catch a passing gaze.
I locked my eyes with her and she smiled modestly.
"Thank you for coming, mister Benfang," said she. Her name was Gang Ju, the girl who showed me the way towards men's bath. She said she wanted to have a small talk with me.
"Please," I smiled back and gave her my hand. She took it and sat down on the other seat. Her posture was straight but relaxed. She was also a practitioner, at the fourth rank actually.
"Mister Benfang is such a gentleman," she giggled. Her voice was not as pleasing as Gang Bing's. Still, she tried to make herself sound cute.
If I was to describe her in one word, I'd say she was... expensive. Like those party girls who come from rich families.
"Oh, just call me Benfang. It can be tedious to add 'mister' everytime, right?" I replied.
"Such consideration, I'll call you that then... Benfang,"
Ting! I rang a small bell on the table and a waiter appeared immediately. My both eyebrows arched up. Well, this was a quick hospitality.
"Wha- woul' you-lic t-hab?" he asked. Did all waiters speak this fast or was he secretly British? I barely understood that gibberish.
"First, give us some refreshments. Not too sweet, bring something this pavilion is proud of," I ordered.
This technique came under the Dao of embarrassment. To order food in front of a lady, even if you don't know the fancy names of dishes served; it was quite handy in my opinion.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" I turned my attention to Gang Ju. A paper fan had suddenly appeared on her hand.
Flap! She opened it and covered half her face with it's flowery design.
"Benfang, you must've met my elder sister Gang Bing, right?" she spoke softly and blinked two times rapidly, slightly tilting her head to the right.
"Yes, I have," I nodded my head. I didn't know that she was Gang Bing's little sister.
'Also, what's with that blinking? Does she honestly think guys find it cute?'
'She doesn't resemble Gang Bing at all,' I thought.
Gang Ju leaned forward a little. She placed her thin fingers on the table and suddenly shut the fan she held before her face. It divided her symmetrical face in two as she intensely stared at me.
"I want my sister dead," she whispered.
'O...oh, and I thought this was going to be a lovely evening,' stunned, I could only stare at her face for sometime. It looked so tender, so harmless, so beautiful and yet, it hid such a killer bitch.