Chapter 51: Transcendence

Page (1/3)

The night was as dark as ink, like the bile spat from a cuttlefish. The trees whispered mournfully in the desolate mountains, as though ghostly women softly sang in the gloom, or as if sirens in the waves crooned their beguiling songs. Watching the tide here was like gazing upon a tide of spirits.

The locals were perhaps long accustomed to such midnight scenes. They never ventured out after nightfall, yet the faint, furtive shuffle of footsteps still sounded in the darkness. In the end, the figure that emerged was Kou Li.

He had slipped quietly away from the Burning Body Martial Hall—even Zheng Xiaobao had no idea, believing his elder brother Kou was still practicing in the small training yard.

A moonless night for murder, a windy night for arson—such deadly deeds were best kept secret. The fewer who knew, the better.

Kou Li darted through the back door, left ajar for just this purpose. He had barely set foot inside when he glimpsed another figure in the distance and immediately halted, holding his breath. Then Mo Yi’s silhouette flickered past, impeccably dressed—not at all like someone roused from sleep.

Why was it him?

……

At dawn, a hundred official ships thundered out of the estuary, their menacing prows and bristling weapons a tangible manifestation of the soldiers’ wrath—once unleashed, unstoppable.

In the cliffs near the mouth of the sea, three gnarled pines, forced up through cracks in the stone, formed a crude shelter. Concealed within, two bloodied, battered figures hid—Lu Zhixiong and Lu Sanbao, who had escaped amid the chaos.

“If Captain Shen’s banner hadn’t gone up, you shouldn’t have used those three poisoned needles,” Lu Zhixiong growled, his face marred by two jagged scars, dark blood finally clotted. He winced now and then, unable to mask the venom in his eyes. “We fell for their ploy—like mud down the trousers.”

“Damn that old bastard! Dozens of our brothers hacked to pieces, and our foster father’s offer of amnesty ruined—how am I supposed to explain this?” Lu Sanbao seized his cousin by the hair, voice savage. “Black-Faced Xiong, you swore to me there wouldn’t be a slip!”

“Brother Bao, I swear—this wasn’t the soldiers’ idea. You saw it yourself, everyone was drunk out of their minds last night,” Lu Zhixiong cried. “That drug was something else—if they really investigate, they’ll find out. Yes, the Water Dragon Gang has that kind of drug. The key thing now is that Shen Bing must not die. If the court suspects this was our plan, we’re done for. We have to go back and explain.”

“Explain? I threw the needles—do you want me to walk back to my death?” Lu Sanbao raged. Never known for cunning, he was utterly at a loss in his desperation.

“No, no, Brother Bao. I’ll figure something out,” Lu Zhixiong gritted his teeth. “I’ll go to the Water Dragon Gang and lay it out for them.”

“You’re mad! What if those wolf cubs are behind this?” Lu Sanbao’s fury turned to alarm. The Water Dragon Gang was the prime suspect—walking into their lair was suicide.

“It’s our only bet now. If they’ve been caught in the same trap, maybe they’ll help us. Otherwise, we can’t withstand the court’s fury,” Lu Zhixiong thought, though he left unsaid that he’d already had dealings with some members of the Water Dragon Gang. At this juncture, they were unlikely to stir up trouble on their own.

“Brother Bao, I’ll go to the Water Dragon Gang. You head to Guangcheng—get the brothers to hide if they can, and for those who can’t, get them out to sea as soon as possible. Uncle and Mother He must be taken away too. Retaliation from the authorities is certain!”

Few knew that Lu Zhixiong and Lu Sanbao were actually cousins. Lu Zhixiong’s uncle—the old man—was Lu Sanbao’s father. Years ago, Sanbao had killed a man in the marketplace, forcing him to take to the sea as a pirate, where by chance Zhu Baozai adopted him as a foster son.

“Damn it, my son’s in danger!” In his heart, Lu Sanbao burned with hatred for the mastermind behind all this, wishing he could slaughter their entire family for revenge.

Drip, drip—

Beads of grayish moisture, forced out of Kou Li’s flexing muscles, fell into a waiting bowl. The air was thick with the smell of lead.

Thankfully, he had been instructed beforehand and had hidden himself in the grove where he usually practiced. It took most of the day, but he finally expelled the lead poison from every part of his body, collecting nearly half a bowl.

Page (2/3)

“I’ve heard of alchemists refining mercury, but injecting mercury water into the body—this is unheard of. And above the Bronze Guards are the Silver Guards—human-shaped biochemical weapons, in ancient times of all things.”

Kou Li found the world increasingly incomprehensible—immortals, martial artists, and bizarre, uncanny methods abounded. Everything was strange and grotesque.

Then there was the side effect of the Wordless Diagram.

The golden finger itself was harmless, but the Wordless Diagram had side effects—and each time, they grew deadlier. It happened first during the battle with the Soul-Chasing Wolf, and now again with the Bronze Guard.

He was beginning to understand the purpose of the Wordless Diagram: it amplified—whatever sensation or perception he focused on, it heightened. That was why his sight and hearing grew sharper, why he dreamed at night, pondered during the day, and gained insight into the heart of boxing.

But amplification wasn’t always a blessing—such as now.

Subduing Dragon and Conquering Tiger, at its core, was about suppressing the beast with indomitable will and greater power.

You could suppress it for a time, but not forever.

There is no such thing as a tiger that does not eat meat; it is the beast’s nature. The deeper you comprehend the heart of boxing, the closer you come to grasping the true method of the Fierce Tiger Fist—but the more the tiger’s killing instinct melds with your own heart.

Other boxers believed that the deeper the insight, the better—but for Kou Li, the opposite was true.

To master the Fierce Tiger Fist, one must fully embrace the tiger’s killing spirit. But if you are consumed by that intent, are you still yourself?

A paradox!

Perhaps it was time to make another style his main practice, using the Fierce Tiger Fist as a supplement. It would still allow him to temper bone and refine strength.

As for Master Yue’s expectations, he could keep hoping.

“Kou brother, you seem unhappy today,” Zheng Xiaobao remarked, noticing Kou Li’s slight frown when he returned.

“I’m not unhappy—just troubled by some questions I can’t unravel.”

“I know—recently I’ve learned a lot.” Zheng Xiaobao puffed out his small chest, full of youthful camaraderie.

Kou Li smiled, thinking little of it, but the boy’s earnestness was impossible to refuse. He replied, “Bao’er, sometimes you see things others can’t. What you see in your dreams and what you see by day—it’s as if they’re the same thing. Do you understand that?”

“I do.”

“You do?” Kou Li was taken aback. He himself didn’t understand, so how could the child?

“I really do,” Zheng Xiaobao’s little face grew solemn. “The world’s mysteries—what one man sees alone, others call a dream. What all see together, they call reality. So, what one perceives alone is called a dream; what is seen by all is called waking. But they do not realize that when man’s essence converges with things, in daylight, one may suddenly see wonders invisible to others. Only I see them—thus, not only the night’s visions are dreams.”

Page (3/3)

“Kou brother, you’ve fallen into an illusion of perception.”

“What!”

Kou Li was stunned for a long while before asking, “Bao’er, where did you hear these things?”

“I thought of them myself,” Zheng Xiaobao tilted his head, pondering. “I really did. Ever since I woke up, I often see strange things, or suddenly understand odd truths. For example, Kou brother, you don’t seem to have a past.”

Kou Li shuddered. The past! In this world, he truly had no past.

So it was the fault of those prayer beads—was this the benefit of a celestial test, or some innate wisdom?

“When my spirit meets another’s, both are transformations of my mind. Kou brother, you must learn to transcend the spirit.”

“Transcend the spirit?” Kou Li’s lips twitched, but he understood—this was not the ‘supernatural’ he imagined, but some Buddhist aphorism. If you understand, you understand; if not, you don’t—likely Bao’er couldn’t explain it either.

“Thank you, Bao’er, for your guidance. I’ll do my best.”

“Kou brother, you must transcend the spirit!” Zheng Xiaobao cheered him on.

……

But even after pondering all afternoon, Kou Li failed to grasp what transcendence of the spirit truly meant. As night fell, he suddenly remembered—Zhai Guan had invited him to drink today.

When he arrived at his senior brother’s small courtyard, he heard the half-drunken, half-sober roar, “Senior brother, you don’t know the bitterness in my heart these years. On the battlefield, it was me and my men who held the cavalry at bay. I broke four sabers, spilled enough blood to fill a sack, and few of my twenty brothers came back whole. And the result? They accused me of delaying the battle, my achievements taken by some aristocrat’s son—ten years, ten years of sweat and blood!”

“Fine, fine, I’ve returned. At the yamen, the local fools still ostracize me, look down on me. Why? With one blade I could cut them all down. But they have connections, backers in the guilds—people to speak for them and grant them favors. What are they compared to me? I am a disciple of Master Lin of the Burning Body Hall! My master’s skill is unmatched in all Lingnan—but what use is it? He’s too lofty, never currying favor, refusing to play the game—just teaching boxing in this backwater, watching the tides. Who cares about that?”

“Look at him—has the martial world ever seen his like? He’s fit to be made a god and worshipped—”

“Fifth brother, don’t speak like that. Master has his own burdens—it’s not as you think.”

“He’s your master, not your father,” Mo Yi’s cold voice cut in.

“Third brother, you’re wrong—no, I get it. You’re gifted in boxing, but look at that young general in the capital, Marquis Wang. He’s your contemporary, isn’t he? How did he make his name? Riding on his master’s connections—the court’s elixirs and treasures supplied him like water. If you had his advantages, would you fall short of him?”