When he saw that the enemy was mimicking his attack, Guo Xiu's eyes filled with derision. But when she spurred her glaive into motion, those same eyes were instantly flooded with fear. Even if it was not a perfect imitation, the sheer speed of it was more than threatening enough, forcing Guo Xiu on the back foot. As the strikes rained down upon his glaive, he felt like he was being pressed by a dozen martial artists at once.

  Tao Geming snorted. "He's slower than I remember. That idiot must have been slacking in his training. I recommended him, and this is what he does?"

  After a few more exchanges, her blunt glaive cut through his blue tunic and sliced an inch or two into his shoulder. With a pained grunt Guo Xiu dropped to one knee, as though the shallow, top-down cut carried within it enough force to bring him down.

  The crowd gasped at the sight of blood, panic suddenly filling the hall as people began to flee. Guo Xiu's disciples finally couldn't contain themselves any longer and raised their weapons, but their approach was cut short when the strange woman pushed the tip of her prop weapon against their master's throat.

  Liao Lan saw their lips move, but in the commotion she could not make out the words that had been said. While she strained to hear their conversation, Tao Geming stood up and calmly walked out with the rushing crowd.

  The Golden Witch suddenly twirled, forcing a jolt out of the men encircling her. She dashed off the stage, disappearing before the disciples could lift so much as a single finger to stop her.

  Liao Lan took that as her own cue to leave.

  A short while later, she reunited with her master in the streets outside. The Golden Witch stood on the roof of a small house, overlooking the quiet town as her golden hair and white robe danced on the wind. After the commotion, not a single soul dared to linger beyond the safety of their homes except for their party of four.

  Beneath the clear sky, her features glowed with a warm, absentminded smile.

  "Get down from there!" Tao Geming barked. The smile hadn't left her face as she stepped down from her vantage point. "Do you really not care about how you're perceived at all? What was that clown show?!"

  "Where are we going next?" She asked.

  Tao Geming exhaled sharply in annoyance, and yet he didn't keep grumbling for long, instead changing the subject. "What did you think of Guo Xiu?"

  "He was great." The Golden Witch replied, still grinning ear to ear. "I had fun."

  Seemingly contended with her answer, Tao Geming returned to her question. "We're going to visit an old friend of mine. He'll help us get a better lay of the land. And this time you're coming with me."

  "Alright." She said, following along.

  As she observed their exchange, Liao Lan seethed with disdain. To think that her master would just let this man speak to her like that! And seeing that unabashed joy on her face made her feel like she was drowning in envy. When had Liao Lan ever made her master's eyes shine like that? And it was the single worst person in the world who could claim this merit!

  Suddenly noticing that the women were lagging behind, the Golden Witch turned back and asked, "What's wrong?"

  Her concern forced Liao Lan to regain her composure and she replied with idle reassurances. Liao Lan hurried to catch up. Shao Luli followed with much less enthusiasm, a frustrated sigh leaving her lips. The girl knew her master far too well not to have an idea of what was going on in her head.

  A day later, as the sun was beginning to set, they arrived at a lone hut hidden deep within a forest.

  Tao Geming glared at the two women in black. "I'm not bringing the entire herd inside. You two wait out here."

  Neither of them was happy to hear that, especially not when put into such words. Liao Lan glanced at the Golden Witch.

  But to Liao Lan's terror, instead of speaking up for her, her master shrugged. "Why don't you two get us accommodations at that town we passed nearby?"

  Liao Lan was crushed. The Golden Witch turned away without awaiting her reply and entered the hut with Tao Geming. They had no choice but to follow her instructions.

  Once they were well beyond earshot, Shao Luli grabbed her master's sleeve. "Master..." She muttered.

  It was as though her concern opened the floodgates; Liao Lan suddenly began to pour her heart out.

  "I'm failing in my duties as her disciple!" Liao Lan wailed. "I'm losing her favor! I'd only made her that happy when I brought her to the Fairy Spring Valley! But how am I supposed to compete with that old dog Geming?! He's older and stronger than me, and all he does is wander around and bully people. I try to stay out of trouble while he revels in it! Of course his connections are going to be better!"

  "You don't owe her anything, master!" Shao Luli exclaimed. "She's the one with debts to you!" After a moment of thought, she suggested, "Why not leverage her debts and demand more lessons? She'll have to pay attention to you then."

  "And become an even bigger burden?! No!"

  Try as she might, Shao Luli could do nothing to assuage her master's woes.

  ...

  Tao Geming and the Golden Witch stepped into what had turned out to be a hunter's lodge, the floors and walls haphazardly adorned in the furs of tigers, leopards, and half a dozen other once ferocious beasts. An old man with a horribly crooked back sat on the furs, warming his hands by the stove. He seemed truly decrepit, perhaps over a hundred years old. A scant few locks of white hair adorned his mostly bald head. Not an ounce of strength seemed to exist in his bony limbs.

  "Yu Xue! It's me!" Tao Geming declared, only now drawing the attention of the old man.

  Yu Xue squinted hard in their direction, though his thin lips were already curled into a smile; he recognized the voice before he could make out the person with his eyes.

  "Well, if it isn't One Handed Geming!" The old man exclaimed. "How long has it been?"

  "You old coot!" Tao Geming laughed. "You still remember that tired old story? No one's called me that in years! People call me the King of Jianghu now."

  The Golden Witch interjected, "From what I've seen, nobody calls you that except you."

  "Shut up, Fox."

  Yu Xue kept squinting at the golden haired woman, but it was as if something about her simply wasn't making sense to the old man. As if stalling for time, or perhaps subtly poking for clarification, he asked, "And your companion is...?"

  Tao Geming sized her up, craning his neck high. "A flamboyant one, isn't she? Just call her the Yellow Fox."

  "I just wondered if my old eyes were playing tricks on me..." Yu Xue nervously chuckled, finally relaxing his vision. "But if that's what she's called, then I must have seen true. No wonder."

  Tao Geming sat down on the furs.

  The Golden Witch continued to look large even as she knelt down on the floor. She asked, "Why was he called One Handed Geming?"

  Yu Xue's smile grew bigger at her question. He rose slightly, apparently excited to tell the tale. "You really don't know? The younger generation doesn't care for history at all, does it? This guy here, when he was younger, he dared to challenge some of the world's greatest experts at the time, and he made a big show of it by fighting with one hand tied behind his back! And after he won all three battles, people started calling him One Handed Geming! It was the very first moniker he earned outside of his sect."

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  The Golden Witch chuckled.

  "Impressive." She said dryly. "Who was it that fell victim to One Handed Geming?"

  Just as Yu Xue seemed intent to dive into the story in earnest, Tao Geming waved his hand. "We're not here to talk about the stupid crap I got up to in my youth. We're here because I want her to meet some old friends of ours. Yu Xue, tell me, are you still keeping up with Wen You?"

  "Wen You..." Yu Xue mumbled, his weary eyes suddenly filling with recollection.

  "Yes. The Cloud Piercing Spear." Tao Geming hurried him along.

  "You haven't heard?" Yu Xue asked. "Some upstart took him down a few years back. The Green Sword, I think he calls himself."

  "Seriously? I know that guy. Met him not that long ago, too. No way that whelp was strong enough to pull that off..." Tao Geming grumbled. "Not even worth looking for him..."

  But the old man could only shrug. "Maybe he got lucky."

  "Well, forget it." Tao Geming shook his head, moving on. "What about Pan Enlai?"

  Yu Xue sighed. "The Kong sect killed him."

  Tao Geming looked surprised. "They have a change of leadership lately?"

  "As far as I know, Cao Peng is still in charge."

  Tao Geming shook his head. "That idiot must have blundered big time to get done in by such weaklings."

  Frustration began to build on his features. Tao Geming pondered as he exhaled, an idea soon springing to his mind. "What of Zhang Ru?"

  "Last I heard, Zhang Ru's still alive, but..." Yu Xue sighed. "Old age hasn't been kind to him. A malady brought him low, turned his bones brittle like dry branches. He returned to his old sect to live out his last years."

  This last bit of news rendered the cabin silent for a long time. Tao Geming anxiously tapped his fingers on his knee. His high spirits from moments ago had all but disappeared.

  "Well, what about you?" Tao Geming eventually asked in jest. "Care to give the Yellow Fox here some pointers?"

  Yu Xue chuckled. "Old friend, old age hasn't been kind to me either. My eyes are not at all what they used to be. I'm all but blind these days. Martial arts are long behind me. I don't even take care of my twin swords anymore."

  "...How do you even live out here on your own, brother?" Tao Geming questioned.

  "The hunter's boy - the family lives near the village - comes by to bring me food and take care of the house. He's a good kid. I teach him martial arts from time to time."

  Yu Xue then added, "But even though my eyes aren't what they used to be, my hearing's still as good as ever! You should visit in the summer. All the birds gather here. Their chirping is something to behold, so loud, so truly beautiful, unlike anything you'll hear anywhere else. It's nothing like the unbearable noise you might hear out of an instrument. It's so much better, so much better. It's true, natural music! And just for that I thank the heavens every day for sparing my ears."

  The Golden Witch suddenly recalled that he hadn't even heard them come in. She remained quiet, looking away.

  The old man couldn't make out the conflicted looks on their faces.

  "Let me make you all some tea." Yu Xue suggested, breaking up the silence.

  Tao Geming halted him with a hand. "Don't sweat it. It's about time we took off. Thanks, old friend, you saved us a lot of time looking for those unfortunate fools. I'll come by again soon. We'll trade stories. I've got a feeling I'll have a lot to tell you next time."

  They smiled, shook hands, and parted.

  Once they were outside, the Golden Witch wryly remarked, "So even you have friends."

  Tao Geming was silent.

  "Why did you bring me along for this?" She asked.

  "I just wanted him to gawk at you." Tao Geming spat. "Brighten up his day a little by bringing the circus right to his door."

  The Golden Witch pursed her lips in annoyance. She pondered for a moment before asking, "You weren't kidding back there, were you? You really thought he might be a match for me. I could feel that his internal energy wasn't half bad even now, so he must have been quite powerful in his prime."

  Tao Geming's scowl deepened. "He was a true man in his day."

  "He looked really old." The Golden Witch said. "Knowing the kind of company you keep, that man must be, perhaps, at least two centuries old. Just how long has it been since you last met?"

  "He'll be a hundred and six this year."

  The Golden Witch was surprised to hear the number. She figured that anyone that Tao Geming would deign to call a friend would not be someone of such mediocre cultivation that a mere hundred years could reduce them to such a miserable state. And even her own senses strengthened that impression.

  "I guess you don't know." Tao Geming said, picking up on her confusion. "After the age of one hundred, no matter how excellent one's cultivation, the years come crashing down like hail. Well, my cultivation is without peer in this world, perhaps in all of known history, so things might be different for me. Just a little short of two decades left until I find out for sure."

  He added, "The only exceptions were those emperors of old. Some theories have it that they practiced a cultivation method that could extend their lifespan, and that was what gifted them with such longevity, not the Mandate of Heaven. But it's all nothing more than ancient hearsay. There's no proof. I doubt that even what's left of that dynasty knows the truth anymore."

  "Oh, now I finally understand why you keep hounding me." The Golden Witch exclaimed. "Well, if you keep up the good work, I just might share my cultivation method with you."

  But to her surprise, Tao Geming glared at her. "You think you're being funny right now? Or do you really think I'm that stupid?"

  His reaction caught her off-guard. Suddenly, her lips curled into a guilty smile. Her golden eyes glinted with mischief.

  Like a little kid caught in a lie.

  "So you knew..." She said. "You believed me when I told you that my cultivation method doesn't do that. So then why are you helping me?"

  "Conceited wench." Tao Geming snorted. "You want to learn all of my secrets while giving up none of your own?"

  They stared each other down. But something bordering on amusement mingled with the mutual frustration in their eyes.

  Tao Geming looked away. "There's no one else around these parts worth a damn. How much time do you have left?"

  "About a month." She replied.

  "Then we need to hurry. We won't get anything done while you're dragging those deadweights around with you. That little girl is too slow to keep up with us, and Liao Lan is not going to travel without her. Get rid of your stupid disciple so we can get on with it."

  "...I'll think about it." The Golden Witch said.

  Tao Geming took his leave without scrutinizing her vague answer.

  ...