Chapter 104: East, West, South, and North
Hearing the door click shut, Chen Le raised his hand and wiped the water from his face. Thinking that Xiaoxue was just being shy, he gave a foolish smile.
At midday, Lu Qianxue led Li Pingyang and two other subordinates on a stroll through the streets of Cangzhou. Every few steps, Lu Qianxue would glance back. Li Pingyang, looking puzzled, turned to look behind them as well, but seeing nothing, he asked her what was wrong.
"It’s nothing." Lu Qianxue turned back with a faint smile, though she felt it was strange; she had the persistent sensation that someone was trailing them.
After they had moved further away, Chen Le stepped out from behind a wall, an umbrella in his hand, and continued to follow them.
Since being devastated, the rules in Cangzhou had been redrawn. The Fourth Division had seized all the grain, and those who didn't want to starve had to spend money to buy food in their territory. While the wealthy remained comfortable, the poor were the ones who suffered. On the streets, those who had survived but were left destitute had to cast aside their pride and beg for a living.
Seeing this, Lu Qianxue ordered her Second Division subordinates to distribute a portion of her own stockpiled grain to the refugees. However, the number of refugees was simply too great; their supplies were far from enough.
Taking advantage of their hoard, the men of the Fourth Division were brazenly selling grain on the streets, with prices starting at ten wen—an outrageously high sum.
As she walked, Lu Qianxue suddenly felt water droplets on her face. Looking up, she realized it had begun to rain. Li Pingyang quickly dashed under the eaves of a building, and his two subordinates followed, crowding in with him to take shelter. With the space limited and unwilling to squeeze in with a group of men, Lu Qianxue chose to shield her head with her hands.
At that moment, Chen Le appeared from nowhere, umbrella in hand, and walked toward her. Lu Qianxue suddenly felt the rain vanish from above; turning around, she saw Chen Le. He was holding the umbrella like a gentleman, shielding her entirely while he himself became soaked.
On the rooftops on either side, over a dozen Second Division men were busy holding spray bottles crafted by Li Pingyang, enthusiastically creating artificial rain. One subordinate, in his haste, nearly slipped off the roof; his comrades pulled him back just in time and covered his mouth, narrowly avoiding exposure. However, the cap of his spray bottle slipped, rolling down the tiles and clattering against the umbrella.
*Oh no,* Chen Le thought, his heart sinking as he winced. *These idiots can't even handle a simple task.*
Fortunately, Lu Qianxue was looking elsewhere and didn't notice. Chen Le quickly kicked the cap under a nearby stall.
When the "rain" stopped, Lu Qianxue glanced at Chen Le. Finding it too coincidental that he just happened to be passing by, she asked him with a suspicious look why he was there.
"I... I..." Chen Le stammered, unsure how to explain. Seeing this, Li Pingyang stepped in to smooth things over, claiming he had sent Chen Le to deliver the umbrella.
As soon as these words were out, even Chen Le was stunned—this was not part of the plan. He and the others stared at Li Pingyang.
Li Pingyang continued to improvise, "Ah, I observed the celestial phenomena last night and calculated that there would be a downpour at this hour today."
Chen Le rolled his eyes, thinking the lie was a bit too grand; he didn't believe it himself, let alone Xiaoxue. But to his surprise, Lu Qianxue just smiled, patted Chen Le on the shoulder, said "Thanks," and then signaled for them to head home.
Lu Qianxue took her daily lunch with her team. She sat at a table with her four top experts: "East, West, South, and North." These four were the pillars of the Second Division. Though they might look like a ragtag group, they were all masters of hidden talents who could not be underestimated.
Take the third in command, Feng Nan (South), for instance. Wang Zhennan possessed terrifyingly acute hearing. It was no exaggeration to say that if you dared to speak ill of Commander Lu, he could hear it from miles away.
The fourth, Feng Bei (North), was known as "Swift-Sword A-Ning." His real name was Wu Ning. He looked unremarkable and had a pair of comical cross-eyes, but one must never be deceived by his appearance. If you didn't know his history, you would surely wonder how such a character managed to join the Thunderclap Hall. In truth, before joining, Wu Ning had been the leader of a band of mountain bandits. His specialty was his incredibly fast sword. As for how fast? It was said that no one who had seen his blade drawn had lived to tell the tale. Having suffered some unknown tragedy, his eyes ended up in that state, and after being saved by Lu Qianxue when he was on the verge of starvation, he had followed her ever since to repay the debt.
The eldest, Zhou Tianlong, held the title of Feng Dong (East). His life story was legendary. He had once been a subordinate of Lu Qianxue’s father, Lu Yihan, and together with the other "Eight Dragons," they were known as the "Nine Dragons of the Wild Blade." Later, internal strife tore the Thunderclap Hall apart. Lu Qianxue’s father was ambushed by Lei Wanchou of the Fourth Division and taken hostage to force Lu Qianxue to hand over the fragments of the First Division’s Tiger Tally. Only by possessing all four fragments could one become the new Hall Master. At the time, Chen Le had been ordered to protect Lu Qianxue as she fled; he had broken through the encirclement but was severely wounded, leaving him unable to return to rescue Lu Yihan.
It was Zhou Tianlong who had single-handedly stormed the Fourth Division, killing their top experts and rescuing Lu Qianxue’s father. However, Lei Wanchou had used the "Thunderous Sword Technique" to blind one of his eyes. Lei Wanchou practiced the sinister arts of the Ghost Path, and having never fought such techniques before, Zhou Tianlong suffered greatly. He was later struck by Lei Wanchou’s "Thunder Cloud Evil Sword Slash," which severed his right leg, though he managed to escape. Afterwards, Zhou Tianlong fashioned a wooden prosthetic, remaining permanently crippled with a limp. Despite being a "broken" man, he never stopped practicing his blade. Though blind in one eye and missing a leg, he refused to give up, eventually elevating his internal energy to the level of a Grandmaster.
As for the second, Feng Xi (West), his name was Xilian. He was the most gentle-looking of the four. Usually, all four of them carried an eerie, somber air and rarely smiled. They always looked as serious as if someone owed them money or had stolen their grain, which initially gave Li Pingyang a case of "social anxiety." No matter what you said, they wouldn't answer; you could tell a joke until you were clutching your sides with laughter, and they wouldn't even twitch a facial muscle. Xilian was the only one of the four who had a family and a wife. It was said he used to be a blacksmith. The weapon he wielded was a short blade attached to a chain, which he used to kill invisibly with his internal energy, effective in both long-range and close-quarters combat.
With East, West, South, North, Chen Le, and Li Pingyang gathered around the table, Lu Qianxue sat in the center. During the meal, everyone usually helped themselves to food. But today, Chen Le was acting strangely, constantly piling food onto Lu Qianxue’s plate and urging her to eat more.
Xilian looked up and saw that the food in Lu Qianxue’s bowl was already a foot high, leaving no room for her to use her chopsticks. Sensing the dangerous atmosphere, he lowered his head and ate quietly, not daring to utter a word as he shoveled rice into his mouth. The other three followed suit, focusing intently on their food.
Finally, Lu Qianxue, unable to take any more of Chen Le’s behavior, slammed her chopsticks onto the table with a loud "snap," startling everyone. Li Pingyang, who had finally managed to pick up a single peanut with his chopsticks, watched it slide off from the vibration, speechless.