Chapter 1183: Brocade Shirt Marquis, Snow Dragon Guard

“He’s hostile toward us. We must watch out for him.”

Ye Qing looked at Old Man of Snowy Mountain and asked, “Speaking of which, what is your problem with Ink Flute, Bai?”

Old Man of Snowy Mountain began, “His name is Mo Di (Ink Flute). They call him the Ink Flute Gentleman. He is a first rank guest warrior of the Brocade Shirt Marquis Office right now. A music expert, he fights using sound as his murder weapon. He is a despicable, shameless, and treacherous bastard who hides his knife behind a harmless smile.”

It was obvious that Old Man of Snowy Mountain had suffered at the hands of Ink Flute. His expression was dark and gloomy as he spoke of the man. “Ten years ago, I was forced to flee to Snowview City to escape from my enemies. Zhao Changming, the Brocade Shirt Marquis had just been appointed the city lord of Snowview City at the time. He was recruiting en masse to grow his forces, so I decided to join him and use him as a shelter against my enemies.”

“The guest warriors of the Brocade Shirt Marquis Office are split into nine ranks. The first rank is the highest, and the ninth rank is the lowest. They are ranked based on their strength. I bested Ink Flute during the martial test, so I was placed above him and made the first rank guest warrior of the Brocade Shirt Marquis Office.”

“Ink Flute would have become the first rank guest warrior if not for my abrupt appearance. He resented me deeply because of this. Later, he would make many attempts to frame me or kill me. Although I managed to survive his assassination attempts, I inevitably screwed up several important tasks because of the bastard. As a result, Zhao Changming lost his trust in me, and I was forced to leave the Brocade Shirt Marquis Office.”

Traces of coldness flitted across Old Man of Snowy Mountain’s eyes. It was clear that the matter remained a thorn in his heart to his day.

“After that, I secluded myself to the snowy mountains and set foot in civilization only once in a blue moon. I never saw Ink Flute again until today. I did not think that the petty bastard would even remember me after all these years, but clearly I overestimated him.”

Yi Pin shook his head. “No one holds a grudge like a small-hearted person. Offend someone like that once, and they would cling to you doggedly like the maggot in your bones.”

A moment of silence later, Old Man of Snowy Mountain asked, “Should I take him out, young master?”

“It’s fine.” Ye Qing shook his head. “We’ll be leaving tomorrow, so who cares?”

He already taught Ink Flute a lesson today. Assuming Ink Flute was smart, he would know better than to test him again.

If he wasn’t, Ye Qing did not mind slapping him into oblivion. In his eyes, Ink Flute was no different from an ant in the sense that both took exactly one hand to kill.

“Anyway, you wanted to tour the Myriad Buddha Market, right brother? In that case, you will be accompanying him, Bai. I’ll be returning to my room.”

Ye Qing got up to his feet and walked toward his room.

“As you command, young master,” Old Man of Snowy Mountain responded.

“Come, Brother Bai.” Yi Pin beckoned for the Great Trueman to follow him. “Let’s check out this quaint little town, shall we? If nothing else, the walk would digest the food faster.”

......

After Ye Qing returned to his room, he washed his face briefly and grabbed a jar of Ruyi Brew. It was the signature brew of Myriad Buddha Restaurant. Sitting in front of the window, he idly watched the endless stream of traffic while sipping the delicious wine, enjoying the rare moment of leisure.

It was evening by the time the whole jar of wine had entered his stomach. Yi Pin and Old Man of Snowy Mountain hadn’t come back yet, but he could tell that they were safe through the latter. They were just taking their time, that’s all. So, Ye Qing threw himself into cultivation.

For the past few days, his understanding of the martial way had deepened thanks to his increasing understanding of the “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull”, a martial art that could connect all arts and boil them down into one. Combined with his experience at the Kunlun Ruins and the bodily refinement of celestial qi, his cultivation had improved by leaps and bounds.

This was doubly true after he entered a state of enlightenment and experienced yet another improvement in cultivation level several days ago. He could tell that he had already reached the threshold of Half-Sage.

He had accumulated enough power, knowledge, and experience already. Now, all he needed was an opportunity to become a Half-Sage.

His instincts were telling him that the opportunity was very close at hand. It could happen today, or it could happen tomorrow. One thing for certain, it would happen.

Ye Qing looked forward to it as a matter of course, but he did not obsess himself over it. Sometimes, the more you wanted to do something, the harder it was to get done. This was the case with martial cultivation. There was a saying that went something like this, “Obsession is like an avalanche. It will fall on you if you don’t let go.” So, Ye Qing let go. If the opportunity came, then all was well. If not, then it was fine too. Why strain oneself when allowing nature to run its course would yield the same outcome with far less time and energy?

This was why Ye Qing did not obsess over cultivation breakthroughs. Instead, he focused on sorting out and combining everything he had learned. It was to discard the useless rubbish and extract only the essence, further improving his strength and skill. Right now, he also spent a good amount of time studying the “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull”.

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Cultivation knew not time. Night came in just the blink of an eye.

Nighttime in Myriad Buddha Town was just as bright and busy as it was during daytime. In fact, one might say that the nighttime of Myriad Buddha Town was even more attractive thanks to its colorful lights and beautiful women wearing beautiful makeup and exotic clothes.

Unfortunately, tonight’s hustle and bustle were soon disrupted by a group of uninvited guests. They were seventy-two men wearing brocade shirts and riding white horses, and they barged into Myriad Buddha Town openly like they owned the place.

Each brocade shirt man boasted powerful auras and sharp gazes. They carried a pair of blood-colored short spears on their backs and a knife on their waists. They also oozed with killing intent.

Their mounts were obviously extraordinary. Tall, muscular, and snow white in color, the horses bore a pair of short silver horns on their foreheads. Stones flew everywhere, and white ice crystals exited their nostrils as they galloped along the streets. From a distance, the winding trail of white air looked like dragons or serpents.

The horses moved fast, so it was only natural that some people failed to dodge out of the way in time. Not only were they sent flying by the horses, several spears shot out and nailed them to the nearby walls before their bodies could hit the ground, painting the white bricks red.

“The Snow Dragon Colt! It’s the Snow Dragon Colts!”

“Brocade shirts, bloody spears, white horses! It’s the Snowy Dragon Guard!”

The people cried out in shock even as they hurriedly moved out of the way. No one wanted to offend these murderous riders for fear of getting killed.

“All seventy-two Snow Dragon Guards are here. What on earth is happening?”

“‘The Show Dragon appears, the Brocade Shirt nears’. Is the Brocade Shirt Marquis here as well?”

The Snow Dragon Guard was the Brocade Shirt Marquis’ personal guard. They wore brocade shirts, carried bloody spears, and rode white horses. Every one of them was a Spirit Master and a veteran with a hundred battles under their belt. The white horses they rode were called Snow Dragon Colts because they possessed the bloodline of a true dragon. It was said that a Snow Dragon Colt could travel five hundred kilometers in the morning and four hundred during the night, moving so fast that they left no trail in the snow. That was why the Snow Dragon Guard got its name.

The Snow Dragon Guard was the Brocade Shirt Marquis’ personal guard. Therefore, the Snow Dragon Guard never left his side. Every time they emerged from the Brocade Shirt Marquis Office, a massacre was sure to follow.

The last time the Snow Dragon Guard appeared en masse was when the Brocade Shirt Marquis wiped out the Animitta Sect. Together, they had formed a Snow Dragon Formation that punched through the Animitta Sect’s gate like nothing and slaughtered their people to the last.

Since the seventy-two Snow Dragon Guards had arrived at Myriad Buddha Town tonight, it could only mean that something big was soon to happen.

“There’s the Brocade Shirt Marquis!”

It was at this moment the crowd noticed a bronze carriage following closely behind the seventy-two Snow Dragon Guards. Bluish purple in color, carvings of dragons, phoenixes, and qilins could be seen on the carriage’s surface. Luxurious and exquisite, the bronze carriage was pulled by nine Snow Dragon Colts. They were much bigger, muscular, and vigorous than the Snow Dragon Colts the Snow Dragon Guards were riding.

The bronze carriage was massive, but they made no sound and left no trail in the snow.

The carriage was the Brocade Shirt Marquis’ personal transport. Only the Brocade Shirt Marquis possessed the right to ride it. Not even his wife, concubines, and children were permitted to ride it.

Once upon a time, the Brocade Shirt Marquis’ favorite concubine thought herself invincible and entered the bronze carriage without permission. When the Brocade Shirt Marquis found out about this, he did not hesitate to ride his carriage and grind her into paste.

Therefore, the appearance of the bronze carriage could only mean that the Brocade Shirt Marquis had arrived.