CH 027 Meeting Friends Through A Martial Arts Fight

Shichan, Shichan, to discuss poetry in terms of Chan Buddhism (TN: the shi in the name Shichan means ‘poetry’ while the chan in the name refer to ‘Chan Buddhism’. The name derived from the theory of discussing poetry in terms of Chan Buddhism by Yan Yu, a Southern Song dynasty poet and theorist, in his book Canglang Poetry Talks).

Perhaps from the moment he was given this name, he was destined to have ties with Buddhism. Born with the root of wisdom that can lead to truth, he felt no desire or ambition, instead immersing himself in tranquilty to gain transcendence. He carried an entire family’s expectations, but had a heart born indifferent to fame and fortune.

Though he was the eldest son of the Wang family, he had no ambition to fight for power, no desire to scheme and engage in faction wars. The sneers and angers of others were nothing more than a mash of colors passed by with a glance. He drifted outside the secular world, without sorrow or joy, like an empty mirror or the image of Buddha, ignoring the various forms of sentient beings around him.

There was almost nothing in this world that would affect his heart, except for the treasure trove of the legendary Duobao Sage. He had no interest in the so-called rare and precious treasures. What he really wanted were the various precious Buddhist classics and scriptures collected by Duobao Sage. Therefore, despite his usual indifference to all matters around him, this time he had actually taken the initiative to explore the treasures of Duobao Sage. After obtaining the key he had come to this small mountain village alone.

He didn’t like contact with outsiders, always preferring to be alone and used to hiding his presence. His qinggong (TN: martial arts technique in wuxia that refer to the ability to move swiftly and lightly at superhuman speed, and perform gravity-defying moves such as gliding on water surfaces, scaling high walls and mounting trees) was unparalleled in the world, so long as he didn’t want to be discovered, he would definitely not be discovered.

However, since entering the Chicken Nest Village for the first time, his thinking had changed.

This was a seemingly ordinary small mountain village but yet also revealing strangeness in every corner. As soon as he stepped in the area, he felt completely visible. Although he hid himself well, he still couldn’t get rid of that omniscient line of sight. Soon, he discovered that these lines of sight were actually coming from the chickens in the Chicken Nest Village. They were agile and had keen senses, and there were many times they almost came close to his person.

Towards this, Wang Shichan developed a rare curiosity. He began to sneak into the Chicken Nest Village many times, observing the environment and finding some food on the way.

In the first few days, there was nothing major happening. The cooking skills of the village head of Chicken Nest Village was quite good, and the vegetarian dishes were also not bad. He was satisfied enough, but the act of taking without asking seemed to have offended this person. In the next few days, the food became extremely bizarre. It was either extremely spicy or disgusting in appearance, meat mixed with vegetables, causing one to almost want to go on a hunger strike.

After suffering for several days, he finally changed to eating wild berries. Although he was often hungry, it was better than self-torment.

At this moment, he inexplicably developed a desire, a desire to knead, press and squeeze a certain person.

But it seemed that he was wrong first, so he decided to leave some silver taels when he went again next time.

However, what Wang Shichan never expected was that when he went again, it would be the beginning of his nightmare……

“In today’s world, possessing qinggong that can reach this level can be no other than that Wang family heir.” Si Chenyu shook his fan, “Unexpectedly this time the Wang family had sent him to explore the treasure trove.”

“Who is this ‘Wang family heir’ that you said? What’s wrong with sending him?” Nie Bufan was puzzled.

Si Chenyu replied: “His name is ‘Shichan’, though he is the eldest son of the Wang family, but he had always ignored the secular world. He is an oddity of the Wang family.”

Oddity? Nie Bufan asked with interest: “Is he powerful?”

Chen Muran said: “He has a profound inner force, practically almost reaching the realm of the unity of nature and man. He comes and goes without a trace and is known as the most mysterious and elegant master in the world.”

Nie Bufan curled his mouth and grumbled: “Elegant master? It’s more accurate to say a gentleman on the roof beam (TN: euphemism for thief).” Then he asked: “Then what weakness does his qinggong have?”

“If you want to talk about weakness……” Si Chenyu pondered, “Really, there isn’t any.”

Nie Bufan glanced at him contemptuously.

“Then in other words, it won’t be easy to catch him?” Zhang Junshi said.

Chen Muran nodded: “It isn’t just not easy, but very difficult.”

Nie Bufan asked suddenly: “If he doesn’t use qinggong, will you all be able to win?”

“Of course.” Si Chenyu smiled confidently, “In a direct fight, he won’t be able to last a hundred manuevers against me.”

“But unfortunately we can’t even touch his shadow right now.” Li Huai shook his head regretfully.

“Actually, it’s not impossible, as long as I put some medicine in the meal……”

Li Huai said, “Your meals are just as poisonous without putting medicine in it.”

The others nodded in agreement.

Zhang Junshi coughed and explained: “The most famous thing about the Wang family is not their noble status, but the medical skills and poison skills passed down in their family. The children of the Wang family have all undergone medicine baths to hone their bodies since they were young. Although they haven’t reached complete immunuty against all poisons but normal medicines are completely useless against them.”

Chen Muran also said: “Besides, using medicine is not the work of a gentleman. It is too shameful for so many of us to use medicine to deal with one person.”

Nie Bufan snorted to himself, you actually have the face to say so? With so many people yet they can’t even deal with one person, what place did they have to talk about whether it was shameful or not?

“In that case, I have an easier method.” Nie Bufan said leisurely.

“What way?” Several people asked in unison.

“Catch a turtle in a jar.” (TN: idiom for setting oneself an easy target)

“That person has unparalleled qinggong, how do you plan on grasping his whereabouts and actually catch this turtle?” Si Chenyu asked suspiciously.

Nie Bufan chuckled, “I naturally have my own methods, but you must make a move when the time comes to catch him.”

“This is no problem, so long as he shows his tracks.”

“Okay, just watch.”

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )

In the next few days, Nie Bufan returned to normal food, and while the others breathed a sigh of relief, they began to look forward to the day when the turtle was caught.

Wang Shichan had no idea that there was a trap waiting for him to walk into. After making sure that Nie Bufan had finally improved his food, he finally came to Chicken Nest Village again.

This time he had the feeling of being watched by countless pairs of eyes, but because of the previous experiences, he didn’t care too much. No matter how keen, they were just chickens.

At this time, the kitchen was empty. He drifted into the kitchen quietly and reached out to get the food on the table. Who knew that before touching the plate, a dizzying stench filled the air. He quickly held his breath and floated outwards at a very fast speed.

As soon as he left the door, he suddenly heard long bird cries above his head, like warnings coming one after another. Soon, the chickens in the whole Chicken Nest Village were alarmed and began to make a commotion.

Wang Shichan was shocked secretly, enduring the stench as he ran towards the village exit.

Originally, with his qinggong, he could fly far into the mountains and forests in an instant, but it was a pity that the exit was blocked by a dense wall of chickens. More unfortunately, the stench that had now clung to his body clearly betrayed his whereabouts.

Then, a tragedy took place.

The gray chickens in the sky began to intensively throw all kinds of weapons, such as poop, fruit, vegetable leaves, ink bags and so on.

Although Wang Shichan’s speed was fast enough, but under the attack that were as concentrated as raindrops, it was impossible to avoid it all.

He wanted to go straight through the flock of chickens, but the flock was too big, no matter where he ran, there were piles of chickens swarming in. The most frightening thing was the chickens in the sky, like a black cloud pressing down on you and following you everywhere like a shadow. Don’t know if they were chickens or birds, no matter how high they flew they just wouldn’t fall!

With no choice, he had to retreat back to the village in a sorry state. And what he had to face next were Si Chenyu, Li Yi and the others, all geared up and eager for a brawl.

Wang Shichan’s whereabouts had always been elusive. Legend had it that he was both eccentric and aloof, but seeing him now like this, the image of a mysterious master was completely ruined.

He stood there quietly, with a straight back and a deep gaze. But with vegetable leaves on his head, face stained black and white, and clothes equally as stained, any beauty that could be had was completely nonexistent.

To be honest, Si Chenyu and the others could no longer go through with their original plans anymore after seeing Wang Shichan Gongzi in such a pitiful state. They could not do anymore in good conscience.

“Hai, brother Wang, how are you?” Si Chenyu greeted him in as much grace as he could.

Without saying a word, Wang Shichan slowly stretched out his hand to tear off the vegetable leaves from his head.

“This, please excuse us.” Chen Muran suddenly felt terribly guilty.

“Come.” Wang Shichan said softly, “You can all attack together.”

They all looked at each other and hesitated.

Nie Bufan, who was hiding in the dark, gnawed an egg and entered audience mode. His view had changed a little bit about Wang Shichan. This person could face bleak and miserable occurences in life unfazed. It was enough to make him give a thumbs up.

On the other hand, the others were shilly-shallying along and not decisive at all. In order to create opportunities for them, he had mobilized all the air combat power and ground forces, as well as used scent positioning, air warning and chicken sea tactics. If Wang Shichan dived into a pool, he had also prepared underwater combat deployment.

It could be said that everything was ready, only lacking a current of easterly wind.

But looking at this momentum, it was undecided who would blow down who.

Wang Shichan had already overwhelmed everyone with just his aura of sorrow.

“Brother Wang, let this matter go!” Si Chenyu said peacefully, “It was originally just to find the person who stole the food, but unexpectedly it turned out to be brother Wang. As a key holder, why don’t you stay temporarily with us in Chicken Nest Village?”

Naturally, Wang Shichan would not believe that they didn’t know it was him in advance, and he said: “I have always heard that prince Si is excellent at martial arts, and Li Gongzi also possess extraordinary skills. Now it happens we have come together, would it not be a pity without a bit of competition?”

Si Chenyu and the others exchanged looks.

Li Yi took a step back and said lightly: “Why don’t we let prince Si compete with you.”

“What?” Si Chenyu threw an eye knife at Li Yi.

“I remember someone saying a few days ago that in a direct fight, brother Wang won’t last a hundred moves against him.”

Si Chenyu choked suddenly and his face darkened.

Nie Bufan laughed in the dark and thumped his chest in mirth. Brother Li Fourth was quite black-bellied (TN: outwardly kind but inwardly evil).

At this time, Wang Shichan didn’t wait for them to say any more, and his figure approached like lightning, not only targeting Si Chenyu, but also including Li Yi and the rest.

His martial arts moves may not be as sophisticated as Si Chenyu and the others, but they win in speed.

Among the world’s martial arts, there existed none that cannot be overcome, but for speed that was unbreakable.

Wang Shichan’s body dexterously dealt with Si, Li and the others. Although he could not cause much harm to them, he could rub off a few stains on them from time to time.

After just a while, Si Chenyu, Li Yi, Li Huai, and Chen Muran all had stains on their clothes. Wang Shichan generously shared the ink on his clothes with everyone without holding anything back.

They were fighting in full swing, and the surrounding chickens also watched with gusto, occasionally there would even be strange sounding cheers coming from their midst. There were a few chickens who also began to imitate the fight and started to spar with each other, stirring up countless dust, the scene appearing rather spectacular.

Hey, it turned out that Wang Shichan was not as calm on the surface. You could see that just from how he tried especially hard to smear the other people’s clothes with ink handprints.

Nie Bufan secretly laughed.

Zhang Junshi looked at the chaotic scene not far away, and couldn’t help but ask: “How will it end later?”

“It will end when they are tired.” Nie Bufan replied indifferently, “Meeting friends through a martial arts fight, the joys of life.”

“……” He couldn’t see what joys to be had at all!

Nie Bufan stood up suddenly, patted his clothes, and said, “Brother Zhang Third, let’s go.”

“Go where?”

“Cooking, they will probably need to replenish their energy later.” Nie Bufan said as he walked, “I have to make a good meal today to soothe their wounded hearts.”

“……”