Chapter 131: Street Sword Duel
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Having heard that the Empress Dowager was not familiar with Noble Consort Liu...
Xu Boqing’s Celestial Eye Dharma Sight stirred faintly, and for no apparent reason, he suddenly felt as though some invisible “thread” were on the verge of being severed.
Yet the sensation vanished in an instant. When he tried to examine it more closely, it seemed no more than an illusion, and he could see nothing at all.
Over the next several days...
Whenever he left his residence, he would unconsciously pass by Yongning Palace.
And every time he did, he would see Noble Consort Liu. Sometimes she was swinging in the garden; sometimes she simply sat there in a daze...
She seemed almost mentally unwell. At times, she would mutter to herself; at others, she would suddenly drift into a vacant, foolish smile...
Whenever she saw him, there was always something indescribably strange in her eyes...
Suspicious, Xu Boqing once sought Empress Zhang’s opinion. The empress knitted her delicate brows and pondered for a moment before giving him the same answer:
“I know there is such a noble consort, but I am not familiar with her...”
Empress Zhang was not familiar with her either...
For a time, Xu Boqing could not make sense of it. He simply assumed that the pressure of the past few days had been too much and that he was suffering from hallucinations. He then buried the matter in his heart...
After feeding the palace nobles, paying respects to Chief Eunuch Huang, and dealing with the matters at the Western Depot that required his personal decisions...
With nothing else to occupy his time,
he changed his clothes and left the palace once more, intending to find someone with whom he could verify several of his suspicions...
The capital remained as prosperous as ever...
The end of the year was approaching, and entertainment options were limited in those days. For leisure, people mostly listened to storytellers or watched theatrical performances.
At the foot of the Son of Heaven, it was perfectly ordinary for wealthy families behind vermilion gates to hire entire opera troupes for private performances.
Small troupes unable to find work, along with itinerant performers, would instead perform in the streets to make a living.
In the streets and alleys, teahouses and wine shops, one could often see people displaying their talents. Passersby and those enjoying tea or meals were equally generous with their cheers, and sometimes they would toss down a few copper coins or scraps of silver as tips.
The sorrows of one person were rarely understood by another...
Prisoners and laborers forcibly transported here strained desperately against the massive stones used to build the elevated execution platform. At the slightest mistake, they were beaten with whips...
At that moment, the capital resembled a painting reflecting the joys and sorrows of the mortal world. Some figures in the picture laughed and cheered, while others wore faces heavy with grief.
After leaving the palace, Xu Boqing found someone to exchange a purse of copper coins and small pieces of silver. Looking like the young master of a modest household with a little money to spare, he would cheer whenever a performance reached an exciting passage, then casually toss in a few coins as a tip.
He seemed to be searching for something, however, and never lingered long at any one venue...
He wandered, played, and watched until he reached the southern part of the city. Nearly half the bulging purse had been scattered, yet he had found nothing.
That sensation of being able to see a “thread” was exceedingly mysterious. The last time he had experienced it was when he bluffed the snake demon into leaving...
At the time, the thread he saw had been a concrete manifestation of cause and effect!
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Now, a “thread” seemed to be on the verge of breaking...
Was it an illusion?
Or did it conceal some deeper meaning?
Knowing that a demon cultivator was still hiding somewhere in the capital, he wanted to create another opportunity to see that “thread” and use it to confirm a certain suspicion of his...
Unfortunately, his luck was poor, and he found no one.
Just as he was about to give up and pay a visit to his second uncle, Xu He, and his family, he suddenly stopped in the middle of the street and looked suspiciously toward a nearby crowd that was cheering.
The objects of their admiration were two young street performers whose features bore a faint resemblance to each other.
The pair held swords and performed a staged duel in the street. Their movements flowed like water and drifting clouds, their techniques dazzling in the extreme, as though every motion had been rehearsed countless times. The spectacle was immensely entertaining.
Most of the onlookers knew nothing about martial arts, but that did not stop them from appreciating the brilliance of the fight. Quite a few tossed copper coins into the performers’ collection.
Was this a play?
Were these merely street performers?
Xu Boqing frowned slightly and moved closer. His martial cultivation had long since surpassed the Innate Realm, and his eyesight was naturally far sharper than an ordinary person’s...
The two young performers fought with movements as smooth as flowing water. Though they appeared to be following a carefully rehearsed routine, every motion opened and closed with perfect freedom, combining orthodox and unorthodox techniques in seamless harmony.
When the older performer wielded his sword, it was like a startled swan taking flight. When the younger one moved his blade, it resembled a roaming dragon...
Moreover, both wielded their swords with an effortless mastery that made the heavy seem light. Their breathing was long and steady, as natural as instinct.
This was no rehearsed performance at all. They were improvising!
And that was not all...
Although the swords in their hands appeared quite old, with even their blades marked by scattered flecks of rust, both weapons were saturated with a murderous aura. As they moved, cold glints occasionally flickered along the steel...
Clearly, they were vicious weapons that had tasted blood!
“Who would have thought that these street performers posing as actors and entertainers are neither actors nor entertainers, but swordsmanship experts with genuine martial skill!?”
Xu Boqing clicked his tongue inwardly. Then, as though he had thought of something, he watched with growing interest from the side...
Under the scrutiny of his Celestial Eye Dharma Sight, the two street performers seemed to be surrounded by a faint, indistinct “aura.”
Unlike the inner force or true qi cultivated by ordinary martial artists, the aura within these two was far more tangible. It seemed to belong to an entirely different method of cultivation...
If one compared them by “quantity”...
The amount of “aura” within them was merely at the level of an Acquired martial artist.
Yet in terms of “quality,” that aura was exceptionally pure, surpassing even that of certain experts in the Innate Realm.
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Xu Boqing’s own true qi had been tempered by the furnace flames, making it extraordinarily pure. Thus, he could clearly perceive the difference between the two men and ordinary martial artists.
At that moment...
Their sword-fighting performance came to an end.
They followed it with several conventional feats, such as smashing a stone against the chest, breaking bricks with the head, and splitting rocks and stone tablets.
After completing the full routine, the older performer gathered up the shattered bricks while the younger one bowed to the surrounding crowd, then picked up a bronze gong and began soliciting tips.
“Ladies and gentlemen, my brother and I have only just arrived in this fine land. We have exhausted all the money we brought with us, so we are performing here to earn a little. If you have enjoyed the show, we hope you will show us your support.”
Someone in the crowd immediately teased him:
“But what if we have no money? How are we supposed to support you?”
“No matter, no matter.” The performer holding the gong smiled. “It is enough that everyone has enjoyed the show. Those with money may contribute money; those without may contribute their presence!”
“Hahahaha...”
The crowd laughed as well. They had enjoyed the performance and did not begrudge the performers a few copper coins. As they tossed in their tips, some shouted:
“Young man, that swordplay was magnificent! Do another round!”
“All right, all right.” Seeing copper coins fly into the gong one after another, with some even bouncing off his body, the young performer answered with a grin. “We’ll put on another show for everyone in a moment.”
Xu Boqing reached toward the purse at his waist, intending to offer a few pieces of silver as encouragement. His hand, however, closed on empty air. He looked down, and his expression gradually turned strange...
In the brief instant he had been distracted,
the purse hanging from his waist had actually vanished.
He truly had not expected that, with his current martial cultivation, he would still suffer such an embarrassing loss and have his purse lifted right under his nose...
Just then, someone in the crowd felt for the money pouch at his waist and suddenly cried out:
“My money pouch has been stolen!”
That shout was like a stone cast into a thousand ripples.
The crowd immediately fell into turmoil. There were many people here, and everyone was traveling outside with at least some money on them. If one person had been robbed, the others naturally began to worry that they might be next.
Several more people soon cried out that their purses had been stolen...
Even the two performing brothers were stunned. One person losing his money might have simply dropped it by accident, but when several people lost theirs in succession, there was no doubt about it:
They had been robbed!
Chapter 131: Sword Duel in the Street
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