Глава 1, ч.4

” With his hands behind his back Yuwen Huaji strolled into the hall. He swept his gaze around the room first before finally he fixed his eyes on Shi Long’s face, who was sitting as steady as a mountain. He sighed and said, “I have Shi Xiong to blame, the trouble you are giving me is not trivial. You obtained the treasured wisdom that can prolong life, which is the envy of every scholar who practice Taoism, yet you did not even offer it to His Holiness, causing his dragon heart to be displeased. I receive official salary as a small pawn to run errands; I came here to see if Shi Xiong is a discreet person who understands the situation.” Shi Long groaned in his heart that the situation was indeed serious. It was the first time that he ever dealt with someone from the Yuwen Clan. The master of the Yuwen family was Yuwen Shang, whose reputation was most resounding. Under him were precisely the four martial art masters; one of them was precisely this Yuwen Huaji, who was serving as the Imperial Bodyguard Zongguan of Emperor Yang of Sui, who was also the most well acquainted with Jianghu people. Rumor has it that after Yuwen Shang, he was the first person who mastered the secret family skill, ‘Black [or Mysterious] Ice Energy’. It’s just that Shi Long has never expected that he looked this young, he seemed to be no more than thirty. Chapter 1, Part 3 ycb, anh, it’s good to see familiar names. weed, I just don’t recall seeing your name during my other translation projects. episode, you know, I don’t know ... I tried wikipedia, no result. I tried googled it, only the TV adaptations appear. I think it was in the 1990s. Any help, anybody?

Anyway, here is the end of Chapter 1. Since Wei, Jin and North-South dynasties[3], one distinguishing feature of influential families was what these families develop from generation to generation. The so-called ‘high house’ or ‘powerful house’ was entirely different [orig. ‘as rivers Jing and Wei separate clearly’] from the common populace. There was a saying, ‘there is no poor and humble family in the upper class, there is no influential family in the lower class’. Whether it was in economics or politics, the land-owning class always enjoyed enormous privileges. By the time the founding emperor of Sui Dynasty unified the world, they started to use imperial examination to select government officials; it was only then did the dominance of ‘powerful houses’ become somewhat broken. But powerful houses had not disappeared. The four powerful clans whose name shook the Jianghu were Yuwen Clan, Li Clan, Dugu Clan, and Song Clan. They had tremendous influence in economics, politics, as well as in Wulin. Among these four clans, only Song Clan belonged to the southern part of the country, having blood relationship with Han people, dealing with orthodox schools. The other three clans were in the north, their ties with non-Han people were rather close. Yuwen Clan itself was a non-Han family, but they already embraced the Central Plains’ culture, hence they were not considered foreigners anymore. Although Shi Long’s mind was racing at the speed of lightning, on the surface he was still unruffled; he slyly said, “This Ol’ Shi has always been wild and uncouth; he has never understood how to fawn. Moreover, he is a man that is amenable to coaxing but not coercion [lit. eats soft food but refuses hard food]. I can’t say for sure, but perhaps when hard-pressed he might disregard everything and burn both jade and common stone, and destroy the book altogether. Wouldn’t Yuwen Xiong be at a loss on how to report to your master then?

” The two of them started fighting a battle of words, no more politeness, the atmosphere became very tense. After staring at Shi Long for quite some time, he said in astonishment, “If Shi Xiong could destroy the treasured book, then that book must not be Guang Chengzi’s ‘Secret to Long Life’. Besides, destroying it is not a big deal, only with that kind of attitude, Shi Xiong would do more harm than good toward all scholars of the Taoist way. Perhaps disaster might even reach their parents and children. Aren’t two schools Taoism and Buddhism both emphasizing accumulation of merit and being merciful?

Shi Xiong is apparently going against these decrees!” Shi Long could hear the threatening tone, clearly it was not an empty threat. Finally his countenance changed slightly. Right this split second when his attention was divided, Yuwen Huaji made his move; his punch split the air. The day before yesterday was the beginning of the Great Heat[4], the weather was blistering hot. But as soon as Yuwen Huaji made his move, the air in the hall immediately became incomparably strange cold. If not for the fact that Shi Long’s internal energy was refined and pure, perhaps his teeth would have been chattering. But it was not easy for him either. To counter a punch by this kind of master, one must distinguish clearly the gust of wind created by the fist and then break the enemy’s strike. But Yuwen Huaji’s cold strike seemed to be there yet it was not quite there. It seemed like the air all around was stirred up by him, it pressed on Shi Long from top, bottom, left, right, front and back. This kind of attack, where the target was not obvious, brought up the most annoying feeling: that he was helpless to counterattack. Yet Shi Long was still calmly sitting in his chair; his clothes, from top to bottom, began to swell. ‘Bang!’ Two streams of qi collided, forming a vortex surging everywhere and all directions with Shi Long at its center. Table, chairs and other furniture were swept away like dead leaves, flipped over and broke down, and rolled away in all directions. Finally only Shi Long was left in the middle of the hall, still sitting in his chair. Astonishment appeared on Yuwen Huaji’s face as he held back his fist. Color like a wisp of red clouds appeared on Shi Long’s old face, a sign that he was restraining himself. Yuwen Huaji roared in laughter as he said, “You deserve the title Yangzhou’s number one. Unexpectedly you are able to resist my fist relying on your pure qi to protect your body. Just based on this point, let me, Yuwen Huaji, advise you nicely. If Shi Xiong hand over the treasured book in good faith and from now on you go into hiding and live incognito, I would do my part according to Jianghu’s principle, to let Shi Xiong have a horse and leave. I am saying this with good intention, without any malice whatsoever. Whether you will live in honor or die in disgrace, Shi Xiong may decide in just one word.” Shi Long felt this was extremely ridiculous. After obtaining the Taoist’s ‘Secret to Long Life’, he thought about it so hard that his brain almost burst, yet he did not gain anything. In fact, his mind was more free and peaceful before he got the book. Now because of this book he has offended the current emperor, so much so that the Emperor seized this opportunity have his disciples killed. As if that was not enough, he also had all local martial art schools disbanded, to have this region’s armed force annihilated. Wasn’t this precisely ‘the disaster of cherishing treasure’?

Of course he was not stupid enough to believe that just because he handed over ‘The Secret to Long Life’, Yuwen Huaji would simply let him go on a horse. Based on Yang Guang’s ruthlessness, how could he ever let him go free?