Chapter Fifty-Three: Crossing the Spirit Gate to Confront the Old Ghost Qi

The disciples of the Spirit Ferry Sect were watching the excitement below the stage. Some had turned coffins into stools, squatting or sitting in a most leisurely manner. Hearing Meng Xiaoli's request to help the Divine Monkey of the Northwest with his encoffining, Old Ghost Qi jumped down from the golden coffin, walked over to the corpse of the Divine Monkey of the Northwest, and examined it. The Divine Monkey of the Northwest was lying on his back with his head tilted. Blood was still flowing from his neck and below his chest. His eyes were half-closed, and his calloused hands had one resting on his belly while the other lay overturned on the ground.

Old Ghost Qi had originally intended to make a sarcastic remark or two, but seeing this scene, his conscience stirred. He then said to Meng Xiaoli, "Very well, very well. It is your business after all. I shall send men to perform an extra encoffining. Please attach ten taels of silver. However, today my Spirit Ferry Sect shall only carry these ten coffins to hold the disciples of the Crimson Garment Cult, and we will not discuss anyone else." With that, Old Ghost Qi beckoned his subordinates to carry away the corpse of the Divine Monkey of the Northwest, then jumped back onto the golden coffin, sat cross-legged atop it, and continued watching the spectacle.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out behind them. Old Ghost Qi turned his head along with the crowd to look, and upon doing so, he was greatly startled, exclaiming, "Why has the Beggar Sect come to join in this excitement?"

For a moment, both on and off the stage, there was absolute silence. Meng Xiaoli gazed into the distance from the stage and saw Liang Keyong, the leader of the Beggar Sect, holding a dog-beating staff, accompanied by a dozen Beggar Sect disciples. With an expressionless face and a sweeping aura of majesty, Liang Keyong advanced with steady and unhurried strides like the wind. Wherever he passed, dust swirled and rolled, resembling a pack of wolves entering a sheepfold, before which every sheep lowered its head and meekly submitted.

Liang Keyong did not recognize Meng Xiaoli, but Meng Xiaoli recognized him. Years ago, when Liang Keyong was betrayed by his subordinate Guo Jian and driven beyond the frontier, it was Master Dugu the Elder himself who personally went to escort him back. Only then was Liang Keyong able to launch a counterattack against Guo Jian, driving him back to the south. Ever since, the Beggar Sect had been split in two: Guo Jian commanded the Southern Beggar Sect, while Liang Keyong occupied the Northern Beggar Sect. At that time, as a disciple of Dugu the Elder, Meng Xiaoli had been living disguised as a man at the Jinan branch of the Beggar Sect, and she had met Liang Keyong once. Meng Xiaoli thought to herself that Liang Keyong should not be able to recognize her at the moment.

After the arrival of the Beggar Sect, one of the top ten martial arts sects in the pugilistic world, the area below the stage fell into profound stillness. Whether they were wandering knights, independent travelers, or members of small factions, all held the sect in awe and dared not act presumptuously. The crowd consciously cleared a path, and Liang Keyong led his disciples to the front of the stage. Liang Keyong addressed everyone, saying, "I hope I have not ruined everyone's fine mood. I heard that someone here is abusing martial arts under the guise of a duel to slaughter the innocent." As he spoke, Liang Keyong cast a sidelong glance upward at Meng Xiaoli and continued, "In the territory of the Beggar Sect, let me see who dares to act so wildly!"

With that, Liang Keyong struck the ground with his dog-beating staff. Instantly, a puff of smoke rose, and the entire ground trembled slightly. Even Meng Xiaoli on the stage felt the platform beneath her feet quiver, and everyone could not help but gasp inwardly.

Meng Xiaoli smiled faintly to herself: "He used eighty percent of his internal energy on a single strike of his staff. If he had this level of skill back then, why would he have needed to ask my master to escort him back within the frontier? After all these years, Liang Keyong's internal energy has truly grown."

Liang Keyong's staff strike left everyone present thoroughly convinced and dare not utter a word, but Meng Xiaoli remained unimpressed. She cupped her fists in salute and replied, "I have long admired the great name of Sect Leader Liang. However, today is a meeting for settling old scores, not a martial arts competition to win a spouse. There is no need for such excessive courtesy and affection. Furthermore, everyone has come to settle accounts with me; it is not as if I, Meng Xiaoli, had nothing better to do and decided to challenge the entire martial world by myself."

Liang Keyong straightened his posture and retorted, "Why have they come to settle accounts with you, Meng Xiaoli, and not with me, Liang Keyong? A duel is a duel. Fight to the first sign of yielding, and accept defeat gracefully. Those who lose to Meng Xiaoli shall not harass the Crimson Garment Cult hereafter. If Cult Leader Meng loses, you will honestly stay on Isolated Island and refrain from stirring up trouble in the martial world. At least within the jurisdiction of my Beggar Sect, such behavior will never be tolerated."

Meng Xiaoli felt another surge of contempt and thought to herself: "The Crimson Garment Cult has harassed the northern lands on numerous occasions, yet the Beggar Sect never showed up to quell it. Now you come running out to put on airs." Although Meng Xiaoli genuinely wanted to kill everyone under the stage one by one, her internal energy at the mid-stage of the seventh realm was naturally no match for Liang Keyong's internal energy at the initial stage of the eighth realm. For now, she had to swallow her pride, raised her voice, and said, "Since Sect Leader Liang has spoken, today we shall only decide the victor without fighting to the death. Those who lose to me, Meng Xiaoli, will henceforth acknowledge themselves as defeated and must no longer infringe upon the Crimson Garment Cult. If I lose, I shall henceforth return to Isolated Island to retire. How does that sound?"

Upon hearing this, the crowd burst into cheers of approval! Those who had previously cowered in fear of death, now that Liang Keyong was backing them up, began rubbing their hands and eagerly itching for a fight.

Only Old Ghost Qi of the Spirit Ferry Sect spat on the ground in disgust and muttered, "What kind of spectacle is this? Child's play?" With that, he jumped off the golden coffin, waved a hand at his disciples behind him, and ordered, "Let's go, pack up and return home." The disciples of the Spirit Ferry Sect all leaped down from the coffins, preparing to leave. But then Liang Keyong's voice rang out merrily from behind, "Carpenter Qi, it seems Liang has cut off your source of wealth?"

Liang Keyong's voice was deep and resonant, sounding half like an inquiry and half like coercion. His gaze was burning, his tone rigid, his face wearing a smile while his expression concealed malice. Old Ghost Qi turned his head to glance at the dog-beating staff in Liang Keyong's hands. Although unconvinced, he had no wish to be beaten by that staff. Would it not be utterly humiliating to end up like a stray dog? Besides, he was several years older than Liang Keyong.

He hastily cupped his fists in a perfunctory salute and said, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. My subordinates also need to eat, and truly I dare not linger here any longer. I shall forgo the spectacle, Elder Liang. Please enjoy it slowly!" With that, Old Ghost Qi turned to leave.

Meng Xiaoli called out loudly from the stage, "Hold on a moment." The disciples of the Spirit Ferry Sect all stopped and looked back. Old Ghost Qi turned to look at Meng Xiaoli on the stage, only to hear her laugh and say, "Since the Spirit Ferry Sect has come all this way, you cannot return with empty coffins. You must carry something back, surely?"

Old Ghost Qi laughed aloud and said, "Cult Leader Meng is too polite. Aside from your corpse, my Spirit Ferry Sect cannot take any local specialties of the Crimson Garment Cult. That would be bringing home more than we can chew, deeply inauspicious, deeply inauspicious." Having said that, Old Ghost Qi waved his hands repeatedly and turned to leave.

Suddenly, a gentle breeze swept past. Old Ghost Qi had roamed the pugilistic world for many years and possessed seasoned experience. He deduced that this breeze was abnormal and instantly drew the Luban ruler tucked into the back of his waist. Before his body even turned, the Luban ruler had already been whipped backward.

Meng Xiaoli flew in and suddenly saw Old Ghost Qi's ruler smashing down. She immediately drew back her feet and sidestepped, the Luban ruler grazing past her face. Seizing the momentum, Meng Xiaoli attacked Old Ghost Qi's upper body. Old Ghost Qi reacted with lightning speed; the downward-pressing Luban ruler snapped upward to strike at Meng Xiaoli's abdomen.

Seeing the ruler sweeping upward, Meng Xiaoli flipped her body to dodge aside, then thrust her palm toward Old Ghost Qi's right side. Old Ghost Qi twisted his ruler horizontally to intercept. Meng Xiaoli ducked to evade it while simultaneously raising her hand toward Old Ghost Qi's ribs, attempting to strike his "Tianxi Acupoint."

Old Ghost Qi's right hand holding the ruler was too slow to retract, so he swiftly thrust out his left palm, dodging sideways while delivering a downward chop toward Meng Xiaoli's right hand, which was aiming for his acupoint. Seeing this, Meng Xiaoli withdrew her hand and spun around, both of them leaping away to opposite spots. After exchanging several moves back and forth in a flash, neither had managed to touch the other. They parried each other's moves, resulting in a draw.

Unwilling to let the matter rest, Meng Xiaoli launched herself at Old Ghost Qi again with a move called "Flying Falcon Seizes the Hare." Old Ghost Qi lowered his stance, raised his Luban ruler, evaded the attack, and simultaneously countered.

Meng Xiaoli swiftly withdrew her move, patted the Luban ruler, and used its leverage to vault behind Old Ghost Qi. The two stood back to back: Meng Xiaoli stood firmly on the ground while Old Ghost Qi knelt behind her, one executing a backward-bending claw strike, the other turning to swing his ruler. The claw and the ruler collided, their internal energies crashing against each other. Both were forcefully repelled and leaped backward in opposite directions.

Old Ghost Qi rolled on the ground and smoothly stood up, as agile as a monkey. One would never guess he was nearly seventy years old. Meng Xiaoli sprang upward, landed on the golden coffin, looked down at the heavy golden coffin, and channeled her internal energy to stomp on one side. The coffin lid tilted up at an angle, and Meng Xiaoli kicked it with all her might, sending the coffin lid hurtling toward Old Ghost Qi on the ground. Old Ghost Qi flipped and leaped, vaulting right over the flying coffin lid.

Meanwhile, the onlookers behind Old Ghost Qi panicked, scrambling helter-skelter—some going over, some ducking under, and others dodging to the side—shouting in alarm as they avoided the coffin lid. The coffin lid plunged straight into a large tree and stuck fast inside the trunk, coming to a halt. The massive tree swayed as if about to topple, causing the onlookers beneath it to scatter in all directions once more. With a resounding crash, the tree fell, though fortunately, no one was injured.

By this time, Meng Xiaoli and Old Ghost Qi had already exchanged dozens of blows, evenly matched with no victor in sight. Knowing that Old Ghost Qi's internal energy was on par with her own, Meng Xiaoli realized that continuing the entanglement would likely end in mutual destruction. After entangling with Old Ghost Qi in mid-air for dozens of more moves, she finally seized an opening and sent a "Savage Bear Covers Palm" strike toward Old Ghost Qi. Riding the force of the blow, Old Ghost Qi sank his body downward while simultaneously swinging his ruler in a counterattack.

Meng Xiaoli's palm failed to strike Old Ghost Qi, and Old Ghost Qi's ruler failed to hit Meng Xiaoli. However, their internal energies struck out first. The rebounding force of both sides, mingled with their respective offensive powers, plummeted rapidly. Meng Xiaoli dropped like a meteorite, slammed heavily to the ground, rolled over several times, and came to a half-kneel. Looking up at Old Ghost Qi, she saw him plunging downward at high speed, landing awkwardly and squarely right inside the golden coffin.

Seeing that Meng Xiaoli was unharmed, the female disciples of the Crimson Garment Cult burst into hearty laughter upon seeing Old Ghost Qi tumble into the golden coffin he had built himself.

Old Ghost Qi propped himself up with both hands against the bottom of the coffin and sat up, looking angrily at Meng Xiaoli upon hearing the mockery. Although the two had only suffered minor scrapes, neither had gained any advantage. Unwilling to continue the battle, Meng Xiaoli stood up with a smile and said, "Now this coffin is no longer empty. The disciples of the Spirit Ferry Sect can carry it home."

Old Ghost Qi slapped the bottom of the coffin and soared out of it. With a kick, he sent the spirit tablet bearing Meng Xiaoli's name flying from a disciple's hand. Seeing the tablet hurtling straight toward her, Meng Xiaoli merely flicked her sleeve, using her internal energy to shatter the tablet into powder.

Up until now, the two had been entirely focused on their duel, too afraid to even speak for fear of a moment's distraction. Only now did Old Ghost Qi angrily snap, "Demonic Yama Ghostess, today I spare your life for the sake of Sect Leader Liang. When we meet another day, I, Old Ghost Qi, will show no mercy." With that, Old Ghost Qi waved his hand and ordered, "Let's go!" The disciples of the Spirit Ferry Sect quickly retrieved the coffin lid that Meng Xiaoli had kicked away and placed it back atop the golden coffin. Old Ghost Qi leaped onto the golden coffin, sitting cross-legged on the lid, and several disciples below lifted it together. The procession of the Spirit Ferry Sect slowly departed from the midst of the crowd.

Meng Xiaoli turned around, leaped back onto the stage, extended her arms horizontally, and asked the crowd below, "Who else remains unconvinced? Step forward if you dare!"

At that very moment, a man in white quietly mingled into the crowd from the rear, standing at a distance and gently waving a black-gold folding fan. Believing himself to be hidden, he suddenly heard a female voice shout from the crowd, "It's the Peerless Young Master Li Yurang! Is he here?" Immediately, a group of female martial artists flew over, surrounding Li Yurang, the eldest young master of the Wind and Cloud Pavilion. These female martial artists were unlike the young ladies sequestered deep within boudoirs—while those ladies nursed secret sorrows in isolation, these women loved and hated boldly, unfettered by minor conventions. Each of their personalities was more robust and unrestrained than the last, and they had a particular fondness for scholarly young men who appeared delicate in build yet possessed extraordinary martial arts and striking good looks.