Chapter 56: Boiling Waters and Scorching Fires

Winter had already arrived, and although the hour was not yet late, the sky was completely dark. The heavy curtain of night and the howling northwest wind all signaled that tonight was an excellent time for getting things down. Truly, it was a moonless night fit for killing, and a howling wind suited for setting fires!

Avoinding the guards along the way, he passed through the imperial city's administrative offices and entered the palace grounds. At this time, the Jurchen Jin dynasty's palace in Bianliang largely preserved the architectural layout of the Northern Song period.

The so-called Imperial History Pavilion was situated right next to the Chengjiong Hall, where the emperor worked. The emperor's vicinity was a dangerous zone indeed—one only needed to look at the Southern Song imperial palace in Lin'an to know that.

Putting everything else aside, simply looking at the Daoists hanging around with his uncle, not a single one of them was easy to deal with! It was just that under normal circumstances, the emperor couldn't quite order them around easily!

The journey was smooth, without encountering any encirclement and interception by elite imperial experts, nor the barking of cats and dogs. He successfully reached the Imperial History Pavilion. While the neighboring Chengjiong Hall, separated by a single wall, was brightly lit, the Imperial History Pavilion here was pitch black...

Compared to the Privy Council he had scouted yesterday, the security level here was more than a notch lower! Ignoring the four guards on duty at the courtyard gate below, Qiu Zhiqing executed the Golden Wild Goose Skill and flew directly to the second floor of the Imperial History Pavilion!

It was a familiar recipe, a familiar alarm system. With no other choice, he had to resort to his old trick: prying open the lock at the front door to get in. Once inside, the Imperial History Pavilion—spacious as a palace hall—was entirely filled with rows of wooden bookshelves.

It took him a little under an hour to wander through the entire place. From the Classics, History, Philosophy, and Collected Works to all kinds of Buddhist and Daoist scriptures, odd tales, folklore, and precious unique editions, everything was available!

At this, Qiu Zhiqing was somewhat dumbfounded. Was he really going to set fire to all of this? Such wonderful books, such precious treasures! Qiu Zhiqing simply couldn't bear to do it...

He collapsed onto the floor of the Imperial History Pavilion. For his current level of cultivation, the dark night was no different from broad daylight. He was in great torment; if he were truly asked to burn it all down with a single torch, he honestly couldn't bring himself to do it. This wasn't just starting a fire; this was a crime!

Especially since inside lay half of the *Longevity Daoist Canon*, which was a supreme treasure of their Daoist lineage. If he could move it back, then their Quanzhen Sect on Mount Zhongnan would become a place of pilgrimage for wandering Daoists throughout the entire Daoist realm...

After sitting blankly for a little under an hour, Qiu Zhiqing came up with a good plan. He would first move the *Essentials of the Military Classics* to the center of the courtyard and then burn them. That way, it wouldn't affect the collection inside, and he could still fulfill Meng Gong's commission—killing two birds with one stone!

No sooner said than done. He checked outside first; there was still no movement. He quietly opened the door. The *Essentials of the Military Classics* took up two bookshelves. He first carried one bookshelf out into the courtyard, and then brought the second one out, placing them gently together...

"Who's there?" Qiu Zhiqing shouted in a low voice, spinning around to look. No one was there. He turned back, then whipped his head around again! Still no one. Could it have been his imagination? Never mind—pour the wine, ignite the fire, all in one smooth motion!

Suddenly, Qiu Zhiqing threw a fierce palm strike backward, the powerful internal energy nearly extinguishing the newly ignited bookshelf!

With a muffled *bang*, Qiu Zhiqing took several steps back to steady his stance. Seeing the intruder moving to put out the fire, he drew his longsword, a flash of sword Qi blocking the newcomer's path while he lunged forward...

By now, the fire had caught, and aided by the northwest wind, it quickly consumed half the bookshelf! The newcomer was extremely swift, yet Qiu Zhiqing was utterly fearless, wielding his longsword into an airtight barrier!

He thought he was fast, but Qiu Zhiqing had already entered the second realm—what martial artists called the Xiantian realm. Furthermore, due to his dual cultivation of nature and life, his spiritual perception was even sharper.

"Audacious heretic Daoist! How dare you come into the palace to set fires? This old servant sees you're tired of living!" These were the first words the intruder spoke after exchanging a few blows. From the very first sentence, one could tell he was a seasoned, sarcastic old eunuch.

"Cut the crap! You want to put out the fire? Let your martial arts do the talking!" Soon, Qiu Zhiqing realized that although the intruder's footwork was fast, under the threat of Qiu Zhiqing's longsword, thinking about bypassing him to put the fire out was out of the question. It was so cold; wouldn't warming oneself by the fire be nice? He still wanted to put it out!

Before long, the fire and the sounds of fighting drew the attention of the guards, who poured in noisily!

Qiu Zhiqing cursed inwardly because his attire was simply too conspicuous. Since he had no money in his pocket, he hadn't bothered to acquire any night-walking clothes. He had originally thought his cyan Daoist robe was sufficiently concealed in the night, not expecting to start a fire...

When the guards rushed in and took a look, they didn't even need to think: one was a palace eunuch, the other a Daoist. Whom to help and whom to hack was instantly obvious!

Fortunately, not a single one of the guards knew how to put out the fire; they only knew to hack at Qiu Zhiqing. As Qiu Zhiqing wielded his longsword, every single move and stance was executed with absolute precision!

The person who had first ambushed him was also fully exposed in the firelight. It was an old eunuch, commonly known as a court eunuch! He seemed to have practiced the most ordinary "Walking on Grass" footwork, and his internal energy was fierce and robust, likely a martial art akin to a virgin boy's skill.

Seeing the guards growing more numerous and the fire essentially swallowing the bookshelves, Qiu Zhiqing did not linger. After wounding several guards with a single sword strike, he seized an opportunity to thrust his sword at the eunuch while deliberately leaving an opening...

The old eunuch indeed fell for it, sending a palm strike flying toward him. Qiu Zhiqing seized the chance to trade a palm blow with him, then flipped backward, soared up onto the roof, and galloped swiftly toward the outside of the palace. His lightness skill unfolded like a soaring wild goose or fluttering willow catkins, completely silent.

Riding the northwest wind, he headed toward the southeast imperial city!

Hit and run—how could there be such a good thing in this world? A piercing sound rang out ahead as a rain of arrows blanketed the sky toward him! This proved that the difficulty of a single person breaking an army was simply too high; powerful bows and stiff crossbows were truly difficult to endure.

He executed the Golden Wild Goose Skill, stepping seven times in mid-air, while his body spun with the sword, swirling flower-like sword beams as he pursued the ground below!

The moment he landed, the tip of his longsword touched the ground, bending, snapping straight, bending and springing—two guards crashed to the ground. Infinite blessings of peace! Don't misunderstand, they weren't dead, just knocked out...

Then, turning backward in a reverse transmission, he slashed his longsword, cleaving out a strand of sword Qi. The old eunuch, wanting to ambush him off guard, took the blow full-on without time to react. He managed to withstand it by sheer force, merely retreating a few steps, and picked up a longsword from somewhere.

Having steadied his footing, he stepped forward again with extreme speed!

No sooner had Qiu Zhiqing escaped a short distance than he felt a fierce wind attacking his back once more. He whirled around and engaged him in close combat! At this moment, wielding a longsword, the old eunuch's naturally rigid internal energy combined with his gloomy and ghostly sword moves, leaving Qiu Zhiqing temporarily unable to parry effectively.

Although the Golden Wild Goose Skill aided in internal energy cultivation and boasted advantages such as thirty-six mid-air steps, long suspension time, and high altitude limits, its drawbacks were also somewhat obvious!

It wasn't fast enough and lacked short-range shifting capabilities. It was fine for traveling, but if you ran into a lightness skill master while escaping, you were done for! Of course, it was also possible that Qiu Zhiqing, this homebody, hadn't mastered it to perfection...

Amidst the fierce combat, the move Qiu Zhiqing used most often was the "Dipper Step"—what people commonly called "Walking the Dipper and Stepping on the Stars." In truth, true lightness skill masters were rare.

Those who could catch up couldn't necessarily beat him, but who would have thought he would run into someone who could both beat him and catch up!

Unwilling to be entangled with him any longer, Qiu Zhiqing first used a move called "Clouds Breaking through the Sky," intending to drive him back with a sky-full of sword light descending from above. However, he underestimated the old eunuch's tenacity, as the man took every single one of his attacks head-on.

Then, swinging his longsword, just as Qiu Zhiqing thrust his sword to scatter the eunuch's sword Qi, the old eunuch stamped his left foot so hard that the ground caved into a pit. Instantly, he appeared right before Qiu Zhiqing, and before the latter could react, struck a palm straight at...

Qiu Zhiqing had been fighting him so closely that he almost forgot: this old eunuch's terrifying trait wasn't his exquisite swordplay, but his sheer speed! Seeing him step forward and charge, driving a palm toward his chest, Qiu Zhiqing decided within a fraction of a millisecond to take the blow head-on and make a swift escape!

Gathering all his internal energy in front of him, his body shifted three inches to the right within a hair's breadth! The palm landed solidly on his left shoulder, a scorching, fierce internal energy burning through him...

Now is the time! Enduring the pain, Qiu Zhiqing retreated while releasing a strand of sword Qi to temporarily block the old eunuch for a moment, then turned and headed north...

He sprinted wildly along the way while twirling his sword to knock down numerous arrows. The old eunuch pursued relentlessly, and just as he was about to clear the palace wall, a squad of archers appeared on top of the ramparts.

This was it—it was over...

This was a crisis, but also an opportunity! As the archers released their arrows, Qiu Zhiqing leaped into the air. Utilizing his thirty mid-air steps, he directly mounted the parapet. His longsword swept out, a flash of sword light reflecting, and the longbows snapped in unison! The archers were so frightened their faces turned completely pale...

Looking back, just as he expected, the old eunuch had been delayed for a moment by the arrow rain, allowing him to catch up again, though there was still some distance between them! However, this was merely the inner palace wall; there were still two more walls waiting for him, and time waited for no man...

In the end, Qiu Zhiqing was intercepted by the old eunuch again on the outer city wall. Qiu Zhiqing was no match for the old eunuch to begin with, and having taken a palm strike earlier, he was now in an even more miserable state.

Under the old eunuch's wave upon wave of attacks, coupled with the occasional sneak attacks from minor soldiers on the wall wielding long spears, Qiu Zhiqing gradually buckled under the pressure!

Finally, half an hour later, while deflecting a sneak attack from a minor soldier, he was momentarily careless and failed to guard against the old eunuch's sudden burst of power. Qiu Zhiqing was struck by a palm and plummeted into the moat beneath the city wall...

Before Qiu Zhiqing lost consciousness, his thoughts were not about love, hatred, or grievances, but rather... the water is so deep...