Chapter 163 — Section 165: Humiliation [Second Update]

The Gu family compound was now a scene of bustling festivity, crowded with masters and experts.

Yet little joy stirred in Gu Xue's heart. She knew perfectly well that every one of these people came with hidden designs, each nursing calculations of his own. The Gu family was struggling to survive amid such a situation, treading on thin ice; one careless step and they would plunge into irredeemable ruin. But faced with the overbearing Executive Corps, the Gu family had no other choice.

Stepping outside the great hall, Gu Xue composed herself. Her gaze turned resolute once more, and a faint smile returned to her face.

She walked in, and Elder Yu's hearty voice came rolling toward her: "Miss Gu, come, come! There is a young talent here you simply must meet. Wu Zexing of the Clear Wind Sword—his honored elder and I were the closest of friends. This time I sent word to the Wu family, and my good nephew Zexing came in person. My heart is quite set at ease now!"

Wu Zexing was about thirty, steady in bearing, tall of frame, with a broad square face, wide brows, and thick, powerful hands. He was a renowned expert on Feilin Star, ranked forty-first five years ago, and devoted wholly to the martial path, ordinarily paying no heed to worldly affairs. What his strength was now, no one knew. But almost everyone believed that his ranking would only rise.

Wu Zexing smiled slightly and said modestly, "Uncle, you overpraise me. You are our pillar; without you raising the call, how would so many heroes gather here?"

A trace of satisfaction surfaced in Elder Yu's eyes. Wu Zexing represented the Wu family—and the Wu family was no minor clan, but one of the top five great families on Feilin Star.

Gu Xue made a graceful curtsy and smiled. "In these past days I have seen more heroes than in the previous ten-odd years of my life!"

When Gu Xue lifted her head, a flicker of astonishment passed through Wu Zexing's eyes. Her beauty was striking to begin with—skin like snow, so delicate it seemed it might bruise at a touch—and having endured countless hardships, she had gained instead a steadiness and breadth of spirit that made her presence all the more compelling than before.

From the moment Gu Xue entered the hall, several gazes turned blazing hot. Li Xin and the others eyed her with unconcealed hunger.

Wu Zexing smiled faintly. "Miss Gu jests. I hardly deserve the name of hero."

"Oh?" Elder Yu deliberately drew the syllable out. "If my nephew Zexing cannot be called a hero, then who can? Surely you don't expect an old man like me to play the hero? Beauty pairs with the hero—is Zexing going to hand the beauty over to another?"

A hint of embarrassment showed on Wu Zexing's face, while the expressions of the others darkened.

Hearing words so bare-faced, Gu Xue felt displeasure rise in her heart, yet her face remained perfectly calm, a slight smile fixed in place, as though she had heard nothing at all.

Elder Yu said leisurely, "Miss Gu is in the bloom of youth and unwed. My nephew Zexing has no wife either—is this not a match made by Heaven? The Gu family has deep foundations, and the Wu family is one of the handful of great clans on Feilin Star; the two are of equal standing. Both your parents are gone, and today this old man has happened upon the matter. Why not let me play the matchmaker and bring about this fine union?"

Wu Zexing was greatly moved. In beauty and in lineage alike, Gu Xue was beyond reproach; what drew him most was the calm, magnanimous bearing in her every gesture, which he found deeply appealing.

Gu Xue's face went white in an instant, her hands and feet cold. She forced a smile. "Elder Yu honors me too much. My parents are both dead, and I hold the Gu family in my charge. I long ago swore that I would never marry in this life, but guard the Gu family well."

The smile vanished from Elder Yu's face, and his eyes narrowed. "Oh, that is no obstacle at all. With young brother Zexing's protection, the Gu family will surely flourish. I believe the elders of every branch of the Gu family will certainly agree."

Gu Xue swayed on her feet, her face ashen. The Gu family was far beneath the Wu family; if the clan elders knew she could marry Wu Zexing, they would agree at once.

But...

Tang Tang's grinning, foolish face suddenly surfaced in her mind, and her heart twisted with pain.

"Hold on. I, Li Xin, have no wife either, and my Li family is no inferior to the Wu family. Elder Yu, favoring one over another like this is hardly fair." Li Xin stepped forward, his face dark.

"Exactly!" Ji Tian stepped out and said coldly. "Think of how we have run ourselves ragged in Elder Yu's service. For Elder Yu to do this—how are we to be convinced?"

A murmur of low discussion rose in the hall; clearly Ji Tian's words had struck a chord.

The sudden turn caught Elder Yu off guard, and he was startled and furious at once. But in the next breath he burst into laughter and raised both palms. "To think a jest of mine should draw out so many heroes! Now Miss Gu is in a quandary—all young heroes, and which of them is not dashing and gallant? Ah, this too is a happy trouble. Others cannot obtain even one of them, yet Miss Gu has three young champions at once. How is she to choose? This old man dares not open his mouth again. Gentlemen, let each prove himself by his own skill!"

Li Xin and Ji Tian's expressions eased somewhat, and the two looked at Wu Zexing with a hint of challenge. Wu Zexing's face darkened.

Li Xin ranked forty-fifth, Ji Tian forty-third; their rankings were nearly level and their strength very close, so Li Xin and Ji Tian felt no fear at all.

Li Xin was twenty-two this year, Ji Tian only twenty-one—both young, with futures beyond measure. Wu Zexing was already thirty; though his strength now surpassed them both, no one could say for certain what the future held.

Wu Zexing's face settled into calm. He walked slowly into the open space and said in a low voice, "We are all martial artists. Since it has come to this, let our strength speak. Whoever wins takes the beauty home!"

Hot-blooded Li Xin and Ji Tian agreed without hesitation.

"Good!"

"Who's afraid of whom!"

Gu Xue bit her lip hard, her face utterly bloodless. A sense of humiliation such as she had never known rose in her heart. She felt like goods being fought over, seized back and forth, with no one asking her opinion.

Wu Zexing said coldly, "Who will go first?"

Li Xin leaped into the open space and said proudly, "I will!"

Wu Zexing wasted no words. He revealed the sword in his hand and said mildly, "This sword is called the Eagle Claw Sword, a bronze secret treasure of Aquila. You had best be careful!"

The sword in his hand was plainly no ordinary thing: the blade gave off a faint white glow, and the hilt was shaped like an eagle's claw gripping the steel.

Li Xin gave a cold snort. Two bronze rings appeared in his hands. "Who doesn't have a secret treasure? A bronze secret treasure of Cetus—the Whale-Swallow Rings!"

"Good!" Wu Zexing shouted, and his aura suddenly surged. He stepped forward and thrust out a single sword strike.

Countless azure threads of light, fine as gossamer, bored into the Eagle Claw Sword in his hand. The eagle claw gripping the blade suddenly blazed with light, and three beams shot from the three talons, running along the blade straight to the tip.

The Eagle Claw Sword vanished from the air in an instant.

Li Xin felt a piercing chill make straight for his throat. Horror seized him, and he brought the Whale-Swallow Rings up to guard his vital points.

Clang!

A blade of azure light appeared out of empty air and struck Li Xin's Whale-Swallow Rings.

Li Xin felt an elusive, unfathomable true force bore into his meridians—not the destructive force of ordinary true energy, but something hollow and impossible to grasp.

His own defending force had nothing to seize upon; the discomfort was so unbearable he nearly coughed up blood.