Chapter 66, The Ugly Copper Coin

Translator: StarReader

 

Su Chen had no idea what the black-robed swordsman wanted to say.

 

“He wasn’t talking about jellied tofu. It was just a way of hinting at something. Tomorrow night is the martial competition, and there might be some trouble then. But that’s for the leadership of the various groups to handle. It doesn’t concern us. Better to stay out of it and avoid any trouble.”

 

“Does this mean that Mr. Han knows something about the martial competition? Maybe we should ask him for some tips. After all, we’re both first-rate experts. I bet we’re almost as good as he is. What’s the harm in asking?”

 

Ah Chou asked curiously.

 

“You can’t compare.”

 

Su Chen thought for a moment and then shook his head.

 

“Brother Chen, you underestimate me too much. I’m at least a respectable mid first-rate expert. That black-robed swordsman is probably just at peak first-rate.”

 

Ah Chou immediately argued unhappily.

 

With his senses, he couldn’t tell the true strength of the black-robed swordsman. But by estimation, the man was probably at most a peak first-rate.

 

“Ah Chou, this isn’t me underestimating you. You need to become a Grandmaster first before you can even have the chance to compare with him.”

 

Su Chen put down his spoon and sighed.

 

“Grandmaster? H-he is a Grandmaster?” Ah Chou jumped in surprise, his face pale.

 

In the Wu Region’s thirteen counties, with tens of thousands of martial group disciples and even quite a few first-rate experts, how many Grandmasters were there? You could count them on your fingers.

 

Besides the elusive Daoist Han Shan, there was Heaven Falcon Group’s Han Ya, Caravan Guards’ Li Shuo, Iron Sword Group’s Han Pingshan, Medicine King Group’s Sun Baihong, and Whale Gang’s Liu Hong, along with that mysterious White Lotus Society headed by Mao Ziyuan in Lou County. Regardless of who that swordsman was, his status as a Grandmaster was no joke.

 

“Han… could he be Iron Sword Group’s Han Pingshan?” Ah Chou exclaimed, shocked.

 

Su Chen thought for a moment and said, “He claimed to be named Han, but Han can be many characters. It could be either Daoist Han Shan, Iron Sword Group Leader Han Pingshan, or Heaven Falcon Group Leader Han Ya.”

 

“Daoist Han Shan is a Daoist, and his style of clothing doesn’t match this bamboo hat black-robe fellow. Besides, titles like Daoist Han Shan or Daoist Qinghe aren’t family names. Moreover, the rumors say that Iron Sword Group’s Han Pingshan has immense power and wields a massive broadsword, which doesn’t fit with this black-robed swordsman’s three-foot sword.

 

Eliminating these two Grandmasters, there is only one possibility left.”

 

“This black-robed swordsman is Heaven Falcon Group leader Han Ya? My heavens, I actually met the Group Leader and even called him my brother. We shared a table eating tofu! In Heaven Falcon Group, I’ve heard that the head has been in secluded cultivation for years and rarely appears on the martial scene. Who knew he had come out of seclusion?”

 

Ah Chou finally came to his senses, his face pale with delayed fear as he turned to look.

 

The enigmatic black-cloaked swordsman had already vanished into the bustling crowd on the street. “It must be him!”

 

Su Chen nodded in agreement.

 

Han Ya! That wasn’t a nickname tossed around in martial circles but the actual given name of the head of the Heaven Falcon Group, a Grandmaster of unparalleled renown.

 

The surname Han (cold) was rare, and Su Chen vaguely remembered having come across it once before while thumbing through a compilation of surnames at the library out of curiosity regarding the martial prowess of the seven Grandmasters in the Wu Region.

 

From what he could recall, the Han surname had three separate origins: descendants of the Yellow Emperor’s Ji clan, members of a northern nomadic tribe who had submitted to the Tang Dynasty, and representatives from the western Handang tribe who had defected to Tang.

 

Within the Wu Region, the most prominent branch of the Han clan consisted solely of the head of the Heaven Falcon Group, Han Ya, and his sister, Han Shu. The siblings had moved to the Wu Region with their father, and their lineage was shrouded in mystery.

 

While the martial community knew that the Heaven Falcon Group was a tool of the court, acting as its enforcers within martial circles and remaining steadfastly loyal to the Tang Dynasty’s authority, their precise origins remained unknown even to those familiar with the inner workings of martial affairs in the region.

 

Of the seven Grandmasters of the Wu Region, this Heaven Falcon Group Leader, Han Ya, ranked second, being the strongest assassin in the Wu Region, with his cultivation level only slightly below that of Daoist Han Shan. Though he was the esteemed head of the Heaven Falcon Group, he often sequestered himself in meditation and moved about alone, his whereabouts known to few except for occasional appearances at the main branch of the Heaven Falcon Group. Su Chen didn’t dwell on this further.

 

It was only that by tomorrow evening, when Gusu held its martial competition, Su Chen and Ah Chou might encounter this Grandmaster on the street. Otherwise, the chances of seeing any Grandmaster in the county’s streets were as low as finding a half-pound Silverback Swordfish in the Vastest Lake.

 

Su Chen was also baffled as to why Han Ya would idle around chatting with them about jellied tofu while dropping hints. Best to keep away from such troubles.

 

The intense chill and detachment emanating from Han Ya were too much for even Su Chen to handle; just a slight perception of it made him feel as if he were in an ice cave, freezing all over.

 

The seven Grandmasters of the Wu Region had long since carved out their reputations. The youngest among them, Li Shuo, broke through to Grandmaster ten years ago, while the oldest, the Medicine King Sun Baihong, became a Grandmaster forty years prior.

 

Until now, Su Chen had only heard rumors of how formidable these seven Grandmasters were but had never seen them firsthand.

 

He could be considered a rising Grandmaster himself and had the Golden Armor Warrior talisman. He was on equal footing with one of them.

 

However, after personally witnessing Master Han Ya, Su Chen’s confidence dropped to around thirty percent. The seniors in the Wu Region had decades of foundation behind them, and their profound and powerful mental states alone were terrifying enough to intimidate anyone.

 

Han Ya, as the acknowledged second-strongest martial artist in the Wu Region, was only surpassed by Daoist Han Shan in terms of strength. The other five Grandmasters were each slightly weaker than him. Li Shuo, Han Pingshan, and others came next in line. Whale Gang’s Liu Hong and Mao Ziyuan rarely appeared on the scene, so little was known about them publicly—only that they were fairly ordinary Grandmasters, neither particularly strong nor weak. The weakest of the Grandmasters was Sun Baihong, the aged medicine master.

 

This news somewhat eased Su Chen’s mind—not every Grandmaster was this powerful, and age didn’t necessarily correlate with strength. With his own abilities, he might still stand a chance against the weaker Grandmasters.

 

…

 

Su Chen finished his tofu, tossed down a small piece of silver, and called out to settle the bill. Earlier, Han Ya had not paid for his tofu, so Su Chen decided to include that as well.

 

“Brother Chen is rich.” Ah Chou hastily wolfed down his food before standing up and leaving, grinning. “Now we’re basically throwing money now, a far cry from our lives back in the day when we’d have to scrimp and save every single copper.”

 

The shopkeeper received Su Chen’s silver and gave him back several dozen copper coins.

 

Su Chen counted them and suddenly stopped. Among these dozens of copper coins, there was one with markings—a copper coin he recognized immediately as his own. It was the same one Ah Chou had given him before heading off to the Medicine King Group, back when they went their separate ways after parting ways with the Heaven Falcon Group.

 

At the time, moved by Ah Chou’s gesture, Su Chen had used a sharp piece of stone to carve a crooked ‘ugly’ character on the copper coin. He had intended to keep it, but hunger got the better of him; he spent it on three steamed buns. After eating his fill, he managed to crawl across that freezing iron bridge and into the Medicine King Group.

 

Now, five years later, this ‘ugly’ copper coin had somehow made its way back into his hands. For a moment, Su Chen was speechless. The fate of this copper coin was truly extraordinary—it had wandered for five years, seen countless things, and now returned to him.

 

“All right, my stomach’s full. That was satisfying! Brother Chen, come on—there’s a big crowd over there; looks like some excitement!” Ah Chou, exclaimed.

 

“Alright.”

 

Su Chen came back to his senses, stuffed the ‘ugly’ copper coin in the bluestone bag, and hurried away. This copper coin was magically returned, so he naturally would not spend it again.

 

A lot of people on the street were rushing towards the south of the city. There was a crowd of people over there, bursting into cheers.