Chapter 4
Edward Quan ·
“Show her some real martial skill!”
The crowd parted.
An enormous man, eight chi tall, stepped through. His face was heavy with flesh, and his arms were thicker than my thighs.
His huge hands were an eerie purplish black.
He approached a stone pillar, roared, and brought down his palm.
With a crash, the hard stone broke into pieces.
Fragments scattered. The scholars dodged, then burst into applause.
“That stone’s incredibly hard!”
“An ordinary man couldn’t break it with an iron hammer!”
“Master Zhao did it with one palm!”
Zhao Wuji withdrew his hand and went to Jiang Xueci’s side, giving me a disdainful glance.
“Young miss, I could crush a woman like that’s skull with one slap.”
She smiled smugly.
“Hear that? His hands shatter stone. Kneel and beg for your life. Admit you sold your body for your position, and I might leave your corpse intact.”
I studied him.
He certainly looked powerful.
But I wasn’t frightened. If anything, I was excited.
Back in the village, I went into the mountains every few days and killed a wild boar. Since coming to the capital, I’d spent three whole months trying to behave like a proper lady.
My bones were itching for exercise.
I turned to Lord Pei.
“My lord, there are rules in the capital. Is killing someone in the street illegal?”
He paused, his expression complicated.
“Under Great Zhou’s laws, participants in a martial contest must sign a life-and-death waiver. Once signed, they accept the outcome, and the authorities do not pursue it. But you—”
Jiang Xueci cut him off.
“What? Afraid? Then strip and get out of the capital! Stop contaminating our city!”
She turned to an attendant.
“Bring paper and a brush! She’s signing a life-and-death waiver today!”
He quickly brought paper and an ink pad.
She threw the sheet on the ground.
“Just put your thumbprint on it, village girl. Once you do, even if Master Zhao beats you into pulp, no one will interfere!”
Joy blossomed inside me.
Back home, hitting someone meant paying their medical bills.
Here in the capital, it was legal!
What a wonderful place.
I went over, crouched, dipped my thumb in red ink, and pressed it firmly onto the page.
“All right. I’ll sign.”
Jiang Xueci laughed so hard her face twisted.
“You actually signed! You’re dead! Master Zhao, break her arms and legs first. Then tear her face apart. Let her learn what happens when she offends Jiang Xueci!”
Clutching his stomach, the white-robed gentleman limped to her side.
“When she’s crippled, I’ll buy her for ten taels of silver. With that figure, she’d make an excellent bedchamber maid.”
The crowd laughed.
They all looked at me as though I were already dead.
Zhao Wuji roared and stepped forward. His purplish-black palm swept down at my head with a rush of wind.
He was fast.
To my eyes, he was painfully slow.
I stood perfectly still. As his face drew nearer, I slowly clenched my right fist.
Today, I’d show these hidebound scholars what absolute strength looked like.
I punched straight into his palm.
Crack.
He screamed.
His entire right arm snapped out of shape, the dark hand hanging limp.
He dropped to his knees and rolled across the ground.
I dusted my hands and laughed.
“That’s it? I thought Iron Palm would be impressive. You couldn’t even take a tenth of my strength. Useless.”
The square was silent.
Jiang Xueci’s smile froze.
She shook her head wildly.
“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”
Pointing at me, she shrieked, “You bitch! You used a concealed weapon! Master Zhao is a renowned expert. How could you break his arm with one punch?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Are you blind? Everyone was watching. Where was I hiding a weapon?”
The white-robed gentleman shouted, “Then it was sorcery! She’s a woman. How could she be that strong? She must know some evil art!”
The scholars eagerly agreed.