The Six Immortals

 The Woman Turns

The woman in white was holding a sword, her agility reflected her smartness, and her movements were subtle.

Defeating a bear would require a formidable amount of strength, even if a bear managed to wrap a single paw around a man, he could instantly crush all the bones.

The woman in white seemed afraid to let the bear close, as the bear’s skin, was as hard as iron. She hit the bear with her sword, the bear backed away momentarily, but not even a single fur on its body was scathed.

As Bi Fan attentively watched, the sword in the woman’s hand flickered, he was astonished when he realized that the sword was double-edged, he knew that this woman was about as strong as any in this territory.

He wondered how extraordinary this bear must be, that even a double-edged sword can’t hurt it. He stared at the rough skin that covered its flesh.

“Xiaofeng, come back, there is nothing you can do about such a large bear” a melodious, and extremely sweet voice called.

The sound of another person surprised Bi Fan, he hadn’t realized that there was another person in the vicinity.

The woman in white withdrew; she took a few side steps to ensure that she stayed away from the bears.

“Miss, this bear’s skin is too thick, I wish I had a magic weapon, I could have dealt with it then.”

“You, kid, you have peeped enough, now come out of there” the woman who had spoken earlier, spoke again, clearly directing her words towards Bi Fan.

Bi Fan smoothed out his clothes to make sure that he was dressed properly, and then he walked out of the bush.

As he came near, he saw the two women standing side by side, two tall girls, their posture reflected their pride, by the looks of it, he guessed their age to be around sixteen or seventeen.

The one who had been dueling with the bears was still holding the sword.

The girl’s eyebrows were pale, she had a small nose, a long mouth and her skin was as white as snow. Her eyes were fixed at Bi Fan, still on guard, anxiously, which made Bi Fan nervous.

The other girl comparatively, was maybe ten centimeters taller, she had big eyes and willow-colored eyebrows, an oval face, a cherry like nose, color as white as snow and tender lips.

She issued qualities that were very rare, like a flower in snow, qualities that seemed unworldly.

Bi Fan had no idea what she was thinking; the look on her face had not changed.

Bi Fan had never seen such beautiful woman around here before, he was ecstatic.

“What are you doing out here in the wild, you could get killed” the woman who had been fighting the bears yelled. The other girl open her mouth to say something but kept it to herself.

“Ladies, my intention was not to peep, I just happened to be passing by, so when I heard the sound of fighting, I came closer to take a look. I didn’t mean to offend you, please forgive me” Bi Fan quickly said.

The two tall girls’ eyes were fixed at Bi Fan as if they were trying to see through him.

“Are you from Quinyang? Why are you here in the mountains?”

Bi Fan hesitated; he did not know how to explain things.

“Miss has asked you a question, answer her question immediately!” the girl still hold her sword looked at him ferociously.

Bi Fan decided to truthfully narrate his story: “I work at the medicine garden for boys, because I was unable to finish my task, the manager, Zhu San knocked me into coma, when I woke up, I found myself here in the mountains.”

He made no mention of the Wan Snake Cave.

The girl still staring at Bi Fan asked: “you would dare to lie?”

“No, please try to see the truth miss!”

“Your eyes are clear, so I doubt if you’re lying, once we return, we will enquire into this matter, and you seem to know the ins and outs of this area as well.” The woman reasoned, and then asked: ”What is your name?”

“My name is Bi Fan.”

“You will accompany us to Quinyang door, if you speak the truth then later you can come with us to Yunufeng and help me take care of the medicine orchards there.”

Hearing the name of Yunufeng alarmed Bi Fan.

Yunufeng is the overlord of Quinyang Door, and is considered to be the best place to learn martial arts in this region, its master was Yan Yu Si. It was forbidden to enter the mountains without Yan Yu Si’s permission.

Bi Fan concluded that the woman in front of him must be Yan Yu Si.

Yunufeng was not only known across the country for its beautiful landscapes but was also worshipped for its nine talented martial art schools. One of which was the Xuannu palace door(school).

Bi Fan thought that running into Yan Yu Si could be his ultimate achievement.

“Miss, you really want to take him to Yunufeng?” the girl named Xiaofeng asked with some urgency, as she wasn’t at ease when it came to Bi Fan.

Yan Yu Si said: “Xiaofeng, upon our return, you will investigate Bi Fan’s situation, but in secrecy”.

“Yes! Miss.”

Bi Fan finally relaxed, and shifted his attention from Yan Yu Si to the mountain ahead. If he could reach Yunufeng, then, in the future he need not worry about his identity.

As far as Zhu San and the other boys were concerned, Bi Fan had no intention of letting them get away. Sooner or later, they would have to pay for what they did to him.

“Let’s head back to Yunufeng.”

Yan Yu Si was awfully fast on her feet, Bi Fan was running as fast he could but was still only barely able to match her pace.

Bi Fan knew that the difference in his strength and that of the two women, was far too great.

Yan Yu Si slowly kept increasing the speed and nodded with satisfaction to see that Bi Fan was able to keep up somehow.

Yan Yu Si followed Bi Fan’s movements closely, from time to time she would look at him from head to toe, she knew he wasn’t ordinary at all, but was unaware of it himself.

She told Bi Fan to stay inside Yunufeng at all times as it will be easier to find him later on.

The Quinyang Mountains did not have just one peak, it was a collection of several peaks. One such peak was the headquarters of Quinyang Door.

Yunufeng was at a height of fifteen hundred meters, its greenery was the shade of jade, decorated with groupings of beautiful fragrant flowers.

They followed the snaking trail to the hilltop very quickly and finally reached Yunufeng.

The Yunufeng summit, only had a few bamboo sheds and a few girls, who were sitting around a set of small tables and giggling.

Upon seeing Yan Yu Si return, the girls got up and greeted her “Miss is safe and sound.”

“Please continue” waved Xiaofeng.

Several of the girls dispersed in confusion, occasionally gazing and sizing up Bi Fan.

No man had ever stepped into Yunufeng, Bi Fan was the first.

Yan Yu Si after returning to Yunufeng had gone inside a bamboo shed and closed the door. She didn’t come out after that.

“Bi Fan, find yourself a suitable piece of land and build a bamboo shed. Remember, don’t already consider yourself a citizen of Yunufeng, if I find out that you lied, I will throw you down the hill.”

“Yes!” without saying much, Bi Fan started to look for a suitable piece of land.

If he did not build a shed quickly, then he would have to sleep out in the open. At night, a lot of dew settled on to the Quinyang Mountains, furthermore the wind got much colder; sleeping out in the open was no joke.

Bi Fan quickly found a piece of land, land suitable for building a shed. He found a place at some distance from that of Yan Yu Si’s so he could stay away from trouble.

Yunufeng only had girls, so they might all possibly avoid Bi Fan.

Bi Fan was awfully conscious of his status, he couldn’t even dream of comparing himself to Yan Yu Si, but to even compare himself with Xiaofeng, a mere slave girl was of no use, for she too was an awful lot stronger than him.

Bi Fan had no noble merits, at least none that he was aware of.

Moreover, Bi Fan was now capable of practicing martial arts, with the hope of cultivating in the future. It was important for him to do so now, so he could at least reach the status of some of those girls.

Yunufeng had a lot of bamboo; Bi Fan, using the resources at hand and was able to finish building his shelter before nightfall. He had set up a humble bamboo shed, he finally had a place to take shelter.

Bi Fan was very satisfied with his shed; it was a lot better than the one he occupied in Quinyang Door. Moreover, now he wouldn’t have to worry about getting bullied at night.

Bi Fan slept soundly that night, he even dreamt. He dreamt of practicing his way to become a peerless master, and he dreamt of marrying Yan Yu Si.