Amid the much drivel from the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies, the boat set sail toward the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It was almost the crack of dawn. Clouds of morning mist hovered above the billowing waves, extending infinitely into the far distance, free from inhibition, and creating a magnificent view for the passengers aboard the boat.

Gradually, the morning sun rose above the horizon, casting a golden shine on the boat while reflecting in the river below, creating glistening reflections in the shapes of thousands of snakes. A small boat in the distance hoisted its sail and traveled toward them head-on. Catching the easterly wind, full force, with the cyan sail, the small boat moved swiftly up the stream. The giant picture of a white foot was painted in the middle of the cyan sail. And after the small boat had come closer so that everyone could take a good glimpse at the picture, they all concluded that it was obviously the picture of a female’s foot, judging from the fine shape and delicacy it had presented.

“Why would someone paint a foot on the sail? How bizarre?” the Huashan apprentices muttered among themselves.

“This boat most likely belongs to the Bear Duo of the Northern Desert,” Branch Fairy announced. “Oops, Madam Yue, Miss Yue, you girls had better watch out! It couldn’t have been any clearer – those guys on that boat are fond of eating girl’s feet!”

Yue Lingshan spat at him in disgust, yet a slight panic had already started swelling inside her.

Minutes later, the small boat was well within sight, and the passengers on the big boat soon noticed the faint singing coming out of the small boat’s cabin. The sound was gentle and soft, and the lyric was peculiar – no one could understand a word of it, while the tonality was so utterly intimate that it didn’t sound like singing but rather moaning or groaning. And then, it changed, now more like the sound of a love ritual, ardent and lascivious to the extreme. The many young apprentices of the Huashan School all blushed with embarrassment as Madam Yue grunted in disgust, “What kind of monster is this?”

Suddenly, a girl’s sweet voice floated out from inside the small boat, “Is Young Mister Linghu of the Huashan Sword School aboard your boat?”

“Chong, pay no attention to her!” Madam Yue whispered.

“We’d really like to have a good look at Young Mister Linghu if that’s alright,” the girl asked again, her voice so charming and agreeable as though it had carried some kind of magical power that could sway one’s heart.

While the words still echoed in everyone’s ears, a girl had leapt out from the small boat’s cabin and stood on the bow of the boat, smiling. She was dressed in a blue skirt with white flower patterns. Outside the skirt, an embroidered apron with many colorful and shining decorations hung from her chest all the way to her knees, looking splendid in green and gold. The girl appeared to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years of age. Her skin had a slightly yellowish tone, and her two eyes were much larger than average, the pupils pitch black. The pair of large gold earrings dangling from her ears was at least the size of a wine cup. The two ends of a multicolored waistband around her waist shot forward from the force of the wind, but she was actually standing there barefooted. Even though the girl had shown great charm, but after hearing her voice before actually seeing her look, it was only natural to think that the charming of her voice far exceeds the charming of her looks. The girl smiled at the passengers on the big boat. By the way she dressed, one can easily tell that she was a minority girl.[1]

The boat carrying members of the Huashan School was traveling downstream, and it seemed as if it would have collided with the small boat when the small boat suddenly turned around in a swift maneuver. And after lowering the sail, the small boat now started traveling downstream side by side with the big boat.

Yue Buqun suddenly remembered something. “Miss, are you a subordinate of Chief Blue from the Five-Sylph Sect in Yunnan?”[2] he asked.

“You do have some insights. But you’ve only gotten half of it right. I am from the Five-Sylph Sect, indeed. But I am not a subordinate of Chief Blue,” the girl giggled and then replied in a soft tone.

Taking a few steps forward until he was at the bow of the boat, Yue Buqun cupped his hands in greeting.

“My name is Yue Buqun. Miss, would you be kind enough to inform me your respectable surname and enlighten me with your purpose in a detoured visit and the advice you will favor me today?”

“I am a Miao[3] girl. I don’t understand all your fancy talking there. What did you say?” The girl grinned.

“Miss, what’s your family name?” Yue Buqun asked again.

“You already know my family name. Why do you still ask me?” The girl chortled.

“I asked because I don’t really know your family name,” Yue Buqun explained.

“You are a grown up man. See, you’ve even got long goatees. Obviously you know my family name. Why make a scene and deny it?” The girl let out a big grin.

These words sounded quite disrespectful. But she kept smiling a most innocent grin on her face; her voice did not carry any trace of hostility.

“Miss, you must be joking with me,” Yue Buqun replied.

“Now Head Master Yue, what’s your family name?” the girl asked with a bright smile.

“Miss, you already know that my family name is Yue. Why ask while you know the answer?” Yue Buqun said uncomfortably.

Madam Yue had enough of the kind of frivolous dialogue. “Don’t pay attention to her,” she whispered to her husband.

Yue Buqun put his left hand behind his back and shook it a few times, signaling Madam Yue to stay put.

“Why is Mr. Yue shaking his hand behind his back?” Root Fairy became excited. “Oh, I see. Madam Yue told him to not pay attention to that girl, but after seeing how pretty and coquettish the girl is, he just wouldn’t listen to his wife and would rest at nothing but to pay a lot of attention to her.”

“Did you say that I am pretty and coque…something? Thanks a lot!” the girl said, chuckling. “Your Han girls are certainly prettier than us Miao girls.” Apparently she didn’t know that the word “coquettish” was actually a derogatory term, and was very pleased to hear others praising about her beauty. Then she turned to Yue Buqun. “You already know my family name. Why do you ask while you know the answer then?”

“Hey, what’s gonna happen when Mr. Yue doesn’t listen to his wife?” Branch Fairy muttered.

“It’s not gonna be good! Mark my word!” Flower Fairy concluded with an evil grin.

“Isn’t Mr. Yue’s nick name the ‘Gentleman Sword’?” Trunk Fairy joined in. “So he is no gentleman after all. He already knew what her name is, and still asks for it, again and again, trying to make conversation. I think he just wants to keep talking with the girl.”

Yue Buqun was greatly embarrassed by the remarks from the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies. These six brothers never watched their mouths; Heaven knew what more garbage might come out from their holes. And what impression would that leave the many apprentices when they hear this? But knowing what kind of people the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies were, he simply couldn’t take it seriously. So he cupped his hands and spoke again.

“Will you please pass along my greetings to Chief Blue. Yue Buqun of the Huashan Sword School wishes Elder Blue good health.”

That apparently shocked the girl. She opened her eyes even wider and rolled her eyes in disbelief.

“Why…why are you calling me ‘Elder Blue’? Am I that old already?” she asked.

“Miss, you…you are the Chief Blue of the…Five-Sylph Sect?” It was Yue Buqun’s turn to be completely shocked this time. He had known that the Five-Sylph Sect was a very sinister and vicious sect, and had always been referred to as the “Five-Venom Sect” among fellow marital people behind the back. When the sect was founded about a hundred years ago, it actually was named the “Five-Venom Sect,” and the founder of the sect and the key members of the sect were all Miao minorities. Later when several Han members joined the sect, they were able to convey to the Miao members that “Five-Venom” was not such an elegant name and changed it to “Five-Sylph,” instead. The “Five-Sylph Sect” specialized in using miasma, parasite, and venomous pests, and shared great fame with the “Hundred-Toxic Faction” – one leads the northern region and the other tops the southern region in their knowledge of poison. Among the many members of the Five-Sylph Sect, most were Miao minorities, and lacked the skills in scheming shown by their counterparts in the Hundred-Toxic Faction, but the way they use their poison were so eerie and creepy that they were simply unimaginable. The rumor in the Martial World said that when the Hundred-Toxic Faction had wanted to poison someone, even though it was impossible to guard against the attacks, after some careful investigation and deduction, one could still understand how the poison worked; on the other hand, when someone was poisoned by the Five-Sylph Sect, even if the executor explained it in details, it would still be totally unbelievable and unimaginable. The uniqueness and the eeriness simply could not be reasoned using normal logic.

“I am Blue Phoenix. Didn’t you know that already?” the girl explained with a grin. “I told you that I am from the Five-Sylph Sect but not a subordinate of Chief Blue. Now other than Blue Phoenix, herself, who else would not be a subordinate of Blue Phoenix within the entire Five-Sylph Sect?” At that word, the girl broke into loud giggles.

The Peach Valley’s Six Fairies also broke out into loud laughter. “Mr. Yue is so slow. She pretty much told him, yet he keeps nagging away.”

The only thing Yue Buqun had known about the Five-Sylph Sect Chief was the last name Blue. Now after hearing what the girl had just said, he realized that the chief’s full name was Blue Phoenix. And the girl’s colorful and pattern-rich dress did make her look like a phoenix. At the time it was tradition for Han families to keep a girl’s maiden name secret. The maiden name would only be revealed the day when the prospect in-laws family proposed an engagement with gifts and performed the “Maiden Name Revelation” ceremony. Even though martial families in the Martial World didn’t quite stick to that tradition to the letter, they still wouldn’t just give it out randomly. But this Miao girl revealed her maiden name out right so easily in front of a large crowd on the river, without showing any trace of bashfulness. Though her demeanor was natural and graceful, at the mentioning of her own name, the tone of her voice became even softer and sweeter.

“So it is Chief Blue, herself, who has come personally. It is certainly my lack of manners to have not greeted your gracious presence appropriately. May I ask what Chief Blue has to teach me about?” Yue Buqun cupped his hands together again to salute.

“I am completely illiterate. What can I teach you? Unless you mean you can teach me. See, the way you dressed does look like that of a schoolteacher. So you are thinking about teaching me to read, aren’t you? I am too thickheaded. You Han people are all too cunning. I doubt I’d be able to learn all that,” Blue Phoenix replied with a grin.

“Is she just acting dumb, or has she really no idea about standard polite greetings? Judging from the expression on her face, she doesn’t seem to be putting on an act,” Yue Buqun thought to himself. So he simply asked, “Chief Blue, why are you here?”

“Is Linghu Chong your apprentice brother or your apprentice?” Blue Phoenix asked.

“He is my apprentice,” Yue Buqun answered.

“Hmm, is it alright if I take a good look at him?” Blue Phoenix requested.

“But he is in poor health and a state of delirium at the moment, and would be unsuitable of coming out to pay his respects.” Yue Buqun wasn’t too fond of the idea.

“Pay his respects?” Blue Phoenix uttered in surprise, opening her big round eyes even wider. “I don’t need him to pay me respects. He is not a subordinate of my Five-Sylph Sect. Why would he need to pay me respects? Besides, he is that one…hehe…that one’s good friend. Even if he does want to pay me respects, I don’t deserve it. I heard that he drew his own blood to feed Old Man’s daughter in order to save her life. Such kind of passionate and affectionate man is the kind we Miao girls admire the most. That’s why I’ve gotten to take a look at him.”

“Well…well…!” Yue Buqun hesitated.

“I know he is badly wounded and have lost a lot of blood. You don’t have to call him out. I’ll come over myself,” Blue Phoenix suggested.

“We dare not request your gracious presence,” Yue Buqun said hurriedly.

“Whatever!” Blue Phoenix chortled, and with a gentle leap, she landed on the big boat carrying the Huashan school members.

Yue Buqun noticed the grace and ease she had displayed from the leap, yet nothing suggested that she had any extraordinary Kung Fu skills. Taking two steps back, he blocked the entrance to the cabin, feeling deeply troubled. He knew that the Five-Sylph Sect would make a very tough adversary, and when fighting with such unorthodox sects it would take a lot more than true Kung Fu skills to win the battle. That was the reason why he had been very polite toward Blue Phoenix from the very beginning. The two members of the Hundred-Toxic Faction had mentioned the previous night that someone had asked them to shadow the Huashan School. Birds of a feather flock together. Most likely it was the Five-Sylph Sect that had asked them to do so. Why would the Five-Sylph Sect be hard on the Huashan School? The Five-Sylph Sect was a large faction in the Martial World. When the chief of the sect came personally, logically he shouldn’t have blocked the way, but to let a person with all kinds of eerie poisons all over her body into the cabin was the last thing Yue Buqun would want. Figuring that Linghu Chong coming out to meet Chief Blue probably would be the best solution for now, he held his position steadily and shouted out.

“Chong! Chief Blue wants to see you. Come out, hurry!”

“Yes, Master!” Linghu Chong answered feebly. But since he had just lost a lot of blood recently, after hearing the calling from his Master, he couldn’t even sit up and had to give up trying after failing a few pathetic attempts.

“I heard that he was seriously wounded. How could he come out?” Blue Phoenix objected. “It’s very windy on the river. We don’t want him to catch a cold on top of everything he is already suffering from, do we? I’ll go inside to visit him.”

Blue Phoenix started walking toward the entrance of the cabin. Only after a few steps, she was already within four feet from Yue Buqun and the strong scent of fragrance filled Yue Buqun’s nostrils immediately. Turning slightly sideways, hesitantly, Yue Buqun spared enough room for Blue Phoenix to get through and watched cautiously as she entered the cabin.

The Peach Valley’s Six Fairies occupied the majority of the outer cabin, five of them sitting down cross-legged while Fruit Fairy lying on the bed.

“You must be the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies? I am the chief of the Five-Sylph Sect, and you are the Six Fairies of the Peach Valley. Sylphs are fairies, too. We are one of the same kind!” Blue Phoenix grinned joyously.

“Not likely! We are real and you are fake!” Root Fairy challenged mockingly.

“Even if you were real, we have six fairies, one more than what you have,” Trunk Fairy added.

“It wouldn’t be that hard to turn that around, you know,” Blue Phoenix beamed.

“How are you going to having one more than us? Are you changing the name of your sect to Seven-Sylph Sect?” Leaf Fairy asked curiously.

“We only have five sylphs, not seven. But we can reduce the six fairies to only four fairies, then naturally we would have one more than you guys, wouldn’t we?” A nasty grin flashed across Blue Phoenix’s face as she spoke.

“Reduce the six fairies to only four fairies? Are you saying that you are killing two of us?” Flower Fairy bellowed in fury.

“Kill or not, that’s all up to us, isn’t it? But I heard that you are friends of Linghu Chong, I guess we can let that pass. But you’ll have to stop boasting yourself and claim that you have one more fairy than my Five-Sylph Sect,” Blue Phoenix let out a triumphant smile.

“We love boasting ourselves. What’cha gonna do?” Trunk Fairy snapped.

All of a sudden, Root Fairy, Trunk Fairy, Leaf Fairy and Flower Fairy all leapt to their feet and each grabbed onto one of her limbs, but before they were able to lift her up, all four of them cried out and all let go of her simultaneously as though following an inaudible command, each holding out his palm and gazing at it in horror. Even Yue Buqun felt cold pricks all over his back when he took a quick glimpse of what the Fairies now had in their palms – two large emerald centipedes and two large spiders that had colorful stripes all over their bodies. The bodies of all four venomous pests were covered in long hairs, so disgusting that even a glance at them could make one sick. But the four venomous pests only moved slightly, and neither took a bite at the four Fairies. If they had bitten with their poisonous fangs, then the damage would have already been done, and they wouldn’t have appeared as frightening. Just because they were now all alerted and provoked, and any slight movement could have prompt them to bite down with the poisonous fangs, the Peach Valley’s Four Fairies dare not move an inch, and all froze right on the spot.

Blue Phoenix swung her arm conveniently, and the four venomous pests vanished all of a sudden. She must have put them away with the swing, but no one could tell where on her body did she store them. She paid no more attention to the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies and walked further into the cabin. Having been frightened completely out of their wits, the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies dared not speak another word.

Linghu Chong and the bunch of male apprentices of the Huashan School occupied the middle cabin. By then, Madam Yue and the many female apprentices had returned to the back cabin, and the clapboard between the middle cabin and the back cabin had been closed. After casting a casual glance at the many apprentices in the cabin, Blue Phoenix walked next to Linghu Chong’s bed and called out gently.

“Young Mister Linghu! Young Mister Linghu!”

The gentleness and the affection carried in her voice seemed to have reached the extreme. As the sweet sound echoed in everyone’s ears, each felt a soul-stirring sensation surging through his entire body, and almost couldn’t help but answer, as if she had been calling him, not Linghu Chong. After these two calls, over half of the male apprentices found themselves red in the face and their bodies quivering slightly.

“Who…who are you?” Linghu Chong opened his eyes slowly and asked in a barely audible voice.

“I am a friend of your good friend, so I am your friend, too,” Blue Phoenix answered tenderly.

Linghu Chong acknowledged with a slight groan and then closed his eyes.

“Young Mister Linghu, I know you’ve lost a great amount of blood. But don’t worry, you won’t die,” Blue Phoenix said. But in his daze, Linghu Chong didn’t reply.

Reaching under Linghu Chong’s quilt, Blue Phoenix pulled his hand out and started checking his pulse, but soon her eyebrows knitted into a straight line. Suddenly, she stuck her head out of the window, gave a whistle, and then jabbered out many words, which neither one inside the cabin could comprehend.

A short while later, four Miao girls entered the cabin. All of them were about eighteen years of age, and all dressed in blue skirts in white flower patterns, with an embroidered waistband around each waist. Each of them held in her hand an eight-inch long square box made of bamboo strips.

Yue Buqun frowned slightly, thinking that whatever the things in the Five-Sylph Sect members’ hands were, they could not have been anything good. Just Blue Phoenix, by herself, already had many centipedes and spiders hidden on her. Now, when these four Miao girls carried these boxes into the cabin openly, all hell would probably break loose. But since they showed no sign of enmity, it would be inappropriate of him to stop them.

Walking over by Blue Phoenix’s side, the four Miao girls whispered something to her, and after getting a nod back, they opened the boxes. People in the cabin found their curiosity growing rapidly, all were eager to find out what kind of queer things might be stored in the boxes, except Yue Buqun, who was the only one who had seen the hairy venomous insects in Peach Valley’s Four Fairies’ palms, and only wished that he would never have to get a glimpse of the things inside the boxes. But suddenly, the strangest thing happened.

The four Miao girls rolled their sleeves high, exposing the snow-white arms, and then they also rolled their trouser legs high, until they were above their knees.[4] The many male apprentices of the Huashan School were stupefied as they gaped at the unusual sight, their hearts pounding madly.

“Oh, no!” Yue Buqun thought aloud. “These girls from this heretical sect want to perform some kind of evil enchantment and use lust to tempt my apprentices. Just the voice of that Blue Phoenix, alone, was already utterly lascivious, if she performed any kind of black art on top of that, having not enough self-control, the many apprentices would undoubtedly fall for it.” He couldn’t help clutching the handle of his sword, determined to put a stop to it if these members of the Five-Sylph Sect were to undress themselves and perform any witchcraft.

After the four Miao girls rolled up their sleeves and trouser legs, Blue Phoenix also rolled her trouser legs up unhurriedly. Yue Buqun winked at the many apprentices, signaling them to retreat out of the cabin, so as not to be perplexed by the evil enchantment, but only Lau Denuo and Shi Daizi followed his command. Among the rest apprentices, some walked a few steps hesitantly toward the outside before returning to the original spot, and some others simply froze there, lost in trance.

Yue Buqun gathered his inner energy around his lower abdomen and loaded his “Divine Art of Violet Twilight.” Soon, a shade of violet color flashed across his face. He knew that the Five-Venom Sect had been entrenched in the southern region for over two hundred years, and their notoriety did not come by accident. Undoubtedly, they knew certain vicious and venomous sorcery. And when the chief, herself, was performing the sorcery, it was no trivial matter. If he didn’t guard his mind with the divine art, any slight oversight might have caused him to fall for her tricks. Seeing with his own eyes how these Miao girls exposed themselves in public, with no regard to dignity and having no sense of shame, Yue Buqun became more and more worried. To die of poison was one thing, but what he feared the most was to lose his clear conscience under the evil spell and bring shame to himself in the presence of everyone. If that ever happened, the reputation of the Huashan Sword School and the Gentleman Sword would have been completely ruined beyond redemption. He watched on as the four Miao girls each took something out of the box, something that wriggled back and forth in their hands. Just as he had expected, these had to be some kind of venomous worms. The four Miao girls placed these venomous worms on their exposed arms and legs, and as soon as the worms were set loose, they clung tightly to the skins.

Fixing his eyes on the worms, Yue Buqun soon realized that those weren’t venomous worms, but rather blood-sucking leeches that were quite common in creeks or lakes of the countryside, except that these leeches were twice the size of a regular one. One after another, the Miao girls took out more and more leeches from the boxes. Blue Phoenix also took outs some leeches from one of the bamboo boxes, and placed them on her own arms and legs. In only a few moments, the five girls’ arms and legs were completely covered by leeches; there were at least over two hundred of them in total. All the onlookers were dumbstruck, and neither had a clue as to what kind of strange scheme these five were up to.

Madam Yue had been in the back cabin, but after hearing the many cries of surprise uttered by the male apprentices in the middle cabin, she couldn’t help pulling the clapboard open and taking a glimpse, herself, and as soon as her eyes met the bizarre scene, she also let out a cry of surprise.

“Don’t be afraid. They won’t bite you,” Blue Phoenix comforted her with a smile. “Are you…are you Mr. Yue’s woman? I heard that you have outstanding sword skills. Is that true?” she asked.

Madam Yue squeezed out a smile, but didn’t answer. When Blue Phoenix had first asked if she were Mr. Yue’s woman, it sounded very crude. And then, when she asked about whether Madam Yue’s swords skills were truly outstanding, Madam Yue hesitated. If it had been someone else who had asked the same question, even if that person were hostile, she would have answered humbly. This Blue Phoenix evidently knew very little about conventions of Han Chinese; if Madam Yue had answered that yes, she did have outstanding sword skills, it would sound very arrogant; if she had answered that no, she didn’t have outstanding sword skills, perhaps this Blue Phoenix would have believed it, and would look down upon her. With these thoughts in mind, she decided to simply reply with silence. Blue Phoenix didn’t ask any further and simply stood there quietly.

In the meantime, Yue Buqun found himself on full alert. If the five Miao girls had any unusual action, he was ready to strike. To catch bandits first capture the ringleader. He would have taken Blue Phoenix down before anything else. By then, nobody in the cabin spoke another word; the only sounds were the heavy breathing from the many male apprentices of the Huashan School.

After a long while, the bodies of the many leeches on the five Miao girls’ arms and legs started to puff up and soon turned into a faint reddish color. Yue Buqun knew that as soon as a leech touched the skin of a person or an animal, it would make a tight grip using its sucker disk, and then start sucking blood, not letting go until it was completely full. When the leech was sucking blood from someone, the person would, at most, feel only a slight itch or numbness. When farmers worked in the paddy fields, they would often have leeches clinging to their legs, sucking blood out of them without their notice.

“Why are these witches using leeches to suck their own blood?” he muttered to himself. “Perhaps in order to perform their enchantment, the Five-Sylph Sect members must use their own blood. It seems that the time when these leeches have sucked enough blood will be the time they execute their enchantment.”

Blue Phoenix gently lifted up the quilt covering Linghu Chong’s body. Pulling a leech that was about nine tenth full off her arm, she placed it on Linghu Chong’s neck next to an artery.

“Hey, what are you doing?” afraid that she might harm Linghu Chong in anyway, Madam Yue yelled hurriedly. Unsheathing her long sword, she leapt into the middle cabin.

“No hurry! Let’s wait!” Yue Buqun shook his head.

Clutching her long sword tightly, Madam Yue gazed fixedly at Blue Phoenix and Linghu Chong. As soon as the leech was placed on Linghu Chong’s neck, it bit onto his artery and started sucking again. Blue Phoenix took out a small china bottle from her chest pocket and unplugged the lid. Using the pointed fingernail of the little finger on her right hand, she picked a little bit of the white powdery substance from the bottle and then sprinkled some onto the leech’s body. The other four Miao girls unbuttoned Linghu Chong’s robe and also rolled his sleeves and trouser legs up, then they started taking the many leeches off themselves and planting them next to the many arteries on Linghu Chong’s chest, stomach, arms and legs. Within a short moment, the over two hundred leeches had all been transferred onto Linghu Chong’s body. Blue Phoenix kept on picking more of the white powder and sprinkling a little bit of it on each and every of the leeches. Then, something very strange happened.

While clinging to the five Miao girls, the more those leeches sucked, the more they puffed up, but now, they all started shrinking little by little. Yue Buqun suddenly understood. Feeling much relaxed, he exhaled a long breath.

“Turned out that they are just using the leeches as the medium to transfer their blood into Chong’s arteries,” he thought loud. “I wonder what are these white powders made of. How can they have made leeches give out blood? How miraculous!”

Having figured it out, he gradually relaxed the grip on the sword handle. Madam Yue also returned her sword to its sheath gently as a smile crept onto her once tightened face.

Even though the cabin was still swept with silence, it was far from the tension-filled atmosphere just a minute ago, when fierce battle could have been triggered at any moment. And furthermore, even the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies were utterly amazed by what they saw, their jaws dropping and their mouths wide open. Since all six mouths were wide open and could not close because of the dropped jaws, naturally, neither of them could make any remark about it nor argue about it. This had to be a very rare occurrence.

After another short while, a light clatter broke the silence as one of the leeches, which had spilled out all the blood in its stomach, fell onto the cabin floor, wriggled a few times, and then dropped dead. One of the Miao girls picked it up and threw it into the river through the cabin window. Soon, more and more leeches fell dead and were thrown into the river one after another. Within thirty minutes, all leeches had been thrown out of the window, and the once toast tan face of Linghu Chong now showed a slight redn