4 Chapter 1-2: At the Tea House
When the group arrives at the tea house, the golden fog overcasting the landscape is just starting to dissipate into thin smokes, as if melted by the heating sun. The errand boys has taken the horses to the wooden stables behind for water and rest, but Wu Qing insists his horse to be kept in sight. It is surely a majestic looking beauty, with pure white hoofs as if stained by snow and pitch black coat covering every other inch of its body. The mane shimmers under the blinding day light.
The tea house is not at all crowded at this hour. Course black tea is served immediately. The group is seated on a long wooden bench on the porch with Wu Qing and Yue sitting on the opposite sides of the bench and the three younger swordsmen sitting in between. "Since we are resting for a bit," suggests Yue after letting out a long sigh of satisfaction from quenching the thirst, "why don't Wu Qing show you guys the last two sword forms in the Si Xiang Unified Forms. I heard from Master He that Mei and Bai are just beginning to learn them and Chi is barely able to perform the forms without errors." "Oh Yue, give me a break." "Come on! It will be a review for you too. Besides, you know that those elders at the Golden Blade Sect might want us to demonstrate a few forms just for the sake of it. What will they tell others if Master Lu Xun's own son can't use the most basic forms fluently?" "Fine, Yue. I will show the forms just once. Chi, will you be the dummy for me?"
The boy named Chi stood up from the bench and draws his sword. His knees are slightly bent down with his body pointing forward. The long iron sword on the right hand is positioned around the waist, pointing straight at Wu Qing who is holding a similar pose towards him. This is the beginning stance of the Si Xiang Unified Forms. "Chi, I am going to skip the middle parts and cut straight to the last two forms. Just block the attack as well as you can. I won't use all my strength..." Just as he finishes the sentence, Wu Qing's sword lashes out to the right and swings the blade across the body towards the left, covering a fan-shaped radius in front of him. Just as the movement is complete, the tip of the blade makes a sharp turn, and flies forward as Wu Qing's body launches towards Chi who jumps to the left. But once again, the blade which was pointing straight forward just a second ago sharply swings to the left, as if tracing the movements of Chi. There is no chance of evasion this time. Just as Chi attempts to block the attack, Wu Qing's sword already reached his body, landing a soft, controlled tap to the side of Chi's torso.
"That was the penultimate and one of the most powerful attack forms of the Si Xiang Unified Forms. The blade's flexible conversion between stabbing and slashing serves as an effective way of breaking the enemies' pace and launching surprise attacks," concludes Yue, "If Wu Qing hadn't stopped the motion, Chi would have been chopped in half by now."
