After Liu Xiaolou came closer and listened for just a moment, he understood the whole thing: it really was a dispute over who controlled Five Sons Peak. The Bull-Horse-Deer Brothers wanted to live there, but Jiang Feihu refused. As soon as his injuries healed, Jiang gathered his friend Zhang Shihua and several close associates from Wulong Mountain, and came to force the three brothers to move.

Dai Shenggao’s cave-dwelling was right next to Fengyu Ridge. That was why he had been pushing for the brothers to settle at Five Sons Peak. By chance, he was standing on a cliff on the ridge, looking out over the area, when he caught sight of the conflict and hurried over. On the way, he ran into Dragon Mountain Wanderer, asked him for help, and told him to call on their fellows for support.

As things stood, Dai Shenggao and Zuo Gaofeng could hold off Jiang Feihu and Zhang Shihua. Tan Bajhang, Liu Xiaolou, the Bull-Horse-Deer Brothers, plus Fang Bu’ai, whose strength was questionable but still counted, could easily crush the handful of people Jiang had brought along. And though Dragon Mountain Wanderer was busy trying to calm tempers and mediate the dispute, if it really came down to a fight, his position would be doubtful too. Jiang Feihu would not come out on top.

So, after weighing the situation, Jiang and Zhang gave up the idea of using force. Instead, they turned to “driving them out through moral arguments,” and immediately launched into a war of words.

What was a war of words like among the heroes of Wulong Mountain? Simple enough: it meant trading insults about each other’s long-dead ancestors and masters, while boasting about the various close or distant ties they supposedly had with them. Everyone knew this kind of verbal battle was pointless, which is why Dragon Mountain Wanderer turned to Liu Xiaolou and asked him to speak up, hoping to bring the conflict to an end.

“Senior Jiang,” Liu Xiaolou asked, “what’s your reasoning for refusing to let the Huang brothers settle at Five Sons Peak?”

“The Ma brothers shed their blood on the battlefield for our fellow cultivators of Western Xian,” Jiang Feihu replied. “And after their deaths, even their cave dwelling was seized by others. Doesn’t that chill the heart? When the next war comes, who would still be willing to give their lives?”

Liu Xiaolou sighed. “The two Ma brothers were indeed admirable… Do they have disciples, or younger family members who could inherit their legacy? If they do, it would make sense to invite them to Wulong Mountain and let them settle at Five Sons Peak.”

Jiang Feihu gave a cold snort. “They have none! But so what? Precisely because they left no heirs, it falls to us, their fellow cultivators, to see to their affairs after death. Otherwise, their spirits would lie restless beneath the earth!”

Liu Xiaolou asked, “So what you mean, Senior Jiang, is that Five Sons Peak should remain empty from now on?”

“Of course it won’t stay empty,” Jiang Feihu said. “We should build a memorial stele at the front of the peak, inscribe it with an elegy, and make sure the deeds of the two brothers are passed down to later generations!”

Liu Xiaolou replied, “So it’s meant as commemoration? That’s a noble thought, Senior. I agree a stele should be raised, but not only for the Ma brothers. For all fifteen who died in this battle, a stele should be erected: the two elders of Guzhang Mountain, Buxiaosheng, Li Pingfang and his companion, all of them. The places they cultivated, whether Five Sons Peak, Right Mountain, or Twin-Wood Valley, should likewise have steles raised, and no one should be allowed to live there again. What is your opinion on that, Senior?”

“Xiaolou speaks fairly!” Zuo Gaofeng shouted.

Dai Shenggao nodded. “In that case, of course the Huang brothers can give up Five Sons Peak and find another place.”

The Bull-Horse-Deer Brothers all said, “We agree with this proposal. If we leave, then everyone should leave!”

But how could everyone leave? Wulong Mountain was only so big, with just so many ridges, valleys, and hidden caves suitable for cultivation. If they suddenly marked off more than a dozen spots with memorial steles and forbade anyone from living there, in thirty to fifty years there would be nowhere left to settle on Wulong Mountain.

Jiang Feihu’s face flushed red at being countered, and for a moment he didn’t know what to say. Forcing himself, he muttered, “That won’t do… the Ma brothers… they were different… besides… of the Guzhang Mountain brothers, the second and third may have died, but the others still remain…”

Liu Xiaolou, in truth, did not want things among the Wulong Mountain fellows to turn too hostile. After all, they would keep running into each other. So he gave Jiang a way out. “I do have a suggestion. Senior Jiang, your words make sense too. Why not have you take the lead, and everyone join hands to build a forest of memorial steles at the Sky Pit Drum? We can carve the names of these fifteen fallen friends there as a tribute. If the same thing happens in the future, we can follow the same practice.”

Everyone called the idea excellent. Even Zhang Shihua hesitated and turned to look at Jiang Feihu.

Jiang Feihu also felt the idea was workable, but he had stormed in with such momentum, only to be brushed aside in a few words. It was a loss of face, and worse, the suggestion had come from Liu Xiaolou. So he gave a cold snort and stayed silent.

No one knew who spoke up first, but someone said, “As expected of the son-in-law of Shenwu Mountain. His vision is on another level, far above ours!”

Another chimed in, “That’s right. Coming from such a great family, of course he’s different!”

The moment Jiang Feihu heard this, his mood soured. He thought of how he and his men had fought for their lives at Zhuoshui, while Liu Xiaolou had enjoyed an easy life thanks to his marriage ties. Now he had come back to point fingers at everything. Jiang’s anger surged. “He’s already been cast out. What’s there to brag about?” he snapped.

“Even if he was cast out, he was still a son-in-law,” Zuo Gaofeng said. “Let’s see you try being one. If you can show us a dismissal letter, then I’ll stop meddling in the affairs of Five Sons Peak and let you do as you please!”

Tan Bajhang cut in bluntly, “Jiang, you think being a son-in-law is easy? Do you know how much humiliation you have to swallow? Xiaolou’s already had it hard enough, and here you are spouting cheap talk. Are you even human? Keep running your mouth and you’ll find out my iron staff isn’t just for show!”

Zhang Shihua glared. “Tan Bajhang, what the hell are you? Do you think you have the right to speak in front of Master Jiang? You disrespectful brat, come trade a few blows with me first!”

As soon as the words fell, a figure darted out from behind Liu Xiaolou, man and sword together crashing toward Zhang Shihua. Within the flashing sword light, there seemed to be a swarm of bees, releasing a spray of stingers that enveloped Zhang Shihua. Disciples of the Pai Sect, who were skilled in controlling corpses and insects, sometimes merged their bugs into their sword light. The glow itself was only an illusion, the true force came from the insects.

Zhang Shihua was startled. A cluster of stone mushrooms, each as large as a fist, sprang up wildly in front of him, spreading like umbrellas and barely blocking both the figure and the sword light.

Using the mushrooms as cover, Zhang Shihua retreated several steps, dissolving the danger in the blink of an eye.

That single block and retreat showed the poise of a ninth-layer Qi-Refinement expert.

At the same time, the mushrooms contracted inward and then pushed outward, flinging the figure and sword light back. Zuo Gaofeng reached out and caught the attacker, who turned out to be the young Fang Bu’ai.

Liu Xiaolou’s eyelids twitched. He thought to himself, is this guy really only at the third layer of Qi Refinement? Without a word he just charges in. Are all disciples of that sect this reckless?

Tan Bajhang laughed loudly. “Junior Fang, you’re still the same. Ha! I like it!”

Fang Bu’ai’s eyes were blood-red, and within the red shimmered a strange rainbow glow. He himself had no idea. He looked ready to charge again, but Tan Bajhang pulled him back. “Alright, alright, no need to rush. When it’s time for a real fight, you’ll have your turn.”

Liu Xiaolou glanced at Fang Bu’ai’s face and caught a faint trace of a sweet, pungent scent in his nose. He immediately realized Fang must have been poisoned by Zhang Shihua’s mushroom. He grabbed Fang’s wrist and sent his true qi inward to check, and sure enough, it was so.

That single clash just now had lasted barely an instant, yet Fang Bu’ai was already poisoned. It showed how powerful the toxin from Zhang Shihua’s stone mushroom really was.

But in Liu Xiaolou’s hands, such poison was nothing. His true qi flowed into Fang’s meridians. After circulating his True Mysteries technique for a few breaths, the mushroom poison was forced out. Fang Bu’ai’s eyes quickly returned to normal.

At first Fang Bu’ai hadn’t even realized what had happened. Once the poison was purged, he suddenly came to his senses and looked at Liu Xiaolou with gratitude.

Zhang Shihua, on the other hand, finally reacted. Rage flared in him. He remembered this Fang Bu’ai. He had seen him once on the Zhuoshui battlefield. His cultivation was no higher than the fifth layer at best. And yet this boy had dared to strike at him first, and even forced him to take a few steps back. It was utterly humiliating.

Just as he was about to strike back and cripple this arrogant youngster, he saw the mushroom poison already cleansed by Liu Xiaolou. His heart skipped. He thought, he had never crossed hands with Master Sanxuan before. Could his cultivation method actually restrain mine? For a moment, he was caught between shock and doubt.

Dragon Mountain Dragon once again stepped in between them, trying to mediate. “Alright, alright, we’re all fellow cultivators of the mountain. What deep grudge could there be between us? In my opinion, Xiaolou’s proposal is fair and workable. Let’s settle it this way. Feihu, Shihua, let’s leave it at that and stop this quarrel.”

“Wanderer,” Jiang Feihu said angrily, “it’s not that we’re looking for trouble. We just want justice for our fallen comrades! Since everyone says Liu Xiaolou’s idea is good, then let him be the one to take care of this stele forest…”

He was still speaking when someone came sprinting over, shouting loudly, “Strangers of unknown origin have entered the mountain! Everyone be on guard!”

The crowd immediately dropped their argument, thrown into chaos.

“How come no word came from the villagers at the foot of the mountain?” “Who broke in? How many of them?” “Could it be the Badong bandits?” “From which direction did they come?”

But the messenger couldn’t answer. He only said that Senior Huang of Jade Maiden Cave had discovered them, and asked everyone to be ready.