292 Xuan Mei 3

"He wants your Elders to do that? To crush him?"

Xu Qinghua shook her head. "That is unlikely. That scoundrel is a coward. But he seems to have attracted some rather powerful friends. Well, alchemists tend to do that. And they are the ones who are backing him. So unless we are able to fend them off, he is just going to keep coming here, and making a nuisance of himself," she sighed.

"Ah. Then isn't there something that we can do to help?"

Xu Qinghua started to shake her head then, but stopped immediately. "Oh. Perhaps there might be a way. Your Qin Feng was betrothed to her previously, so he might be able to intimidate Chang Chenzhang. That old alchemist is a coward, and doesn't really like to get hurt, so there is no chance that he would take part in a fight.

"If your friend can kick up enough of a fuss ..."

Li Changhai laughed. "Ah. That might not be a problem. But I think we shall need to get a hold of him first, so that we can go through the plan with him. You see, Xuan Mei had left him back at Heavenly Sword School with only a note, and that has affected him rather badly. That is why he has come all this way to meet with her.

"If he realizes that she is just using him to fend off that obnoxious fellow ... Well, I am not sure how Qin Feng is going to take that."

Xu Qinghua seemed to understand what he meant. "I see. Then we may have to take steps. But since he knew of the issue from before, perhaps we should speak to him first?"

"That should be the best course of action for us to take now," Li Changhai agreed.

It was unlikely for Qin Feng to take a hand in this, if the parting between him and the girl had been as terrible as he believed it to be. But what choice did she have? The Snow Swallow Palace probably has its own rules, that prevent it from taking action against the old lecher. Otherwise, wouldn't it have kicked him out of there already?

"In that case, let us go and meet with Xuan Mei first. It would be prudent if we found out the reason behind her leaving Qin Feng in the first place, before we decide on what to do."

Then she turned to the disciple, who had been so bothered by the earlier news. "Where is Xuan Mei now? Which garden did Sister Yanzhi take her to?"

The younger disciple, who seemed to have overheard everything that they had said, was very forthcoming with her information:

"The South Garden. Senior Disciple Sister Xu Yanzhi brought her over a little while ago. She should be there now. Oh, and your friend? Young Master Lin Liushui was headed there earlier, so he should have met her already.

"Unfortunately, that bast*rd ... I mean, that Chang Chenzhang is also headed that way."

Xu Qinghua looked grim when she heard that, and started walking briskly towards the garden immediately. She explained once the Second Ducal Prince had caught up.

Li Changhai understood immediately. So that was why they had not thrown him out straightaway! "This alchemist ... Is his backing really that important? What I mean is, is he really that influential? That he can come barging in here like that?"

Xu Qinghua sighed again. "If it had been thirty years ago, we might have already killed the old fool. But our influence in the region has been weakening lately, and we can only hold on with our fewer numbers now. You must have seen how empty the place is now? That will continue to worsen, I am afraid."

"So you do not have the numbers to deal with the larger Sects? Like the Purple Serpent Sect? They are the ones who are behind all your recent troubles, aren't they?"

"More like they are the symptom, rather than the cause," she said, "Like I said, we have fewer numbers now, so we can no longer afford to protect our interests as aggressively as we had done before. So there are many groups out there who think that we are weak, and are watching us carefully.

"Added to the fact that our disciple sisters seldom marry, and most being orphans, we do not have that much of an influence over the nearby towns and villages. And it is worse for the larger Cities. So our Snow Swallow Palace is basically standing alone."

The Second Ducal Prince had to agree with her. It was a problem that had no solution. So long as it was isolated from the outside world, there wasn't much that anyone could do to help. Indeed, it was hard to find anyone who would view the Snow Swallow Palace sympathetically in the first place!

Even Lin Liushui and Qin Feng didn't have a very good impression of this Sect. If not for the fact that they knew someone here, and wished to be with them, Li Changhai doubted that they would have put themselves through so much trouble back at Chestnut Town.

Lin Liushui would be easy to convince. So long as the Snow Swallow Palace did not make things too difficult for him and his love. As long as they stood out of the way and let those two get together, the Second Ducal Prince was rather certain that Lin Liushui would do his best to help.

As for Qin Feng it would be a lot more complicated. Between his admiration for Xu Yanzhi and his disgust at this Xuan Mei, there was no telling what he would do. Torn between the two of them, his attitude towards the Snow Swallow Mountain Palace must be rather conflicted, to say the least.

Yet, Li Changhai could not help but hope that his friends would stand by the Snow Swallow Palace at this time. Perhaps their antipathy towards the Purple Serpent Sect would help to make up their minds for them.

Then he heard it. The shouting ahead was definitely Qin Feng's voice! Had he found his way to the garden as well? That meant that both Lin Liushui and Qin Feng should be ganging up on that Chang Chenzhang fellow, right?

* * *