Shooting the Eagle: Starting from Iron Palm Peak

Lynch traveled north for half a month.

The official road gradually transformed from the rice paddies and waterways of Jiangnan into the loess plains of the north. The roadside trees changed from evergreen camphor trees to deciduous locust and poplar trees, and the accents of the pedestrians became increasingly harsh and short. After crossing the Huai River, the weather became noticeably colder, and the wind in the mornings and evenings felt like knives scraping against the face.

Lin Qi changed into a thick robe, carefully concealing the Iron Palm Clan's waist tag. The travel pass identified him as a "traveling merchant," and his name was "Lin Qi"—Lin as in Lin Qi, and Qi as in A Qi. He wasn't sure if anyone in the Jin Kingdom recognized the Iron Palm Clan, so he figured it was better to avoid trouble.

He traveled by day and rested by night, setting off at dawn and finding a town to stay in before dark. His horse was a young gelding with good stamina but not fast, covering only a little over a hundred li a day. Lin Qi wasn't in a hurry. He didn't know when the gathering of heroes at the Prince Zhao's mansion would be held, but the snake wouldn't grow legs and run away, so a few days earlier or later wouldn't make much difference.

He spent the next two weeks practicing the first four stances of the Iron Palm Technique again and again. Every evening, he would practice for an hour in the backyard of the inn, attracting the attention of the inn's waiters and guests from afar. Some cheered, some pointed and whispered, but Lin Qi ignored them all. He knew that his martial arts skills were considered quite good on Iron Palm Peak, but in the wider martial arts world, especially in a place like the Zhao Prince's Mansion where masters gathered, they were still insufficient.

The only thing that could make up for his lack of martial arts skills was his understanding of the original work.

He knew that Liang Ziweng kept his medicinal snake in a separate stone chamber in the northeast corner of the Zhao Prince's mansion's back garden. The chamber was small, without windows, only an iron door, which was usually locked. Liang Ziweng would go in every three days to feed it the medicine, opening the iron door when he did so. In the original story, when Guo Jing mistakenly entered the Zhao Prince's mansion, the snake happened to escape from its cage, indicating that the cage wasn't very sturdy.

Lynch didn't expect the snake to come out on its own. He needed to find an opportunity when Liang Ziweng wasn't around, pry open the iron door or cage, and get his hands on the snake's blood.

The risk was too high. But he had no better option.

On the thirteenth day, the city walls of Dading Prefecture came into view.

Dading Prefecture was the central capital of the Jin Dynasty, and its city walls were even more magnificent than those of Lin'an. The city walls were about three zhang high, built of blue bricks, and there was an arrow tower every hundred paces along the walls. Two rows of Jin soldiers stood at the city gate, checking passersby. Lin Qi reined in his horse at a distance and observed for a while.

People entering the city lined up and were checked one by one. The Jin soldiers looked through their travel permits, asked a few questions, and searched their bags; most people were let go. Lin Qi noticed that a few raggedly dressed people were stopped and questioned for a long time before being allowed to pass, but those who were well-dressed were basically just glanced at and let through.

Lin Qi glanced down at his clothes. He was wearing a slightly worn blue cloth robe, not expensive, but clean and tidy, making him look like a respectable merchant. He clutched his travel permit in his hand and spurred his horse toward the city gate.

"Halt!" A Jin soldier stopped him. "Where are you from? What are you doing here?"

Lin Qi handed over the travel permit and replied in somewhat broken Mandarin, "I'm from Lin'an, doing business in medicinal herbs."

Jin Bing flipped through the travel permit, looked at Lin Qi's face, and then at his bundle.

"Medicinal herbs business? Where are the medicinal herbs you brought?"

"Let's check the market first, then we'll bring more goods next time." Lin Qi smiled, took out a small piece of silver from his sleeve, and quietly stuffed it into the Jin soldier's hand. "Sir, you've worked hard. Have some tea."

The Jin soldier weighed the silver in his hand, his expression softening considerably. He returned the travel permit to the man and waved his hand, saying, "Go in."

Lin Qi led his horse into the city. The streets of Dading Prefecture were wider than those of Lin'an, but not as bustling. There weren't many pedestrians on the streets, and most of them were dressed in Jurchen attire—wearing fur robes, felt hats, and short swords hanging at their waists. Occasionally, a few Han Chinese could be seen hurrying past with their heads down, their expressions somewhat restrained.

Lin Qi first found an inconspicuous inn to stay in. The inn was located in a small alley in the west of the city, about five or six miles from the Prince Zhao's mansion. It was in a remote location, and the inn was mostly occupied by small merchants and porters on their way. The innkeeper was a Han Chinese man in his fifties surnamed Wang. Seeing that Lin Qi was from the south, he asked him a few more questions, took the money, and then stopped asking.

After settling in, Lin Qi didn't rush to scout out the Zhao Prince's residence. He first wandered around the city of Dading, familiarizing himself with the terrain, especially the roads leading out of the city. He entered the city from the north gate and discovered that the west and east gates also had exits, while the south gate was the main gate and was the most heavily guarded. If he wanted to escape, it would be best to go through the west or north gate, where there were fewer people and fewer Jin soldiers.

The next day, he began to investigate the Prince of Zhao's residence.

The Prince Zhao's Mansion was located in the east of the city, covering a vast area. The surrounding walls were about two zhang high, with guard towers at each of the four corners, manned day and night. The main gate faced south, with two rows of armed guards standing before it; everyone entering or leaving had their waist tokens checked. Lin Qi sat in a teahouse opposite the gate for an afternoon, observing that besides servants and guards, there were also some江湖人士 (jianghu figures) coming and going—some with long swords at their waists, others carrying large knives, dressed in various styles, but none of them were ordinary people.

He noticed a detail: the back garden wall was half a foot lower than the front garden wall, and there were only two old servants guarding the back gate, making the security noticeably laxer than at the front gate. In the original story, Guo Jing climbed over the back garden wall, which shows that the route was indeed feasible.

Lin Qi sat in the teahouse all day, memorizing the guards' changing shifts, patrol routes, and the old servant's routine at the back gate. After dark, he left the teahouse, returned to the inn, and drew what he had observed during the day on a piece of paper.

The layout of the Prince Zhao's residence was more complex than he had anticipated. The front courtyard was for receiving guests and conducting business, the middle courtyard was the residence of Wanyan Honglie and his family, and the back courtyard contained guest rooms and a garden, with the medicinal snake kept in the northeast corner of the back garden. Entering through the back gate, passing through a bamboo grove, and then around an artificial hill, one would reach the location of the stone chamber.

The questions now are: Is the poison snake actually in the stone chamber? Did Liang Ziweng move it? When will the Gathering of Heroes take place? Will all the masters in the manor be present?

Lynch didn't know. He could only gamble.

For the next three days, he went to the teahouse opposite the Prince Zhao's mansion every afternoon to observe if there were any changes. On the evening of the third day, he found that the Prince Zhao's mansion had suddenly become lively—there were more carriages in front of the mansion gate, and more martial arts practitioners were coming and going. Several of them looked to be of high status, and the guards at the gate took the initiative to make way for them.

The gathering of heroes is about to begin.

Lin Qi returned to the inn and began making final preparations.

He sharpened his dagger and tucked it into his boot. He kept only a few taels of silver and a bottle of ointment in his bundle; the rest of his belongings were hidden under the bed. He changed into a dark-colored outfit, tying the cuffs and trouser legs tightly with strips of cloth to prevent any noise during movement.

He also prepared one more thing—a piece of wire. He got it from the innkeeper, who said it was for tying things up, but actually it was for picking locks. He had seen some lock-picking techniques online in his previous life, and although he had never practiced them, he figured the lock on the iron cage shouldn't be too complicated, and he might be able to open it by poking it with the wire.

As night fell, the lights in Dading Prefecture City lit up one by one.

Lin Qi didn't rush to set off. He waited until the second watch of the night, when there were hardly any people on the streets, before slipping out of the back door of the inn and walking along the shadows of the wall towards the east of the city.

There's no moon tonight, only a few scattered stars in the sky—perfect timing for action.

The back gate of Prince Zhao's mansion was at the end of a narrow alley, which was dark and unlit. Lin Qi crept along the wall and saw that the back gate was ajar, with two old servants sitting in the gatehouse dozing off, their snores rising and falling.

Without disturbing them, he walked around to the corner of the wall and looked up. The wall was about two zhang high, without broken glass or barbed wire, and the surface was relatively smooth. He took a few steps back, ran up, pushed off the wall, grabbed the top with both hands, pulled himself up, and flipped over.

He tried to land as quietly as possible, but he still made a little noise. He crouched down against the wall, held his breath, and waited for a while. When there was no movement, he slowly stood up.

Before him lay a bamboo grove. The bamboo leaves rustled in the night breeze, perfectly masking his footsteps. Following the route he had memorized during the day, Lin Qi traversed the bamboo grove, circled the artificial hill, and made his way towards the northeast corner.

The stone chamber has been found.

It was a small stone house, made of gray bricks, with no windows, only an iron door. A large iron padlock, about the size of a fist, hung on the door, rusted and looking quite old.

Lin Qi squatted down at the entrance of the stone chamber and pressed his ear against the iron door to listen. There was no sound inside, but a faint fishy smell wafted out from the crack in the door, mixed with the aroma of medicinal herbs.

There's a snake inside.

He pulled a wire from his sleeve, inserted it into the keyhole, and tried to turn it. The lock was old, and the internal spring was no longer very sensitive. He poked at it a few times, felt the latch move slightly, and then spring back.

Come again.

He took a deep breath, steadied his hand, and poked a few more times. The latch was pushed open, and the lock clicked open.

Lynch removed the padlock and gently pushed open the iron gate. The hinges creaked loudly, and he stopped abruptly, squeezing inside sideways.

The stone chamber was pitch black, and the fishy smell was even stronger. Lin Qi took out a tinderbox from his pocket, blew on it, and a faint flame flickered up, illuminating the stone chamber.

The stone chamber was small, about ten feet square, with a large iron cage in the center. Inside the cage coiled a large snake, its body as thick as an adult's arm, entirely crimson, its scales gleaming a dark red in the firelight. The snake's head was buried in its coiled body, seemingly asleep.

Lin Qi's heart raced. This was the medicinal snake that Liang Ziweng had been raising for twenty years.

He slowly approached the iron cage and reached out to touch the cage door. The cage door was not locked, only held in place by an iron bolt. He pulled out the bolt and gently pulled open the cage door, opening it only a crack.

Is that enough? He only needs to pull the snake's head out, bite its neck, and suck a few mouthfuls of blood. That's exactly what Guo Jing did in the original story. After being bitten, the snake didn't resist violently; instead, it went limp as if all its strength had been drained.

Lynch reached into the cage and slowly probed the snake's head. The snake's body was warm, its scales smooth, and he could feel it breathing, its body rising and falling slightly.

His finger touched the snake's head.

In that instant, the snake suddenly awoke. Its head snapped up, its cold, vertical pupils gleaming eerily in the dim light of the firelight. Its forked tongue hissed as it flicked out, almost licking the back of Lin Qi's hand.

Lynch did not back down. He grabbed the snake's head, his thumb and forefinger gripping its neck tightly, and pulled the snake's head out of the cage. The snake's body writhed violently, its tail slapping loudly in the iron cage with surprising force.

Lynch pressed the snake's body down with his knee and lowered his head to bite its neck. The snake's skin was thick, and biting it felt like biting into slippery cowhide, making it difficult to apply any force. He changed his angle, biting into a gap in the scales with his canines and suddenly exerting force.

The snakeskin was torn. A warm, sweet-smelling liquid rushed into his mouth, carrying a strong medicinal and rusty taste. Lin Qi swallowed it in large gulps, snake blood dripping from the corners of his mouth onto the ground.

The snake's struggles grew weaker and weaker, and its body slowly went limp. Lin Qi continued to suck until he could suck no more blood, then he released his grip and threw the dead snake on the ground.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, leaned against the wall of the stone chamber, and gasped for breath.

As the snake blood entered his stomach, a surge of heat rose from his digestive system, spreading throughout his body. The heat grew stronger and stronger, like a fire burning within him, making his entire body hot and causing sweat to bead on his forehead. He could feel his internal energy circulating freely within his meridians, faster and more intense, as if something was stimulating the internal energy in his dantian, causing it to grow wildly.

Lin Qi closed his eyes, activated the Iron Bone Technique, and guided the heat flow through his meridians. One cycle, two cycles, three cycles... Wherever the heat flow passed, the meridians seemed to be widened, and the flow of internal energy became many times smoother than before.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but when the heat finally subsided, he felt like a different person—full of energy, sharp hearing and vision, and even his breathing became deeper and longer than before.

The blood of the snake was indeed as good as its reputation suggested.

Lin Qi opened his eyes and stood up. He glanced at the dead snake on the ground, closed the iron cage door, locked the bolt, and put the lock back on the iron door. The bolt was loosely engaged, so from the outside, it was impossible to tell that it had been pried open.

Then he wiped the blood off the ground, blew out the tinderbox, left the stone chamber, and gently closed the door behind him.

The bamboo grove was still the same bamboo grove, and the night breeze was still the same night breeze. Lin Qi walked through the bamboo grove, climbed over the back garden wall, and landed in the alley. The two old servants were still dozing in the gatehouse, their snores still ringing.

He walked quickly down the alley, turned a few corners, and only slowed down after confirming that no one was following him, heading towards the inn.

When we got back to the inn, it was past midnight.

Lin Qi didn't turn on the light. He took off his coat in the dark and lay down on the bed. The heat from the snake blood hadn't completely dissipated, and the internal energy within his body was still slowly circulating. He closed his eyes and guided it to continue circulating.

The internal energy in his dantian was at least twice as strong as before. The internal energy of the Iron Bone Technique, which was originally just a thin mass, had now become a thick pool, and when he circulated his internal energy, it flowed like a spring, inexhaustible.

He didn't know what level this was. Qiu Qianren had said that the Iron Bone Technique had three levels—the first level was Foundation Building, where internal energy was accumulated in the dantian; the second level was Meridian Opening, where internal energy flowed through the meridians of the whole body; and the third level was Transforming Strength, where internal energy and muscles and bones were united, and could be controlled at will.

He was previously in the middle of the first level, but now he feels he has reached the peak of the first level and may break through to the second level at any time.

A single snake's blood saved him at least three years of hard work.

Lin Qi turned over and looked out at the night sky. He couldn't stay in Dading Prefecture any longer; he had to leave first thing tomorrow morning. Once Liang Ziweng discovered the snake was dead, he would surely go mad, and the entire Dading Prefecture would be under martial law. Then, he wouldn't be able to leave even if he wanted to.

He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, before dawn, Lin Qi got up. He packed his bags, went downstairs to pay for his room, and led his horse out of the inn. As soon as the city gates opened, he mingled with the caravans leaving the city and exited Dading Prefecture through the west gate.

The horses' hooves pounded on the official road, and the morning breeze blew in his face. Lin Qi glanced back at the city walls of Dading Prefecture, the gray city towers appearing and disappearing in the morning light.

He didn't know when Liang Ziweng would discover the snake was dead, nor did he know if Wanyan Honglie's men would catch up. But he knew this adventure was worthwhile.

The snake blood slowly took effect in his body, and his internal energy continued to grow. He could feel his body undergoing some kind of change—his skin was firmer than before, his senses were more acute, and even the bluish-green color on his palms had faded, replaced by a healthy rosy hue.

He pulled on the reins and urged his horse south.

Iron Palm Peak is in the south, but he doesn't plan to go back directly. Qiu Qianren still has a month and a half before he emerges from seclusion, so he has time. He wants to use this time to digest his newly acquired skills and push his Iron Palm Technique to the next level.

More importantly, he wanted to think things through regarding Han Duanyue before returning.

Three months ago, he was just a third-generation disciple whom Han Duanyue held in the palm of his hand. Now, he possesses internal energy, the Iron Palm Technique, and an immune system to all poisons granted by snake blood.

Although he is still no match for Han Duanyue, he is no longer a nobody who can be slaughtered at will.

Lin Qi rode forward, and the Dading Prefecture behind him gradually disappeared into the morning mist.