On the west side of town there was a large house which was the residence of the famous Han family.

The Han family had been well-known for many generations in the martial community, but their widespread fame came not from some impressive martial skill, but because of their panaceas the “Purple Mansion Powder,” which healed all wounds, and the “Heart of Buddha Pill,” which was the antidote to all poisons.

Those in jianghu based their careers on wounds and blood, and were always in danger of being injured or poisoned, which was why these two medicines were, among those who wandered in jianghu, a veritable cure-all that everyone desired, able to save people in but a moment’s time. Only, the prescriptions for these two types of medicines was kept by the Han family alone, and was never given to outsiders, and they certainly weren’t easy to acquire! And for this reason, everyone was extremely courteous to the Han family, because they could never be sure that someday their own lives won’t be on the line, and they would have to beg the Han family to bestow upon them some medicine.

Today was the sixtieth birthday of the Han family patriarch Han Xuanling, and before his residence there was an unending train of carriages and horses, and the front courtyard was as busy as a bazaar, and the garden was packed full of hundreds of bamboo mats set down for the feast, while the wine goblets and gambling chips lay together; it was both magnificent and bustling. It seemed as if all the heroes in Bai Kingdom and all the scholars in Ruancheng had shown up to give Old Master Han birthday felicitations.

“How lively!”

A voice that was both clear and bright suddenly sounded, cutting through the ruckus of the garden.

In the garden, the guests could not help but to search in wonder for the source of the sound, but what they saw was a white-robed maiden reclining upon the rooftop, her sleeve billowing, long hair flying, watching those below with a smile upon her face.

“You again!”

Seated at the foremost position was the patriarch of the Han family, Han Xuanling, who suddenly stood up, his face radiating red light, and glared at the white-robed girl perching upon his eaves.

“Indeed, ‘tis I again,” the white-robed maiden chuckled in response. “Old Master Han, today is your sixtieth birthday celebration, so I’ve also come to wish you luck as deep as the Eastern Sea and a life as long as the Southern Mountains.”

“You’re exempt from that courtesy; so long as you never show up again at my house, I will definitely live as long as the Southern Mountains!” Han Xuanling left his seat to stand at the center of the courtyard and point at the white-robed maiden to say: “Bai Fengxi, how many times have you stolen the legendary medicine of my Han family? Today is a day for celebration, and I have no mood to quarrel with you. Leave quickly, else I won’t be so polite!”

“Yi? She’s Bai Fengxi?”

“So the famed Bai Fengxi is this young?!”

“What did Old Master Han mean when he said she’d stolen his medicine?”

Once Han Xuanling called out the maiden’s – Bai Fengxi’s – name, everyone left their seats to surround the room and comment upon her to one another.

“Old Master Han, there’s no need for such anger. You must know that even though I took all that medicine without your permission, it was all used to save lives, it could be counted as accumulating good karma for the whole of your household; why don’t you thank me, instead?” Fengxi was not angered in the least, and maintained her wide grin.

“You…you’re still trying to force your argument with such fallacy?” Han Xuanling bellowed, wishing he could twist the neck of that person who was giggling before him, so that he may be able to quell the hatred in his heart!

Whenever he thought of the medicine taken by Fengxi, his heart hurt as if it was being twisted up into knots. To think, that “Purple Mansion Powder” and “Heart of Buddha Pill” were all solely the property of the Han family, it was hard even for those who offered up extravagant amounts of gold to have one bestowed upon them, and yet they were taken, bottle-by-bottle by Fengxi, all without paying a cent; how could you expect Old Master Han not to be angry, not to be sore? But of course her martial skills would be so superior, allowing her to enter the Han mansions as she wished, while he was helpless to do anything about the situation! If he were to invite someone from jianghu to help deal with the problem, she would defeat them soundly, one by one!

“Who told you to hide your prescription so securely and not let anyone else know about it? Aside from your family, no one else has the Purple Mansion Powder or the Heart of Buddha Pill. Though you don’t act in a way to gain you many admirers, your medicine certainly does; it’s simply too good at treating wounds and saving people, so that I use up the medicine I take from your own so quickly. So I have no other recourse but to resort to coming to see you, but then your costs are too high, and I’m too poor to be able to afford it, so every time I have no other option but to take it from you,” Fengxi said, fluttering her hand carelessly, and then suddenly pitching forward, a conciliatory expression all over her face, but the movement caused those below to wonder if she was going to fall off. “Otherwise, you could make a copy of your prescription and give that to me, and I could search for the herbs myself, so you no longer have to see me again.”

“I’ve never seen a person more shameless than you!” Han Xuanling bellowed. “Bai Fengxi, I’m warning you, you’d best leave right away. And you must never appear in my Han family mansion again!”

“How would that do?” Fengxi stood up atop of the roof, and then with the lightest of pushes propelled herself downwards, floating softly as a feather, to land before Han Xuanling. Han Xuanling immediately backed up a few steps.

With a face full of laughter, Fengxi looked at Han Xuanling, “The reason I came this time was indeed to get some medicine from you, but I had no idea you’d be hosting a feast here. I haven’t eaten anything for an entire day and night, so I’ve decided to come wish you birthday felicitations and eat a nice meal before I go.”

After saying this, she walked straight towards the bamboo mats that had been laid down, even going so far as to nod politely and smile at all the guests, as if she was taking a stroll in her own family’s garden, while those guests all stepped aside to let her pass, first because she her name was so well known, and second because she looked like such a smart girl, and they felt that blocking her path seemed shameful.

“Make her leave!” Han Xuanling was so angry by this time that his red face had become a green one.

Once he said this, two large men stepped out; these were his guards. Each was exceptionally tall, their limbs thick and solid, their faces fierce, each exceptionally imposing, and each walked fiercely towards Fengxi, but Fengxi merely sat herself down at a table.

Each of these large men extended a sturdy arm straight towards Fengxi, like an eagle seeking to catch a chick. Fengxi waved her arms carelessly, and her sleeves landed upon the bodies of these two large men. They could only hear a “pudong!” sound, and both these men collapsed onto the ground without so much as a fight.

“Ya, what good wine this is, this must be the hundred year old Chen brew!”

Fengxi looked as if nothing had happened, raising a pot of wine in her left hand and pouring it straight into her mouth, not even bothering to use a cup, and when she was done, she wiped her mouth with a sleeve and let out a sigh. And then her right hand shot out to grab pig’s trotters and then she bit down, tearing off a large chunk, nodding while chewing, saying, “Wu…wu…these five-spice seasoned trotters are really so fragrant! Your chef is quite skilled!”

Those watching could not help but to think, how could such a small mouth bite off such a large chunk of meat? Could this person really be the Bai Fengxi whose heroic name is known all across the world?

Fengxi ate while gesturing at the crowd. “Everyone, continue eating and drinking, it’s Old Master Han’s sixtieth birthday feast; if you don’t eat at his feast today, who knows when you’ll eat at his feast next?”

“Are you cursing my father?” a childish voice suddenly cried, and a thirteen, fourteen year old boy came running out, pointing at Fengxi.

“Little brother, did I curse your father? How come I wasn’t aware?” asked Fengxi with a mouth full of food, her right hand holding pig trotters and her left hand holding a drumstick, opening her eyes wide and looking at the youth in puzzlement.

“Then why did you curse my father and say there won’t be a next birthday feast?” asked the youth angrily.

“Little brother, you’re mistaken.” Fengxi put the trotters and the drumsticks down and walked before the young boy, stooping down and saying, “I wasn’t cursing your father not to be able to have another birthday feast, but rather saying that, seeing as how your father is so stingy, he definitely won’t have as nice a feast next time.”

Having said this, she used her two oily hands to pat the boy’s head, and no matter how the boy ducked he couldn’t duck out of the reach of her oil-stained fingers, and at the end had to withstand her patting, feeling the grease slick onto his forehead.

“Piao’er[1], this is no place for you.” Han Xuanling stepped forward, and pulled the youth behind him, and then said to Fengxi, “Bai Fengxi, if we speak of martial skill then I, Han Xuanling, am truly not your match, which is why so much of my family’s medicine have been taken by you, but today, but today you’d best not entertain any ideas of leaving here quite so easily with my medicine, because it definitely will not happen!”

“Oh?” Fengxi tilted her head and looked at the visitors who were gathered in the garden, among whom there was no lack of skilled martial artists. “That’s certainly not false, there are indeed very many masters gathered at your house today.”

After saying this, Fengxi turned to look at Han Xuanling, and said breezily, “Old Master Han, I have a friend who’s rather heavily injured, and he needs a bottle of your Purple Mansion Powder and a bottle of your Heart of Buddha Pill. Why don’t you gift me some? In any case you have so many at your house, and it saves us both the trouble of my having to start a fight over it, and sour everyone’s mood.”

Her manner was leisurely, as if taking some medicine was as simple a matter as borrowing a copper coin.

“Bai Fengxi, Old Hero Han has already been extremely patient with you; if you know what’s good for you you’ll leave immediately. If not, there are enough heroes gathered here today to do you great harm!” someone said, disengaging from the crowd. This person was quite puny, but though he was lean he was also wily, a pair of rat-like eyes spinning round in their sockets.

“I would like to go, but Old Master Han must first give me medicine,” Fengxi said, with a flick of the wrist that seemed to indicate she had no other choice.

“Heng! It seems you’d rather drink the wine of punishment than the wine of good cheer! Old Hero Han, today is your birthday, so please step aside, at let I, Wei An, teach this chit a lesson!” that Wei An said, and then made to attack, both hands curling into claws, lunging straight for Fengxi’s chest.

This Wei An, seeing how young Fengxi was, did not think that her abilities would be anything to reckon with, and thought that the reason she was so well known was because people in wulin had a tendency for exaggeration, which is why he thought to subdue Bai Fengxi with his martial skills practiced to eighty percent maturity, in order that first, his name would be famous throughout the world, and second to make himself welcome to Han Xuanling, so that he might be able to receive a few bottles of the latter’s medicine. This was definitely a good chance for him to kill two birds with one stone and with one act gain both fame and fortune!

“Ya! A master of the Eagle Claw Sect! Powerful indeed!”

Though these were the words that came from her mouth, her expression did not betray any signs of anxiety, and she looked as if she merely spun her body casually around when indeed she moved faster than normal people could, and in the time it took to blink she had evaded the two claws that had been aimed at her. And with a brandishing of her right sleeve, slicing quickly and accurately towards Wei An’s two wrists. Wei An recognised the strength in this and quickly withdrew his hands, and then his right hand suddenly made for Fengxi’s left shoulder, putting all of his strength into this one maneuver, deciding it was necessary to take Fengxi’s arm off with this attack.

“I have no quarrel with you; to attack in such a way seems to be overly cruel, no?”

Seeing the force behind his movement, Fengxi’s pupils contracted, and she moved not from it but towards it, and Wei An’s Eagle Claw landed upon her left shoulder, and upon seeing this a joy rose in Wei An’s heart, but he was suddenly startled to see that his grip on her seemed to be as if on a pile of cotton – hardly any strength at all – yet Fengxi’s right hand had at some point, without his knowledge, draped over his own right hand, and, in a flash, his right hand lost all strength, and he could only feel a pain in his bones. “Kacha!” was the noise that rang out, and the bone of his right wrist was in this way snapped by Fengxi’s bare hands!

“Ah!”

Wei An howled miserably, and then Fengxi’s sleeves whipped from his body, and Wei An fell to a knee at the ground before her.  

Within seconds, Wei An had been defeated in such away.

“Bai Fengxi, you are indeed too vicious!”