After traveling through the night for several days, Ying Laixian reached the outskirts of Quedu by noon.
There were five outer cities surrounding Quedu, and Wei Heng resided in White Cloud City, one of the five.
Naturally, the two had faced several assassination attempts along the way, but now that they had entered White Cloud City, anyone plotting against them was forced to stand down. Ultimately, this was out of respect for Wei Heng.
“My lord, you should rest in the city first. Your body won’t hold up otherwise.”
Ying Laixian looked out at the familiar White Cloud City, the place where he had spent twelve years of his life, and the very place he had chosen upon his rebirth.
“No. Go on back first. I’m going to see the master.”
Though Jiang Ni wanted to persuade him otherwise, he said nothing more in the end.
Old Master Wei lived at the Origin Retreat in the suburbs of White Cloud City. As always, numerous mechanical traps were set up around the perimeter.
Ying Laixian walked into the Origin Retreat as he always did, greeted by a profusion of peach blossoms, lush green shade, and babbling streams winding around the courtyard. It was nothing short of a paradise away from the world.
He familiarly took a seat on the peach tree. A scattering of peach blossoms drifted down, covering a half-finished game of go on a stone board.
He reached out, picking the petals off the board one by one, then raised his hand to drop a black stone onto the grid.
In an instant, the state of the game reversed. The white stones were surrounded; though they still held numerical superiority across the board, they were firmly trapped within the web.
“You’re back.” The door of the house pushed open, and a young man in green robes stepped out.
He had gentle features and a refined, otherworldly disposition. His loose strands of hair were loosely bound with a green ribbon. Holding a flagon of wine, he walked toward the courtyard.
Ying Laixian stood up. “Master.”
Indeed, this man was Wei Heng, renowned throughout the martial world as Old Master Wei. A second-rank Sword Sage, though he was already over a hundred years old, his youthful appearance remained unchanged.
“I’ve already heard about what happened at the Flower Pavilion.” Wei Heng set down the wine he was carrying, poured a cup, and handed it to Ying Laixian. “Taste this.”
Ying Laixian took a small sip and smiled. “It’s bitter.”
“It is bitter. Wine is just like people—one must always experience a bit of hardship.” Wei Heng let out a long sigh. “Have you made your choice?”
Ying Laixian set his wine cup down. “I understand everything Master is worried about, but I am already on this path.”
“I knew you wouldn’t let it go.” Wei Heng sat down and looked down at the go board. “Using yourself as the board to lure the enemy in. Laixian, this is why you didn’t want to learn swordsmanship from me in the first place, isn’t it?”
Ying Laixian sat across from Wei Heng and said flatly, “I have come today to bid Master farewell.”
“Twelve years. In the end, you are still leaving.”
Ying Laixian didn’t speak. He had stayed in Quedu for twelve years, and Wei Heng had protected him for twelve years. Before this trip to the Flower Pavilion, Wei Heng had already stated that if he still didn’t intend to change his mind after this journey, he would let him go his own way.
“I have already learned all that my student can learn.” Ying Laixian stood up, knelt on both knees, and paid his deep respects to Wei Heng just as he had done all those years ago. “I have one more favor to ask of Master.”
Wei Heng caught Ying Laixian by the arms, his clear voice trembling slightly. “Speak.”
Ying Laixian looked steadily at Wei Heng, his eyes gradually growing moist as they met. “I hope that from now on, Master will pay no attention to me whatsoever, and no longer involve yourself in any of my affairs. Whatever I do has nothing to do with Master.”
Wei Heng’s hand shook. Ying Laixian continued, “I refuse to be slaughtered at the mercy of others any longer. I will engrave Master’s twelve years of teachings in my heart. When my wish is fulfilled one day, if I am still alive, I will return to repay this kindness.”
Ying Laixian knew all too well that if things continued like this, Wei Heng would inevitably be implicated sooner or later. His memories were fragmented, but he clearly remembered that in some past lifetime—he couldn’t even remember which rebirth it was—Wei Heng had died right before his eyes.
In that lifetime, he had chosen not to become Wei Heng’s disciple; yet even so, simply because Wei Heng had intervened in his affairs, that demon had not spared him either.
He rose from the ashes time and time again, every single rebirth stepping over the bones of these people.
Wei Heng sighed. “You were my first student.”
Back then, while passing through Wuzhou, he had encountered a young boy covered in wounds. The child’s words had been resolute, his very first demand was to take him as a master.
Wei Heng had known then that it was fate. He had taught Ying Laixian everything he knew, yet he could not help him break free from that blood-soaked cage.
“Go ahead and do what you must,” Wei Heng smiled. “Don’t worry about me. When I took you as my disciple, I had already foreseen where your path would lead. Laixian, you are not a canary trapped in a cage. Neither the martial world nor the imperial court is your true resting place; I only hope you remain safe and sound.”
Ying Laixian smiled. “Master’s calculations have never missed their mark. I will take your auspicious words to heart and certainly remain safe and sound.”
Wei Heng produced a letter and placed it in the palm of Ying Laixian’s hand. “If you go to White Paper Hall, deliver this to their sect leader for me.”
“Understood.”
Ying Laixian lowered his head and bowed deeply once more.
Outside White Cloud City, two men rode into the city on tall, spirited horses.
One had ordinary features and wore black martial attire, while the other was strikingly handsome and full of heroic vigor, with a strange, wide saber strapped to his waist.
These two were none other than Tan Congye and Chen Wen, who had followed the trail all the way here.
“White Cloud City. Heading straight ahead from here leads to Quedu. Did this Ying Laixian continue onward, or did he stop here?”
Tan Congye said aloud, “He came back. Among these places, there are only a handful of people connected to him. There’s Wei Heng inside White Cloud City, and Zhong Xiwu inside Quedu. Who do you think he’d go to see?”
“Old Master Wei is his teacher, and Zhong Xiwu, the Drunken Jade and Waning Mountain, is his junior martial brother. If we have to prioritize, he’d have to pay his respects to Old Master Wei first.”
“Smart,” Tan Congye remarked. “Our Gentleman Liuyu happens to be right here in this city.”
“I hear this Liuyu Shouxue has an estate in White Cloud City. I’ve already asked around,” Chen Wen said.
Tan Congye: “Let’s move.”
Ying Laixian returned to his estate by evening. Now that he had bid farewell to Wei Heng, there was still one more person who was crucial to this trip.
From now on, whether it was the imperial court or the martial world, he had to take everything into his own hands. Only then would he have enough leverage to take revenge on that monster.
“Jiang Ni,” Ying Laixian called out softly upon entering the courtyard, but no one answered.
He raised his eyes and saw the man he had tricked not long ago standing with his hands behind his back in the courtyard, his dark eyes filled with a chill.
Ying Laixian was slightly startled, then raised an eyebrow and spoke first, “Is City Lord Tan here to settle scores with me?”
Upon seeing that breathtaking face, even though he already knew he would find such a familiar countenance, Tan Congye still found himself sinking into the allure of that skin.
“Have you seen enough?”
The beauty’s voice carried a hint of coldness, instantly pulling Tan Congye out of that gentle dream. He met Ying Laixian’s cyan-tinted peach-blossom eyes, his gaze sweeping over the cinnabar mole between his brows. The man hadn’t done a thing, yet merely sitting there, he embodied the peerless beauty of the world, making everyone else pale in comparison.
“Liuyu Shouxue, a beauty like jade, a face like an immortal,” Tan Congye narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice. “Truly a fitting title; it suits you to perfection.”
Ying Laixian looked at Tan Congye with casual indifference. “I didn’t expect the City Lord to be someone who cares so much about appearances. Untalented as I am, I’ve merely been blessed with this good face; I have nothing else worth showing off.”
Knowing the other was mocking him, Tan Congye simply stepped forward, grabbed Ying Laixian by the chin, and said coldly, “You are too modest, Gentleman Liuyu. To be able to twist me around your finger and display such cunning strategy, you mustn’t sell yourself short.”
Ying Laixian frowned in pain. “City Lord Tan, I do indeed have leads on the information you want, but the Flower Pavilion incident isn’t enough to trade with me.”
“Oh? So you think I deserved to be played for a fool like that?”
“Of course not.” Ying Laixian coughed lightly, his tone steadying. “If you want to know the truth behind the destruction of the Changye Temple, I will tell you. But your stakes are simply too small; one Yan Zhou is not enough.”
“Whether it’s Yan Zhou or the Flower Pavilion, you and I both know the truth. I can’t trust a single word out of Gentleman Liuyu’s mouth.”
“You already believe it, from the moment you realized you’d been played. City Lord Tan, you must understand: I am the one playing the chess now. Though I don’t know why you are so obsessed with the destruction of the Changye Temple, I can tell you clearly: apart from me, no one else can give you an answer.”
Tan Congye had to admit that Ying Laixian knew how to handle him. They were both smart people and each knew what the other was plotting.
“It boils down to the fact that the things I’ve spent twelve years investigating can only be found here with you. Ying Laixian, answer my questions, and the score for tricking me earlier will be wiped clean. We can cooperate anew.”
Such a good deal? Ying Laixian certainly didn’t believe it; Tan Congye was a man who held grudges and repaid every slight. Yet he just smiled. “Let’s hear them.”
Tan Congye: “It is rumored throughout the world that you have never walked the martial world. I want to know if you were ever in Wuzhou before.”
Not a shred of excess emotion showed in Ying Laixian’s cyan-tinted eyes. He looked at Tan Congye and replied flatly, “Never.”
Tan Congye picked up seamlessly, “Twelve years ago, Old Master Wei traveled to Wuzhou and took in a local boy as his disciple. That person was you, Ying Laixian.”
“Twelve years ago?” Ying Laixian chuckled softly. “I am only nineteen now; I can’t remember things from twelve years ago clearly. Besides, Master never mentioned it to me. Could the City Lord’s information be nothing more than hearsay?”
“Whether it’s hearsay or not, you and I both know. The Changye Temple was in Wuzhou, and it was destroyed twelve years ago. And you happened to be in Wuzhou at that time, and you grasped or witnessed something.”
Unflustered, Ying Laixian replied, “They say City Lord Tan is obsessed with the sword, but I see you’re also quite well-suited to telling stories.”
Tan Congye’s tone hardened. “Not only is Gentleman Liuyu beautiful, but your tongue is remarkably sharp. Just because you have Zhong Xiwu protecting you in Yunwu, do you really think certain secrets won’t leak out?”
Ying Laixian could feel a dull ache spreading from his chin. He gave a soft chuckle, neither humble nor overbearing. “Zhong Xiwu is the Third Prince of Yunwu. Though we share the same master, we aren’t actually that close. The City Lord is overthinking it.”
“Am I overthinking it? You offer him strategies and, though you never walk the martial world, you have deep contact with the imperial court. You want to push him to that position—you don’t even need to cover it up. Why act so shy about admitting it? A year ago, when the Wuzhou circuit intendant case involved massive corruption, the imperial court sent Zhong Xiwu to investigate. At that time, you were with him.”
Every single word from Tan Congye rang with certainty. He seemed to hold conclusive evidence, using it right now to demand an explanation from Ying Laixian.
“What, does Gentleman Liuyu feel that what you’ve done is too shameful to speak of? To elevate Zhong Xiwu so you can secure a foothold in the court, do you truly believe the one sitting on the Dragon Throne knows nothing about it?”
Tan Congye pronounced every word distinctly, and every word struck home.
Ying Laixian knew very well what he was doing, how to do it, and what the ending would be.
The things he had spent lifetimes investigating were far too low in value if restricted to the martial world alone; he needed the entire empire to become his leverage so that monster would have nowhere to hide and would be forced to live right under his nose.
That step into the imperial court was one he had to take.
Otherwise, the end result would only be starting all over again.
Ying Laixian said in a low voice, “Since when did Yishui City start meddling in the affairs of the imperial court? Whether it’s my personal business or my ties to the court, I hardly think this is a place where Yishui City has any business standing. What on earth are you trying to say? If the City Lord merely wants to know the truth behind the destruction of the Changye Temple, there is no need to go to such lengths.”
Tan Congye stared unblinkingly at Ying Laixian. His eyes were unfathomably deep, his facial features sharp and stern. He tightened his grip slightly on the other’s chin, watching Ying Laixian frown in discomfort.
“There is nothing in this world that Yishui City dares not meddle in. And as luck would have it, Wuzhou holds many things that interest me. Sometimes, being too smart isn’t a good thing; a person like Gentleman Liuyu shouldn’t be so terribly conspicuous.”
“Neither should you,” Ying Laixian stared unflinchingly back at Tan Congye.
Tan Congye reached out and gently lifted a strand of Ying Laixian’s hair. “Acting tires a person out. Now that you’ve become the target of public criticism, your days ahead won’t be easy. I still want that truth. If Gentleman Liuyu truly is a smart man, you should know what to do.”