Jing Luo cut through the chaos with the speed of a sharp blade, leaving everyone dizzy before they could even react. Tan Bu Ju had already led Lightning Division members forward, rolling up sleeves and surrounding them.
The Thunder Division chief managers stared eagerly at Zhao Tong Qu’s back, hoping their leader would step forward at this moment and point out a clear road through the dark night. Zhao Tong Qu, however, merely lowered his head and remained silent, as though Jing Luo, this great wolf, had frightened him so badly that he did not dare move at all.
The outcome was exactly what Jing Luo had expected.
Zhao Tong Qu looked complicated, but at heart he was simple.
He possessed a burning ambition, as though his entire person might blaze for it, yet his actions always moved in the opposite direction. Perhaps because he had lost his mother when young, before carrying out any scheme his first thought was always how to keep himself clean. That was why his endings were neat and evidence was so difficult to catch.
At the root of everything was selfishness.
Earlier, when Pei Yuan Jin aimed directly at Zhao Tong Qu and Zhao Tong Qu’s own safety was involved, he had resisted to the death. But when Jing Luo targeted his subordinates instead, Zhao Tong Qu weighed profit against loss and chose retreat.
The selfless, outspoken, responsible image he had built was ultimately an illusion. The moment the sunlight became strong enough to burn his hand, it melted like ice.
Jing Luo escorted Zhao Tong Qu back to his residence.
Along the road, Zhao Tong Qu thought through many things: what had happened these past few days, the upheavals before that, even all the encounters he had experienced over the years. The path he had once believed smooth suddenly resembled a rope bridge stretched between two cliffs. Looking back from here, he could see only a bottomless abyss beneath it.
He thought: from the beginning, he had misjudged Jing Luo. Or perhaps Jing Luo had deliberately given him the wrong signal from the beginning, leading him to take one wrong path after another until every step was wrong.
He pushed open the door to his residence and looked at the square reception hall. Thinking that he might spend a very long time confined here in the future, a sudden fury rose inside him at the sense of having been betrayed.
Zhao Tong Qu abruptly turned and stared at Jing Luo. “I always thought you were different from them.”
Jing Luo lifted his eyes slightly, seemingly surprised by the statement.
Zhao Tong Qu murmured, “They all carry the air of immortals, but this is the mortal world, not the immortal realm. Their immortal air still has to be maintained by people. I thought I would become a second you. In this world, only you understood my situation and my ambitions.”
Jing Luo still did not speak, but neither did he leave. He quietly watched Zhao Tong Qu deliver one final speech before entering the room.
Zhao Tong Qu did not mind.
When no one was around, he could talk to himself for a long time. Now there was at least a listener beside him.
He continued, “You and the Palace Master. Me and the Young Master. We could have supported two generations of Immortal Treasury Palace.”
Jing Luo finally spoke, and with one sentence rejected everything Zhao Tong Qu had said. “You could not.”
Zhao Tong Qu asked calmly, “Why?”
Jing Luo said flatly, “You cannot survive in the light.” Given enough time in a dark corner, Zhao Tong Qu could once again breed terrifying schemes. But as long as he remained under sunlight, as long as everyone’s attention stayed on him, he would instinctively hide himself away.
Zhao Tong Qu’s whole body jolted. A bizarre fury appeared on his face. No one could easily accept that after working painstakingly for half a lifetime, the final evaluation they received was “you cannot survive in the light.”
But he quickly fell silent again.
Not because he accepted the judgment or tacitly agreed. The person who delivered it simply walked away without waiting for any response, as though completely certain there was an invisible chain around Zhao Tong Qu’s neck that would make him obediently enter that room.
Zhao Tong Qu did exactly as expected. But that did not mean he had chosen to give up. He had already planned his next path before following Jing Luo back.
Jing Luo had said publicly that this affair had nothing to do with Zhao Tong Qu. The coming period might therefore be somewhat difficult, but it would not completely crush him.
And suffering was something Zhao Tong Qu had grown accustomed to since childhood.
After Jing Luo left the corridor, he saw a tall, lonely figure standing beneath the moonlight.
In the past, when Pei Yuan Jin stood alone, he inspired thoughts of aloofness and cold pride. Now, however, he looked lonely, isolated, and desolate, as though half his soul had been taken away.
Pei Yuan Jin turned and caught the pity in Jing Luo’s eyes before the man could hide it. He raised a brow in confusion, then lowered it unhappily. “If I’d known you were coming back, I wouldn’t have rushed back myself.”
In truth, Pei Yuan Jin had not particularly wanted to leave either. Fu Xi Yan had simply urged him again and again, saying incomprehensible things like “the six great sects besieging Brightness Peak,” until Pei Yuan Jin had no choice but to return by himself.
Elio’s Notes: “The six great sects besieging Brightness Peak” refers to a major conflict in Jin Yong’s The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, where six orthodox martial sects unite to attack the Ming Cult’s headquarters.
Jing Luo said, “I also didn’t expect Zhao Tong Qu to look like this once he actually started moving.”
Clearly, this schemer who excelled at hiding in darkness and stirring storms revealed many laughable weaknesses the moment he personally stepped onto the stage. Give him a chessboard and enough time to think quietly, and he could become a poisonous strategist who killed without showing blood. Put him onto an actual battlefield, however, and he was not fit to command troops. This was also why Jing Luo had never taken him seriously all these years.
Pei Yuan Jin said, “He seems to have already found somewhere to go after leaving.” Otherwise he could hardly have been so optimistic about life outside Immortal Treasury Palace, or so unafraid of enemies who might retaliate at any moment.
Pei Yuan Jin added, “Perhaps the people the Ghostshadow Organization could never locate.”
Letting Zhao Tong Qu go had partly been intended to draw those people out and capture them all at once.
Jing Luo said, “Song Qi Yun is dead. What can the leftovers accomplish? At most, they’ll be used by Mo Xiao Ran. We’ll have to deal with Mo Xiao Ran eventually anyway. There are more important matters right now.”
Pei Yuan Jin looked at him, and a faint smile slowly appeared in his eyes. “Correct. It is indeed time to begin preparing.”
Jing Luo nodded. “Immortal Treasury Palace expanded too quickly over the years. The quality beneath us has become uneven. This is a good opportunity for a full reorganization. The Lightning Division has already reported irregularities from the regional branches. Once those reports are sorted, anyone harboring malicious intentions will be expelled. In addition, the regional branches need to be restructured. Letting all four divisions operate independently does indeed create problems…”
While he spoke, he noticed Pei Yuan Jin looking at him strangely.
“Does Young Master have another suggestion?”
Pei Yuan Jin said, “You can handle all of it.”
Jing Luo looked at the completely carefree expression identical to Pei Xiong Ji’s and helplessly touched his forehead. “Immortal Treasury Palace will eventually be yours to inherit.”
Pei Yuan Jin said, “But these things can be handed to my wife.”
Jing Luo: “…” Had the Palace Master’s wife died too early and caused the Young Master to develop some misunderstanding about what wives were supposed to do? Thinking about Fu Xi Yan still on the road, Jing Luo suddenly realized what Pei Yuan Jin had actually meant when he said it was time to begin preparing.
He said, “The last celebratory event held in the palace was Young Master’s one-month banquet. I never expected the next would be your wedding feast.”
Pei Yuan Jin smiled faintly. Beneath the clear, cold moonlight, the smile somehow carried a touch of sweetness. “Once Xi Yan arrives, we have another joyful matter to announce as well.”
When people spoke of double happiness arriving at the door together with the wedding night, it usually had something to do with the early birth of a noble son.
But Pei Yuan Jin and Fu Xi Yan obviously did not fit that situation.
Jing Luo asked, “Has Young Master perhaps made another breakthrough in martial cultivation?”
Pei Yuan Jin said, “It isn’t my breakthrough. Xi Yan discovered something inside the Earth Mirror, something critically important to the Martial Path. I can’t explain it clearly. To avoid disturbing Father’s state of mind with fragments and half-understood pieces, Chief Steward Jing should go.”
“Go where?”
“Stop them from continuing down the wrong path.” Pei Yuan Jin said, “On the Martial God path, we missed the crossing.”
Jing Luo’s heart shook.
He had remained at peak Martial King for many years and had stayed there deliberately. Maintaining that state had required enormous effort. After all, the summit was a tiny patch of ground on top of a mountain. Moving upward or downward was easy. Standing there indefinitely required not only balancing on tiptoe, but preserving a delicate equilibrium.
Several elders had once advised him to take the next step. The Martial God Stage was not as terrifying as everyone imagined. Once they put on their “iron barrels,” they could still beat whoever they wished.
But Jing Luo had always felt that taking that step would make him miss something. Pei Yuan Jin had finally spoken the answer aloud. What Jing Luo lacked was a “crossing” that would let him leave this piece of land and travel toward an entirely new continent.
Martial God was merely a branch derived from Martial King. After spending so many years at the peak of Martial King, what Jing Luo needed was not another step forward. He needed to leap upward with his entire body and open a brand-new world!
In that instant, countless thoughts surged through him. A barrier in his state of mind that had been suppressed for years suddenly loosened. He hurriedly gathered his focus and calmed the resulting fluctuations.
He knew Pei Yuan Jin’s caution was correct. If they could not explain the matter from beginning to end with perfect clarity and merely dropped fragments of information into the ears of those old men, letting them freely imagine the rest, something disastrous could happen.
He asked, “How many days until Xi Yan arrives?”
Pei Yuan Jin said, “At their previous pace, six or seven.”
Jing Luo considered for a moment. “After you left, Mo Xiao Ran went to Xingzhou and briefly met Xi Yan.”
Pei Yuan Jin’s entire body instantly went taut.
Jing Luo gave a soft laugh. “I had been wondering what Mo Xiao Ran went to Xingzhou to do. Now I realize he didn’t need to do anything. Simply appearing already accomplished something.”
That was the greatest difference between Mo Xiao Ran and Zhao Tong Qu.
Even if Zhao Tong Qu rebelled, Jing Luo would merely clean him up with a light hand. Mo Xiao Ran, by contrast, could simply flick away a speck of dust and people would still feel compelled to pick up every grain and examine it carefully.
Pei Yuan Jin abruptly turned toward the path down the mountain. “I’m going to meet him!”
After walking some distance, he realized Jing Luo was still following behind and stopped in surprise.
Jing Luo walked with both hands behind his back and leisurely said, “I’ll see you off.”
Pei Yuan Jin did not bother asking why. There were several people in this world whose thoughts he could neither understand nor be bothered trying to understand, and Jing Luo was unquestionably one of them. One ahead and one behind, the two flew rapidly along the mountain road.
Along the way they saw the former Thunder Division chief managers, who were walking normally but in a heavy silence, almost as though they had just attended a funeral and were still mourning.
Neither Pei Yuan Jin nor Jing Luo stopped. They continued all the way to Houjia Alley.
Pei Yuan Jin’s horse was still eating feed there.
While he went to retrieve the horse, Jing Luo paid a visit to Elder Tan, who was “working.”
In his sleep, Elder Tan’s drool had blurred the writing on the reports into a smeared mess. A Martial God could sleep without snoring, but apparently Martial Gods still drooled.
Jing Luo expressionlessly gathered the documents. After so many years in Immortal Treasury Palace, he had clearly grown accustomed to every variety of unreliable colleague. As he collected the papers, however, he discovered Tan Chang Gong had at least accomplished one useful thing: he had counted the people.
Jing Luo compared the figures on the paper with the number who had come up the mountain today. Clearly, many others had left their assigned posts and then vanished. And that number happened to be close to the number of Ghostshadow Organization members who had disappeared from contact after Song Qi Yun’s death.
No wonder the Ghostshadow Organization had managed to preserve its “ghostly shadow” mystery. Some of its people had actually been moonlighting inside Immortal Treasury Palace. More frighteningly, before Zhao Tong Qu impulsively exposed his own pieces, the Lightning Division had only ever detected Lu Rui Chun, who could barely be considered an external contact for the Ghostshadow Organization!
Jing Luo could not resist rubbing his brow.
Tan Chang Gong secretly opened his eyes and glanced at Jing Luo, then quickly closed them again and continued pretending to sleep.
Jing Luo could not be bothered exposing him. Considering Jing Luo had walked in openly, a Martial God failing to notice would have been absurd. Jing Luo gathered the papers and sat down again.
Mount Fujun had already produced enough commotion tonight and attracted enough attention. Jing Luo did not want his every move to become a focus of scrutiny and inspire unnecessary speculation. Houjia Alley would therefore serve as his temporary study and command post.
Lightning Division members, including Tan Bu Ju, were already waiting at their assigned positions. Jing Luo was about to begin cutting away at the bloated body of Immortal Treasury Palace, whose rapid growth had allowed rot to develop inside.
The first order he sent was a message to Pei Xiong Ji in seclusion.
Its wording was stern. The Palace Master, elders, and chief managers were forbidden from doing anything over the next few days, and especially forbidden from entering seclusion. They were to remain obediently where they were and wait. The Young Master’s wedding was a major event for Immortal Treasury Palace. Every single person had to be present. No exceptions.
When Immortal Treasury Palace’s true supporting pillar spoke, even Palace Master Pei had no choice but to listen.
Darkness came earlier and earlier. Both people and horses were increasingly exhausted, especially Madam Fu, Aunt Qin, and the other older women who knew no martial arts. That evening, Fu Xi Yan decided they would stop half a shichen early.
Fu Chen Xing carried the map over as part of his daily routine and asked how many days remained before they arrived. As always, Fu Xi Yan answered, “Soon.”
Fu Chen Xing declared that he was already eight years old and would be nine after the New Year. He was not a three-year-old child who could be casually brushed off.
Fu Xi Yan said, “I’ll play shuttlecock with you later.”
The eight-year-old who had achieved his true objective happily accepted the exchange.
Fu Xia Qing climbed down from the carriage and looked enviously at the little figure bouncing around in front of her. “So much energy.”
Fu Xi Yan could not stand seeing a teenage girl envy the energy of a child several years younger, as though she had barely begun enjoying the splendor of youth and was already lamenting the merciless passage of age. What was that if not self-indulgent melancholy?
He said, “If there were a dozen people banging gongs and drums here right now, plus someone belting out ‘Steel Roses’ at the top of their lungs, you’d have plenty of energy too.”
Then he heard the pleasant ringing of bells.
Fu Xia Qing was still about to ask what “Steel Roses” meant when she saw him suddenly sprint away. With one leap he vanished into the woods.
Seeing this, Xiao Zhang immediately jumped into a tree and vigilantly surveyed the surroundings. Fu Li An and the others hurriedly gathered toward the center.
After chasing more than ten zhang, Fu Xi Yan stopped and decided to return. He was the strongest fighter in the group. If someone wanted to do something to the others, the obvious first move would be luring him away.
But the moment he turned back, the bell sounded again.
Fu Xi Yan’s expression chilled.
He had heard this same bell once when leaving Haojing. Because of various circumstances, he had missed the chance to ask about it. Later he learned the truth of his birth, learned about the entanglement between Jin Yuan Xiu and Mo Xiao Ran, and learned that before he had fully grown into his own strength, it was best not to meet Jin Yuan Xiu and risk provoking Mo Xiao Ran. But now Mo Xiao Ran already knew Fu Xi Yan knew the truth. Perhaps the time had finally come for him and Jin Yuan Xiu to meet.
Yet Jin Yuan Xiu had been missing for years. The only route to learning her whereabouts was obviously Yan Xie, the Little Divine Physician who had helped Jin Yuan Xiu fake her death.
That bell was the bell on Yan Xie’s carriage.
Not many people knew Fu Xi Yan had been searching for him. Could someone inside Immortal Treasury Palace be involved? Had the internal problem there grown so serious that even Fu Xi Yan’s attempt to find the Little Divine Physician could be exploited?
Thinking that, Fu Xi Yan quickened his steps back toward the camp. Suddenly a small pellet shot toward his back. Its speed was not especially great, but when it came within several cun of him, it abruptly changed direction.
Fu Xi Yan protected himself with true qi and bounced the pellet away.
But the force inside the pellet was strange, almost like striking an ox through empty space. Although the pellet never touched Fu Xi Yan, the corresponding place on his body still produced a faint sting.
After the first pellet fell, a second came, then a third… Soon dozens of pellets were firing continuously from every direction.
Fu Xi Yan jumped and twisted, moving left and right. He clearly dodged every single pellet, yet his body still got “hit” several times. While evading, he tried desperately to locate the source, but frighteningly, although the pellets came from different directions, their force, changes in angle, and method were all identical.
Either four fellow disciples with nearly identical cultivation and techniques had hidden themselves in eight directions, or someone with extraordinary movement arts was constantly jumping from place to place, or else…
Fu Xi Yan no longer wanted to guess. He shouted angrily, “Who the hell are you?”
The pellets abruptly stopped.
Fu Xi Yan stopped moving and vigilantly looked around. After confirming no second wave was coming, he turned and ran straight back toward the camp.
When he returned, the campfires had not yet been lit. Everyone had even left the carriages and gathered together, holding onto one another and keeping watch. When Fu Xi Yan emerged from the woods, Fu Xia Qing’s maid generously provided another scream.
“Are you all right?”
Both sides asked the same question at once.
Seeing everyone safe, Fu Xi Yan released a breath in relief. “Nothing happened. I went into the woods to gather firewood.” When everyone looked at his conspicuously empty hands, he smiled. “Then I remembered I’m no longer in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so there’s no reason for me to do that job.”
No one present knew about Chu Shao Yang once making him gather firewood, so naturally the punch line landed in silence.
The entire camp began preparing dinner beneath a cloud of awkwardness.
Fu Xi Yan played shuttlecock with Fu Chen Xing for a while, then chatted with Madam Fu, Aunt Qin, Aunt Hong, and the others. Only after finishing dinner did he return to his carriage.
He called Xiao Zhang inside, then took off his clothes. Xiao Zhang nearly gouged out his own eyes on the spot.
“…I only want you to help me look at my injuries.” Fu Xi Yan was helpless.
Xiao Zhang dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead against the carriage floor. He might not have gouged out his eyes, but he made absolutely certain those eyes saw nothing.
Fu Xi Yan had no choice but to send him to fetch Fu Li An.
Fu Li An arrived carrying a lantern. Seeing the small red marks scattered across Fu Xi Yan’s body, his first reaction was, “Young Master Pei came back?”
Fu Xi Yan snapped, “This isn’t domestic violence!”
Fu Li An leaned closer. Realizing the marks were not what he had imagined, his brows immediately drew together. “Who did this?”
Fu Xi Yan very much wanted to know the same thing.
Once he calmed down and reconsidered, he realized he had fallen into the trap of his own assumptions. The person ringing the bell was not necessarily the Little Divine Physician. Anyone hearing bells in the middle of nowhere would become curious and want to investigate. The truly important point was the attacker’s precise control over the sound, keeping it just inside Fu Xi Yan’s hearing range while remaining beyond Xiao Zhang’s and the others’.
“Help me put medicine on them.” Fu Xi Yan handed him the injury salve.
Fu Li An looked at how widely the red marks were distributed. “One bottle won’t be enough.”
Fu Xi Yan: “…”
Damn it! He had better never discover who had done this, or he would make the bastard repay his medical expenses until they went bankrupt!
The pellet attack in the woods seemed to be the final tribulation of Fu Xi Yan’s wedding journey. Afterward the road remained smooth, without even a day of rain.
But the weather abruptly turned cold. Concubine Qian, who had been watching over her injured son day and night, fell ill. Soon afterward Madam Fu and Fu Xia Qing became sick as well. At that point, they were less than two days away from Mount Fujun.
Fu Xi Yan decided they would rest in a nearby village. His reasoning was simple. “If we’re going there for a wedding, everyone should arrive looking happy and festive.”
The sudden arrival of so many people nearly frightened the village headman out of his wits. Every household could squeeze out one or two rooms, but Fu Xi Yan did not want the group scattered apart, so he simply paid to rent the largest landlord residence in the village.
After an entire round of chaotic arrangements, they finally settled in before nightfall. The physician summoned from town had also prescribed medicine. The maids were just about to prepare it when trouble broke out in the rear courtyard. Someone shouted that thieves had entered.
The household guards and Phoenix-Roosting Unit captured them. They were nothing more than village layabouts who had seen the newcomers spending generously and decided to test their luck.
Fu Li An came forward to deal with the matter. Everyone else finally took proper baths and prepared to rest, only for another villager to arrive asking whether they wanted to buy maids or young servants.
Fu Li An handled that too.
When someone knocked yet again, Fu Xi Yan kept his eyes closed and said without turning around, “Go out, turn left, and find my big brother!”
The person outside fell silent. Fu Xi Yan was just preparing to return to roaming through dreamland when he suddenly jolted awake. Why could he not hear footsteps leaving the door?
He opened his eyes and looked toward the door.
The room was dark while the outside was bright, so the person’s outline showed clearly against the paper covering the door.
Fu Xi Yan bounced out of bed and rushed over. He did not even have time to put on shoes. Barefoot, he ran several steps, yanked open the door, and threw himself directly into the figure who had been about to leave, hugging him with all his strength.
The embrace had come so late and yet exactly in time.
Pei Yuan Jin turned around, preparing to properly enjoy their reunion, only for the person in his arms to lift his head and angrily complain, “While you were gone, someone ambushed me!”