Fu Xi Yan repeatedly cupped his hands, saying, “How could I possibly accept?” while very “embarrassedly” urging the inn worker to hurry up and lead the way.
Everyone gathered in the main hall watched with their own eyes as this shameless man, whose personality did not match his appearance in the slightest, followed the worker step by step up the stairs to the second floor. Behind him came a genuine calamity incarnate and a skirt-wearing strange bird rumored to be a Red Peng.
Ordinarily, if they encountered these two men and one bird alone somewhere else, even if they were inwardly cursing their ancestors, they would still greet them politely on the surface. But here, nobody wanted to be the first bird to stick its head out. Who could say the servile inn worker was not secretly one of the Spirit Sect’s eyes and ears?
Yu Xiong Jian had stirred the pot to vent his resentment, borrowing someone else’s knife to kill. His goal had indeed been achieved, but he had also thoroughly angered everyone else.
Giving up the room had harmed not only Elder Yun’s interests. It had also opened a path for Fu Xi Yan.
As the saying went, public anger was difficult to offend. If everyone had closed ranks and stubbornly refused to acknowledge Fu Xi Yan, he still could have singled out someone and started trouble, but the effect would never have been as good as this.
So the moment Fu Xi Yan went upstairs, everyone else surrounded the Beishan Sect.
Yu Xiong Jian immediately lost his nerve and muttered in a tiny voice, “The best room was Elder Yun’s room. How was I supposed to know Elder Yun would… actually give it up?”
So now he was blaming me for being a coward? Elder Yun smiled viciously. “You’re certainly enthusiastic. What, have you forgotten why your master came to Southern Yu in the first place? You want to become Immortal Treasury Palace’s dog?”
The Beishan Sect members hurriedly waved their hands and desperately tugged at Yu Xiong Jian’s clothes. Seeing the fierce expressions surrounding him, Yu Xiong Jian became frightened and blurted, “Why don’t we go take the room back together?”
“Fine!” Elder Yun had just been about to say, Then you go, when the inn worker hurried downstairs and said the newly arrived guests were inviting him up.
Elder Yun’s expression changed instantly. Could they have heard that “fine” just now? Couldn’t they at least listen to the entire sentence?
His face alternated between green and white. Any attempt to explain now would only make him look more guilty, but he was also unwilling to let the true culprit off lightly. He gave Yu Xiong Jian a smile that never reached his eyes. “This old man has been standing too long. My legs aren’t very nimble. Help me upstairs!” Without allowing any refusal, he dragged the man toward the stairs.
Yu Xiong Jian was pulled along stumbling behind him. His own legs looked far less nimble than Elder Yun’s.
The two went upstairs and reached the room. The door stood wide open. With one glance they could see Pei Yuan Jin seated at the table, the Crimson Dragon King in his hair, leisurely brewing tea.
Yu Xiong Jian quietly backed up half a step. Elder Yun inwardly cursed him for being useless and had no choice but to speak first. “What further instruction do you two have for us?”
Fu Xi Yan was feeding dried meat to Fu Gui Gui and did not even look back. “Elder Yun’s luggage is still in the room. I don’t know which things are important, so it wouldn’t be right for me to help…”
Before he finished speaking, Elder Yun shot into the room in one stride and swiftly snatched down a half-dry loincloth hanging beside one window, then the undergarment hanging beside the other.
Elder Yun had no disciples or descendants traveling with him, and he was not wealthy, so when away from home he inevitably had to wash and dry his own clothes. It was both private and perfectly ordinary, which was precisely why he had not remembered it immediately.
Watching a man of Elder Yun’s age rush around the room on those two supposedly “unsteady” legs made Yu Xiong Jian feel inexplicably sorry for him. He could not resist stepping into the room and standing there to lend moral support.
If Elder Yun had not been so frantically busy, he might already have coughed up a mouthful of old blood and screamed toward Heaven, You melon-brained idiot, why don’t you just die?! By the time he had hurriedly stuffed all the clothes into his bundle, Yu Xiong Jian had already accepted Fu Xi Yan’s invitation and was sitting at the table drinking tea.
Fu Xi Yan even called to him. “Elder Yun, come join us.”
Elder Yun swept back the lock of hair that had fallen messily beside his ear and raised his chin. “Your courtesy is appreciated. No need!”
Pei Yuan Jin said calmly, “Yun Zhong Bei. Third leader of the Seven-Story Gang.”
Elder Yun stopped in his tracks and asked in an unfriendly tone, “Does Young Master Pei intend to exterminate us to the last man?”
Pei Yuan Jin shook his head. “When the Seven-Story Gang caused trouble back then, you and the sixth leader were comparatively clean.”
Elder Yun said angrily, “And yet you still killed Old Six!” Because their principles had been similar, he and the sixth leader had been closest within the Seven-Story Gang.
Pei Yuan Jin sighed. “My father mentioned that incident. It was a misunderstanding. Who could have expected him to choose to fight in place of your fifth leader? The fifth leader is also in Southern Yu now, isn’t he?”
The fifth and sixth leaders of the Seven-Story Gang had been twins. Only those intimately familiar with them could tell them apart, and Immortal Treasury Palace clearly had not been among that number.
Venom appeared on Elder Yun’s face. “Correct. Every Qingming Festival, I still go see him and burn three sticks of incense for him.” The entanglements behind all this were not something to discuss before outsiders, and he had no intention of explaining.
Pei Yuan Jin said, “If you return to Northern Zhou, Immortal Treasury Palace will not stop you. Why wade into these muddy waters?”
Elder Yun said, “So I can go back and live beneath Immortal Treasury Palace’s nose? Heh. Whatever Old Six himself thought, he ultimately died at your father’s hands. I still have to collect that debt.”
Fu Xi Yan said with extraordinary enthusiasm, “Palace Master Pei is on Mount Fujun. If you don’t know the way, I can draw you a map. If you’re worried they won’t let you through the gates, I can write you a recommendation letter.”
Elder Yun glared resentfully at Pei Yuan Jin. “A father’s debt is repaid by the son. If Pei Xiong Ji isn’t here, I can settle it with you instead.”
Pei Yuan Jin thought for a moment. “Actually, the one who killed Old Six back then was Elder Tan Chang Gong.”
Fu Xi Yan immediately added, “Elder Tan’s son is called Tan Bu Ju.”
Elder Yun was so furious that his hair practically puffed upward, making him look like an enraged lion’s head. “After dragging the conversation in every direction, is Young Master Pei simply afraid?”
Fu Xi Yan answered before Pei Yuan Jin could. “My Yuan Jin treasures old acquaintances. At your age, every meeting might be the last. If he chats a little more with you now, he’ll have more material to remember later.”
A strange ge-ge sound came from Elder Yun’s throat, as though he were suppressing a cough or attempting a cold laugh and forcing it back for some reason. He glared fiercely at Yu Xiong Jian, who was sitting on the stool enjoying the spectacle, then turned to leave. Only then did he discover that the door had somehow closed. His face changed immediately. He rounded on Pei Yuan Jin, and even his voice changed pitch. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Uh.” Fu Xi Yan stood and said to Yu Xiong Jian, “Elder Yun is already this old. Surely you don’t expect him to open a door himself? Hurry and open it for him. If you wait too long and Elder Yun gets frightened by the door, what then?”
Yu Xiong Jian had finished his tea. At those words, he hurried over and pulled the door open.
…
Elder Yun hugged his bundle and left without looking back. Yu Xiong Jian did not dare linger and hurried after him.
The people downstairs had not dispersed. Every ear was stretched toward the sounds above until the two men came running down one after another.
“How was it?”
“What did they call you upstairs to say?”
Everyone began questioning them at once.
Elder Yun was too embarrassed to admit he had gone upstairs to collect his laundry and was about to brush the matter aside when that little traitor Yu Xiong Jian had already spilled even the contents of his underpants and was still indignantly defending him. “Elder Yun’s clothes weren’t even dry yet!”
“Shut your mouth.” Elder Yun could not help cutting him off.
“That’s all they said?” The others clearly did not believe it.
Yu Xiong Jian said, “Young Master Pei seems to know Elder Yun. He said Elder Yun can return to Northern Zhou whenever he wants.”
That was technically true, but saying it in this setting inevitably invited speculation. Whether he intended it or not, Yu Xiong Jian was not escaping the charge of fanning the flames.
Elder Yun glared at him. With new hatred piled on old, he looked ready to attack.
Yu Xiong Jian was badly frightened and backed away repeatedly, but Elder Yun had already struck with a palm. He was one of the strongest people in the inn. The force raised by that single palm seemed powerful enough to sweep through the entire building.
Yu Xiong Jian escaped awkwardly and tried to hide behind someone else, but who here was willing to step forward and offend a powerful expert for him? Forget unrelated people. Even the other Beishan Sect members scattered out of the way.
Fu Xi Yan stood at the open door listening to the commotion below and said to Pei Yuan Jin, “That young man is a talent.”
The chaos ended quickly.
Yu Xiong Jian took several palm strikes. His internal organs felt as though they had shifted out of place, and blood ran from both his mouth and nostrils, making him look frighteningly injured.
“We’re all fellow members of the jianghu. Elder Yun, please leave him a little dignity,” pleaded the Beishan Sect elder who had brought Yu Xiong Jian here. “This boy has been poor with words and slow in the head since childhood. He didn’t mean to offend you. Besides, before long he is supposed to go to Lingnan. If we fail to deliver him, it will be difficult to explain matters to Sect Leader He.”
Elder Yun had already vented most of his anger after several strikes, but hearing that made his expression ugly again. “Are you using He Si Yu to pressure me?”
The moment the name He Si Yu was spoken, the entire inn went quiet.
Silence always made it easier to calm down.
Elder Yun looked at Yu Xiong Jian, obvious struggle passing through his eyes. He had never truly intended to kill the young man, but the Beishan elder’s words had trapped him in a dilemma. If he stopped now, would that not prove he was genuinely afraid of He Si Yu?
But He Si Yu…
Elder Yun would never admit it aloud, but inwardly he still feared the man somewhat. After all, the remaining Martial Gods and Martial Kings in Southern Yu could now be counted on two fingers, and He Si Yu happened to be one of those two.
In the middle of the stalemate, a wash of blue-green like flowing water stepped from the darkness into the lamplight. The newcomer was a beautiful girl with delicate features, like a narcissus bud just beginning to open. Though not yet in full bloom, she already possessed striking grace.
At a moment when swords were drawn and bows bent, the sudden arrival of a beautiful young girl provided an excellent way down from the stage.
Elder Yun broke the silence first. “Who are you?”
The girl smiled. “Weren’t you all just shouting my father’s name? I’m He You You.”
She never even looked at Yu Xiong Jian lying on the floor, but her appearance finally made Elder Yun choose to retreat. The Beishan Sect members hurriedly carried Yu Xiong Jian away for treatment, while everyone else rushed forward to flatter He You You and strike up acquaintance.
He You You said, “My father heard that the Young Master of Immortal Treasury Palace and the Master of the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror had honored us with their presence…”
Fu Xi Yan seemed to hear the commotion and was coming downstairs. At those words, he stopped halfway down the staircase and waved to her from afar.
He You You treated him as though he did not exist and continued expressionlessly, “Then how can Qifu Inn still allow outsiders to stay here?”
Her tone was flat. Even the question sounded like a statement. Her youthful face carried a trace of condescending rebuke, as though saying, How can all of you be this inconsiderate?
Even though everyone feared her father, they could not help feeling irritated. Especially because they had been the ones staying here first!
He You You said, “My father is staying at Tongde Inn. There are twenty-three rooms left. That should be enough for all of you to move there.”
Once they realized she had made other arrangements, everyone felt a little better. At least they had found a respectable excuse for swallowing the indignity: the Lingnan Sect leader had sent his daughter to invite them to stay together. Was that not an honor?
But someone still raised a concern. “We have friends still on the road. I’m afraid twenty-three rooms won’t be enough.”
He You You glanced at him and answered something entirely different. “Today, someone cut in line while entering the city and even tried to draw a saber. He was arrested. For the next few days, unless someone has an invitation to the assembly, even if they make it through the city gates, they’ll only be allowed to visit the yamen as guests.”
These men had been expelled and hunted by Immortal Treasury Palace precisely because they were members of the so-called “Avengers Alliance.” None of them possessed much of a moral baseline. On hearing this, they had only one thought: Cutting in line is a crime now? Why would someone get arrested for that?
He You You did not explain further. Plenty of people had seen the incident. If these men cared enough to ask around, they would eventually learn what happened.
Since they were going to change inns, they might as well move early and sleep early. The people who had been laughing and drinking in the hall quickly returned to their rooms to pack, eager to claim the best positions at Tongde Inn.
Elder Yun had no room to return to, and his luggage was already in his arms, so he could only stand awkwardly in the hall. He could have been the first to leave, but that would have looked too eager to curry favor. He was still a Dao-Entry Stage expert only one step from Martial King and needed to preserve at least a little dignity. Only after most of the others were ready did he blend into the group and move with them to the new inn.
Once all the guests had left, the innkeeper was practically weeping over the loss when He You You placed a large silver ingot on the table. “I’m reserving the entire inn for three days.”
The innkeeper grimaced. “That’s only enough for two.”
He You You froze. For once, embarrassment cracked the icy calm of her face. “Mm. Then…”
“I’ll pay the rest.” Fu Xi Yan had already returned to the room, but his voice floated down from upstairs just in time to save her. Clearly, he had been following everything happening below.
Inside the room, Pei Yuan Jin sat by the window, apparently resting his chin on one hand while gazing at the night outside. Yet the Crimson Dragon King in his hair was flickering with light, indicating that matters were not quite so simple.
Fu Xi Yan did not dare disturb him. He quietly washed his face and feet, then lay down and was just about to sleep when Pei Yuan Jin suddenly asked, “You saw He You You?”
Without waiting for the next question, Fu Xi Yan proactively answered, “Pretty. And she looks a little like someone.”
“How pretty?”
Fu Xi Yan: “…” Wouldn’t a normal person ask who she looks like at a time like this?
Fu Xi Yan said, “Not as pretty as you.”
Pei Yuan Jin stopped asking.
Fu Xi Yan: “…” As expected of his Pei Yuan Jin. Truly one of a kind.
* * *
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
During those three days, Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin remained at the inn the entire time. They had already enjoyed Lin’an’s famously beautiful scenery on their previous visit, so there was no need to exhaust the Southern Yu court by forcing it to mobilize another great operation merely because they wanted to revisit old sights.
That morning, after eating authentic xiaolongbao and pian’erchuan noodles, they did not immediately set out. Instead, they went upstairs for a short rest before finally strolling lazily toward the drill ground.
It had rained the previous night and stopped only recently. The ground still held traces of dampness, while the wind against the face felt clammy and cold, an unpleasant combination.
Winter’s chill seemed to seep inward from the bones. Even Fu Xi Yan, who had lived in the north for years, found it uncomfortable, much less Pei Yuan Jin, whose true qi had fallen dormant again and who was even more sensitive to cold than an ordinary person.
Fu Xi Yan had noticed this early and bundled him up thickly. The only drawback was that the carefully prepared battle robe now looked a little puffy and lacked some of its intended elegance.
“It’s fine. We’ve got the faces for it.”
At the end of the day, outshining everyone still depended on the face!
The drill ground was not very large. Weeds grew thickly in the corners and the outer walls were mottled with age, suggesting the place was rarely used. The nearby residents had already been relocated. Today, this place truly was an isolated island.
Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin arrived at an easy pace. They did not even need to introduce themselves before being welcomed inside. Their faces were the best nameplates possible. Finding two men traveling together was easy. Finding two faces like theirs was not.
The invitation gave the scheduled start time for the martial arts assembly. By now it should already have been two hours past that time, yet judging from everyone’s expressions, the assembly had not officially begun.
The key figures had not arrived. Anything said before then would be empty talk.
Fu Xi Yan knew that perfectly well, which was why he had felt no need to rush over in a panic.
This was obviously a public denunciation session. Who in their right mind would hurry over early to be denounced?
As Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin arrived side by side, some people envied them, some admired them, some muttered inwardly, and some looked up to them. They deliberately walked along the edge of the crowd, yet wherever they went somehow became the center.
The person invited to preside over the assembly was the Southern Ridge Sect Leader.
Southern Ridge and Lingnan. The same two characters in reverse order, yet two completely different sects.
Southern Ridge was an ancient sect with a long history. Its foundation remained, but with no strong successors emerging, it had gradually declined. Its most famous story in recent years was merely that its chief disciple, Tie Er, had been seduced by Yin Fei Yu during the campaign against the Puppet Path, and the pair had fled south together.
The Lingnan Sect, by contrast, had been founded by Sect Leader He Si Yu a little over ten years ago and was flourishing.
Seeing that the pair had finally arrived, the Southern Ridge Sect Leader breathed a sigh of relief. At last, he no longer needed to keep filling time with endless nonsense. “Exterminating the Puppet Path has always been Immortal Treasury Palace’s principle. Since the Young Master has graced Southern Yu with his presence, perhaps the Young Master can state his position for everyone.”
Pei Yuan Jin looked at Fu Xi Yan. Fu Xi Yan rose. “Everyone knows Yuan Jin and I are inseparable. Since the Southern Ridge Sect Leader has so warmly invited me, I’ll say a few words?”
The Southern Ridge Sect Leader gave him a meaningful look. “As the new Master of the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror, Master Fu naturally has every qualification.”
Fu Xi Yan said, “As everyone also knows, Mo Xiao Ran, the Puppet Path Grandmaster whom all of you once hunted until he had no choice but to flee with his tail between his legs, was once the live-in son-in-law of the former Master of the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror. Because of this, quite a few people misunderstood the old Master. It was only after the battle at Luo Market that everyone finally understood the painstaking intentions of the old Master and Miss Shi. Why do we hate Mo Xiao Ran? Because he is the Puppet Path Grandmaster? No. Because he kills without blinking and has committed countless evils. Killing him prevents more people from being harmed. But the extermination of the Puppet Path that the Southern Ridge Sect Leader just mentioned only reaches the first level: hating evil with a passion.
“The old Master could be called the foremost martial artist beneath Heaven. We need to study his ideological level carefully. Why did he accept Mo Xiao Ran as a son-in-law? Because by then, the old Master had already taken one step beyond us and reached the second level: persuading Mo Xiao Ran to abandon evil and turn toward good, to lay down the butcher’s knife and become a Buddha where he stood. A man like Mo Xiao Ran can bring disaster beneath Heaven when he commits evil, but if he were made to practice virtue and accumulate good deeds, he could benefit the four seas. This was the old Master’s heart of benevolence.
“But we all know a dog can’t change… cough. Mountains and rivers are easy to change; a person’s nature is difficult to alter. Mo Xiao Ran ultimately betrayed the old Master’s hopes. At that point, the old Master rose another level, reaching: ‘If I do not enter Hell, who will?’ The spirit with which the old Master and Miss Shi sacrificed themselves for righteousness deserves not only our admiration, but our serious study.
“I propose that the spirit of the old Master and Miss Shi be adopted as the guiding spirit of this assembly. After the meeting concludes, we should produce a written… document and distribute it beneath Heaven so everyone can study it earnestly. Only then can we be worthy of the spirits of the old Master and Miss Shi in Heaven, and only then will today’s assembly possess meaning!
“That concludes my remarks. Thank you, everyone!”
…
Ordinarily, whenever someone finished speaking in a setting like this, somebody below would applaud. It was not merely courtesy. Mostly, it was habit.
Today, however, Fu Xi Yan had already returned to Pei Yuan Jin’s side and the surroundings remained silent… Well, not entirely silent. Plenty of people were whispering.
They were all asking one another what Fu Xi Yan had just said. Why had they understood every individual word and yet understood nothing once the words were strung together?
Everyone else had the luxury of ignorance and silence, but as the host, the Southern Ridge Sect Leader could not leave the atmosphere hanging. He forced out a smile. “No wonder Master Shi passed the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror to Master Fu. After hearing your words, I finally understand where the true path lies.”
Fu Xi Yan replied politely, “I’m ashamed. A study conference on the old Master’s spirit ought to have been organized by me in the first place, yet you beat me to it. That was a failure on my part. Still, I must thank the assembly for giving me the chance to speak. I actually have many more thoughts from the heart, but because of time constraints, I won’t expand on them one by one.”
“Good, good, good.” The Southern Ridge Sect Leader said good three times in a row, clearly terrified that Fu Xi Yan might genuinely start expanding.
He turned to the crowd. “Master Fu just said that the Puppet Path has committed countless evils and that Mo Xiao Ran’s crimes are unforgivable. As members of the righteous martial world, we must unite and eradicate the Puppet Path from top to bottom.”
Fu Xi Yan: “…” Was that what he had just said?
“Good!”
Thanks to the class representative. Everyone finally understood and burst into applause and cheers.
The Southern Ridge Sect Leader looked toward He Si Yu and suddenly smiled strangely. “Sect Leader He participated in the old extermination campaign and knows the treachery and cunning of the Puppet Path better than anyone. Why not use this opportunity to tell everyone about it?”
He Si Yu glanced at him and said coolly, “You You.”
He You You, standing beside him, obeyed and stepped forward. Ignoring the Southern Ridge Sect Leader’s instantly blackened expression, she cupped her hands to the crowd. “My father says that when it’s time to kill Mo Xiao Ran, count him in.”
“Good!”
Another thunderous round of applause followed.
Seeing that the discussion still had not reached the true subject, the Southern Ridge Sect Leader could not resist glancing toward his rear right.
Several Southern Ridge disciples stood there. Among them was a refined young man who did not seem particularly remarkable at first glance, but whose bearing, on closer inspection, differed from everyone around him.
Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin both recognized him: Zuo Li De, the legitimate son of the Vice Minister of Rites.
They had met beside West Lake. It had been Zuo Li De who suggested that the Vice Minister of Rites give Wuchen to Pei Yuan Jin, though Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin later passed it along to Wu Xuan Yin.
The fact that he stood here now made it obvious the emperor had specifically arranged for him to advise the Southern Ridge Sect Leader.
After receiving the Sect Leader’s signal, Zuo Li De leaned toward the young woman beside him and whispered a few words. He stood so close that her face flushed. Still, she nodded and ran shyly over to relay his message.
After listening, the Southern Ridge Sect Leader nodded almost imperceptibly and looked toward Pei Yuan Jin. “Young Master Pei, I hear that when Immortal Treasury Palace set out to exterminate the Puppet Path years ago, it wrote a kill list and publicly announced it beneath Heaven. That list included not only Mo Xiao Ran and his disciples, but also those righteous-path scum who could not resist temptation and helped the wicked commit evil. Is that true?”
Pei Yuan Jin met his gaze openly. “I was young at the time.”