Nightfall

Qi Four had been waiting outside Chao’s house. When he saw Ning Que, he heaved a sigh of relief and brought him into the house while he informed Ning Que of the recent happenings in a low whisper.

It was late at night, but the lights in the main hall of Chao’s house were bright. There were many sitting there quietly and the atmosphere was tense. They would smile warmly when they looked at the old man sitting at the front, but the smiles always seemed forced.

Qi Four brought Ning Que to the hall. Everyone stood up, wrapped a hand around their fist and bowed before introducing themselves.

“Chang III, Chang Siwei”

“Liu V, Liu Si.”

“Fei VI, Fei Jingwei.”

“Chen VII.”

The people gathered in Chao’s house were all past leaders of the Fish-dragon Gang. After the case of the Spring Breeze Pavilion, their identities had been revealed, so they could only leave the Fish-dragon Gang and return to the imperial court. Today, they held important positions in the Valiant Cavalry Battalion and Bodyguard office. Everyone had gathered here for that matter.

Before Chao Xiaoshu left Chang’an, he had specially brought these men to Lin 47th Street to meet Ning Que. Ning Que knew these people, and if he considered his own position as a secret guard, these were all his colleagues, and their appearance at Chao’s house came as no surprise.

Chang III and the others looked at Ning Que oddly.

Before Chao Xiaoshu left, he had vaguely left the Fish-dragon Gang and them to Ning Que. But Ning Que had not accepted it, and they could not understand why. They did not understand why Chao Xiaoshu had trusted Ning Que so much. However, two years had passed, and Ning Que had long become a famous person in Chang’an. That was when they realized that Second Brother Chao had seen something special in this person.

“This is Old Master Chao.” Qi IV introduced.

Ning Que looked at the silver-haired old man whose face was filled with worry. He felt annoyed for some reason and frowned, “One should not travel far if their parents are around. He has traveled happily and freely indeed.”

Old Master Chao sighed and defended his son, “He had wanted to take the imperial examinations and get a position as an officer. He slogged for half his life before he finally had a chance to escape all of that. So I just let him go.”

Ning Que was slightly surprised, he had never expected the old man to be so open-minded. He thought of how Chao Xiaoshu had been the emperor of Chang’an’s underworld for so many years, but the old man, who had come from a scholar’s family, had been indifferent to it. He must be a smart opinionated man who didn’t have many ideas.

After he thought through this, he found that he did not need to avoid the old man. He looked to the people beside him and said, “The Sword Master from South Jin Kingdom had been interrogated. Second Brother Chao must have fought with Liu Bai.”

Surprised gasps sounded in the hall. Chang Siwei’s face was filled with worry. They had gone through life and death with Chao Xiaoshu and their confidence in him neared stupidity. However, when they heard that the person Chao Xiaoshu had fought with was the Sage of Sword, Liu Bai, they could not help but be shocked and be at a loss.

The Sage of Sword, Liu Bai was the strongest powerhouse in the world. Even if Chao Xiaoshu’s State had increased after leaving Chang’an, he was no match for Liu Bai. They just didn’t know how that battle had ended.

Ning Que said, “Liu Yiqing does not know the results of the battle. Chao Xiaoshu’s official sword was taken from him, so he must have been badly injured. We don’t know where he is now.”

Qi IV scratched his head and said vexedly, “According to Second Brother Chao’s temperament, he would not do something so stupid like dying just because he lost that sword. What we need to verify now is how badly injured he is. Did he hide in some mountain village, or had the people from South Jin Kingdom imprisoned him?”

“He is not at the Sword Garret.”

Ning Que looked at everyone and said, “Liu Yiqing does not dare to lie about this. The Academy will keep him locked up before we find Chao Xiaoshu. Furthermore, the Academy had also written to the Sword Garret to ask Liu Bai about it.”

Although those present were all well-known in the Chang’an underworld and were important figures in the imperial court now, they did not understand much about the cultivation world. They did not know where to start. And so, when they heard what Ning Que had said and found that the Academy was handling the matter personally, they breathed slightly easier.

Chang Three added, “His Majesty knows of this matter too and will write a formal letter to the king of South Jin Kingdom asking them to hand over Chao Xiaoshu. I believe that they will consider it.”

Chen Seven had been quietly standing in the corner behind everyone. It felt as if he was not used to being seen by a lot of people. He suddenly said, “I feel that there is something off in this matter.”

Everyone including Ning Que looked at him.

Ning Que noticed that everyone had mentioned their names when they introduced themselves. Only Chen VII had not. Then, he remembered that the Jianghu world in Chang’an described these people from the Fish-dragon Gang as so: Chang III was cold, Qi IV was vicious, Liu V was savage, Fei VI was fierce while Chen VII was sinister.

How sinister was Chen VII?

“Sage of Sword, Liu Bai might have attacked Second Brother Chao because he saw a prey that he liked, or he wanted to deal the Tang Empire with a blow, or perhaps Second Brother Chao had eaten a maize from the lands of the Sword Garret.”

Chen VII seemed as if he could not bear the weight of the eyes looking at him. He lowered his head and continued slowly. Even though his choice of words seemed funny, his voice was guarded and it sounded like a mouse in the shadow.

“These are not important.”

“What is important is, why did Liu Yiqing challenge the Academy? Why did he use Second Brother Chao’s sword. Why did he let everyone know about this incident?”

“I am not a cultivator, and I don’t know what cultivators usually think about. But I suppose if cultivators were human beings, then their thought processes must be no different from us regular people.”

Ning Que nodded and said, “I can attest to that.”

Chen VII raised his head slowly and a flickering light shone in his slightly small eyes, “Liu Bai is the world’s strongest powerhouse, so he is not an idiot. He sent his own younger brother to shame the Academy, it would work if he wins. And if he loses, he could use the Academy to diminish his brother’s cultivation State. That works too. He wanted to teach Second Brother Chao and Ning Que a lesson because the two of you killed his disciple at the Spring Breeze Pavilion two years ago, and that might also be a reason. But, sending Second Brother Chao’s sword to make you think that he had died, and also causing his brother to go blind wouldn’t be the reason for his action.”

Ning Que did not speak. He thought about the battle by the Academy’s side doors and realized that there was truth in Chen VII’s words. If he had not seen Chao Xiaoshu’s sword in Liu Yiqing’s hands, he would not have chosen to strike so heavily and made the Sage of Sword, Liu Bai’s younger brother blind. It did not benefit him at all.

“If I were Liu Bai, I would have gotten justice for the incident at Spring Breeze Pavilion after beating Second Brother Chao who had entered the Knowing Destiny State and sending my brother to defeat Ning Que. I have no reason to form a grudge against the Academy and the Tang Empire.”

Chen VII continued softly, “According to reports from the Bodyguard Office, after you entered the Second floor of the Academy, your name began to spread in the cultivation world. Even though we were not cultivators, we all knew that your name was on the Tomes of Arcane. Many details of the incident at Spring Breeze Pavilion also spread.”

“The news would not have traveled so fast naturally. Someone was already fanning the flames then. They wanted the Sword Garret of South Jin Kingdom to focus on Chao Xiaoshu and you. That is why I believe that someone is pulling the strings behind these two incidents. Liu Yiqing bringing Second Brother Chao’s sword is one of those strings.”

Chen Seven looked at everyone calmly. He said, “There is only one place in the world that has the ability and guts to stir-up the Tang Academy against the Sword Garret of South Jin Kingdom. And there is only one place that would benefit from this. That is the West-Hill Divine Palace.”

…

Outside the capital of South Jin Kingdom.

There was a two colored pavilion by the cliff. It was the Sword Garret.

The Sword Garret was built into the cliff. There was a large quiet cave and the top of the cave led directly to the cliff peak where light streamed in. There was a pool at the bottom of the hole and a straw hut. It looked like an independent world.

Liu Bai sat in his little piece of heaven and looked at the fish blowing bubbles in the pond. He slowly reached out to push his long hair behind his shoulders. He asked blandly, “Can anyone give me an explanation?”

Liu Yiqing’s humiliating defeat at the Academy and news of his blindness had traveled to the South Jin Kingdom together with two letters from the Tang Empire.

One of the letters was personally written by the Emperor of Tang.The letter was currently in the bedroom of the South Jin Kingdom’s king. It angered him greatly, but he also felt that there was nothing he could do about it.

The other letter was written by an old woman from the Academy. It laid quietly by Liu Bai’s legs. It had already been opened, and probably read.

Over twenty second-generation disciple of the Sword Garret knelt by the pond. They lowered their heads, not knowing how to answer to their teacher.

How could they explain Liu Yiqing’s defeat in the challenge?

Liu Bai looked at the pond, his face devoid of emotions, and said, “My younger brother is now blind. Who can give me an explanation for this?”

A disciple of the Sword Garret said angrily, “The Academy was too vicious. We have to…”

“We have to what? Get revenge? Why do we have to get revenge?”

Liu Bai said coldly, “The spirit of sword Taoism is one that is fearless. Since I wanted him to defeat and kill Ning Que, it is also logical that he could be defeated and killed by Ning Que. Furthermore, I sent him to the Academy just so he could be defeated and to polish his Sword Heart.”

The disciples were shocked speechless. They had only understood then that their teacher had expected Liu Yiqing to fail.

Liu Bai glanced at the letter by his side, and said frostily, “I just do not understand, I sent Yiqing there to polish his own sword, so why did he bring Chao Xiaoshu’s sword?”

Everything on the Sage of Sword, Liu Bai, was a sword. No matter his loose black hair, the belt on his waist, his fluttering robes or his gaze, his shadow or his voice.

When his voice was frosty, the disciples by the lake seemed to see a sword rising from ice that was millennia old. Their eyes were pierced by the sharp sword style and began to tear.

The disciples were frightened and laid prostrate on the ground, not daring to say anything.

Liu Bai turned around slowly and looked at the disciples coldly. He said, “My brother is an idiot in all other aspects other than sword Taoism. And because he is an idiot, he would not have thought of using Chao Xiaoshu’s sword to anger Ning Que. So who thought it up for him?”

The cliff cave behind the Sword Garret fell into silence.

After some time, a disciple lying prostrate on the ground slowly got up. Then, he took two steps towards the pond and bowed deeply without saying anything.

Liu Bai looked at the disciple and said with a frigid expression, “So is the Judicial Department definitely better than the Sword Garret?”

…