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He’d seen firsthand now how cold and heartless that man was. As for why Yan Wushi had saved him, that probably wasn’t out of the goodness of his heart either. But…was it really just a coincidence that Yan Wushi showed up at the temple tonight?
Chen Gong’s face paled, and he went quiet too. He’d once prided himself on his fearlessness. Now, for the first time, he became deeply aware of the importance of strength. In a world like this, without the necessary strength, you could end up as prey at any moment. You could die for no reason whatsoever.
Shen Qiao was silent for a moment. “There are some people who need no reason to act. They relish in having power over other people’s lives and believe that their whims should override what matters to others.”
I must not become someone who other people will butcher and slaughter. I will become someone with power over others. As Chen Gong thought this, he recalled those great masters he’d seen tonight.
Lifting his head, he saw a young girl sitting atop the wall, dark-haired and clothed in red. Her hair was bound in a bun by a golden hoop, and she was smiling right at them—a lovely, charming smile.
Bai Rong pouted. “Maiden? How dismally formal! My last name is Bai—I’m called Bai Rong. It’s also another name for the peony flower, so you can call me Little Peony!”
Bai Rong seemed more interested in Shen Qiao, even reaching out a hand to touch his face. Just before her fingertips reached him, Shen Qiao seemed to sense them and took two steps back. Bai Rong giggled and got straight to the point.
Huo Xijing looked at her, the shadow of a smile upon his face. His gaze swept past Chen Gong and landed on Shen Qiao, regarding him with deep interest. “Such a handsome gentleman you have there. Since you’re going to kill him anyway, Shimei, why not give me the skin of his face first? Then you can kill him.”
“What’s that mean, ‘Stolen Sky and Counterfeit Sun’?” He thought to himself that the name sounded pretty imposing. “It’s a face-changing technique,” said Shen Qiao. “You skin off a person’s face, then use a special technique to fuse it with your own. That way, you can maintain your youthful beauty for all eternity.
Shen Qiao closed the door. Softly, he said, “Let’s part ways today.” Chen Gong froze. Then he jumped to his feet. “Why?” “Once Bai Rong and her shixiong have finished arguing with each other, there’s a chance they’ll come looking for us. As for the Liuhe Guild, although I dissuaded them when they wanted us to travel together, they may very well regret it.”
Once he’d fastened his sack, he could leave. Before he did, he looked back and saw Shen Qiao sitting there quietly, bamboo cane in front of him. Although his eyes lacked any life, his face was turned in Chen Gong’s direction, as if to see him off. For some reason, Chen Gong felt a lump in his throat. “You… You take care.” Shen Qiao nodded. “You as well.”
Chen Gong quickly turned around and saw several people charging out from the city at full speed, running in his direction. Behind them followed a large troop of men atop horses, armed with bows and arrows, galloping wildly.
The laughter stopped abruptly as the man responsible abruptly raised his voice. “The fastest runner in the front there, don’t target him, any of you! He’s mine.” Who could run faster than Chen Gong? No one! All of a sudden, he understood what was going on!
Chen Gong had left home at a young age, and was by no means ignorant of the ways of the world. When he saw how the gathered crowd looked at him with strange expressions, and put it together with what the man had said, he figured it out: he’d been taken as a male concubine!
“Your Excellency, please allow this lowly one to explain!” Chen Gong’s mind buzzed, then abruptly went blank. With no time to think it through, he blurted out, “This lowly one lacks charm and is unworthy of such high regard from Your Excellency, but this lowly one knows…knows a man! That man is much better looking than I am—no, no, he’s better looking than all of these people Your Excellency has with you combined!”
He thought to himself: Shen Qiao was more skilled than him, so perhaps he’d be able to beat these people back. Or, perhaps by the time they got there, Shen Qiao would have left already.
Chen Gong gritted his teeth. “Your Excellency…in truth… In truth, the man is in poor health, even though he’s good-looking. I’m afraid it will spoil your mood…” “Isn’t that even better?” Mu Tipo said blithely. “A sickly man can be enjoyable is his own way.
Shen Qiao’s clothes were of plain materials, and his hair was pulled into a simple bun. He didn’t even have a jade hairpin. It was only held in place by a strip of sky-blue ribbon, the same color as his clothing. And yet, Mu Tipo couldn’t tear his eyes away from him.
Only then did Shen Qiao sigh. “Chen Gong, did you tell him where I was?” Chen Gong was miserable, but he forged ahead. “I had no choice! If I didn’t bring him here, I’d have had to go work as a beast of burden for Mu… Commandery Prince Mu!” Shen Qiao shook his head. “Then you should ask this Prince of Chengyang Commandery whether he’s willing to let you go.”
“Qiao, as in Da-Qiao and Xiao-Qiao?33 A rather fitting name.” “Qiao, as in mountain peak.” Mu Tipo raised an eyebrow and smiled. “As in, ‘The hundred gods does he placate, the peaks and rivers all come partake’?34 This Qiao is a little harsh, not a fitting name for a beauty.”
“A-Qiao…” That was all he said. And that was all he had time to say. For just then, Mu Tipo felt a pain in his chest. He looked down. The bamboo cane had somehow gotten in front of him and jabbed right into the spot above his heart.
Shen Qiao seemed to know that Mu Tipo’s party was large in number, for he wasted no time. His attacks became increasingly ruthless. His face, normally so delicate, froze over with a layer of cold severity.
Mu Tipo immediately counterattacked, but he’d fallen right into Shen Qiao’s trap: with a furl of his sleeve, Shen Qiao snagged his wrist and pulled Mu Tipo to the window. He wrapped his other hand around the Commandery Prince’s throat.
Once he was sure Mu Tipo’s entourage couldn’t catch up to them, Shen Qiao finally let the coachman leave with the carriage. Then, with Mu Tipo as his hostage, he entered an inn close to the border in Yanshou County. He knocked the prince out, castrated him to prevent him from harming others in the future, and then tossed him into a random room at the inn. Only when all this was done did Shen Qiao leave, alone.
He sought out an out-of-the-way, deserted alley corner and leaned against the wall. He was spent, exhausted, and couldn’t hold himself up any longer. Bending over at the waist, he coughed up a large mouthful of blood. From beside him came the mocking sound of a laugh.
At some point, a man in blue had appeared. His face was handsome, his demeanor imperious. At the corners of his narrow eyes were a fine smattering of delicate lines that only served to lend him an inexpressible charm.
“Even though you parted ways with Chen Gong for his own safety, in the end your good intentions were met with betrayal. That Chen lad didn’t want to end up Mu Tipo’s exclusive property, and so he sold you out. Well? How does it feel, playing the good guy?”
YAN WUSHI was so angry he had to laugh. “Sect Leader Shen’s heart is truly as vast as the ocean! It’s a pity that not everyone on your Xuandu Mountain feels the same. Otherwise, how could they allow Kunye to knock the great Qi Fengge’s disciple off a cliff?”
And in the midst of this desperate moment, with his life hanging in the balance, his heart actually calmed and an exquisite, weightless feeling came over him. The same darkness remained behind Shen Qiao’s eyes, but beyond that darkness, a massive and sweeping river of stars burst into existence.
The universe is fathomless; the heavens and earth vast. From time immemorial, the course of nature has run eternal, and amidst all this, human beings are impossibly small. If I wish to become one with heaven, ascending to godhood and returning to the void, then the rivers and mountains, the sun and moon, the heavens, the clouds, all of them would be me. There’d be no boundaries between all that exists in the world, and me. That was what Shen Qiao felt in that moment.
The true qi, long stagnant and lost, began to trickle faintly through his limbs and bones: delicate, boundless, and unending. Yan Wushi’s palm strike crashed down heavy as a mountain and swift as a whirling gale. No ordinary person could follow it with the naked eye, but Shen Qiao saw everything clearly.
His face was so pale it was almost transparent, but his feet moved not even half an inch. The sleeves of his robe billowed high from the impact of qi, and even the ribbon on his head came undone, his hair scattering down as it fluttered wildly. The blasts of qi met, one strong and one weak, but for a moment, the weaker one held.
Xuandu Mountain’s cultivation methods focus on spiritual stillness and non-interference, on standing aloof from worldly affairs. Meet what’s strong with strength, and what’s soft with softness. Once the union is flawless and complete, the will of heaven shall become as clear as water. The words flashed swiftly through Shen Qiao’s mind.
The true qi he was emitting showed faint signs of intermingling with Yan Wushi’s. As the two billows of true qi confronted each other, they also influenced each other. It was evident that they shared a common source.
“I’ve suspected it since I felt your pulse. You’ve already cultivated using the Zhuyang Strategy scroll at Xuandu Mountain. Qi Fengge passed it down to you, didn’t he?”
“So that night at Chuyun Temple,” he said, “you deliberately made me recite the scroll?” “Indeed,” said Yan Wushi.
“Your body remembers the Zhuyang Strategy you trained with, even though you lack the memory of it for the moment. That thread of true qi remains a part of you, and it’s slowly helping you recuperate. That night I made you recite the Volume of Deluded Thought because I wanted to use it to stimulate your memories.
Shen Qiao closed his eyes. “How does this benefit you?” “Of course there are benefits,” said Yan Wushi. “But they have nothing to do with you, so you needn’t worry. All you need to know is that you’ve also greatly benefited from this incident.
Yan Wushi gripped Shen Qiao’s chin and forced him to raise his head. “Didn’t you call me Shizun before? Why such a quick change?” “I want…” Shen Qiao murmured, his words somewhat slurred. Yan Wushi bent forward a little, lowering his head to listen. Without warning, Shen Qiao spat out another large mouthful of blood.
When he’d been met with Chen Gong’s betrayal, when he’d faced Mu Tipo surrounding him with his men, Yan Wushi must have been nearby. Yet he’d stood by and watched, making no move to intervene. Only after Shen Qiao had saved himself did Yan Wushi turn up, and then only to lash out like he was trying to kill him. Which, it turned out, was to stimulate the true qi from the Zhuyang Strategy that was still in Shen Qiao’s body.
“Then what does Sect Leader Yan plan to do next?” “I’ll go with you to Xuandu Mountain.”
Yan Wushi stroked his face in an imitation of love, as if Shen Qiao were a child. He had no way to stop him and could only let Yan Wushi grip his chin and look him up and down like a piece of personal property.
I’ve already cultivated with the scroll in the inner palace of Northern Zhou, and I’ve seen the Volume of Deluded Thought. With two of the five, I’ve already grasped the essence of the Zhuyang Strategy. Rather than read something you’ve written down, which could very well be lies, I can just fight you directly. That way, I’ll be able to decipher the mysteries of the scroll that’s hidden at Xuandu Mountain.”
Tao Hongjing was able to combine the strengths of the three schools of thought, so of course I can create martial arts that go beyond his.” He sounded ridiculously arrogant, insufferably so, but on closer contemplation, Shen Qiao actually agreed with him. It was down to his own principles that Yan Wushi was able to become the leader of a sect, and his martial prowess was such that he could live as he pleased. Given all that, he was indeed worthy of becoming a grandmaster who could stand at the summit of the world.
“Do I have a choice?” asked Shen Qiao helplessly. “You can choose to walk out on your own while you’re still relatively unwounded, or we can fight another round. Then I’ll take you with me after I injure and cripple you.” Shen Qiao had nothing to say to this.
Yan Wushi showed him no gentleness on account of this, nor did he offer him special accommodation. As Yan Wushi didn’t need a carriage, he didn’t rent one. Instead, he walked on ahead of Shen Qiao at a steady pace, his manner practically shouting, “Keep up if you can. And you’d better keep going if you can’t.”
The Emperor of Qi, Gao Wei, was busy with his pursuit of hedonism, completely unwilling to manage the affairs of state. Before the food the court distributed to the provinces even made it to them, it’d already been embezzled away. Not to mention, if the governor of Xiang Province did let these refugees into the city, they’d get no appreciation for it from the court.
He said to Shen Qiao, “During the Warring States period, Xiang Province belonged to Chu, so Chu influence is strong here. The land is also rich and populous—a pity that Gao Wei does not care to manage it. Generations of the Gao family’s hard work will likely be lost at his hands.”
Yan Wushi shrugged. “Enlightened or not, emperors are all the same,” he said lazily. “The only difference is that some are able to curb their desires, while others aren’t, or they don’t wish to. Yuwen Yong is hawkish and quick to kill, but he prohibits Buddhism and Daoism, and also dislikes Confucianism. As he isn’t inclined to favor any particular side, he’s left with very few choices, and since I wish to unify the three demonic sects, I’ll need his assistance.
The Yuwen family has been in the Central Plains for many years—although their ancestors were Xianbei people, they’ve long acculturated to the Han. The methods and systems of Zhou are all the same as the Han ones. So, if a Yuwen became emperor of a united land, they probably wouldn’t do any worse than Southern Chen.”
