Chapter 133: Setting Out for Bai Yun Monastery

The next day.

Outside the General's residence, an additional carriage had appeared, along with a vice-general reassigned to serve as the driver.

Inside the carriage, Shen Yi looked toward the opposite seat with slight puzzlement: "Don't you need a few more days to recuperate?"

Xiao Qiangwei had changed into a loose-sleeved long robe to cover her wrists: "No need. It's already been bandaged, and the physician prepared me some fine medicine. I'll be fully healed in at most a month or two. Don't let it delay the matter."

Right now she was somewhat worried that before the two of them had even set out, Yan Xingkong had already returned the Heaven-Shattering Sun Bow ahead of time. Returning it to Outside Qingzhou would be one thing, but if it was returned to the Zhen Mo Si in Qingzhou, taking it back out again would be difficult.

To avoid awkwardness, Xiao Qiangwei steered the conversation back to business: "I thought it over carefully last night, and it still strikes me as very strange. Yan Xingkong knew perfectly well that the lives of him and his wife were in the Zhen Mo Si's grasp, so why on earth would he steal the precious bow for no reason — and even use it to shoot down the Bai Yun Monastery ancestral shrine? This is no small matter; one could even call it a deadly grudge."

Hearing this, Shen Yi raised an eyebrow slightly and glanced at the bag of silver beside him.

A deadly grudge — and so he pays two hundred taels in compensation.

He wasn't familiar with the affairs of these factions: "Framing the Zhen Mo Si?"

Xiao Qiangwei shook her head: "No point. Although Bai Yun Monastery wouldn't dare show displeasure toward the Zhen Mo Si to their faces, they still have the courage to ask a few questions. Yan Xingkong clearly knew the demon hunters held his aura — Bai Yun Monastery would certainly be able to track him down through us."

At this point, she frowned slightly: "He's skilled in movement techniques, but in a real fight he couldn't withstand those Daoist Priests' Two Forms True Intent… And yet he still dared to steal this thing. Bai Yun Monastery would fight to the death to make him pay the price. Martial arts techniques aren't something that can be settled just by borrowing and returning."

Even if the original were returned completely intact, who would know whether a copy had been made in secret.

"What is True Intent?" Shen Yi asked, somewhat curious.

"Something useless to you body-tempering martial artists." Xiao Qiangwei explained briefly: "Condensing Gang Qi into Intent is extremely taxing — it transforms the aura of heaven and earth into something tangible. Martial arts of this kind are rare throughout all of Outside Qingzhou. For instance, Jiang Chengyun cultivated the Cloud Crane True Intent, which is why he could fight across realms and withstand the Mountain Lord."

Shen Yi nodded thoughtfully.

The General hadn't returned, and so far he hadn't come into contact with true Nascent Core Realm martial arts, nor had he ever crossed fists with a Nascent Core Realm martial artist.

Since this involved a dispute between two first-rate factions, caution was warranted.

Thinking this, Shen Yi closed his eyes to rest.

Xiao Qiangwei wasn't one for idle chatter either. She lifted the curtain and stared out the window, occasionally casting a furtive glance at the young man before quickly looking away.

……

About two or three days later.

The carriage stopped on a small road, bordered by a continuous mountain range shrouded in a thin white mist, its majestic outline faintly visible.

Two blue-robed Daoist Priests stood with hands clasped before them, a few fallen leaves on their shoulders — apparently they had been waiting by the roadside for some time.

Both had crane-white hair and childlike faces, their hair knotted up with wooden pins, eyes half-closed, gazes deep.

"Elder Chongyang, Elder Qingjing."

The vice-general driving the carriage pulled back the reins, seeming somewhat surprised: "Why aren't you waiting inside the monastery? Coming all the way down the mountain to receive us."

The tall, thin Chongyang Daoist and the slightly shorter Qingjing Daoist held extremely high status within Bai Yun Monastery. Apart from the Abbey Head, the two of them had the deepest realms — both seasoned powerhouses who had long since stepped into the Elixir Formation Realm.

"……"

Elder Chongyang, whose temperament seemed the more direct of the two, instinctively opened his mouth to speak upon hearing those words.

The ancestral shrine destroyed, their martial arts stolen — how could they possibly have the mood to keep sitting around inside the monastery.

Elder Qingjing stepped forward slightly, blocking his companion, and bowed with hands clasped: "Bai Yun Monastery suffered a theft, and we are fortunate to have the Zhen Mo Si's aid. After such a long and arduous journey, how could this poor Daoist neglect propriety? May I ask which my lord has come? Might you step down for a word?"

As he spoke, Xiao Qiangwei picked up the bag of silver, stepped down from the carriage together with Shen Yi, and handed it to the vice-general to pass over: "General You heard of this matter and had me bring compensation to set your minds at ease. This has nothing to do with the Zhen Mo Si — the Heaven-Shattering Sun Divine Bow was likewise stolen."

Elder Qingjing accepted the silver respectfully.

The ancestral shrine of a堂堂 first-rate faction had collapsed, countless spirit tablets utterly destroyed — and all they got was two hundred taels of silver. It felt like a slap in the face.

Yet he was quite satisfied, for only General You could have arranged such a thing, and the other's words represented the intent of this great general of the Zhen Mo Si.

Pocketing the silver, the two Daoists looked at Xiao Qiangwei, then at the young man in dark robes beside her, and then looked back toward the carriage.

Elder Chongyang could no longer contain his impatience: "My lord, please step down quickly. We have an urgent matter to request."

The Heaven-Shattering Sun Divine Bow had been stolen — how could the Zhen Mo Si possibly send only one obviously injured, aura-erratic Elixir Formation Realm cultivator, along with a mere young man.

"……"

Shen Yi watched the two old Daoists bowing toward the empty carriage and fell silent.

Xiao Qiangwei casually lifted the curtain, letting the two of them see clearly inside, before saying: "There is no other my lord. This matter is under the charge of Lord Shen."

Daoist Chongyang was stunned, and only after a long while shifted his gaze onto that young man, finding it hard to believe: "May I ask your honored surname, my lord?"

"Shen."

Shen Yi couldn't shake the feeling that after he answered, even in the eyes of the more composed shorter Daoist, a flicker of disappointment passed.

Daoist Chongyang was even more visibly unsettled, muttering: "Ridiculous… ridiculous… A treasure like the Heaven-Shattering Sun Bow falling into the hands of that fiend colluding with demons — who knows what chaos he'll wreak across Outside Qingzhou, how many people will die. How can the Zhen Mo Si be so careless…"

Daoist Qingjing yanked him back and forced a smile: "No matter. This poor Daoist and his fellow will spare no effort in helping the Zhen Mo Si recover the treasure. We've heard the demon hunters hold that thief's aura — please, my lords, lead the way."

Hearing Daoist Chongyang's instinctive words, Shen Yi actually revised his opinion of these first-rate factions slightly. Their own trump-card martial art was gone, yet they still had the heart to worry about others.

If he could, he would have revealed his Embracing Elixir Realm cultivation, to put the two of them somewhat at ease.

But after sensing his Jade Marrow Perfection Realm qi sea…

Shen Yi gave up on the idea. He couldn't exactly walk over and pin the two old men to the ground, one slap each, just to show off his astonishing body-tempering talent.

"The imperial court's affairs need not worry the two of you." Xiao Qiangwei reached into the silver bell and drew out an incomparably clear aura, then closed her eyes briefly to sense its direction.

A flicker of surprise immediately crossed her face.

Noticing the change in her expression, the two Daoists asked: "Has something unexpected occurred?"

"Not exactly."

Xiao Qiangwei withdrew the aura and looked toward Shen Yi: "He's no more than three hundred li from us."

Three hundred li — for an ordinary person traveling on foot, eating and sleeping along the way, wouldn't take that many days.

But for a thief-king renowned for his movement techniques at the Nascent Core Realm…

It was almost as if, after taking Bai Yun Monastery's martial art, he had simply been waiting nearby the whole time — not even the slightest intention of fleeing, as though afraid the demon hunters wouldn't be able to find him.

(End of chapter)