Chapter 1618: The Unfathomable Hearts (Part 1)

"Really?" Li Chen Zhou abruptly turned around, his tiger eyes blazing with light, an expression of awe-inspiring authority that made the people behind him shudder; they hurriedly lowered their gaze, not daring to meet Li Chen Zhou face to face. This person was none other than the former steward of Prince Yan's manor, Tie Zheng. Prince Yan Xue Shengjing fled to avoid blame, yet Tie Zheng not only escaped implication but also took orders from Li Chen Zhou nearby; the subtlety of this is obvious at a glance.

Tie Zheng nodded and said, "Absolutely certain, Blade Demon FengXingyun owes Prince Yan a huge favor."

Li Chen Zhou paced slowly back and forth, his expression wavering between cloudy and clear. He had just received the news that Weichi Chong's assassination at the Dragon King Temple on Iron Liang Mountain was the work of Blade Demon FengXingyun, and yet the Beggars' Sect's Shangguan Yun Chong was also involved in this. Although Shangguan Yun Chong had reason to kill the Beggars' Sect's enforcement elder Xue Zhenhai, he never said a word to me before or after doing this, clearly not regarding me as his benefactor. If it weren't for my help, he and his son wouldn't even know where to stand, let alone seize control of the Northern Beggars' Sect in a short time and split it from the Beggars' Sect.

As for Blade Demon FengXingyun, Li Chen Zhou has some understanding of him; ultimately it's because of his younger brother. The Tiger Soul Blade he now uses was obtained from his deceased younger brother Wen Boyuan, and Wen Boyuan was precisely Blade Demon FengXingyun's most proud disciple. Li Chen Zhou knows FengXingyun, but FengXingyun is unaware of his connection to Wen Boyuan. Previously Li Chen Zhou merely thought FengXingyun was an ordinary martial artist, never expecting that he too was a subordinate of Prince Yan Xue Shengjing. Perhaps calling him a subordinate is not appropriate, as Tie Zheng just said—he owes Prince Yan Xue Shengjing a huge favor.

It is not Blade Demon FengXingyun, nor Shangguan Yun Chong, nor even the assassination of Weichi Chong itself that truly troubles Li Chen Zhou; a question leaves him especially puzzled: why would Xue Shengjing assassinate Weichi Chong, and what benefit would killing Weichi Chong bring him? After pondering for a long time, he finally asked, "Is there any contact between Prince Yan and the Black Hu?"

Tie Zheng shook his head: "I don't know!"

Li Chen Zhou's gaze grew increasingly grim: "As the steward of Prince Yan's manor, you have followed Xue Shengjing for years, yet you don't know?"

Tie Zheng gave a wry smile and said, "Chief Commander, Prince Yan is honeyed in speech but treacherous in heart, naturally suspicious. Although I have been by his side for many years and can barely be called a confidant in outsiders' eyes, he has never let me into the true inner workings. Not to mention, I rarely get a chance to enter his Buddha Laugh Tower where he stores his treasures; the person he trusts most is Ma Qingyun. I tell the Chief Commander everything I know, but I certainly cannot speak about matters I myself do not know."

Li Chen Zhou found Tie Zheng's answer somewhat satisfactory and added, "Have you ever heard of any contact between Prince Yan and the Beggars' Sect?"

Tie Zheng shook his head: "The only thing I can be certain of is that the Blade Demon is Prince Yan's man."

Li Chen Zhou was certain he could get no more information from him, and he sighed softly: "Forget it, Xue Shengjing is indeed too cunning. You may go now; report any news to me promptly."

"Yes!" Tie Zheng clasped his fists in salute and bade farewell to Li Chen Zhou.

Not long after Tie Zheng left, the steward of the Li manor came to report, but it was Tang Jingyu, the young master of Falling Cherry Palace, who had arrived. The Sword Palace, Falling Cherry Palace, and Northern Beggars' Sect are the three major martial forces in Li Chen Zhou's faction; now two of these three forces have run into trouble. The young master of Sword Palace, Qiu Mu Bai, has been abducted, and the sect leader of Sword Palace, Qiu Xian Guang, is wholly occupied with searching for his son's whereabouts, leaving no time to attend to Li Chen Zhou's affairs; moreover, he bears a grudge against Li Chen Zhou, believing that Li Chen Zhou does not care about his son's life or death, and has yet to let the Beggars' Sect's Shangguan Yun Chong come forward to explain himself in person. Furthermore, Shangguan Yun Chong has now caused the incident of assassinating Weichi Chong.

Li Chen Zhou would rather believe that Shangguan Yun Chong merely happened to be there by chance, but before he killed the Beggars' Sect's Skill Transmission Elder, he never reported to me, the incident occurred several days ago, and I have heard nothing from him since. Li Chen Zhou realizes that Shangguan Yun Chong may rely on more than just me in Da Yong; otherwise, why would he do something detrimental to me?

Li Chen Zhou had summoned Tang Jingyu precisely because of the Shangguan Yun Chong matter; the Shangguan father and son were able to come to Da Yong thanks to Tang Jingyu's recommendation, and Tang Jingyu's friendship with the Shangguan father and son stems from the prince consort contest in the Fragrant Heaven Kingdom, where both he and Shangguan Yun Chong were suspected of involvement in Prince Fu's death, so they joined forces to break out of the siege, and that is when they forged their bond. In fact, the Shangguan Yun Chong that Tang Jingyu knew at that time was actually Shangguan Yun Chong's twin brother, Shangguan Yun Feng.

When the Shangguan father and son ran into trouble and were pursued by the Beggars' Sect, Shangguan Yun Feng happened to reunite with Tang Jingyu; it was Tang Jingyu who suggested he head north to seek refuge with Li Chen Zhou. Now that Shangguan Yun Chong has caused problems, Li Chen Zhou naturally wants to ask Tang Jingyu for clarification.

Upon hearing that Shangguan Yun Chong had assassinated Weichi Chong, Tang Jingyu was also quite puzzled, and he said softly: "I have never heard of any grudge between them and Weichi Chong; could this be a baseless rumor? If Shangguan Yun Chong killed Xue Zhenhai to avenge a grudge, his actions toward Weichi Chong are utterly perplexing."

Li Chen Zhou said softly, "Brother Jingyu, do you know the background of the Shangguan father and son? Do they ultimately have any connection with the Black Hu people?"

Tang Jingyu shook his head with a bewildered expression and said, "I met Shangguan Yun Chong through the prince consort selection in the Fragrant Heaven Kingdom; at that time, we were both falsely accused by the Fragrant Heaven Kingdom of murdering Prince Fu, so we joined forces to escape from the Fragrant Heaven Kingdom's palace. Previously we had no acquaintance. I know the Chief Commander is currently in need of personnel, and coincidentally the Shangguan father and son were then in dire straits with no way out, so I introduced them to come seek refuge with the Chief Commander. If this person truly harbors ulterior motives, then it is my oversight as a subordinate, bringing trouble to the Chief Commander." He holds Li Chen Zhou in great awe, and his tone is respectful.

Li Chen Zhou smiled faintly; his attitude toward Tang Jingyu is clearly more courteous than toward Tie Zheng, and he lightly patted his shoulder, saying, "Brother Jingyu, why worry? Introducing the Shangguan father and son to seek refuge with me was entirely well-intentioned, and they have indeed helped me considerably during this time. As for what they have done in the past or will do in the future, you bear no responsibility."

Tang Jingyu apologetically said, "I must bear some responsibility for this matter, Chief Commander; rest assured, I will quickly locate them and make them give a reasonable explanation."

Li Chen Zhou shook his head, narrowed his eyes toward the window, and said softly, "I suspect the Shangguan father and son have ties to the Black Hu people, and Prince Yan Xue Shengjing is no different."

Upon hearing this, Tang Jingyu started in surprise; if the Shangguan father and son's actions could be understood, then Prince Yan Xue Shengjing colluding with the Black Hu would be tantamount to treason for glory—how could a member of the Da Yong imperial clan possibly do such a thing?

Li Chen Zhou said, "When a person believes they are about to lose everything and desperately seeks to regain it, they will resort to any means."

In the Red Mountain Hall's Wild Goose Tower, the Yan Kingdom merchant En He, who had transformed himself into a Lan Kingdom trader, played with a Nine Dragon Cup beneath the light; nine dragons coiled around the cup's rim, swirling and rising, while amber liquor rippled inside. Xue Shengjing inhaled the fragrance—rich and soothing to the lungs—but he could no longer feel the former intoxication; the setting had changed, and so had his mood.

The door was gently knocked, and Xue Shengjing habitually narrowed his small eyes, speaking in an exotic accent: "Come in!"

Entering was Blade Demon FengXingyun, whose face was grim, frosty cold; as soon as he stepped inside, his gaze locked firmly onto Xue Shengjing: "Why have you let others interfere?"

Xue Shengjing cracked a smile, lifted the warm rim of the Nine Dragon Cup to his lips as if kissing a woman's soft, warm mouth, then closed his eyes, quietly savoring the wonderful sensation of the wine sliding down his throat until the aroma melted and spread through his abdomen, whereupon he slowly opened his eyes, his small eyes brightened by the wine.

He pointed to the Nine Dragon Cup beside him; besides the one he himself used, he had specially prepared another for FengXingyun, which sufficiently shows how highly he regards FengXingyun.

FengXingyun did not persist in questioning, nor did he reach for the priceless Nine Dragon Cup; compared to that, he cared more about Xue Shengjing's explanation.

Xue Shengjing did not directly answer his question, but instead asked lightly, "How is Weichi Chong's martial skill?"

FengXingyun sighed, a look of sorrow crossing his face; his disciple Yang Mingwei had died at the hands of Weichi Chong's men, and before undertaking this operation he had not anticipated that Weichi Chong's martial skill would be so profound; he said softly, "You ought to have told me—if I had known Weichi Chong was this formidable, I would not have sent Mingwei to attack."

Xue Shengjing slowly shook his head: "I don't know! Weichi Chong hides his abilities too deeply; even I am unaware that he possesses such unfathomable martial skill—how does he compare to you?" He had not personally witnessed that earth‑shaking battle, so he needed to learn the true situation from FengXingyun.

"Within three hundred moves, I cannot prevail!"

Xue Shengjing nodded and said, "That means they are roughly equal."

FengXingyun asked, "Why did you involve the Beggars' Sect?"

Xue Shengjing replied, "The Beggars' Sect's affairs are none of my concern; I had always thought Shangguan Yun Chong was Li Chen Zhou's man, but now it appears otherwise." He felt no disappointment; instead, a quiet satisfaction welled up within him, for the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind—Li Chen Zhou believed he controlled everything, yet even his own camp now faced problems.

FengXingyun asked, "Are you saying Li Chen Zhou also wants to assassinate Weichi Chong?"

Prince Yan Xue Shengjing shook his head, gently set down the Nine Dragon Cup, and rose; his massive, stalwart frame resembled a standing bear.

Even a master like FengXingyun feels an inexplicable sense of oppression before the Prince Yan, and he even senses that the deeply hidden person is this very individual before him, not Weichi Chong. (To be continued~^~.)