Chapter 49: Ripples Stir the Muck

Returning to Wenda Hall, Li Yan immediately opened his eyes and rose.

“You… are you alright?”

Sha Lifei knew Li Yan was faking unconsciousness, yet still felt genuine concern.

No other reason—Li Yan’s blood-soaked appearance was truly horrifying.

“I’m fine, just superficial wounds.”

Li Yan gave a casual reply, then tore his clothes with a few sharp rips; the wounds had stopped bleeding and looked minor.

Of course, that was the result of the wound-switching.

The blows he took from Zhou Bai had used hidden force, twisting and snapping his tendons and membranes, even damaging his internal organs; without the Great Luo Body, he’d have lain bedridden for half a year.

Removing the internal injuries while keeping some superficial ones was merely to protect his secret and prevent the two from growing suspicious.

Wang Daoxuan exhaled in relief and quickly pulled out wound ointment to bandage him.

Li Yan let him do as he wished, then spoke in a low voice to Sha Lifei: “Uncle Sha, when you go out, first head to the gambling den to collect the silver, then spread the news that I’m severely wounded, and buy some herbs at random.”

“Remember, act worried.”

Sha Lifei asked curiously: “Why?”

Winning a match easily and fighting to a mutual ruin yield completely different reputations.

“It’s simple…”

Recalling how Zhang Yuanshang and others had all appeared after the match, facing off against the Eight Golden Giants, Li Yan shook his head: “I only wanted to light a spark—they wanted to use me as a pawn. I suspect both sides had already prepared to turn hostile; I just happened to be in the way.”

“The Zhou family doesn’t play fair—they’ll retaliate afterward. Without exception, the other side is waiting for them to move, so they can seize an excuse to strike.”

“But if word spreads that I’m severely wounded, the Zhou family won’t act rashly—they’ll only send watchers to prevent us from leaving the city.”

“And Zhang Yuanshang and his group won’t wait long either—they’ll find another opportunity. When things get murky, we’ll be safe.”

“Oh, I get it!”

With that explanation, Sha Lifei instantly understood, hurried out the door, and put on a face of deep concern as he headed toward Jinbao Gambling Den…

……

“Master Daoist, Zhou Bai tampered with something…”

As soon as Sha Lifei left, Li Yan revealed his suspicions to Wang Daoxuan.

“The monkey’s aura?”

After listening, Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard and pondered: “From your description, it sounds like a puppetry technique.”

“Ancient shamanic arts believed all things possessed spirits, worshipped ghosts and gods, and often summoned them to possess the body—this was called ‘descending the spirit.’ Later, it passed to the Fangxian Dao, where it stood alongside the immortality taboo arts as one of the two Fangxian methods.”

“As the orthodox Xuanmen rose, they canonized true gods and eradicated heretical cults; the court crushed the Fangxian Dao, and some secret arts spread among the people, evolving into various forms—for instance, the yuan guang and fuji diviners of the Jinmen sect are descendants of the ‘descending the spirit’ technique.”

“Puppetry is the same—using living qi combined with yin poison qi, it manifests as straw dolls, paper figures, wooden puppets—many types exist, and many masters of esoteric lineages excel at this art.”

“The Zhou family must have hired an esoteric-lineage sorcerer!”

Li Yan frowned slightly. “Not a folk shaman?”

Wang Daoxuan shook his head slightly. “These techniques are all secretly passed down within lineages. Folk shamans often invoke ghostly powers, but they’re not skilled in this.”

Li Yan listened, eyes narrowing. “Then I misjudged—if word of my injury spreads, the Zhou family, fearing Zhang Yuanshang’s group, won’t act openly, but they may still hire a sorcerer to strike covertly.”

“There’s no need to worry about that.”

Wang Daoxuan sighed, stroking his beard. “You’re underestimating the Xuanmen of Guanzhong.”

“Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the Xuanmen has flourished here. As the capital of several dynasties, every place where dragon veins converge holds the tombs of emperors and generals; temples and monasteries are countless.”

“Large and small cosmic patterns interlock; the divine energy is so strong that ordinary evil spirits dare not approach. Most common folk spend their entire lives without ever seeing a ghost or demon.”

“The greatest danger on Guanzhong soil lies in ancient Qin and Han tombs—during the height of the Fangxian Dao, some sought immortality and set up evil rituals within graves.”

“In times of war and chaos, apart from grave robbers, armies also dug up tombs; one misstep could unleash walking corpses and ghostly troops. Thus, the orthodox Xuanmen established altars in Chang’an, Zhongnan Mountain, and Huashan, maintaining large armies of spirit soldiers.”

“Each year during divine festivals, they either perform rites to feed and pacify the dead, or send their spirit troops to patrol, destroy mountain temples, and hunt down evil spirits.”

“Xianyang is no different—the City God enshrined in its temple is Meng Chong, a great general of the Qin dynasty. In life, he was a master of military strategy; in death, he became a mighty spirit among ghosts. Enthroned as City God to this day, his divine might is unfathomable, and his spirit army is vast.”

“To use sorcery to harm someone within Xianyang’s walls? At best, you might cause a cursed accident. To command spirit troops is no different from grabbing a knife and slashing your own throat.”

“Like the Zhou family—they only dared small tricks. Once your hidden force and true-word chant frightened them, their puppet technique collapsed easily.”

“When you sleep, hang the Three-Cosmos Suppressing Demon Coins beneath your bed’s foot. Ordinary puppet-based harm cannot even draw near.”

“Good.”

Li Yan nodded slightly. “For now, we stay home and wait to watch the show.”

Wang Daoxuan knew exactly what he intended, and said with concern: “Within Xianyang, protected by the Three-Cosmos Suppressing Demon Coins, you needn’t fear Xuanmen methods—but Zhou Pan has entered Hua Jing. You cannot possibly match him.”

Li Yan gazed out the window, his expression calm:

“I’m not foolish—I won’t fight him directly. I’m just waiting for an opportunity to force him to reveal the truth of that past.”

…………

Elsewhere, after leaving, Sha Lifei noticed something odd.

It was nearly dusk; smoke curled from every household in the old alley, but the house opposite Wenda Hall had its door tightly shut.

Half a human head peeked over the top, then quickly withdrew when it saw him. “Cowardly sneak!”

Sha Lifei cursed under his breath and quickened his pace.

He was a seasoned veteran of the martial world, a smooth-talker brimming with cunning schemes; after Li Yan’s words, he instantly grasped his situation.

Just play sick, put on a show.

Hide your edge, watch from afar, don’t let yourself be used as a firecracker.

With a plan in mind, he ignored the watchers along the way, even feigning panic and deliberately choosing crowded streets.

Soon, he arrived at Jinbao Gambling Den.

“Oh, isn’t this Great Master Sha?”

“You showed your face today!”

“Should’ve bet with you…”

!.

As soon as he entered the gambling hall, a crowd surrounded him.

They weren’t genuinely warm—even most didn’t know Sha Lifei. They were just gathering for the spectacle, making small talk, trying to get familiar.

Later, when speaking of this, they could claim Sha Lifei was an old friend, and Li Yan, upon meeting them, would have to call them uncle.

Like some people Li Yan knew in his past life—they’d show up at rich men’s events, take a photo, say a word, then go out and claim they were sworn brothers to scam money.

Sha Lifei knew the game well. He bowed with a worried expression: “Gentlemen, I have urgent business today. Let’s talk another time—I beg your understanding.”

“Of course, of course. Great Master Sha, attend to your affairs.”

Seeing his demeanor, they all had their suspicions.

They wouldn’t say it aloud, but behind his back, they’d gossip—Li Yan’s severe injury rumor would spread through all of Xianyang by tonight.

Sha Lifei ignored them further, took his betting ticket, and walked to the back wooden counter. Just as he was about to cash it, the gambling den’s attendant bowed respectfully: “Great Master Sha, please step aside—our manager wishes to see you.”

“Oh?”

Hearing this, Sha Lifei’s heart skipped.

He’d expected trouble from Tie Dao or Bai Yuan’s gangs, but never thought Wu, the manager of Jinbao Gambling Den, would seek him out first.

Jinbao Gambling Den had powerful backing.

But they had no connection—why now?

Sha Lifei felt uneasy and followed the attendant up to a private room on the second floor.

Inside sat Wu, the manager, smiling genially; a lavish banquet of chicken, duck, fish, and meat filled a large round table.

“Hahaha…”

Seeing Sha Lifei enter, Wu rose immediately, laughing: “I knew you’d come now—I prepared this feast specially for you.”

Sha Lifei frowned. “Manager Wu, what’s this…”

“Great Master Sha, no need to worry.”

Wu shook his head. “You saw that day—I had a feud with Yuan Qu, but circumstances forced me to hold back.

“Today, your victory on the arena made me happy—seeing Yuan’s face, I couldn’t help but feel satisfied. I invited you for a drink…”

Sha Lifei didn’t believe a word.

Gamblers were all heartless; no good deed came without a hidden motive.

Though he didn’t know why, he still shook his head: “This… thank you for your kindness, Manager Wu, but I have urgent business—I must collect the money and head to the herb shop.”

“Oh?”

Wu frowned. “Is Young Master Li badly injured?”

Sha Lifei wore a pained expression. “He’ll need months to recover.”

Wu nodded slightly and sighed. “Then I won’t press further. Wang Cheng, add another hundred taels of silver—consider it my small token.”

“This… this is too much!”

Sha Lifei looked embarrassed, yet took the silver without hesitation.

Just as he was about to leave, he turned back, glanced at the banquet, and scratched his head: “Uh… I still need to order food for them. Since Manager Wu has treated us, may I take some to-go? Saves time on the road.”

Wu: “…”

…………

Soon after, Sha Lifei exited the gambling den, carrying large and small bundles.

No sooner had he left than Wu closed the door tightly.

Whoosh…

With a clicking sound, the bookshelves inside the room slowly slid aside.

The gambling room contained a hidden compartment and secret passage.

A woman in white stepped out slowly, her features delicate and serene.

If Lu Sanfei were here, he would recognize this woman as the white-clad concubine who had stood beside Lu Squire!

(End of Chapter)