Chapter 286

An Ziyang narrowed his eyes, identified him carefully, and then smiled.

"I wondered who it was; isn't this Senior 'Black Crow' Zhou Zijing?"

The old man cupped his fists, but ignored An Ziyang, instead walking slowly to the bottom of the high platform on the north side, looking with his hands behind his back at the highest seat and the figure hidden behind the light gauze.

"Commander, this old man has something to say."

An Ziyang was not annoyed, smiling instead.

"Please speak, Senior Zhou."

The old man said in a deep voice.

"Firstly, today we all came from thousands of miles away to attend this banquet upon the Commander's invitation. Yet until now, the Commander is unwilling to even see us once."

"The sects that arrived earliest have been on the mountain for a month, and I, coming from the evil path, even had to break through the barriers according to the Commander's rules to get in. Yet until now, we don't even know if the Commander is a man or a woman, fat or thin."

"Is this the Commander's way of treating guests?"

"Secondly, the Embroidered Uniform Guard keeps saying they won't interfere with the ranking of seats and let the Jianghu people solve it themselves. But who decided on these ten chairs? Why couldn't it be nine? Why couldn't it be eleven!"

"I consider myself no weaker than those on the stage, but to go up and sit, I must fight them. We are all Jianghu colleagues, yet we must fight to the death for chairs set up by the imperial court, which makes one think of... the affair of Gongsun Jie, Tian Kaijiang, and Gu Ye Zi!"

These three names were not understood by the uncultured Jianghu roughnecks, but the sects with traditions all understood the implication. These were the names of the "three warriors" from the "two peaches kill three warriors" story.

He had taken a roundabout way, but it was as good as saying it plainly.

"Thirdly, it is him!"

The old man pointed at Liu Chengxuan.

"By what right is he sitting there, by what right can he look down at us!"

Having said this, he turned abruptly to look at all the Jianghu people.

"Everyone, learning martial arts to sell to the imperial family is nothing shameful. If the Embroidered Uniform Guard had put a Qingcheng Sect, or even a Blood Clothes Pavilion there today, I wouldn't have come out!"

"But, the Huanhua Sword Sect won't do! Liu Chengxuan is not worthy!"

"What you dare not say, I will say!"

"What you dare not do, I will do!"

Having said this, he turned abruptly and cupped his fists toward the figure above.

"Commander, can the sign for the Peak be changed?"

"Also, can the Commander say a word and let us meet?"

An Ziyang frowned and stepped forward to block his gaze toward the top.

"Senior Zhou, is this not a bit disrespectful?"

"Disrespectful?"

The old man suddenly sneered, actually pointing directly at the figure beneath the light gauze above.

"Has the Commander ever been respectful to us!"

"Since ascending to the top of Mount Junji, I have been watching that figure. At first, I was puzzled why I couldn't sense even a trace of internal energy. Initially, I thought the Commander's martial arts had returned to simplicity, or that my realm was insufficient to sense it."

"But, it has been two hours now."

"This so-called Commander hasn't even moved!"

As soon as his voice fell, the surroundings erupted into an uproar.

Many people suddenly realized this, looked carefully at the figure above, and compared it with their impression when they ascended the mountain, immediately knowing the old man's words were not false.

"Could it be that this Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander has never been here?"

"Since Bu Lei died last year, everyone knew someone had taken the position of Commander of the Northern Depot, but who has seen it with their own eyes?"

"Could it be that this person never existed from the start? I found it strange when rumors said his martial arts were unfathomable. He had never walked the Jianghu, just stayed in the capital practicing martial arts, and suddenly became invincible?"

"Without even a background, having done nothing or had any reputation in the Jianghu before, suddenly popping up is too suspicious!"

For a time, the voices that had already quieted down gradually surged and intensified.

More and more people stood up and looked toward the figure on the high platform.

Although Jianghu people fear the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they do not fear all of them unconditionally. A Battalion Commander who only follows orders and a Commander of the Northern Depot who represents the imperial court's attitude toward the Jianghu are not the same concept at all.

In this scene, if that "Commander" is truly not here, then relying only on An Ziyang, a first-class Battalion Commander, really shouldn't expect to set rules for the Jianghu people!

People kept shouting.

"Battalion Commander An, it's getting late, and there isn't much time before the banquet starts. Let the Commander pull back the gauze and let us see him, so we can be at ease, right?"

"That's right, if there is no Commander to endorse it, what is the point of ranking these seats? Can Battalion Commander An represent the imperial court's meaning?"

"Commander!"

"Commander!"

"Commander!"

The voices gradually unified, and the Jianghu people shouted in unison.

The hearts of the people had been thoroughly incited.

But the gaze spying on Li Miao below became increasingly ugly.

"He really isn't there?"

"Then where did he go?"

He lowered his head in thought, and a cold sweat suddenly seeped from his forehead.

"An Ziyang killed Tang He; he already knew someone would make trouble at the Moon-Viewing Banquet."

"If he isn't up there..."

"Then he is down here!"

He turned abruptly, intending to dive into the crowd.

A hand was placed on his shoulder.

Vigorous internal energy penetrated his body, pouring into his heart meridian along the Hand Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian, destroying his dantian in an instant. Then it stirred through his entire body along the meridians, making him almost faint.

He managed to lift his head, turned slowly along with the hand on his shoulder, and finally fixed his gaze on an ordinary face.

And on that ordinary face, a cold, chilling smile was slowly emerging.

"Looking for me?"

Fingers dug deeply into his shoulder; his martial arts were completely lost, and he could only be dragged away from the crowd, stumbling.

The man's faint voice came from the front.

"I knew someone would make trouble; did you think I would lie on the platform sleeping, waiting for you to find trouble for me?"

"I am best at lightening my own burden. Those who can be killed are killed on the spot, never left overnight; the more dead, the fewer things to deal with."

"However, your technique is quite clever, not inferior to the method from the Ming Sect. If it weren't for your reaction being different from the others just now, I wouldn't have looked at you carefully, and it would have been hard to distinguish."

While speaking, they had already left the crowd.

Thus, the scenery in front of him suddenly moved backward rapidly, and the flesh on his shoulder emitted a wail as if it were about to burst. He wailed aloud, reaching out to pry open the claws dug into his shoulder, but was completely unable to shake them in the slightest.

A moment later, he was thrown to the ground, his already bloodied shoulder hitting the ground, immediately causing him to turn pale with pain.

But he knew the pain was far from over.

Because the person who dragged him down was slowly revealing his true face.

Bones and flesh shifted, his stature grew taller, and crisp sounds emitted from his whole body.

Li Miao slowly stretched.

"Ha—that feels good."

"Alright, tell me, who sent you, and what do you want to do?"

"No need to mention your background; when my internal energy probed your body just now, I was clear—your Yin acupoints are congested with blood, and your internal energy is of the path where 'lonely Yin is not Yang'; only eunuchs practice this kind of technique."

"You are a dead eunuch."

Li Miao looked at the person in front of him with a smile.

"After the matter was settled last year, I checked the accounts with the Commander and found that many eunuchs were missing from the palace. That little eunuch who escorted the imperial clan also disappeared without a trace."

"Are you the backup plan left by the Emperor in advance?"

Li Miao squatted in front of him and reached out to grip his skull.

Then, he squeezed slowly.

"The people up there are still looking for death; I don't have much time to waste on you. I'll give you the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to speak—"

Suddenly, Li Miao stopped.

He turned his head to look down the mountain.

"If I hadn't deliberately gone down to the mountainside, I really wouldn't have heard it—what a great commotion, I can hear it even from this far away."

"At the very least, it takes two or three high-level experts to create this commotion... interesting."

His fingers were deeply embedded in the eunuch's skull.

Then, ignoring the eunuch's struggle and wailing, he paused his feet.

Like a meteorite, he rushed down the mountain.

(End of chapter)