Chapter 245: Matters of the Jianghu

"Mount Hengshan City!"

A long stream of people surged through the city gate. Yu Ju led a lazy horse, surveying the bustling street filled with crowds and the shops on both sides that stretched to the horizon:

"It's been so many years since we parted, yet nothing has changed."

Mount Hengshan City swallowed and exhaled tens of thousands of people daily. Yu Ju, dressed as a woodcutter, was utterly unremarkable. Leading his horse, he walked through several long streets and stopped before a private residence.

He knocked lightly. An old man with a hunched figure emerged from the courtyard, glanced at Yu Ju, and opened the main gate.

"Tsk."

Yu Ju sized up the old man: "Old Liu, your attire truly surprises me."

From his appearance alone, who could tell that this old man was one of the few ranked assassins of the Star-Picking Tower in the Hengshan Circuit?

The infamous Earth-Bursting Star, Liu Seng?

"The people from the Zhenwu Hall and the Jingping Bureau are pursuing us too closely; I had to disguise myself."

After the courtyard gate closed, the old man straightened his posture. Though still dressed as an elder, he showed no stiffness or clumsiness:

"However, speaking of disguises, your attire truly makes you look like a woodcutter."

"After chopping wood for so many years, sometimes I even feel I am a woodcutter."

Yu Ju sighed, followed the old man into the house, and helped himself to some tea.

Liu Seng leisurely went to the inner room and retrieved a large handful of various letters and numerous Juan Sect records containing intelligence.

He handed them over, but Yu Ju did not take them; instead, he sat holding the teapot:

"Too lazy to read. Just say it directly."

"The Tower Master's sudden move this time not only shook the court and the country but also stunned those within the Tower. It's as if everyone is asking..."

Liu Seng set down the letters and spoke concisely:

"In short, everyone is asking about the Cult Master's intentions, where she is now, and whether the Zhenwu King has crossed that threshold..."

"Who knows?"

Yu Ju casually flipped through the letters, his expression solemn:

"With the Cult Master's peerless Wu Gong, to lose all contact is terrifying... The Zhenwu King must be too fearsome."

"Does Master Wang not know either?"

Liu Seng asked tentatively.

"Master Wang was stripped of his Heavenly Character long ago; how could he have the qualification to know these things? When the Cult Master... he was in seclusion, the Cult Master hadn't even been born. There is no friendship to speak of."

Yu Ju replied offhandedly and asked:

"Speaking of which, among so many letters, is there anything useful?"

"If we speak of usefulness..."

Liu Seng picked out a letter from the pile: "This letter comes from the Imperial Capital. It mentions Di Qian and the Zhenwu King. However, with such distance, it is hard to distinguish truth from falsehood."

Gathering intelligence is difficult.

Especially regarding major powers like the Dragon-Tiger Temple; their intelligence is almost inaccessible from the outside. The deep secrets of the imperial court, the intelligence concerning Di Qian and the Zhenwu King, are absolutely not accessible to ordinary people.

"Oh?"

Yu Ju took the letter, glanced at it once, and his eyelid twitched:

"The Azure Turtle Shell of the Sea-Subduing?!"

"This letter bears no signature, so its sender is unknown. According to the letter, the moment the Cult Master entered the Imperial Capital, the Zhenwu King captured her spiritual resonance, and a fierce battle ensued..."

The letter was not long; Liu Seng had read it many times and memorized it: "The reason the Cult Master was utterly defeated is that the Zhenwu King not only wielded the Dragon-Slaying Divine Blade but also wore the Azure Turtle Shell of the Sea-Subduing!"

"He alone subdued two Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing treasures?!"

Yu Ju sucked in a breath of cold air, feeling his scalp go numb.

"It is hard to say if it is true or false, but if it is the Zhenwu King, it is not impossible. This person is truly a peerless figure appearing once in a millennium."

Liu Seng felt solemn and somewhat worried: "Could the Cult Master possibly..."

"Impossible!"

Yu Ju frowned deeply:

"The Cult Master has perfected the Dragon-Demon art, with myriad forms upon her body. She has as many lives as a thousand. Even if the Zhenwu King possesses two Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing treasures, the Cult Master will surely not perish!"

"But for so long, the Cult Master has still not sent a single word of news. This is truly worrying..."

"Enough!"

Yu Ju was too lazy to argue with him, stuffed the letter into his robe, stood up, and left.

Liu Seng watched him depart, hunched as he closed the courtyard gate. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened:

"Who?"

His qi was contained and unexpressed, yet instantly suppressed. It was merely a small kitten walking across the eaves of the neighboring house.

"My nerves are too tense?"

Liu Seng let out a long sigh and returned to the room.

"Meow~"

On the eaves, a small cat with half-black and half-white fur looked back at this private residence, turned its body, and vanished from the eaves.

Leaving this private residence, Yu Ju, like a traveler newly entering a Dao city, sought out a cheap inn and found a small restaurant to drink.

But when he staggered back to his room, his drunkenness instantly cleared:

"Someone has been here?"

Although he had nursed his wounds in Gao Liu County for many years, Yu Ju was ultimately a seasoned assassin. He was vigilant enough about his dwelling and noticed the anomaly the moment he entered.

On the table, there was an extra letter.

"What is this?"

He flicked his finger, lifting the letter through the air, and used internal energy like a palm to open it:

"This handwriting is truly ugly..."

Yu Ju frowned; the characters on the letter were crooked and did not look like brush calligraphy. The strokes were sharp, as if some small beast had dipped its claws in ink and scribbled them.

But when he finally read the content, his pupils involuntarily contracted.

"Di Qian is suspected to have obtained the Sea-Suppressing Profound Turtle Shell from the 'Eight Directions Temple'..."

"The recluse Shen Shen Qisheng has entered the imperial court as a guest advisor..."

"... Order Wang Wenyan to inform all sequences to lie low for now and wait and see... Do not look for me."

The signature: Qin Li Shixian.

"The Sect, the Sect Leader is actually in Mount Hengshan? This, this..."

After a while, Yu Ju finally came to his senses. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He quickly took out an envelope and placed the letter, which looked like a small beast's scribble, inside.

He then took brush and ink and wrote the line 'Deliver to Wang Wenyan, do not open' on the envelope.

Afterwards, he took a 'Chaos Soul Pill' from his robes and swallowed it.

"The more one knows, the more dangerous it becomes... I had better forget."

Yu Ju wiped away the cold sweat, lay down fully clothed. The power of the Chaos Soul Pill slowly spread. By the time he woke from his sleep, he felt his mind was foggy and had forgotten everything that happened today completely.

"Did I just take a Chaos Soul Pill?"

Yu Ju rubbed his temples, took out the letter from his robes, and immediately stuffed it back in as if it were burning his hand.

"Something big must be happening?"

He muttered as he pushed open the window. If it were not already dark, he would have prepared to leave immediately.

"My Dao robe!"

In the inn, Li Yuan spotted his Dao robe trampled with a pile of black paw prints at a glance and immediately felt heartbroken.

He had made only three Dao robes in total; this was the last one.

"Mew~"

Shaking its wet paws, the little tiger cub looked over sideways, appearing ready to bristle its fur at any moment.

"Crazy cat!"

Li Yuan felt a toothache but still withdrew his hand and endured it.

He had worked so hard to raise it to a semi-tame state; if he acted now, all would be in vain. Felines hold grudges.

"Let's go, move house."

Holding his nose, he rolled up the Dao robe, picked up the little mouse from the corner, and without needing a call, the 'Ancestral Cat' jumped onto his shoulder.

Carrying one cat and one mouse, Li Yuan's entire belongings, he casually gave an instruction to the inn servant and drove back to Longhu Temple.

Longhu Temple is divided into three branches: Longshan, Hushan, and Daoshan.

The main peak of Longshan is located outside the Thirteen Peaks of Hun Tian, adjacent to the Nine Peaks of Dragon Chant. It rises ten thousand ren high, with lush vegetation and numerous temples.

In the main hall of Longshan's main peak, the lights were bright.

When Monk Dou Yue entered, shaking his kasaya slightly, two people were already sitting cross-legged on cushions inside the hall. On the wall behind them hung a massive mural.

In the mural, clouds and mist swirled. At the peak of the mountains, a huge azure dragon coiled down, raising its dragon head high. On top of the dragon's head, a monk could be faintly seen sitting in meditation.

"Junior brother Dou Yue's cultivation has progressed again; it seems entering the Dao is imminent."

Monk Dou Yue squinted slightly. Inside the hall, one person wore a green Dao robe, and the other wore grey clothes, with a long sword lying horizontally before them.

The speaker was the grey-clad swordsman.

This man was named Han Tong, one of the three halls of Longshan, and one of the two deputy hall masters of Weishentang.

"Hasn't Senior brother Han also been but one step away?"

Monk Dou Yue also sat cross-legged on the cushion, his expression Longhu Longhu Dandan.

"This step, Han has walked for twenty years, yet Junior brother Dou Yue has walked it in less than eight years. It truly makes this elder envious."

Han Tong stroked the long sword lightly:

"I heard the junior brother your uncle just accepted has talent that rivals Junior brother Long?"

Chu Shan Xuan Kong also looked over.

"Not as good as Junior brother Long."

Monk Dou Yue shook his head, showing no intention to mention it further, and instead asked:

"Did Senior brothers summon me because the Dao Master and the various hall masters have news?"

"Mm."

Seeing he did not wish to say more, the two exchanged a glance with their peripheral vision, temporarily held back, took out a letter, and handed it to Dou Yue:

"The Master of the Star-Picking Tower attempted regicide, inciting rage throughout the court and the country. Not only the Zhenwu Hall and the Jingping Bureau, but even the Great Inner Imperial Guard has sent experts out of the city..."

Monk Dou Yue took the letter, opened it, and could not help but frown slightly:

"The recluse Shen Shen Qisheng... If I recall correctly, this Grandmaster comes from the Mount Yunmeng Dao and the Changhong Sword Sect?"

"A traitor of the Changhong Sword Sect."

The Long Yin Hall was also responsible for gathering intelligence, and Chu Shan Xuan Kong knew the details quite well:

"In these two hundred years, among the sixteen who betrayed the Dao Sect, this person has the highest talent and the youngest age. Twelve years ago, he stepped into the Tian Gang and reached the peak of the Di Shen Xian Jing. It is said this person cultivates the 'Bai Shen Fa'..."

"It is the Bai Shen Fa again."

Monk Dou Yue's expression was indifferent.

Over the past thousand years, countless martial arts experts in the Jianghu have been seduced by the Bai Shen Fa to betray the Pan Sect; the higher one's Wu Gong, the easier it is to be tempted into betrayal when nearing the end of one's life.

Among the Xieshen Sect's current two Great Elders, four Dharma Kings, and eight Protectors, fully half hail from the Wudadao Sect...

But Shen Qi Sheng was different; when he betrayed the Pan Sect, he was only sixty years old. His betrayal was not for longevity, nor did he join the Xieshen Sect; he did it solely to break through to the Di Shen Xian Jing realm, and he truly succeeded.

"After the Dao Master emerged from seclusion, he fought this person three times. Though he won, he could not achieve a decisive victory. Therefore, the Dao Master cannot return for now and has only instructed us to guard the mountain gate strictly."

Han Tong paused slightly and said:

"By the way, sweep the Zhai Xing Lou and the Xieshen Sect's spies clean; do not let the imperial court find any grounds for accusation."

"This matter..."

Chu Shan Xuan Kong glanced at Monk Dou Yue:

"It would be more secure if the Long Yin and Hun Tian Halls acted together. What does junior brother think?"

"Agreed."