Fang Xian Ye was about to leave his residence to pay respects at Jin’an Temple. As he lifted the sedan curtain to enter, his steps suddenly halted. The servant He Zhi standing at his side asked curiously: “Sir, what’s wrong?”
He was about to approach, but Fang Xian Ye waved his hand to stop him, saying: “It’s nothing.”
With those words, he stepped into the sedan chair and lowered the curtain. He Zhi called out in a drawn-out voice from outside: “Lift the sedan!”
The sedan chair was hoisted up with a swaying motion. Fang Xian Ye looked at the uninvited guest in black clothes with a covered face inside the sedan, and frowning, whispered: “What are you doing here?”
The visitor pulled down the black cloth covering his face, revealing a handsome young face—it was Duan Xu.
With smiling eyes, he said: “Something urgent has come up—someone is waiting to ambush you outside the city. Let me ask you, of the four sedan bearers outside, is there any particular one you favor and would like to keep carrying your sedan?”
Fang Xian Ye replied: “The one at the front left. Why?”
“Good. Then I’ll protect you, He Zhi, and him. The ones coming to assassinate you are experts from Wensheng Pavilion—that’s where Luo Xian used to be. Though they’re no match for me, I can’t guarantee protection for too many people.”
“Who wants to kill me?”
“Naturally, it’s my father, who sees you as a major threat.” Duan Xu smiled and snapped his fingers.
Recently, he had asked Chen Ying to keep an eye on his father at home. Chen Ying was a detail-oriented child with an innocent face. Though not yet capable of analysis and reasoning, he had provided many useful clues.
For instance, the housekeeper had accidentally mentioned that his father had withdrawn a large sum of silver from the treasury, claiming to renovate their ancestral home, yet nothing happened afterward.
For instance, his father had recently been exchanging messages with someone unknown via carrier pigeons.
Following these leads, he discovered that his father had finally resolved to attempt assassinating Fang Xian Ye once more, and just like five years ago, he had hired assassins from Wensheng Pavilion.
Fang Xian Ye’s gaze darkened. After thinking for a moment, he said: “Then I’ll return to my residence immediately and not leave the city.”
“If Wensheng Pavilion is determined to strike, you can’t escape forever. Moreover, after failing twice, they won’t accept the contract a third time. Knowing my father’s character, he absolutely wouldn’t expand the circle of those who know. If he fails again this time, he’ll finally settle down.”
Fang Xian Ye gave a cold laugh. As long as he lived, his former “father” would never be at ease.
Duan Xu folded his arms and said: “You’ve already begun to make a name for yourself. In the future, there will be more dangers. You need to select some skilled bodyguards. Before you find suitable guards, why not bring Luo Xian out from Yucao Tower to protect you for a while?”
“That won’t work. These days the court is in turmoil, and we need Luo Xian’s intelligence from Yucao Tower.” Fang Xian Ye immediately refused. Then, as if remembering something, he said seriously: “I was looking for you. The Horse administration corruption case has taken a turn—the witness has recanted.”
“Sun Chang De, the Secretary of the Court of the Imperial Stud? Has he claimed that those three thousand war horses weren’t ghost soldiers but truly died from an epidemic?”
“Not only that, he also said that his previous report on the horse administration corruption was made under threat and coercion, intending to frame the Director of the Imperial Stud and the Minister of War. The recantation was probably ordered by Duke Pei, though I don’t know the specific details. Currently, Sun Chang De is being held at the Court of Judicial Review, detained under Justice Jin Yan awaiting trial.”
“Jin Yan doesn’t belong to any faction; he’s an upright and incorruptible pure official. He’s been watching this case for a long time—Sun Chang De can’t easily fool him.”
But Fang Xian Ye shook his head, saying: “You and I both know the horse administration corruption is true, but part of the evidence Sun Chang De holds was forged by you. Although Sun Chang De doesn’t know the false evidence came from your hand, Jin Yan’s investigation will likely trace back to you eventually. With truth and falsehood intertwined, things will become complicated.”
Duan Xu pressed his hands together at his lips, overlapping them carelessly.
When they first discovered the horse administration corruption and the witness, Fang Xian Ye had mentioned that this witness wasn’t reliable and needed to be guarded against. With insufficient evidence, they hadn’t exposed the matter at that time.
Even during the recovery of Shuo Prefecture, the evidence still hadn’t been properly collected—it wasn’t the right time to raise this issue. But if they missed this opportunity, the battle plans for Yun and Luo Prefectures would fall through. Before leaving Southern Capital, Duan Xu had forged a batch of evidence as a precaution, creating coincidences to transfer this “evidence” into Sun Chang De’s hands, so that when the Horse administration corruption case broke, it would shake the emperor’s heart.
Now that Sun Chang De had recanted under pressure from Duke Pei, obstructing the investigation, this forged evidence had become a major problem.
After a moment of silence, Duan Xu smiled and said: “We’ll counter whatever comes our way. My father, Minister Du, and my future father-in-law won’t just stand by and watch. It’s better to muddy these waters.”
Hearing the inquiries from the city gate guards, Duan Xu stretched lazily and said: “I understand the situation, but right now, saving you is more urgent.”
Duan Xu’s information proved correct. Shortly after leaving the city, the sedan chair shook violently, accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps and cries of alarm from outside. He instructed Fang Xian Ye to stay inside the sedan chair, then covered his face, lifted the curtain, and slipped out. The next moment, He Zhi and the sedan bearer chosen by Fang Xian Ye were thrown into the sedan. The two men, still in shock and trembling with fear, almost hugged each other for comfort.
Outside the sedan came chaotic sounds—clashing swords, splashing blood, bodies falling—intense like a violent storm. Fang Xian Ye could almost imagine the scene outside.
He had never seen anyone better at killing than Duan Xu, not even the assassins from Wensheng Pavilion who killed for a living could compare. Fang Xian Ye could hardly call it martial arts, because Duan Xu’s methods had no patterns or fixed moves—only taking lives.
Sometimes he felt that Duan Xu rather enjoyed this direct and violent killing.
Five years ago, when Fang Xian Ye naively set out for the Southern Capital, all the servants accompanying him were slaughtered on the way. As he was hunted down and about to be beheaded, he met Duan Xu for the first time.
This man appeared like a god of war, killing all the assassins who had been massacring others. Fang Xian Ye clearly remembered how, in the bloody sunset, he clutched his bleeding left hand and watched this blood-covered figure turn to look at him—a figure like an Asura—feeling terrified and desperate.
Yet that man walked up to him, crouched down, and casually said: “I’m not here to kill you; I’m here to save you.”
The man took his hand and expertly bandaged it, smiling as he said: “Nice to meet you. I’m Duan Xu—the ‘Xu’ from ‘conquering the wolves’ den.’ The person trying to kill you is my father, Duan Cheng Zhang.”
That was the first time Fang Xian Ye met the person whose name he had borrowed and whose role he had been playing for seven years.
A very strange person.
Duan Xu brought him to Southern Capital, often staying up all night and talking with him along the way.
Under the brilliant starry sky, Duan Xu poked at the campfire with his sword. With the firelight reflected in his eyes, he said earnestly: “I’ve read your articles—they’re too good. Such writing shouldn’t vanish from this world. You should, as the ancients said, ‘establish the heart for heaven and earth, establish the destiny for the people, continue the interrupted teachings of past sages, and create eternal peace for future generations.'”
“I’ve heard it said that weapons are inauspicious instruments, not tools for gentlemen. Let me be that inauspicious instrument, and you be the gentleman’s tool. How about that?”
He Zhi’s trembling voice interrupted Fang Xian Ye’s memories. This young servant curled up in fear, asked: “That warrior outside is incredibly fierce. Who is he?”
Fang Xian Ye was silent for a moment, then answered: “A friend.”
If they weren’t like-minded, they should have been enemies.
Just as he finished speaking, a black-clothed assassin crashed face-up into the sedan chair, a sword piercing his chest, eyes wide open staring at him. Blood gushed as he breathed his last. The two men beside him screamed in terror. The sedan bearer summoned the courage to raise his hands protectively in front of Fang Xian Ye. Then they saw the masked Duan Xu step onto the sedan threshold, looking at them with apparent amusement. With one leg bent, and one hand resting on his knee, he reached out to pull the sword from the assassin’s chest, wiped the blood clean with his sleeve, and leisurely sheathed it, saying: “All cleared up.”
Fang Xian Ye’s tense body finally relaxed as he let out a long breath, but then heard Duan Xu say: “There’s something else I want to tell you. Come out with me for a moment.”
After speaking, Duan Xu pointed at the two men beside Fang Xian Ye and smiled: “You two stay here. Lower the curtain in a moment. Don’t look at what you shouldn’t see, don’t listen to what you shouldn’t hear, understand?”
The sedan bearer and servant exchanged glances, hesitating, unsure whether to trust this man, while also fearing his blade. Fang Xian Ye waved his hand, saying this man wouldn’t harm him, then stepped out of the sedan chair, lowering the curtain.
The roadside outside the sedan door was littered with corpses, perhaps more than a dozen, blood staining the ground. Duan Xu stood among these bodies with perfect ease, as if accustomed to such scenes. Fang Xian Ye glanced at the sedan chair, walked a little further away, and said in a low voice: “What do you want to say?”
“I want to introduce someone to you.”
Fang Xian Ye asked in surprise: “Now? Here?”
Duan Xu nodded. His eyes curved into a smile as he stepped back and called out deliberately: “He Simu.”
“After you return to the mortal world, if you face disaster or need any help, just call my name and I will come find you.”
Soon after his words fell, a wisp of blue smoke curled through the air, bringing a familiar agarwood fragrance. A pair of light purple embroidered shoes stepped onto the blood-soaked ground. The appearing maiden was pale-faced, with willow-leaf eyebrows and phoenix eyes—beautiful yet cold.
This was He Simu’s true form.
Seeing the corpses on the ground, she turned to look Duan Xu up and down, reaching out to touch his shoulder.
Duan Xu let out a soft hiss but didn’t avoid her touch.
He Simu frowned and asked: “You’re injured?”
Duan Xu nodded, then shook his head, smiling: “Nothing serious, just some flesh wounds on my shoulder and below my ribs. Most of the blood belongs to my enemies. Are you worried about me?”
He Simu gave a light laugh and said: “If my covenant-bearer were injured in his five senses, how could he trade with me?”
A subtle change flashed in Duan Xu’s eyes. He didn’t continue this topic but instead pointed to Fang Xian Ye and said: “Can you let my friend see your true form as well?”
He Simu turned her gaze toward Fang Xian Ye and readily snapped her fingers. Fang Xian Ye, whose complexion already didn’t look good, immediately widened his eyes.
He had already been amazed watching Duan Xu seemingly talking to himself, but now a deathly pale young woman in red clothes appeared out of nowhere before him, looking at him coldly.
For a moment, he didn’t know if this was a dream or reality, too shocked to speak. So Duan Xu made a simple introduction between the silent pair: “Simu, this is my dear friend Fang Xian Ye. Xian Ye, this is Ghost King Her Majesty He Simu.”
“Ghost King?” Fang Xian Ye murmured.
He Simu ignored him and turned directly to Duan Xu, asking coldly: “Why did you call me here? I didn’t give you this power so you could summon me on a whim.”
“I naturally want to make a trade with you.”
“What are your terms?”
Duan Xu blinked, smiling with innocent charm, and said: “Come to my wedding. Simu, I want you to attend my wedding—that’s my condition for the trade.”