A fusang tree on Liuxian Island in the Eastern Sea?

The moment she heard Situ Haonan’s words, a thought flashed through Ziqing’s mind at once: go, or not go!

“I can’t speak for other places, but I can guarantee that the one on Liuxian Island in the Eastern Sea is absolutely the largest — big enough to build a proper ship. Only…” Situ Haonan hesitated.

“Only what?” Ziqing asked quickly.

“That fusang tree doesn’t belong to the Gu Clan — it belongs to the Bai Family on Liuxian Island. Finding it is easy… getting it is another matter entirely!” Situ Haonan said seriously.

Ziqing thought for a moment, then said flatly, “Give me a moment.”

With that she went off to one side to change clothes, then sat down and said, “Situ, tell me everything about Liuxian Island in the Eastern Sea.”

“You… you’re planning to go?” Sharp as ever, Situ Haonan caught on at once that Ziqing had already made up her mind.

Ziqing didn’t answer, only saying flatly, “Just tell me.”

“Changliu Island is the largest island in the Eastern Sea. Several great clans on the island hold power comparable to my own Situ Family, but they look down on the martial world of the Central Plains. Hundreds of years ago they migrated to Changliu Island and threw themselves into the study of martial arts, so quite a few clans there have founded their own schools. The Gu Clan, for instance, is famous for a distinctive internal cultivation technique — the Gu Style.”

“Is that the internal technique Jun Beiyue practices?”

“Exactly. Generally speaking, that technique directly damages the meridians in a way that no other internal technique can normally reach — internal injuries of that kind can only come from someone else who also cultivates the Gu Style,” Situ Haonan said flatly.

“That strike of mine went straight to his heart meridian, which is why…” Ziqing said flatly, feeling a helpless sort of self-mockery inside. It had all been a misunderstanding, not her fault at all, and yet she still couldn’t quite let it go.

Situ Haonan nodded and continued, “I’ve seen you fire out a wind blade with a flick of your finger — that was taught by Xuanyuan Lige, wasn’t it!”

“Yes, a technique built from a special finger method,” Ziqing explained.

“Have you ever seen Jun Beiyue’s wind blade?” Situ Haonan asked again.

“His wind blade! He…” Ziqing hesitated. She didn’t think she had — and yet, that man had taught it to her long before Xuanyuan Lige ever did. When she’d shot down Chu Feiyan’s incense flame, it was precisely the wind blade technique Jun Beiyue had taught her that she’d used to extinguish it.

“Another unmatched skill of the Gu Style is the wind blade — a wind blade forced out by internal energy. Those who cultivate the Gu Style generally prefer to use a long sword. Do you know why?” Situ Haonan asked again.

Ziqing was suddenly struck with realization and blurted out, “The sword’s edge becomes the wind blade!”

She remembered it now. The last time, at the place called the Three Realms, when a man in black had tried to kill Xuanyuan Lige — she’d chased after them, and just as Xuanyuan Lige was about to flee, she’d clearly seen the black-clad man’s grip on his sword, easily carrying seventy percent internal power. Yet when he struck, there was no visible sword-aura or sword-light from the blade itself — instead, something like a wind blade, or perhaps a sword-aura, had suddenly appeared right at Xuanyuan Lige.

That man in black from before — it had been Jun Beiyue!

“You’ve seen it?” Situ Haonan asked at once. He knew full well that Jun Beiyue’s martial skills went far beyond just the wind blade — the wind blade was a hallmark of the Gu Clan, one that would give away his identity. Under normal circumstances, he would never use it.

“Once,” Ziqing said flatly.

“Then that person was absolutely someone he meant to kill — otherwise that boy would never have used it so readily. Heh.” Situ Haonan chuckled.

A complicated look flickered through Ziqing’s eyes. Meant to kill — she should have realized it long ago.

Xuanyuan Lige had been lurking around them this whole time, yet neither he nor Xuanyuan Zhaoxi had made any move so far. With the water-splashing festival about to end, could it really be that they weren’t here for her after all?

Between Eastern Qin and Nanzhao lay Great Zhou — no matter how much they schemed, the King of Nanzhao wasn’t foolish enough to provoke conflict with Great Zhou easily. And as for Western Chu and Western Jing… Just as Ziqing was mulling this over, Gu Xi hurried in to report. “My lord, you have a visitor.”

“Who?” Ziqing was caught off guard — it was still so early, and everyone had been drunk the night before. Who would be up so early?

“Xuanyuan Zhaoxi,” Gu Xi said in a low voice.

Ziqing and Situ Haonan exchanged a glance and immediately understood each other.

“I won’t see her. Tell her I’m not free,” Ziqing said coldly. She had no personal ties with Xuanyuan Zhaoxi, and their two countries would never be on good terms — there was no need to grant her the courtesy.

“Yes!” Gu Xi withdrew to carry out the order.

“Good thing you got back so early. Looks like that woman really was watching you closely,” Situ Haonan said with a laugh.

“Tell me about the Bai Family,” Ziqing said flatly. Compared to Xuanyuan Zhaoxi, she was far more concerned with that fusang sacred tree.

“The Bai Family is the second most powerful clan on Liuxian Island, right behind the Gu Clan…” Situ Haonan trailed off, hesitating for a long moment, then let out a soft sigh and decided to just say it. “Actually, these past few years the Bai Family’s influence has been growing to the point where it may well have surpassed the Gu Clan’s.”

“The Gu Clan founded the Gu Style — what did the Bai Family found?” Ziqing asked, curious.

“An unorthodox branch of martial arts — unorthodox, but frighteningly powerful!” Situ Haonan said with feeling.

“An arcane technique?” Ziqing was mildly startled. She wasn’t sure how different the martial arts she knew from the Chinese tradition were from those of the Longyuan Continent, but no matter the difference, arcane techniques were always a formidable school of their own — things like stealth arts and poison arts all fell under that category.

“Yes, an arcane technique. The Bai Family founded the Vine Art — they use seeds as their hidden weapons,” Situ Haonan said.

“Seeds as hidden weapons? What does that have to do with ‘vine’?” Ziqing asked, puzzled.

Situ Haonan clicked his tongue and explained, “The seeds they use are extremely special — they draw the essence and blood from the human body and rapidly grow into vines, trapping the victim to death!”

Realization dawned on Ziqing. So this hidden-weapon seed of the Bai Family embedded itself directly into a person’s bloodstream!

How was that any different from killing someone without a trace? Truly terrifying!

“Terrifying, yes, but their overall strength still falls short of the Gu Clan’s — it’s just that the Gu Clan… the Gu Clan…” Situ Haonan hesitated again. This concerned Jun Beiyue’s private affairs — should he say more or not?

“It has to do with Jun Beiyue. Was his mother truly of the Gu Clan, or did she take her husband’s surname?” Ziqing asked seriously.

“He told you about his mother?” Situ Haonan said flatly.

“When he gave me the Liuguang blade, he said it had been his mother’s, and took me to see her grave,” Ziqing said flatly. Looking back on it now, she couldn’t help but marvel at how foolish she’d been not to realize sooner.

Perhaps it was because back then she’d been so determined to reject the idea, so convinced it was impossible, that she’d refused to let herself understand.

“So he really is your beloved after all — even my own brother had to get his shadow drunk just to pry the truth out of him!” Situ Haonan laughed, though there was a faint bitterness to it.

Ziqing, however, didn’t notice, and feeling a bit awkward, changed the subject. “Is it the Bai Family’s expansion, or some problem within the Gu Clan itself?”

“Both, probably. Mainly… the Gu Clan has no male heirs. That means in another ten or twenty years, the Gu Clan will have no successor. The head of the Gu Clan — Jun Beiyue’s own father — will grow old eventually, and word is the young master of the Bai Family is something of a prodigy.”