Su Muyu approached Ugly Ox with his paper umbrella on his back. Startled, Ugly Ox instinctively drew his sword, but relaxed upon recognizing Su Muyu. “Chief, when did you come in? Like a ghost, without a sound.”
“I’ve been to this Spider’s Nest several times. I naturally know how to slip in undetected,” Su Muyu replied coolly.
Ugly Ox nodded. “I had forgotten about that.”
“This Spider’s Nest contains thirty-six mechanisms, each deadly beyond measure. Even a supreme master would struggle to survive passing through them,” Su Muyu said, gazing at the moon above. “Unless someone knows the layout intimately, like myself. But even for me, there’s one place that cannot be passed.”
“Where?” Ugly Ox asked, puzzled.
“Here.” Su Muyu planted his paper umbrella on the ground. “This is the formation’s core. There are four ways to evade the thirty-six mechanisms, but every path must pass through this spot. There’s no avoiding it.”
Ugly Ox, still gripping his sword, unconsciously took a step back.
“Yet when I passed through earlier, no one was here,” Su Muyu continued watching the moon, without turning around.
“I had just switched shifts with someone, so I was away,” Ugly Ox said gravely.
“Such a clumsy lie hardly needs telling,” Su Muyu sighed softly. “You are Spider Shadow’s Ugly Ox.”
“I am Su Shangyun of the Su Clan!” Ugly Ox raised his sword to Su Muyu’s back.
“Once you joined Spider Shadow, you ceased being Su Clan’s person. We took that oath together,” Su Muyu pulled his paper umbrella from the ground and whirled around, shattering Ugly Ox’s mask with one swift strike.
As Bai Hehuai had said, the face beneath was not handsome—it was rather ugly. The already plain features, combined with a scar that crossed most of his face, made him appear even more fierce and terrifying. Ugly Ox gave a bitter smile. “Chief, you know better than anyone—the Patriarch’s poison is incurable. Even if cured, he won’t live more than a few years. He should step down. Our blind loyalty will only lead us to die with him!”
“Blind loyalty?” Su Muyu raised an eyebrow. “Is loyalty not about staying true even in dire circumstances? If we abandon our principles just because the tide turns against the Patriarch, what meaning does loyalty have?”
“Chief, you…” Ugly Ox gritted his teeth.
“Go,” Su Muyu turned around, closing his umbrella. “Find somewhere to hide. I’ll say I sent you on a mission. When this is over, if the Su Clan prevails, seek them out. If others win, change your name and appearance, and never show yourself again!”
“Chief, your swordsmanship is formidable, but you can’t protect everyone. This battle will happen, and people will die—either the Su Clan or the Patriarch, either your closest brothers or the Patriarch you swore to serve!” Ugly Ox’s sword-holding hand trembled slightly. “Let’s rebel! If we go now together, kill the Patriarch, and take the Sleeping Dragon Sword, everything can end early!”
“If you say one more word,” Su Muyu’s tone hardened, “you won’t be leaving today.”
“You can’t protect everyone…” Ugly Ox muttered one last time, then with a heavy sigh, he leaped over the courtyard wall and disappeared.
“You shouldn’t have let him go,” the hunchbacked elder suddenly appeared behind them, his voice grave.
Su Muyu turned and bowed deeply to the elder.
“You’re Dark River’s puppet master. Your position in Dark River far exceeds mine—no need to bow to me,” the hunchbacked elder gazed at the courtyard wall. “Betraying Spider Shadow is Dark River’s greatest crime.”
“One must be alive to be punished for crimes. In the current situation, with Dark River’s Patriarch being hunted by three families’ combined forces, do those rules still hold meaning?” Su Muyu asked.
“I’ve met you several times and heard many rumors about you. They say in the Soul-Claiming Palace, you’re known as the Three Refusals,” the hunchbacked elder looked at Su Muyu. “You refuse to massacre entire families, refuse jobs without clear reasons, and refuse what you don’t wish to accept. I’ve served in Dark River my whole life, and you’re the only person I’ve seen who could set terms with the Soul-Claiming Palace.”
“Because I have a friend who has his saying,” Su Muyu lowered his head slightly. “What Su Muyu refuses, he accepts.”
“That would be Su Changhe, the Funeral Master. They say his swordsmanship isn’t as good as yours, but the title of Funeral Master strikes more fear than the Umbrella Ghost,” the hunchbacked elder said slowly. “Having such a friend is good.”
“I know,” Su Muyu replied.
“But Dark River’s people don’t need friends,” the hunchbacked elder sneered. “Friends make your sword hand hesitate. And you, a sword genius who reconstructed the Eighteen Sword Formation from a single incomplete manual, turn out to be an utter fool.”
“An utter fool?” Su Muyu frowned slightly.
“You want to be a good person,” the hunchbacked elder continued sneering. “As an assassin, you want to be a good person—isn’t that the most laughable, foolish thing in the world?”
“Su Changhe said the same thing about me, but I’m not trying to be any kind of good person. I just feel that some things…” Su Muyu walked past the hunchbacked elder. “I want to try my best.”
“That Su Muyu lives a tiring life,” Bai Hehuai sat in the room, looking at the sleeping Patriarch, and sighed.
“He indeed lives a tiring life,” the Patriarch suddenly replied.
Startled, Bai Hehuai said, “Patriarch, you’re awake?”
The Patriarch nodded: “Dark River has a special breathing technique that allows one to be neither asleep nor awake—able to sense surroundings while resting the spirit.”
“So you heard everything that happened outside?” Bai Hehuai frowned.
“Only fragments, but I can guess the general situation,” the Patriarch smiled. “Muyu is trustworthy. Let him make his choices.”
“He’s a Nameless One, so what was his identity before joining Dark River?” Bai Hehuai suddenly thought to ask.
“Muyu never speaks of it. As a child, he only said he had lost his memories, but I later had people investigate. He’s from No Sword City, the son of City Lord Peng Yuluo.”
“Peng Yuluo the Sword Startler!” Bai Hehuai exclaimed, recognizing the famous swordsman and hero.
“Yes. The day No Sword City was massacred, Su Muyu came to Dark River,” the Patriarch said slowly.