Far across the city, disturbance echoed.

A haze of smoke and dust drifted through the view.

Having exchanged a few words along the corridor with “the Wheel-Turning King,” Xu Zhaonan, who was just then leaving, Wang Nantuo entered the courtyard and saw his senior brother standing with hands clasped behind his back at the edge of the terrace, gazing off toward the disorder rising within the city.

“Senior Brother.” He bowed respectfully from a short distance behind.

Lin Zongwu did not turn around. After a moment, Wang Nantuo heard him let out a faint sigh. “…All life is suffering.”

“What brings on such a sentiment, Senior Brother?”

“Half the realm within reach, a thousand li of territory, a truly promising situation.” Lin Zongwu sighed. “And now, at some point, they’ve decided to start fighting each other again. Even I find it difficult to understand what’s going through their heads.”

There was, in his tone, a certain wry note of “even a fearsome figure like myself can’t make sense of what you people are thinking.”

Wang Nantuo nodded, understanding perfectly well.

“Has Master Xu… shared his thoughts with you, Senior Brother?”

“…He Wen’s actions go against all reason. He deserves death.”

At this, Wang Nantuo’s brow furrowed. “Did Master Xu… ask you to kill He Wen?”

“It hasn’t come to that.” Lin Zongwu shook his head with a smile. “Zhaonan told me about some of the recent developments. The King of Fairness’s intentions are hard to read, and he and the other three have already begun mobilizing troops, aiming to be ready for open war within half a month. But the way this whole affair has unfolded feels too direct — the King of Fairness has all but openly admitted to backing the Reading Society, which seems unwise to the point that people suspect there must be some further twist behind it… How has your own inquiry gone, Junior Brother?”

Wang Nantuo lowered his voice. “Aside from what the King of Equality’s side originally claimed, so far only the Monkey King can confirm that someone from the southwest was actually present. But even that is somewhat suspicious — the one who pursued and attacked the King of Equality’s son called himself Long Aotian, and in Tongshan County he killed a number of the Monkey King’s own household, claiming to be from the southwest, though there’s no solid proof of it. And the one who got mixed up with this Long Aotian… the assassin who called himself the ‘Little Sage Equal to Heaven’… from what I hear, sounds like… your nephew-disciple.”

“Hm.” Lin Zongwu’s expression turned stern, and then, with an odd sort of smile, he said, “…Go on.”

“This Long Aotian has a reckless, lawless temperament. Even if he really is from the southwest, he’s unlikely to be part of any formal delegation. As for the Monkey King’s clash with that other man from the southwest, there’s no other witness to confirm what happened — the Monkey King took quite a beating, and said the man practiced something like the Thirteen Guardians’ Iron Body and Golden Bell technique. His appearance was said to resemble a disciple of Lu Hongti’s called ‘Black Iron God’ Qiu Shuyan — though so far, there’s been no word anywhere else of this dark-skinned, formidable ‘Black Iron God’ having appeared.”

“That young man — I’ve seen him before, back at Lüliang. A bit darker-skinned than most, sure, but nowhere near dark enough to be called ‘black as iron.’ No wonder no one can track him down…” Lin Zongwu shook his head, laughing softly. “But as for whether a delegation from the southwest has actually come here at all — what do you make of it, Junior Brother?”

“…Though we stand as rivals, this Fair Party conference happening right now is a genuinely significant affair. It’s long been said He Wen and Ning Yi are on poor terms, and this conference has, in fact, been deliberately taking advantage of the southwest, so most assumed the southwest wouldn’t bother sending anyone. But thinking it over now, one has to admit Ning Yi is a man who thinks in grand terms — if he did send someone, it wouldn’t really be so strange. Though, as I see it, he’s unlikely to choose He Wen as his partner in this.”

“Why is that?”

“They say even a clay Buddha has some temper in him — and Ning Yi’s temper runs particularly hot.”

Wang Nantuo didn’t elaborate further on Ning Yi’s temper, but for Lin Zongwu, that was more than enough to understand. He clasped his hands behind his back and sighed.

“The King of Fairness, He Wen’s, ambiguous stance on the Reading Society would, under ordinary circumstances, have provoked an immediate backlash from the other four houses. But because of this single rumor about someone from the southwest, every other house has turned jumpy as a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring, and can only use the pretext of purging the Reading Society to pressure He Wen for now. When Zhaonan came by earlier, what worried him wasn’t only that He Wen might have made contact with the southwest privately — what worried him was the possibility that the southwest had made contact with more than just one house.”

Wang Nantuo’s brow furrowed. “Gao Chang…”

“These days, everyone’s been saying that ‘Heavenly King Gao’ and the King of Fairness are cut from the same cloth, and that the other three houses form a separate faction. But think it over carefully — ‘King Yama’ Zhou Shang, for all his radical temperament, is forever spouting theories that trace straight back to the southwest as well. Not only does he look down on He Wen as too timid to accomplish anything great, he even considers the southwest’s own methods not thorough enough. Given Ning Yi’s own style, the two of them might well find plenty to talk about. As for the King of Equality — he runs the trade routes, his resources are plentiful, and he never stops calling himself a ‘Second Heart Demon.’ If Ning Yi genuinely wanted to talk to him, do you think he wouldn’t come running with tail wagging?”

“But his own son was…”

“These great men can lose a son and still hold themselves together — how much more so when it’s merely a hand. He made a great show of raising the alarm the very instant it happened — who can say for certain what was really in his heart when he did? If the four houses truly join forces against the King of Fairness, and it comes down to it that two of them switch sides at the last moment, the remaining two would be left to be carved up between the rest. That’s exactly the sort of thing Zhaonan came to worry about just now.” Lin Zongwu paused briefly. “Such a promising situation, a thousand li of Jiangnan within reach, and everyone eyeing each other with suspicion… it really does make one wonder, why bother at all?”

His own martial skill was formidable, close to the very pinnacle of the realm, and yet ever since entering the political arena he had suffered one setback after another, never managing to build much of a foothold either in the Central Plains or in the Jin territory. Coming to Jiangnan this time, he had, at first, held himself somewhat aloof — but he had quickly come to recognize the sheer scale of the Fair Party’s momentum. In the years since the northerners had fled south, the finest talents of the realm had gathered almost entirely within Jiangnan, and though the land itself remained scarred and broken, once the Fair Party had swept through, its power had become, in the eyes of many, the undisputed second-strongest force in the realm — an object of envy to no small number of people.

And now, with every faction converging on Jiangning, the five branches on the verge of merging, the situation looking as promising as could be, the Fair Party brimming with future prospects — who would have thought the King of Fairness himself would stir up something this bewildering, pushing the entire Fair Party right to the brink of chaos.

Even if some sort of internal struggle was inevitable, wouldn’t it have made more sense to wait until after the merger succeeded?

Lin Zongwu found the whole thing thoroughly ill-omened, and couldn’t help but feel a certain regret over it.

“How do matters stand with the various outside delegations at present?”

“Every side is actively making contact with the others, but a few groups have gone strangely quiet.” Wang Nantuo said. “This conference has drawn representatives from every faction across the realm, but the largest ones, in plain view, are really just a handful. Lin’an’s Wu Qimei and Tie Yan came here hoping the Fair Party would show them mercy — over the past while they’d been quite active in their efforts, but ever since the incident at the Gold Tower, some have begun pointing fingers at them. Their delegation has been lying low for several days now, and there’s been no word from them at all. Some are quietly saying they may have already been killed.”

Lin Zongwu nodded.

The little court of Wu Qimei and Tie Yan had risen thanks to the backing of the Jurchen eastern army, and their current position was a truly wretched one — for whether one looked at the matter of principle or of raw power, they now found themselves at the point where nearly everyone in the realm wanted them dead. The Fujian court wanted them dead. Liu Guangshi and Dai Mengwei, operating under the banner of the Wu Dynasty, wanted them dead. The southwest had long since made clear it wanted them dead as well. Even seemingly unconnected figures like Zou Xu of the Central Plains or the Female Chancellor of the Jin territory wouldn’t mind killing them off in passing if the opportunity arose — after all, a puppet court that had thrown its lot in with the Jurchens already carried a thoroughly foul reputation, and anyone who took it down stood to gain a considerable boost in prestige, even without any material benefit. Why wouldn’t they?

As for the Fair Party right here in Jiangnan, its policy of “strike down the local gentry, redistribute the land” made the wealthy landowning families entrenched in Lin’an the very first target — Zhou Shang had long since regarded them as provisions already stored away for the coming winter. It was really rationalists like He Wen and resource-minded figures like Shi Baofeng who kept insisting things had to be done by the rules, that anyone willing to reform themselves and free of grave crimes ought to be given a chance — which offered a sliver of hope to men like Wu Qimei and Tie Yan. And so, taking advantage of the conference, they had come to Jiangning, lobbying anyone willing to receive them, and in the early going had even gone knocking on many doors, sending considerable amounts of gold and silver as gifts.

But after the assassination attempt at the Gold Tower, in which Liu Guangshi’s envoy was killed, whispers began circulating that the party most terrified of a Fair Party merger was, in fact, precisely this puppet court holed up in Lin’an. Later, it gradually came out that the suspected assassin resembled a former jianghu bandit chief called the “Cloud-Swallowing Monk,” and that during his years of terrorizing Jiangnan, this Cloud-Swallowing Monk had apparently, at some point, been hired by none other than Wu Qimei and Tie Yan.

The delegation Wu and Tie had sent naturally tried to defend themselves, but with no true culprit ever found, the mood within the city had taken on something of an air of “we’ve already made up our minds about this” — “even if it turns out you’re innocent, calling you a villain isn’t exactly unfair, is it.” As a result, their delegation had fled and gone into hiding overnight. No one knew where they’d taken shelter, and to this day they had yet to resurface.

“…The delegation representing the little emperor of the southeast is currently led by Zuo Xiuquan of the Zuo Family. They kept an extremely low profile for a while, but these past few days they’ve started quietly making connections with people. We’ve inquired discreetly, and it’s still unclear exactly whom they mean to back, but at first glance, it seems He Wen and Zhou Shang are likely to be ruled out from the start. As far as that emperor in the southeast is concerned, both men’s convictions run too deep and too firm — the moment they ever fought their way out of Fujian, they’d inevitably run straight into the Fair Party, which makes even a short-term alliance with either of them an unappealing prospect. From what we can tell so far, they’ve been closest with ‘Heavenly King Gao,’ but talks with the King of Equality, or even with us here, aren’t entirely off the table either.”

Wang Nantuo lowered his voice further. “I hear Master Xu has already sent people to extend an invitation to them.”

“The Zuo family holds an exceptional standing, and their relations with the southwest are quite good as well.” Lin Zongwu smiled. “If they’re willing to cooperate, they may well know a thing or two about news from the southwest as well.”

Wang Nantuo nodded. “Besides that, the delegation sent by Lord Liu and Lord Dai has proven rather interesting. After Gu Anhe was assassinated, the duties of chief envoy fell to the Monkey King. As Senior Brother knows, this Li Yanfeng is a man of no small ambition, and in his recent negotiations with Master Xu on Lord Liu’s behalf, he’s very likely lined his own pockets quite handsomely along the way. But aside from the Monkey King, this delegation has a second, deputy envoy who’s likewise been making quite a stir, which has made the whole situation rather intriguing.”

Lin Zongwu thought for a moment. “Lü Zhongming?”

“None other than Lord Dai’s own disciple.” Wang Nantuo said. “Lord Liu and Lord Dai are formally allied, with Lord Liu ostensibly at the head of it — but Lord Dai’s own standing is considerable in its own right. Lü Zhongming, in his capacity as deputy envoy, hasn’t had a great deal to say on most other matters, but he’s thrown himself wholeheartedly into promoting this plan for a ‘Chinese Martial Arts Association,’ making all manner of grand promises to everyone he meets — that once Lord Dai someday enters Bianliang, this association will be established, and every promise made to its members honored in full. On this matter, he’s come to call on you as well, Senior Brother.”

Lin Zongwu nodded. “Lord Dai is a man of considerable virtue, and this Lü Zhongming was quite courteous as well — he brought a letter along with him, saying that should this great undertaking succeed, they’d like me to serve as chairman of this Chinese Martial Arts Association. And if I were unwilling to take on the chairmanship itself, I could instead hold the title of Grand Elder, or Honorary Chairman. It’s a fine prospect for the advancement of the martial arts as a whole, so I gave him a rather offhand agreement. This Lü Zhongming conducts himself with real discretion — he hasn’t gone around afterward using my name to advertise the plan everywhere, which I rather appreciate.”

Wang Nantuo said, “After Gu Anhe’s death, the Monkey King solidified his alliance with Master Xu, while Lü Zhongming has continued lobbying everywhere, promoting this Chinese Martial Arts Association plan. These past few days, quite a few people have come to see him as Lord Dai’s true representative, and have discussed a fair amount of cooperation with him in private… Of course, all of this remains uncertain for now, true and false mixed together. But after finishing his talks with the Monkey King, Master Xu also met privately with Lü Zhongming twice more, which does suggest something of a shift in momentum.”

“Weaving alliances and pulling strings, playing even the southwest and the Jurchens like pieces on a board — this Dai Mengwei is no simple man. And the disciple he’s sent out is nothing to underestimate either.”

“As for the remaining two delegations — the one sent by Lou Shuwan is led by that young fellow An Xifu. Some time ago, he found himself pursued by both Master Xu and Zhou Shang together, and there’s been no word of him since. The Jin territory has close ties with the southwest, so if we could get hold of him, we might learn something more about the southwest’s real situation as well… As for the other delegation, it seems Zou Xu sent one as well, and they may have made contact with Master Xu privately, but once the news about the southwest first came out of the King of Equality’s own mouth, this whole delegation vanished without a trace. As we see it, they’re most likely afraid of being hunted down by whoever’s come from the southwest.”

“Send some people out to search for this delegation Zou Xu sent.” Hearing all this from Wang Nantuo, Lin Zongwu said. “No one knows the southwest’s true state of affairs better than Zou Xu does. If it’s at all possible, bring him over to our side. As for his safety, I’m willing to personally guarantee it. Even if it requires me to step in myself, that’s no trouble at all.”

“Understood.” Wang Nantuo nodded. “Now that word of the southwest has come out, everyone here has already sent people out looking for Zou Xu’s group. If we simply spread the word ourselves, I believe results will follow before long.”

“As for An Xifu…” Lin Zongwu mused for a moment, then let out a faint sigh. “Let them be… There aren’t many of the old Manichaean faithful left these days. Young An is a disciple of Fang Baihua’s, but Fang Baihua has passed, and these past years he’s been following Wang Yin over in the Jin territory… it can’t be easy for him. Back then, we fought shoulder to shoulder against the Jurchens in the Jin territory. There’s no ill will left between Wang Yin and myself. If you happen to see the young man, bring him to see me.”

The smoke and dust drifting through the city hung suspended in the autumn sunlight. Lin Zongwu’s massive frame seemed, amid his sighing, to soften into something almost serene. Wang Nantuo, understanding his mood well, gave a nod.

In truth, back when they had first raised their banners together in the Jin territory to resist the Jurchens, Lin Zongwu and Wang Yin had genuinely had the opportunity to reconcile. But at the time, Lin Zongwu’s own forces had already grown vast, his followers numerous, and with Lou Shuwan and Tian Shi treating him with the utmost deference, he had rather looked down on Wang Juyun’s — that is, Wang Yin’s — ragged, poorly-equipped “Rabble Army.” And so, by a kind of tacit mutual understanding, the two sides had simply never spoken.

Not long after, his own campaign against the Jurchens had failed, and thinking it over carefully, he came to feel that this “Rabble Army” had, in fact, had a good deal to recommend it after all — but by then, it no longer felt right for him to go calling on Wang Yin to reminisce about old times… It was a simple enough story to tell, but there were tangled reasons underneath it all — the Female Chancellor Lou Shuwan, for instance, had shown early signs of stirring up trouble between them, and on more than one occasion what looked like mediation had, in fact, produced the opposite effect. He had little patience left to dwell on the matter further; if it came down to it, the political arena was simply too treacherous, human hearts too foul. Distasteful, all of it.

As the two senior and junior brothers spoke of these things, the mood between them grew somewhat lighter. Over this past month or so, the various delegations across the city had been weaving alliances and cultivating friendships in private, but as long as anyone still had a choice in the matter, they tended to hold out, weighing their options carefully — even the Fair Party’s own five branches had not felt any particular urgency to strike a deal with any one delegation, since, according to the original plan, the five branches were meant to unite first, and every other family that had come was, in essence, here to attach themselves to whichever winner emerged.

And yet, once He Wen’s baffling move came to light, though Shi Baofeng, Xu Zhaonan, and the others still couldn’t be entirely certain of his true aim, one careless step now risked turning the entire Fair Party conference into an internal struggle in which at least one or two houses would be purged outright. Under these circumstances, the position each outside power chose to take had suddenly become critically important — every house was, in effect, sounding the horn and rushing out to recruit allies wherever they could be found. Should real fighting break out, regardless of whatever further schemes He Wen might or might not have up his sleeve, strengthening oneself was never the wrong move.

After chatting a little more about the various factions’ attitudes within the city, Wang Nantuo hesitated, seeming to want to say something further. “Actually… Senior Brother…”

“Hm?”

“Regarding my nephew-disciple’s business — shouldn’t we intervene here, one way or another? My own thought is, perhaps we should simply have him come back…”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“The young man who’s been running around with that self-proclaimed ‘Alliance Leader of the Martial World,’ Long Aotian — he really does seem to resemble my nephew-disciple quite closely. It’s most likely him. Out in the world, he’s been calling himself the ‘Little Sage Equal to Heaven,’ Sun Wukong, but… well…”

Lin Zongwu looked at him.

Wang Nantuo hesitated a moment longer. “The jianghu’s already given the two of them nicknames — one’s the ‘Five-Foot Fantasy Devil,’ the other the ‘Four-Foot…’ — that four-foot one, that’s your nephew-disciple.”

Lin Zongwu looked at him, and let his clasped hands fall apart.

“These rumors circulating in the jianghu — they can grind a reputation to dust. As for my nephew-disciple’s own situation, I couldn’t say…”

“Pfft — hahaha…”

Lin Zongwu burst out laughing, the sound echoing through the courtyard, and as it swelled with the force of his inner power, it gradually seemed to envelop half of New Tiger Palace itself.

“Hahahahahahahahahahaha…”

The laughter came so suddenly that everyone within the palace who caught the sound, near and far, couldn’t help but be struck by the sheer power behind it. But Lin Zongwu’s amusement carried no other feeling beneath it, and most of those who heard it simply assumed something good had happened.

Standing nearby, Wang Nantuo was first taken aback, then grew mildly exasperated. “Senior Brother…”

Lin Zongwu’s laughter finally began to subside, and he said, “Tell me more.”

“…What?”

“If he’s earned himself a name like the ‘Four-Foot Fantasy Devil,’ he must have gotten up to some shameless fantasizing to deserve it. Tell me the details — I want to hear.”

Wang Nantuo sighed. “It’s not that he’s actually done any fantasizing — from what I hear, it’s more that he was dragged into it by that Five-Foot Fantasy Devil…”

“If he’s already been dragged into it, then there must have been fantasizing involved. This is getting interesting — go on, tell me more…”

“It’s not really being dragged into it — more like being caught up in someone else’s mess by association!” Wang Nantuo said, torn between laughter and exasperation. “Senior Brother, please don’t find this amusing. A young man making his way through the jianghu, his reputation matters a great deal. If it’s genuinely tarnished, it may not be easy to recover from, going forward…”

Lin Zongwu laughed again, then after a moment said, “A young man making his way through the jianghu — my only real worry is that he’ll go through too little, that his life won’t be colorful enough. Jiangning may be chaotic, but Ping’an’s temperament is far too mild-mannered for my taste. Originally, I was half afraid he’d spend his days quietly begging for alms, hiding in the shadows, too timid to stir up any trouble at all. But as it turns out, this ‘Four-Foot Fantasy Devil’ business is proving far more colorful than I ever expected.”

He paused briefly. “Malice, slander, disgrace, lies, deception, rivals, struggle — where in this world does one ever escape such things? Anyone who lives through all of that and still comes out the other side alive is a truly exceptional man. All we can teach Ping’an is martial skill — the trials of the jianghu itself, if he doesn’t face them today, will you and I still be around, someday, to shield him from them forever? The Five-Foot Fantasy Devil… oh, I recall that name. He’s the one who crossed the Monkey King in Tongshan. The night of the Gold Tower, the Monkey King fought someone and came away looking rather the worse for it — and our ‘Four-Foot Fantasy Devil’ was right there…”

Wang Nantuo sighed again. “Thinking back on it now, the two the Monkey King and Jin Yongsheng chased down that night were, in fact, these very two boys — though it’s rather embarrassing to admit the whole thing plainly. Li and Jin have both been rather evasive about the whole fight, and on the surface, they’ve instead pointed the finger at Meng Zhutao, gaining themselves a little advantage in the process.”

“Hahahahahahaha…” Lin Zongwu burst out laughing again. “You see? Facing off against two established masters like Li Yanfeng and Jin Yongsheng, and still managing to escape — and then, turning right around, the two of them go and strike down the King of Equality’s own son in the middle of the street — what was his name again? Never mind, doesn’t matter. Carrying out an assassination and then strolling away without a care, that kind of skill, that kind of nerve — worthy of being a disciple of Lin Zongwu himself! Junior Brother, how could you not laugh at that? If it were me in his place, that Shi fellow would already be dead — and I’d go back and kill him a second time for good measure! Hahahahaha, splendid! Magnificent!”

Lin Zongwu’s laughter rang out bold and full of delight, and by the end he’d even given his sleeve a flourish, as though seized by a genuine urge to go finish off Shi Weiyang himself on his disciple’s behalf, not even bothering to consider whether his own side and Shi Baofeng were nominally supposed to be allies.

“Now that we know where Ping’an is, you, as his uncle-in-the-faith, ought to keep a closer eye on your nephew-disciple’s affairs. Here I am, playing the part of a clay Buddha in this New Tiger Palace of mine — it wouldn’t do for me to go poking around into certain private matters myself…” Lin Zongwu said, smiling, lowering his voice. “Go find out more — see exactly how this ‘Four-Foot Fantasy Devil’ earned his fine reputation. I imagine it must be quite the story. And besides, look at this — why is he only a ‘Four-Foot’ devil, and not a ‘Six-Foot’ one? Even playing at being a fantasy devil, he’s trailing along behind someone else. If word ever gets out about whose disciple he is, you and I would both lose face over it. A disciple of ours ought to be a full Six-Foot devil, at the very least…”

Wang Nantuo, knowing he was joking, sighed again. “That Five-Foot Fantasy Devil — word has it he’s from the southwest. And between us and the southwest, there’s a feud that runs deep enough to leave no room for peace.”

“A grudge from one’s elders needn’t be carried into the next generation.” Lin Zongwu said. “Ping’an’s path, in the future, is his to choose.”

After a moment, he laughed again. “Go find out quickly — I’ll be waiting to hear all about this devil’s misdeeds.”

Wang Nantuo looked at him a moment longer, then finally nodded and turned to leave. But after a few steps, he turned back around.

His expression grew serious. “Senior Brother, there’s one more matter. I…”

“Go on.”

“…When the Fair Party first swept across Jiangnan, striking down the local gentry and redistributing their land, Master Xu and the King of Fairness stood together, claiming the mantle of righteous cause — that’s the very reason I traveled north on his behalf to beg you to come out of seclusion, Senior Brother. Now, the King of Fairness’s unpredictable temperament, his acting against all reason, is one matter. But if the entire Fair Party truly does descend into internal strife, and Master Xu’s own side can no longer claim to hold the moral high ground… Senior Brother, there would be no shame in our leaving, or in siding instead with whichever party still holds that righteous cause…”

Wang Nantuo had spent the better part of his life alongside Lin Zongwu, and understood full well his senior brother’s lifelong pursuits and preoccupations. Though he had, out of necessity, served great clans and been driven from place to place over the years, he had always cared a great deal for his own reputation, and had, in most things, insisted on acting only with a justified cause behind him.

Back when he’d fought against Fang La, the stated cause had been vengeance. When he’d killed Qin Siyuan, the stated cause had been rooting out a treacherous minister, striking down a traitor for the sake of the nation — it was only in the years since, as the Black Banner’s power grew, that Ning Yi had gradually “cleared” Qin Siyuan’s name in the eyes of the world. In the years since becoming “the greatest under heaven,” he had always, to the best of his ability, treated men of talent and virtue with courtesy and respect. Even in the Jin territory, the one position he had ever chosen to take was resistance against the Jurchens. On the whole, throughout his life, his senior brother had always wanted to be spoken of with honor and praise.

This time, the Fair Party’s cause, too, was ostensibly a righteous one. But if the Fair Party genuinely descended into internal strife now, then what exactly would “the Wheel-Turning King” Xu Zhaonan’s own cause amount to? That was hard to say — perhaps nothing more than one more petty rebel cult among many? Should it come to that, Wang Nantuo knew his senior brother’s position here would grow deeply uncomfortable, and after much deliberation, he had finally decided to voice these words aloud.

Lin Zongwu was briefly taken aback, then broke into a smile.

“There will be a way.”

He waved a hand. “Go on and find out what you can.”

Wang Nantuo nodded and turned to leave.

Once Wang Nantuo had gone, Lin Zongwu turned back once more, hands clasped behind him, gazing out at the smoke rising across the city.

The unrest triggered by the hunt for Reading Society members was spreading through Jiangning, and at this very moment, similar turmoil was, in fact, spreading across the whole of Jiangnan as well.

The orders concerning the purge of Reading Society members from “the Wheel-Turning King,” “the King of Equality,” “King Yama,” and “Heavenly King Gao” — four factions in all — had already begun going out, one after another, with varying degrees of severity, but each had already made its initial position plain. This was the first round of pressure being applied against “the King of Fairness,” He Wen, and the Reading Society.

Efforts to win over the various other factions, along with urgent private negotiations, had likewise been unfolding over these past two or three days. Of course, building consensus and mutual trust was never so easily accomplished — with orders needing to travel across a thousand li of Jiangnan territory, and with the troop movements and personnel changes that inevitably followed, nothing could possibly fall into place quickly. If one thought of the Fair Party as a single body, then even the full turning of any one of its giant limbs would require ten days, perhaps half a month, to complete.

The city buzzed with unrest.

While Lin Zongwu stood gazing out at the smoke from within New Tiger Palace, at the other end of the city, “Heavenly King Gao,” having had one thorough conversation with He Wen, was receiving Zuo Xiuquan, the representative from the southeast, in a meeting that was both more formal and far more discreet.

From this elevated room, too, one could see the disorder spreading across the city below. After Gao Chang’s own rough attempt at brewing tea, Zuo Xiuquan had smoothly taken over, brewing a fresh pot properly before finally beginning to speak.

“…This time, coming to Jiangning, there are three delegations that stand out as truly special, because only these three possess the mantle of righteous cause. Whether ‘Heavenly King Gao’ wishes it or not, you’ll eventually have to choose one of them to cooperate with…”

[Author’s Note: I went through some difficult events, and with the help of a few friends, I’ve managed, with real effort, to pull myself back together. What happened was even stranger than what I went through earlier this year — I can’t get into the specifics right now; maybe in a few years I’ll be able to sum it all up for everyone. If I had to describe how it felt, I suppose it would be something like: “whoever’s writing the script of my life is a third-rate hack — and worse, he writes literary fiction…” Anyway, I hope I can keep updating regularly. That’s all for now.]