Having journeyed all the way out from the southwest, through thousands of li and countless events large and small, and now reunited with his little mongrel of a companion, Ning Ji felt he had grown a great deal more mature—no longer the hot-headed, naive youth of before. With the beautiful strategist at his side bolstering him, he felt he was on the verge of becoming a truly formidable figure with a grasp of the bigger picture.

From the incident with Zuo Xingzhou, to seizing on the Fish King’s weak spot and threatening him into working for him, and then successfully latching onto Chen Shuangran’s thread—the whole sequence of maneuvers had unfolded smoothly and naturally, exquisitely executed. Who could possibly find fault with it?

By this morning, once Qu Longjun had worked out the little demoness’s scheme, the two of them had had a serious discussion about holding off on taking Tie Tianying’s worthless life for the sake of the bigger picture, and he himself had wholeheartedly agreed. It was precisely to avoid being manipulated by Chen Shuangran that he had put on that image-damaging, universally detested act.

Who could have known Tie Tianying would use the Hegemon Blade right in front of him!

Who could possibly stand for that!

The man who had killed Auntie Gua’s father—his own grandfather—was now, right before his eyes, using that very “Slashing Through Cloud-Wrapped Mountains” strike. To put it crudely, it was no different from someone stealing another man’s woman in the village and then coming out to flaunt it—back in the southwest, that would get a man beaten to death in a matter of minutes!

“It’s all those bastards from the Zuo family—”

Ning Ji described the whole course of events in painstaking detail, trying to pass his own fury on to his companion. Qu Longjun pressed her lips together and nodded emphatically.

“Mm, mm-hm…”

“See, you think so too, right… what was wrong with me hacking him to death on the spot… biting the hand that feeds him, damn it, learning skills in the southwest and coming back to teach them to Tie Tianying—all of them should have their martial arts crippled, sent off to dig mines, castrated—”

“Ah… uh…” Qu Longjun found herself somewhat impressed by how far his thoughts had wandered, but after a moment’s hesitation, couldn’t help but steer the conversation back on track. “So… that Tie Tianying… bastard, is he dead?”

“He wasn’t, when I left.” Ning Ji pressed his lips together, thinking back for a moment before mumbling through the specific details of what had happened. “When I struck, I went for a killing blow, but the old dog’s skill was high—whether he lives or dies is up to fate now… Hmph, and then there were Chen Shuangran’s little mongrel’s people—that Tunyun monk and his bunch of cowards. If they hadn’t been such spineless cowards, I’d have wiped out the lot of them in one go this time…”

Qu Longjun had no martial skill of her own, so Ning Ji did his best to describe the thrilling details of the fight for her.

At the time, though he’d flown into a rage and changed his plans, his read on the situation had, in fact, been remarkably sharp—after landing a few strikes on Tie Tianying, remembering that the others on the opposing side were bastards too and couldn’t be let off, he’d tossed a lime powder packet right on the spot. That kind of timing—even Master Ning of the southwest, Concubine Lu, or even Chen Fan himself, would have applauded if they’d seen it.

In a clash between grandmaster-level fighters, losing one’s sight was enough to drive a person mad. Ning Ji had been through countless battles and knew well that once such a thing happened on a battlefield, both sides would inevitably lash out in a mad frenzy to kill the other.

He’d acted purely on instinct, and only realized, as he fled, “damn, I’m brilliant.” Who could have known—turning his head, he’d seen the two great masters on Chen Shuangran’s side flee with a speed not far behind his own; Tunyun had crashed into a tree and been the first to withdraw, while the other bastard had also retreated at breakneck speed. Such a reaction could only mean that, however fiercely these two seemed to fight for their lives, deep down, some part of them was always, constantly, thinking of escape—entirely unlike the masters Ning Ji had encountered in the southwest, or even the desperadoes he’d seen in the Equity Party.

His own string of masterful moves had, of course, taken effect—but exactly how much effect had grown rather ambiguous, thanks to these two cowards.

If the same situation had happened again with, say, Lin Zongwu and Chen Fan in the fray, one of them would surely have died and the other would, at the very least, have been gravely wounded. But judging by Tunyun’s skill in chasing him down afterward, his injuries hadn’t been especially severe—which showed that, even in a fight to the death, he hadn’t truly given his all.

Cowards of this caliber, and yet they still went around calling themselves “great grandmasters.”

Ning Ji, his face still swollen from the beating, gave a scornful snort.

“…As for Tie Tianying, he’s at least gravely wounded… wouldn’t be surprising if he died.”

“At the teahouse, I didn’t hear any word of these rumors…” Qu Longjun turned her head to look off toward the distant city. All the chaos on every side had, in fact, already died down; today’s outcome, it seemed, had ended with the court coming out on top.

Ning Ji shook his head. “If he’s dead, they probably wouldn’t put the news out right away. We’d need to find someone to ask directly.”

“Mm.” Qu Longjun’s brow furrowed, and after a moment’s hesitation, “Little Long, if you really did kill Tie Tianying, shouldn’t we… shouldn’t we be fleeing as quickly as possible…”

The two of them had already discussed this very question that morning. Killing Tie Tianying had, of course, been one of Ning Ji’s goals, but with the man already holding such a high position within the little southeastern court, once they made their move, all the follow-up responses would need careful thought—fleeing was the wisest course, and all the more so given the unavoidable complication that had cropped up today.

“…That Cheng Fang, showing up out of nowhere—I’m a little worried about him. I have no idea at all what he’s after.”

“Cheng Fang… sounds impressive when you talk about him, but from what I saw, nothing special at all. With Fuzhou in this much chaos, I didn’t even see him doing anything—and yet he still went and scared you, one little girl…”

Ning Ji grumbled a bit, but even as he complained, his gaze gradually grew more serious.

That morning, he genuinely hadn’t intended to hack Tie Tianying to death on the spot; his relations with the Zuo family had, for the time being, remained reasonably good, and so the possibility of having to flee hadn’t felt especially real to him. But now, truly turning over the possibility that Tie Tianying might be gravely wounded or dead, Ning Ji realized that fleeing was, indeed, something worth seriously considering.

Young as he was, he did not treat matters of life and death lightly, especially now that there were “two people” to think about—his steadier side tended to win out more and more often in such moments. Thinking it over now, he nodded.

“Whether Tie Tianying is dead or not really is a serious problem…” He took hold of Qu Longjun’s hand. “Let’s not go back home for now. Let’s find Zuo Wenxuan—we can’t give him too much time to think this over.”

“Mm.” Qu Longjun nodded as well. “If he really is dead, we need to leave immediately.”

“If he’s truly dead, the city gates will close, but Zuo Wenxuan will have a way.”

“…Will he actually help, when the time comes?”

“Ha ha, if I actually agree to run, he’ll be thanking heaven and earth for it…”

Qu Longjun’s brow furrowed slightly, as though trying to puzzle something out from his words, but she simply smiled after a moment and ran forward alongside him…

……

Having rushed back from Jiuxian Mountain to the command center at Houguan County, reports on every action taken within the city had already been gathered together.

Most of the mid-level officials coming in to report wore expressions of satisfaction; some among the Zuo family members were in especially high spirits, knowing this operation had gone off smoothly and that they would gain considerable face within the city because of it.

The unrest at Houguan County had been contained, and a good number of Chen Shuangran’s hidden operatives had also been captured; with the interrogations, tracking, arrests, and household searches yet to come, however formidable Chen Shuangran might be, she would likely have to lie low for a while now.

Watching the plan reach exactly the expected results, Zuo Wenxuan’s mood was oddly split.

Coming up through the General Staff Office of the Huaxia Army, he naturally still remembered a saying he’d heard a thousand times over in the southwest’s military ranks: the proper job of a third-rate staff officer is to draw up a plan and carry it out step by step; the job of a second-rate staff officer is to clean up a mess covered in filth without complaint; and what a first-rate staff officer needs to think about is how to avoid running into that kind of mess in the first place.

Unexpected events, unexpected events… for anyone handling affairs, the greatest test was never the drawing up of a plan—the true test was always how one responded to the unexpected.

This time, the tedious matters had all proceeded step by step exactly as planned, but the one unexpected thing that had emerged was like precisely that kind of mess, slapping him right across the face.

He suddenly found that he couldn’t even claim to be a second-rate staff officer.

“Bastard… it’s all that little bastard’s fault…”

His own shining moment had, because of this one unexpected turn, been transformed into one great filth-covered mess. Alone, where no one could see him, Zuo Wenxuan couldn’t help but grind his teeth and curse a couple of times, resolving that the next time he saw the little wretch, he’d give him no good face at all… spoiled rotten by the southwest, utterly lawless…

That opportunity, as it happened, would arrive very soon.

The remaining odds and ends were not especially complicated. Among the various reports coming in, an urgent message was passed along—precisely the emergency signal from the secret contact point Zuo Xingzhou had previously arranged, requesting an urgent, secret meeting. Since Zuo Xingzhou’s disappearance, only Ning Ji had continued to use it.

He took a few bodyguards with him at once and set off toward the Zuo family compound.

Prepared to demand an explanation…

……

Bang—

Bang, bang—

The whistling flash of a blade, striking with tiger-like force, cut through the wooden frame at the side of the courtyard, sending debris scattering across the ground.

“This whole affair is Sun Wukong’s fault—”

An underworld expert cursed furiously.

This was a run-down, out-of-the-way little courtyard near the city wall, one of Chen Shuangran’s especially well-concealed evacuation points. At this moment, the core figures of the rebel operation—Chen Shuangran, Chen Yan, Fan Zhong, and Tunyun among them—were gathered here, and even before this, a series of orders for withdrawal, self-preservation, or severing contact had already gone out one after another.

The unrest at Houguan County had been an open confrontation; Chen Shuangran had initially hoped it might achieve something, but even without success, the losses there had been within her expectations. On the other side, though, the group that had played the role of horse traders in the frame-up of Yue Yun had suddenly been rooted out entirely, and together with various other large and small complications, more than half of the shadow forces she had planted within the city had already been lost. It remained to be seen just how many more of her people the court might round up through further threads uncovered under interrogation in the days ahead.

The original plan had counted on the court’s reluctance to spill more blood, provoking one friction after another and gradually eroding the court’s authority amid this drawn-out chaos. Who could have known that this time, the court had responded with such thunderous, decisive force, and had struck exactly the right spot—there was almost a sense of “the truly skilled warrior wins without any glorious feats” about it. She had meant to drag things out, but it seemed, in fact, her own side simply couldn’t keep up.

Whatever response needed to be made had already been made. Chen Shuangran’s expression flickered, uncertain, and after a while, she walked forward and snatched the great blade from the hands of the expert who had just been hacking at the wooden frame, raising it and slashing down three times, hard, against the wood on the ground.

Bang, bang, bang.

Given her poor technique with the strike, it looked more like she was simply beating the debris on the ground with a stick, over and over.

Having vented her fury, she turned back. “…Master Jin? Will Tie Tianying die?”

Fan Zhong stepped forward, glancing over at Tunyun not far off. “There’s… a seventy percent chance… He was surrounded and attacked simultaneously by myself and Master Tunyun, plus that ambush from Sun Wukong—he has dozens of blade, palm, and fist wounds on his body, and not superficial ones either. The great master’s ghost claw and shadowless fist are internal techniques—once they land on a person, internal injury is unavoidable. Tie Tianying is a grandmaster of his generation, with vigorous qi and blood, but he is, after all, well advanced in years…”

“…Truly seventy percent?”

“The remaining thirty percent, he’s certainly still gravely wounded.”

“…”

Chen Shuangran, half-convinced, half-doubtful, looked at Fan Zhong, then turned her gaze to Tunyun. Her own strategic ability was considerable, and she had built up a certain measure of authority within the organization, but while she could question Fan Zhong, she dared not question Tunyun.

Not far off, Tunyun stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his back to them, carrying the air of a lonely master untouched by the world’s cares. Sensing her gaze, he turned his head slightly.

“Even if Tie Tianying doesn’t die, he’ll be unfit for combat for a month or two at least. Gravely wounded as he is, if he dares to make a move now, he’s simply courting death—on this, Miss, you may set your mind at ease.”

Chen Shuangran blinked, and after a moment, nodded.

“This whole affair is Sun Wukong’s fault—”

Beside her, the underworld master repeated the line once more.

At the moment when the last lime packet was thrown, he had been stirred to fever pitch by the youth’s shout of “Kill—,” charging forward alongside his comrade in a reckless, all-out attack. His comrade had been beaten into a mangled pulp of flesh by Yue Yun’s swinging chain mace, and he himself had been knocked aside, barely managing to preserve his own life. All the way through his flight afterward, it was he who had kept shouting that he’d kill Sun Wukong’s entire family.

Beside her, neither Fan Zhong nor Tunyun said anything. Unwilling to let the silence drag on, Chen Shuangran spoke up. “Is this Sun Wukong really so vile as all that?”

Fan Zhong fell silent for a moment, and finally spoke.

“To be fair, that the ambush achieved what it did owes a great deal to that youth’s initial surprise attack—it was he who shoved Hu Ping forward, which is precisely what opened the opportunity to gravely wound Tie Tianying. But this fellow is far too twisted by nature—that final lime powder packet he threw caught all of us off guard at once, and it was precisely because of that, that Tie Tianying was left with some slim chance of survival…”

Chen Shuangran’s brow tightened. “Could it have been intentional? Is he a court spy?”

Fan Zhong gave a bitter smile. “Allow me to explain, Miss—in a clash between grandmasters, an ordinary person, let alone deliberately holding back with careful calculation, would lose his own life over even a moment’s hesitation of thought. This youth’s skill has already reached first-rate level, but to wound Tie Tianying without killing him—that’s beyond him, beyond me, and honestly, even if the great cult leader Lin Zongwu himself had been there in person, he probably couldn’t have managed it either. And besides, if he were a spy, delivering that kind of killing blow in the middle of the fight—once he returned, Tie Tianying would have personally hacked him to death for it. This was, plain and simple, an attempt to kill Tie Tianying outright; that Tie survived was merely a matter of luck, nothing more than a failed attempt.”

“Then this little thief…”

“That he wanted Tie Tianying dead is beyond question. But turning it around, he was, at the same time, quite genuinely trying to get the rest of us killed too…” Fan Zhong said. “The man is young, yet formidably skilled—perhaps that’s precisely why his temperament is so unruly. That he wanted to kill us was simply because we’d tested him a little… Bringing him to submit to us—looking at it now, that will be far from easy.”

As Fan Zhong finished speaking, Tunyun, not far off, turned back with a sinister smile. “This youth’s temperament rather suits this old monk’s own taste—formidable skill, doing exactly as he pleases, what’s wrong with that?”

Chen Shuangran turned to look at him. “Then does the great master have any thoughts on how we might…”

Tunyun snorted coldly, lifting his head slightly. “Once this business here is settled, this humble one may go and test him a bit. If he truly suits my taste, I might just pass on my own legacy to him… but this sort of thing is like taming a hawk—it can’t be rushed.”

Chen Shuangran nodded, letting go of the idea of having Tunyun handle it. Fan Zhong, beside her, thought for a moment, then spoke up again.

“There is one thing we could do right now.”

“…Please, go on, sir.”

“This youth’s temperament is unruly—whoever provokes him, he strikes back at. Now that he’s turned against us, a direct confrontation is probably unnecessary. But turning it around, since he’s already hacked Tie Tianying half to death, the court won’t let him off either. We could just as easily have someone expose him to the court, then send people to smash his family, wreck his stall—the harder the court comes down on him, the greater the chance we’ll have of winning him over to our side.”

Once he’d finished, the others exchanged glances and all nodded. Chen Shuangran’s gaze wandered for a moment, and then she smiled.

“Let’s do exactly that. We won’t let him have an easy time of it.”

“We won’t let him have an easy time of it—”

Behind them, the underworld master called out once more.

……

We won’t let him have an easy time of it…

At the secret meeting room, Zuo Wenxuan adjusted his glasses and, teeth grinding, strode inside.

Meaning to demand an explanation.

Across the room, Ning Ji vaulted over table and chairs with one hand, flipping straight toward him.

“You—”

Zuo Wenxuan had only just opened his mouth when Ning Ji’s face twisted into a ferocious expression, and a fist was already flying toward him.

His battlefield reflexes kicked in at once; Zuo Wenxuan threw both hands over his head and took Ning Ji’s punch full-on.

“Zuo Wenxuan, I’ll f*** your whole family, you bastard—”

Ning Ji let loose a stream of curses.

Slandering an innocent man with false accusations…

Zuo Wenxuan was as sharp as ever, and with his ample experience arguing and cursing his way through debates back in the southwest, he “understood” the situation instantly—the other man was clearly trying to strike first and turn the accusation around, laying the blame on him instead. This sort of thing had been common enough during arguments back at the southwest’s General Staff Office.

Though he was relatively soft-spoken by nature, at this moment he too gritted his teeth fiercely, reached out, and flipped the table and chairs beside him over onto the floor.

“You bastard, and you have the nerve to blame me? You have no idea what mess you’ve stirred up yourself, do you—”

Normally solemn in bearing, his stern face and sharp, scolding words at this moment carried the intimidating force of an honest man finally losing his temper. Ning Ji froze for a moment.

The next instant, a fist slammed hard into his own side.

“F*** me—”

“And you’re still talking back—”

Inside the room, the two of them began pounding on each other, blow after blow.