Chapter 97:
Reappearance in the Jianghu

 

THE JOURNEY FROM Mount Tai to Qingcheng Mountain was not a short one. In fact, it spanned almost half of the nation of Zhou. If they wanted to arrive within half a month, they had to travel briskly. Fortunately, everyone, even the young maiden Zhou Yexue, had been on trips where they needed to travel through the night before. By making haste, they’d managed to pass Chang’an within ten days and arrive in Hanzhong. Five days remained until the Sword Trial Conference, allowing them to relax their pace somewhat and travel slower.

They’d spent the entire journey thus far hurrying on horseback, and even the horses could scarcely take such a strenuous speed any longer. Now they could finally stop to catch their breath, to everyone’s delight. Being younger, Fan Yuanbai and Zhou Yexue were especially happy, and their faces shone with joy. Li Qingyu wasn’t even two years older than them, but he was much more stolid—his face remained as cold and solemn as it’d been when they’d set out.

The news of the Sword Trial Conference had already spread throughout the land. As they traveled, they saw many jianghu warriors carrying swords. After entering Hanzhong, these types only grew more numerous with all kinds of people carrying all kinds of weapons.

Places teeming with jianghu members would of course also teem with jianghu matters. As the saying went, “a scholar disrupts the law with the pen, while a warrior flouts it through the sword.” Many people who knew martial arts felt it gave them the right to look down upon the common people, leading them to arrogance and a sense of superiority, and their actions would grow more unscrupulous. Shen Qiao’s party had already encountered three such conflicts on their trip.

This time, they arrived early. The sun had just begun to rise as they entered the city, and the inn still had a fair number of empty rooms. There weren’t many people in the hall on the first floor either.

Zhao Chiying and the others first booked their rooms, then took their seats.

Yan Wushi was special, so almost everyone in the party kept a respectful distance from him. Zhao Chiying feared this Huanyue Sect Leader—who was neither friend nor foe—and though she didn’t want to offend him, she also didn’t want to get too close. The Bixia Sect disciples, having suffered his torture, were even more terrified of him—none dared to provoke him. Zhao Chiying and her two disciples, together with Li Qingyu, perfectly filled a table of four, while Yan Wushi sat alone at another table, surrounded by empty seats. Onlookers found the sight rather strange.

Shen Qiao walked over and sat down across from him.

Yan Wushi’s face stretched into a smile. “A-Qiao couldn’t bear to see me all alone, so he specially came to sit at my table?”

“The number of guests will only increase. Eventually there won’t be enough seats, and they’ll be forced to rush their customers. I just don’t want to cause the innkeeper any trouble.”

Yan Wushi found the words insincere and remained unbothered. He raised his hand to pour Shen Qiao a cup of freshly warmed wine. “The innkeeper must have spent three lifetimes accumulating fortune to be blessed with a guest like you.”

For a moment, Shen Qiao felt like there was a deeper meaning to Yan Wushi’s words, but after zoning out for a moment, he thought that he must have perceived wrongly.

“Once I finish my meal, I’ll head out first,” Yan Wushi told him. “I won’t be traveling with you anymore.”

Shen Qiao was a bit taken aback. “I thought that you were traveling with us in order to meet with Yi Pichen at Chunyang Monastery.”

Even if Yi Pichen’s martial abilities weren’t good enough for number one, it would still be a simple matter for him to rank within the top three. It was indeed rather strange for Yan Wushi to see such an opportunity yet not go and request a fight.

Yan Wushi shook his head. “I can meet with Yi Pichen at any time, but the chance to watch someone’s downfall? That’s not something that happens every day.”

There was an overpowering sense of schadenfreude within his tone, and one name immediately came to Shen Qiao’s mind. “Dou Yanshan?”

“The bait has been laid for long enough,” said Yan Wushi. “It’s time to reel in the net. How could my venerable self not watch when something this exciting is about to happen?”

“You told me before that Yun Fuyi and Dou Yanshan were only keeping up a harmonious appearance, and that sooner or later, they would begin taking action,” said Shen Qiao. “Yun Fuyi’s influence within the Liuhe Guild is still too weak, so she was forced to borrow the strength of the Huang family along with the Göktürks, who are backing them, and secretly execute her plans that way.”

“Correct,” said Yan Wushi.

“Since you’re able to swiftly determine their every move, I trust that you’ve also contributed to adding fuel to this fire?”

Yan Wushi was all smiles. “My A-Qiao is truly so clever! Dou Yanshan is both deeply cunning and incredibly mistrustful. He won’t allow those he doesn’t trust to get close enough to hear his secrets. It’s thanks to this prudence of his that the Liuhe Guild was able to expand bit by bit over the years, becoming the dragon’s head that dominates the water routes in both the north and south. Can you guess how I broke through these defenses to plant my spies within?”

Shen Qiao’s brow furrowed. He thought for a moment, then said slowly, “I cannot guess.”

Yan Wushi smiled. “In truth, it was very simple. Though Dou Yanshan is indeed prudent, the people close to him may not be. He has a personal servant who’s followed him for eight years. The man is clever and capable, but there’s also a woman he loves deeply. That woman’s family demands money from her without end. Though she was unwilling to trouble her beloved, she also had no solution and suffered greatly. At that time, I had Bian Yanmei send someone to help her resolve this issue, all while doing something else.”

“You were able to control Dou Yanshan’s servant through her?”

Yan Wushi shook his head and burst into laughter. “A-Qiao, you’re too naive! Dou Yanshan’s servant is clever and capable, so how could such a crude method work on him? Bian Yanmei simply used this matter to foster a favorable impression with that woman. He used a false identity, pretending that he was a distant relative who’d not contacted them for years. This way, he won the trust of that woman’s family and is now able to move around as her distant cousin.”

“That seems far too convoluted.”

“Don’t underestimate the power of family relations,” said Yan Wushi. “No one will believe your kindly intentions if you’re an unrelated stranger. Adding an identity like that into the mix will always make them drop their guard, at least a little. Within a few interactions, this woman trusted this cousin of hers greatly, and she even introduced him to Dou Yanshan’s servant.”

As he listened to Yan Wushi describe the steps he’d undertaken, all meticulously interlocked, Shen Qiao heaved a silent sigh.

Both the imperial court and the jianghu were mere games to this man. His contemptuous arrogance and extreme egotism had earned him countless enemies, sprouting as thickly as trees in a forest. In the end, five great martial artists had ambushed him, and he’d almost lost both his life and reputation. But nonetheless, his martial arts, capabilities, and sense of strategy were undeniable.

“According to what you just said, Dou Yanshan’s servant is both intelligent and capable,” said Shen Qiao. “How could that older cousin win his trust?”

Yan Wushi sent him an unruffled smile. “By offering him benefits. In this world, only common interests can bind people together, even more intimately than brothers and spouses. As that servant followed Dou Yanshan, he must have witnessed many lavish events dripping with decadence and extravagance—yet he himself remains only a servant. Do you think that a clever and capable man would be satisfied seeing this? If the woman’s cousin gave him a way to earn money, meaning he could own and manage his own business, wouldn’t he eventually come to see that cousin as a close friend and ally?”

Understanding dawned on Shen Qiao. “So you purposely chose someone who was shrewd, and not someone honest and straightforward? Because you knew that he’d be dissatisfied with his current situation?”

“Honest people have their own weaknesses,” said Yan Wushi. “Where can you find a person who’s perfect and flawless?”

Shen Qiao nodded. “That’s true. If you didn’t possess such an exaggerated opinion of yourself back then, always looking down on others, Guang Lingsan and Dou Yanshan would have never gotten that opportunity.”

He was clearly mocking Yan Wushi, but he’d overlooked how shameless this man was. Yan Wushi simply gave a slow, dignified smile and said, “You’re wrong. That was a weakness of my past self, not my present self.”

Shen Qiao couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “Then, this distinguished master’s present weakness is a face that’s thicker than Mount Tai’s stones are wide?”

Though his countenance often held a warm and gentle smile, it was rare for him to laugh freely.

It wasn’t a loud laugh, but the corners of his lips couldn’t help but stretch upward, and unceasingly so. Even his eyes were sparkling, like jade stones soaked in rainwater, vibrant and beautiful.

“That’s a strength, not a weakness.” Yan Wushi was the type to act on whatever whims floated to mind. As soon as this notion emerged, his hand was already on Shen Qiao’s. “This venerable one’s present weakness is you!”

Shen Qiao shook his head, and the look on his face said that he’d just heard something even more hilarious. He wanted to pull back his hand, but Yan Wushi’s grip was tight.

“Sect Leader Yan, some tricks are tiresome if performed more than once. So why perform them again and again? No matter what a fool someone is, surely they won’t fall into the same pit twice?” Within his words lay a trace of self-mockery, something that he perhaps didn’t even realize himself.

“Do you remember the tale I told you last time?” Yan Wushi’s smile remained unchanged. His eyes stayed fixed on Shen Qiao, and he didn’t release his hand either.

Before this point, Shen Qiao’s thoughts on their relationship had never strayed to improper paths. After a snakebite, a person would fear ropes for ten years. After his experience of unrequited friendship, Shen Qiao had gained a deeper understanding of Yan Wushi’s callousness. He knew this man’s heart to be as hard as stone. Even if he demonstrated the utmost sincerity, it would never amount to more than wishful thinking, for it was near impossible to move this man. In truth, down in the depths of his heart, Shen Qiao no longer dared to believe him, for that memory was carved too deep. He was simply unable to trust this man again, in fear of repeating his past mistakes.

However, at this moment, beneath that scorching gaze, Shen Qiao’s heart gave a thump. He felt like prey being glared at by a predator, one that wouldn’t give up until it caught its quarry.

Just then, a loud voice came from a short distance away, diverting their attention. “Innkeeper, there are clearly two empty seats there. Why did you say that you were full?”

Shen Qiao took the chance to pull his hand away. He looked around to realize that at some point, without his notice, the inn had filled up and the only empty seats left were at their table. As he was sitting across from Yan Wushi, the spots beside each of them remained open.

People at this time were unaccustomed to sharing a table with strangers, and they generally wouldn’t insist on sitting with people they didn’t know. But some didn’t mind, and, secure in their martial abilities, they’d be confident that the other party wouldn’t be able to refuse. This was often a source of disputes within the jianghu.

The innkeeper was obviously reluctant to see his place become a site for such a dispute. He quickly gave an apologetic smile and tried to explain, saying that if they waited a while, some guests would finish their meal and leave, freeing up some seats.

But the loudmouth in question was unwilling to compromise, and his companions also looked like they weren’t people to be trifled with. Not only had they noticed that only Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi’s table held two empty seats, they also saw that Shen Qiao was dressed in Daoist robes, with a kindly face that made him seem easy to push around. Meanwhile, Yan Wushi didn’t even have a weapon. Both men looked like soft persimmons, easy to crush. If it’d been two strong, strapping men with fierce expressions sitting there instead, they might not have dared to be so rash.

“I’ve seen those people before. They’re from Taohua Pier. Ever since Taohua Pier was absorbed into Hehuan Sect, they’ve become swollen with pride, holding everyone else in contempt. Using Hehuan Sect’s banner, they’ve been running amok. Everyone fears Hehuan Sect’s reputation and is unwilling to offend them.”

“No wonder they’re strutting about like this,” said someone from the table beside them. “Just dogs that go around biting others because their master is powerful…”

“Shh, careful that you don’t talk yourself into trouble! Martially, they’re quite strong. Last time, even Tianshan’s Yujian-zi ended up humiliated at that loudmouth’s hands!”

“Huh?!” There was a sharp gasp of surprise. “But as a martial expert, Tianshan’s Yujian-zi was only a little below first rate!”

“Right? How could they strut about like that otherwise? That loudmouth is Taohua Pier Master’s younger brother. His moniker is the ‘Stream-Severing Saber.’”

“Oh, I’ve heard of him. The Stream-Severing Saber, Er Deming. So it was him!”

Though the conversation from the table beside them wasn’t loud, Yan Wushi and Shen Qiao still heard it. That loudmouth had already pushed aside the innkeeper and was now striding toward them.

Fan Yuanbai and Zhou Yexue were young and impetuous, so upon seeing this, they were about to rise and stop the man. Naturally, they had no interest in protecting Yan Wushi, but Shen Qiao was a good man, and he had done a great kindness to Bixia Sect. In the six months he stayed on Mount Tai, his relationship with everyone there had only grown closer. He wasn’t like Yan Wushi, who’d pass judgments whenever the whim came—instead, he would amiably answer every question asked of him. Whenever he taught his disciples, he’d also let Fan Yuanbai and the others watch on the sidelines. All of this had greatly benefited Bixia Sect. Fan Yuanbai and the others all saw him as a teacher or an older brother, so they were naturally displeased to see someone else be so rude and disrespectful toward him.

In the end, Zhao Chiying was more experienced and reserved. She didn’t move at all; instead, she called out loudly, “Innkeeper, where is the mutton stew I ordered for table six? Why haven’t you delivered it to them yet? Huanyue Sect Leader Yan and Daoist Master Shen Qiao have been waiting for a long time!”

The moment these two names were spoken—especially the first of them—it was like a frigid wind had blown through the hall. Everyone froze.

That loudmouth’s foot stopped, frozen in midair and unable to move another inch.