Volume One: Autumn Festival, Chapter Forty-Two: The Man Named Xiao

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The old steward raised a hand, and the blue-robed cultivator’s sword flew before him.

At once, the sword began to ring violently.

The man embracing the saber stood as immovable as a mountain, yet a vast aura surged from him. The blue-robed cultivator’s sword seemed to have become a pawn in their struggle. Infused by the power of both sides, it trembled violently, on the verge of shattering.

The blue-robed cultivator, sprawled on the ground, was heartbroken at the sight.

“Uncle Tong was a master all along!” The white-robed cultivator tried to appear unconcerned, but after witnessing the old steward’s strength for the first time, he awkwardly realized that the seemingly ordinary lame old steward he had taken him for possessed enough power to crush him at will.

It made sense. How could anyone who followed Mr. Jiang be ordinary?

Little Fish was currently only a martial artist at the peak of the Second Realm, but her gifts were extraordinary. She was certain to become a grandmaster in the future.

Even Zhao Si, who was obviously a good-for-nothing, might turn out to be some hidden prodigy.

So, among everyone in the marquis’s estate, were the two brothers really the most useless?

It was a truly sorrowful realization.

The man embracing the saber remained composed and said mildly, “Although you have also studied martial arts, you have not even entered the Second Realm. You cannot possibly be my opponent. I have heard that Tong Ji is the foremost expert under the marquis, but from what I see now, he is nothing special.”

The old steward’s eyes narrowed slightly. The sword shattered at once, its fragments scattering across the ground like the blue-robed cultivator’s heart.

“You are indeed powerful, but defeating me will not be so easy.”

He raised his hand again, and the white-robed cultivator’s sword flew into the air.

“Uncle Tong, wait!”

The blue-robed cultivator felt somewhat comforted. Good brothers were meant to share hardship, after all. But before the white-robed cultivator’s sword could meet the same fate, its owner hurriedly intervened.

Like a child protecting a piece of candy lest someone snatch it away, the white-robed cultivator hid his sword behind his back and said earnestly, “Mr. Jiang has been waiting for Cai Tanggu. We should inform him first.”

The old steward fell silent for a moment, then nodded. “Then let us report to the young master.”

The white-robed cultivator fled into the marquis’s estate as though granted a reprieve.

The blue-robed cultivator was close to tears. In the end, he was the only one who had suffered.

Jiang Wang emerged at an unhurried pace. The moment he saw Cai Tanggu, his expression lit up. He seized Cai Tanggu’s hand and said delightedly, “Old Cai, you finally came! I’ve been waiting myself half to death!”

Cai Tanggu stared blankly.

What was this supposed to mean?

He had come for revenge.

Why did Jiang Wang look like a friend greeting someone he had not seen in many years, so excited that he could barely contain himself?

The man embracing the saber regarded Cai Tanggu suspiciously.

This was not at all how you described things.

Cai Tanggu shook Jiang Wang’s hand away and snapped, “What scheme are you plotting now?”

Jiang Wang reached out again, smoothing the wrinkles from Cai Tanggu’s clothes as he said with a smile, “I’ve been praying every day that you would remain safe, Old Cai. Hollow City must be a long way from Fish Abyss Academy, and the journey there and back must have been exhausting. How about a cup of tea?”

Remembering how Jiang Wang had once cursed him with such relentless eloquence that he had nearly fallen into depression, yet was now showing him such tender concern, Cai Tanggu was briefly bewildered. Could all of that have been a dream?

Perhaps he and Jiang Wang were actually very close?

He shook his head instinctively. “It was no trouble. I’ll pass on the tea. I prefer wine.”

Jiang Wang hurriedly waved to the white-robed cultivator. “Quick, bring Old Cai a pot of good wine!”

Cai Tanggu suddenly came to his senses and flung Jiang Wang’s hand away again, furious and humiliated. “Bring me what wine? I came for revenge! Don’t think I’ll forgive you just because you act this way. You, Jiang—release Su Lingyi at once!”

Jiang Wang said helplessly, “Look at you. Why are you getting so worked up? If you don’t want to drink, then don’t.”

Cai Tanggu was livid. He felt that his and Jiang Wang’s horoscopes must be fundamentally incompatible. They had met only twice, yet each time Jiang Wang had angered him half to death.

He turned to the man embracing the saber. “Brother Dong, attack!”

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Dong Chongyang’s face was expressionless. A chilling aura surged toward Jiang Wang.

Jiang Wang frowned slightly and asked inwardly, “Bird, how is it?”

The Night Roaming God replied calmly, “Perfect.”

Jiang Wang broke into a broad smile and swung his saber.

The chilling aura collided with the Longnight Saber. Jiang Wang stepped forward as though cleaving through something invisible. With a sound like glass shattering, he broke through the freezing aura and advanced step by step until he stood before Dong Chongyang.

Dong Chongyang’s pupils narrowed. The chilling aura suddenly grew even denser, forcing Jiang Wang back several paces.

Jiang Wang grinned. “Old Cai, you’re loyal indeed. You really found yourself a formidable ally.”

Cai Tanggu felt that there was something wrong with those words. He immediately drew his sword and moved to strike Jiang Wang, but the old steward stepped directly into his path. The white-robed cultivator’s sword could not escape its fate after all. It flew into the old steward’s hand and clashed violently with Cai Tanggu’s sword.

Rong Yulu refused to be outdone. He drew his saber and charged forward. The two blue-robed cultivators, deprived of their flying swords, could only fight him barehanded. Since neither dared engage a martial artist at close quarters, a chaotic melee soon erupted.

On a rooftop somewhere along Sunset Glow Street stood a young man and an old man.

Feng Linghuai was breathing slightly heavily, still shaken.

That place was nearly fifty kilometers from Hollow City.

Yet, carried by the young man, he had arrived as though in the blink of an eye.

So this was the power of a great cultivator?

Although Feng Linghuai had killed cultivators of the Cavern Luminosity Realm, he had never heard of such miraculous techniques. He could not even imagine what realm the man before him had reached.

“That man is Jiang Wang. The monster is with him.”

The young man studied Jiang Wang with great interest. “His aura is extremely vigorous, but it comes from an external force. He has no foundation in cultivation whatsoever. That great demon may be the result of some fortuitous encounter, or perhaps he possesses something even more mysterious.”

Feng Linghuai could not understand.

“Mr. Xiao, is there something wrong with Jiang Wang?”

The man surnamed Xiao remained silent. He watched Jiang Wang take another step forward. Only after Jiang Wang finally brought down a powerful saber strike and completely dispersed Dong Chongyang’s chilling aura did he speak.

“There is a great deal wrong with him.”

Feng Linghuai glanced aside and noticed another figure appear on Sunset Glow Street.

It was Xie Wuxing, who had sensed the aura here and come flying across the sky.

Yet he did not move forward. Considering the matter involving Cai Tanggu and the Azure Mystery Office, he assumed that whoever was fighting Jiang Wang was not an outsider. He was a man of his word and had no intention of helping.

As though sensing something, he looked toward the place where Feng Linghuai stood.

The man surnamed Xiao also turned to look at him.

Xie Wuxing furrowed his brows and flew directly onto the rooftop.

“There is something strange about you.”

He scrutinized the man surnamed Xiao. The faint aura surrounding him felt unusual.

The man surnamed Xiao asked, “A swordsman?”

Xie Wuxing nodded. “Your aura also resembles that of a swordsman, but there are some differences. And your sword… seems to belong to a woman.”

“It does belong to a woman,” the man surnamed Xiao replied.

Xie Wuxing asked again, “Swordsmen throughout the world either come from the Sword Pavilion, Mantang Mountain, or the Xiqin Sword Sect. Which sword mountain are you from?”

“None of them.”

Though they had exchanged only a few words, Xie Wuxing already felt exhausted. The man before him answered only what was asked and offered not a single unnecessary word.

Still, he continued patiently. “Though swordsmen can be encountered in many places, without exception they all emerged from those three sword mountains. Xiqin and the Sui Kingdom are separated by the Sea of No Return. If a Xiqin swordsman enters Sui territory, we would know immediately.”

Xie Wuxing stared at the man surnamed Xiao. “I am from the Sword Pavilion. That leaves only Mantang Mountain as your origin. Where else in the world could there be a fourth sword mountain?”

The man surnamed Xiao said nothing.

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He merely watched Xie Wuxing in silence.

Since meeting Jiang Wang, Xie Wuxing was no longer as naïve as he had been when he first left the mountains. His immediate thought was: Could this man have a preference for men? Why else would he be staring at me with such intensity?

He instinctively took a step back.

The man surnamed Xiao said mildly, “I am indeed somewhat interested in the Sword Pavilion.”

Xie Wuxing misheard him. “What? You’re interested in me?”

The man surnamed Xiao fell silent.

Feng Linghuai was quiet for a moment before repeating the man’s words for him.

Xie Wuxing was thoroughly embarrassed.

It was all Jiang Wang’s fault!

Jiang Wang, who was confronting Dong Chongyang, sneezed twice in succession. Dong Chongyang’s eyes lit up, and he drew his saber at once. Had Jiang Wang not reacted quickly enough and raised his own saber to block, the strike would have pierced straight through his chest and ended his life.

Even so, Dong Chongyang’s saber was so powerful that it sent him flying several yards.

Seeing this, Xie Wuxing thought, Is this thing really that accurate?

There was an old saying among ordinary people: one sneeze meant someone was thinking of you; two meant someone was cursing you; three or more meant you should stop wondering and see a doctor.

Xie Wuxing called out apologetically, “I didn’t do it on purpose!”

Jiang Wang turned at the sound, completely failing to understand what was happening. The instant he looked away, Dong Chongyang’s saber came sweeping in again.

He barely avoided being beheaded on the spot.

“You did that on purpose, you bastard!”

Perhaps he and Xie Wuxing really were cursed to clash. First, Xie Wuxing had nearly made the nuisance Cai Tanggu disappear; now Jiang Wang had been reduced to an unprecedentedly wretched state. He and Dong Chongyang should have been evenly matched, so how had he ended up scrambling all over the ground?

Feng Linghuai regarded Xie Wuxing suspiciously.

Could he also have a grudge against Jiang Wang?

When experts fought, the greatest danger was distraction. Victory or defeat could be decided in an instant. Xie Wuxing’s actions had clearly been intended to get Jiang Wang killed.

Xie Wuxing could not defend himself.

He could only keep his mouth shut.

Meanwhile, the battlefield had already undergone a change.

As a martial artist of the Fourth Realm, Rong Yulu possessed enough strength to contend with a cultivator of the Cavern Luminosity Realm. The two blue-robed cultivators no longer had flying swords and dared not engage a martial artist at close range. But Rong Yulu charged forward without regard for his own life, and in the end he found an opening and severely wounded them both.

He immediately vaulted over the wall and entered the marquis’s estate.

Because he and Cai Tanggu had agreed to help each other, his purpose was to rescue Su Lingyi.

At that moment, Su Lingyi and Du Yanyuo, locked inside the woodshed, looked utterly dejected.

They had waited for Xie Wuxing to come rescue them. They had waited through the daylight and into the night, and little by little, despair had begun to set in.

After all, there was no way Jiang Wang could defeat a direct disciple of the Sword Pavilion.

Where had everything gone wrong?

Standing behind the woodshed door, Du Yanyuo asked, “There’s no one guarding the outside. Why don’t we escape?”

Su Lingyi lay among the firewood and replied matter-of-factly, “That scoundrel Jiang Wang is devious. He deliberately left us an opening. The moment we step outside, we’ll certainly suffer for it.”

Though there was some logic to this, Du Yanyuo still hesitated. “Senior Brother, could you be overthinking it?”