Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 218: News of His Death

North of the Flame Capital, the Martial Prohibition Bureau.

Tall and imposing, Yi Beiwang wore his hair loose and carried an enormous crimson bow on his back. Apart from a left arm longer than his right, he had no obvious physical anomalies.

He was in his sixties, yet his face bore not a single wrinkle. His sharply chiseled features were stern and rather cold.

”Deputy Chief Yi.” A Bureau member hurried over, a thin report in hand.

”What is it?” Yi Beiwang turned from the window, where he had been gazing at the sun high in the sky.

The Bureau member answered quickly, ”Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang is dead.”

Yi Beiwang’s eyes, reflecting the golden sunlight, widened slightly.

The heretic who blocked my arrow head-on last night is already dead?

His wounds had been serious, but apart from the Supreme Masters, no more than ten people in the whole Flame Capital could have killed him. That included those whose arts countered the Accumulated Evil Way’s and those exceptionally skilled in assassination.

Yi Beiwang asked gravely, ”Where did he die? Do we know who killed him?”

The Bureau member consulted his report.

”At Qian Shulong’s former residence on Fengjia Lane, in the eastern city. His body was in an underground chamber, his head discarded in the courtyard. His soul appears to have been destroyed.

”The cause of death was a sword thrust between the brows.

”The killer’s identity is unknown. The servants saw only a Golden Boy mask.”

A Golden Boy mask? Yi Beiwang vaguely recalled hearing about one not long ago.

He asked thoughtfully, ”Apart from his apparent ability to destroy souls, do the traces of the fight tell us what martial arts he used?”

The Bureau member shook his head.

”The only marks in the chamber are sword cuts and punctures left by Sun Feiyang. The killer left no traces at all. It’s as though...”

He swallowed before continuing, ”As though Sun Feiyang struggled desperately for a long time while his opponent made no move at all. Then, when the man finally used his sword, Sun Feiyang died at once.

”And... and despite his strength, Sun Feiyang never managed to break through the wall and escape into the secret passage. He didn’t even do much damage to the room where they fought.”

Yi Beiwang fell into thought. He could scarcely imagine what sort of fight it had been.

Whatever had happened, anyone capable of killing Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang could not be some nameless fighter!

A fighter of that caliber could not simply appear from nowhere. Even someone who had made the ascent in a single leap would need years of training and experience to master his own strength before he could contend with a Grandmaster in the top ten of the Malevolent God Prison.

”Did he wear the Golden Boy mask deliberately to mislead us?

”Is he hiding his identity for fear of Tan Guanchan’s revenge? As far as the court is concerned, anyone is free to kill Sun Feiyang. There’s even a generous bounty...” After murmuring to himself for a while, Yi Beiwang ordered his subordinates to investigate the Golden Boy’s identity.

The killing was cause for celebration, but a formidable fighter of unknown allegiance had suddenly appeared in the Flame Capital, one who could even destroy souls. The Martial Prohibition Bureau had to learn the truth and bring the situation under its control.

......

Martial Star Ward.

Ou Luwen was feasting in a restaurant when several Martial Prohibition Bureau members knocked and entered.

Have I been found out? Has my identity been exposed? Ou Luwen calmly signaled for his table companions to leave them alone, then rose and asked, ”What can I do for you, officers?”

The man in charge smiled.

”Sorry to disturb you, Hero Ou.”

Those words put Ou Luwen at ease at once.

”We hear that someone wearing a Golden Boy mask broke through your Immortal Realm of Hidden Truth a little while ago?” The officer came straight to the point.

”That’s right.” Ou Luwen made no attempt to hide it.

It had happened in broad daylight before a crowd of witnesses. He could hardly conceal it.

”How strong was he? What martial arts did he use? Did he have any distinguishing features?” The officer fired off a string of questions.

Ou Luwen thought back to the encounter.

”Close to Heaven-Man, with some grasp of the qi in the void. He looked like a scholar in his cyan robe, with no physical anomalies. He spoke pleasantly and sounded young. He used a longsword, but I was controlling the Immortal Realm of Hidden Truth from a distance and didn’t notice what kind...”

He gave a full account of the encounter, withholding only one detail.

The man could suppress and intimidate yao.

That touched on Ou Luwen’s own origins. Naturally, he would not reveal it.

His detailed account matched what the spectators had said, so the Bureau members saw no reason for suspicion. After a few more questions, they prepared to leave.

As they said their farewells, Ou Luwen asked curiously, ”Has the man in the Golden Boy mask committed a crime?”

The officer shook his head.

”We can’t yet be sure it’s the man who broke through your Immortal Realm of Hidden Truth, though he also wore a Golden Boy mask, used a sword, and was close to the Heaven-Man Realm.

”And it wasn’t a crime. More of... a great deed.”

”A great deed?” Ou Luwen looked as though he were listening to a riveting tale.

Mixed emotions showed on the officer’s face as he answered.

”He killed Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang and left his head in the courtyard.”

Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang? Ou Luwen’s expression froze.

After so many years in the jianghu, how could he not know that name?

Even among the yao, it was a name that could frighten a crying child into silence!

Ou Luwen had reached the stage of seeking the path to Heaven-Man himself, but he had never thought he could defeat Sun Feiyang, who had been approaching that realm decades ago. The gap between them was like the difference between the top three and the top ten on the Orchid Fresh List.

Yet the man who had broken through his Immortal Realm of Hidden Truth had killed Sun Feiyang in combat!

Belated fear washed over Ou Luwen, mingled with relief.

Fortunately, the man had been reasonable and chivalrous, rather than blindly accepting Zhang Qiang’s side of the story. With that strength and an art that countered his own, Ou Luwen might not have survived even a single sword stroke.

......

Afternoon sunlight streamed into a study, lending a radiant glow to the peerless beauties in its paintings.

Master Xiaozhang, who had been studying the paintings, turned toward the door. His Feifei ran in on silent paws, a folded sheet of paper in its mouth.

Pale but not sickly, Zhang Qiang took the paper, unfolded it, and began to read.

”Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang has been killed at Qian Shulong’s former residence on Fengjia Lane.

”The killer wore a Golden Boy mask.”

Master Xiaozhang froze. Only after a long while did he raise an eyebrow.

”A Golden Boy mask? The man who broke through Ou Luwen’s Immortal Realm of Hidden Truth wore a Golden Boy mask too... And Senior Brother was the one who wanted a map of the area around Fengjia Lane...”

The young man from that day suddenly appeared in his mind.

He had regular features, a clean face, and a pleasant smile, and delivered threats with utter sincerity.

”He really wasn’t making threats...” Master Xiaozhang mused.

Stating something you had the strength and confidence to carry out was not making a threat. It was being honest!

Master Xiaozhang had believed at the time that the young man had good reason for his confidence and must be powerful. He had never imagined just how powerful.

Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang had spent decades committing atrocities and lived comfortably through them all. That alone spoke volumes about his martial prowess.

......

Liu’s residence, Hidden River Lane.

Liu Cheng walked slowly around his room, his face less pale than before.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, he hurried back to bed, lay down, and pulled up the covers.

”Young Boss, important news!” It was one of Liu Cheng’s trusted men.

Liu Cheng asked weakly, ”What important news?”

”Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang has been killed!” His man sounded as though he still could not quite believe it.

A veteran Grandmaster ranked seventh on the Malevolent God Prison, the foremost of the ten Malevolent Envoys, dead just like that?

Liu Cheng sat bolt upright, then fell back with a grimace of pain.

”Who did it?”

”We don’t know. Word is, he wore a Golden Boy mask,” his man answered honestly.

Several emotions crossed Liu Cheng’s face. Suddenly, he recalled the man who had tried to assassinate him on the pleasure boat.

He had never encountered anyone so powerful. Without his preparations, which had let him break through the wall in time to alert the watchtower, he would probably have died at that man’s hands.

That was probably Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang... Didn’t he take an arrow from Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow and escape through the water? Only a day later, he’s dead? How strong must his killer be... The more Liu Cheng thought about it, the more alarmed he grew.

He did not wonder why the man in the Golden Boy mask had wanted Sun Feiyang dead. Given the atrocities Sun Feiyang had committed, the people who wanted to kill him could form a line from this room all the way to the Hengbo River, even without counting members of the Accumulated Evil Way.

Once his man had left, Liu Cheng could not help sighing.

”Such is life in the jianghu...”

Even a formidable Grandmaster like Evil Beyond Measure, ranked near the top of the Malevolent God Prison and backed by a powerful faction, had met a violent end in the jianghu.

As his thoughts turned, Liu Cheng frowned slightly.

Last night, after dark, the Martial Prohibition Bureau found Evil Beyond Measure, and he escaped wounded. Late that night, Brother Ding came to me out of the blue to borrow a manual for an art that conceals the body among vegetation. This afternoon, Evil Beyond Measure was killed in combat, his head left in a courtyard...

Could these things be connected?

Liu Cheng did not pursue the thought. He dared not entertain the boldest possibility.

If that were true, he would have to fall to his knees in admiration...

......

Back in his scholar’s robe, Ding Songyan returned leisurely to Prince Kang’s estate and entered the side courtyard.

Fan Chunlin and Li Baima sat at the stone table, apparently waiting for him.

”Brother Ding.” Fan Chunlin rose to greet him with a broad smile. ”What you told us last night about the Moth God Scripture and the Sage-Severing Way is important. Brother Li and I thought we should report it to the estate and the Martial Prohibition Bureau. Would that be all right?”

”The Martial Prohibition Bureau already knows. Just report it to the estate.” Ding Songyan smiled casually.

Why else would I have told you all that, if not to have you report it to the estate?

It’s just like deliberately wearing the Golden Boy mask to kill Sun Feiyang and letting people see it.

These are all hints to the outside world that I’m acting under Demoness Ji’s threats.

For instance, once Senior Sister hears that a man in a Golden Boy mask killed Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang, she’ll know at once it was me. If Demoness Ji later tries to use it to drive a wedge between us, Senior Sister won’t believe her. I’ll already have given her an unmistakable hint.

Then I can explain that Demoness Ji forced me to kill Sun Feiyang in disguise, and I wore the Golden Boy mask so Senior Sister would recognize me. An indirect plea for help, with absolutely no intention of colluding with the Sage-Severing Way.

Or take Master Xiaozhang. Others may not know, but once he hears about the Golden Boy mask, how could he fail to guess that I killed Sun Feiyang? Keeping Chef Shi from learning who bought the map of Fengjia Lane wasn’t really meant to hide the truth. It was a show for Demoness Ji, in case she was watching from the shadows: See? Second Brother is being obedient, cooperating sincerely, and keeping everything secret.

Master Xiaozhang is a renegade from the heretical factions. He won’t sell this information to the Accumulated Evil Way. Once the Martial Prohibition Bureau’s investigation leads to him, and they put his information together with what Fan Chunlin and the others report to the estate, the authorities should at least see that I’ve been trying to drop hints in every way I can.

It’s much like what happened at the Zhen household. Under a powerful fighter’s control, I can only ask for help indirectly.

For now, Ding Songyan did not expect these little tricks to solve his problem with Demoness Ji. First, he wanted to leave clues that could prove his innocence. Second, he was testing her limits: what she would tolerate, what she would overlook, how she spied on him, what mattered to her, and what she did not care about.

He had to know roughly where those limits lay before he could dance along the cliff’s edge.