Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 234: The Pursuit

As Ding Songyan asked those two questions, he suddenly felt the surroundings darken slightly. The qi flow of heaven and earth seemed confined to a space of a several meters, preventing him from ”communicating” with the outside world.

It was the same for sound.

He instinctively glanced at Bai Qilin, the Tianyu Sect heir.

Bai Qilin nodded slightly.

”Better that the guards and attendants don’t learn of this.”

Is this the Concealment Repository at work? The Tianyu Scripture’s martial arts must also favor ambush and assassination. Only against a hidden weapons master like Xie Fengchao, who never let him close, could Bai Qilin have lost that bout... No wonder Jiang Lanting didn’t mind the singers, guards, and attendants overhearing our whispers... Ding Songyan turned his attention back to the Ghost Yu Way assassin.

The assassin’s ghost answered with fear on his face.

”Black Third Master sent me to assassinate Young Master Brightstream.

”After I slipped into the Flame Capital, He Jianyun, the owner of the Hidden Recluse Bathhouse, arranged my hiding place and supplied information on Young Master Brightstream.”

Black Third Master, the Ghost Yu Way ”shopkeeper” of Xinfu City? His rank in the Ghost Yu Way seems considerable... Ding Songyan turned to Jiang Lanting, inviting any questions.

”He Jianyun...” Jiang Lanting repeated the name softly, then looked at the corpse. ”Do you cultivate the Progenitor Yu Scripture, the Book of Covert Movement, or the Seven Methods of Spitting Sand?”

The Progenitor Yu Scripture belonged to the Progenitor Yu’s legacy and carried four traits. The Book of Covert Movement and the Seven Methods of Spitting Sand came from the ordinary Yu and had only two descriptions: ”Stealth becomes second nature, and deathly sand flies from your lips.”

Ding Songyan relayed Jiang Lanting’s question.

The assassin’s ghost trembled like a sieve as he answered, ”I cultivate both the Book of Covert Movement and the Seven Methods of Spitting Sand.”

Jiang Lanting grew a little angry.

”Who do they think they’re looking down on?”

An assassin only at the perfected Great Proliferation Realm would be bad enough, but they sent someone from the ordinary Yu lineage to kill me?

Am I, Young Master Brightstream, not worthy of an assassin who cultivates the Progenitor Yu Scripture?

Even without Ding Songyan’s sword, I wouldn’t have died in one blow. I had no time to draw my sword, but dodging would have been no trouble.

I routinely use the Boundless Forms Art to emulate arts that monitor movements around me!

Young hero, why care about that? Isn’t this good news? Young people really do have lofty pride, and fear being embarrassed most of all... Ding Songyan grumbled inwardly.

He turned and asked the assassin’s ghost, ”After your assassination fails, will the Ghost Yu Way try a second time?”

Over the years, when a Ghost Yu Way assassination failed, they sometimes eliminated the client outright or at times made a second or even third attempt, killing the employer only after repeated failures. Ding Songyan wanted to help Jiang Lanting determine whether more danger lay ahead.

”Yes, it will.” The assassin’s ghost spoke with a tremor.

”Why do you say so?” Ding Songyan pressed.

The assassin’s ghost had grown much fainter.

”If an assassination is stopped by someone other than the target, or the target’s strength surges recently, it is a matter of how we chose the opportunity and gathered information, not an error in the client’s intelligence. We must make a second attempt.”

You have quite the professional ethics... Jianghu rumor always stresses that failed assassinations end with the client’s destruction, without these details, and gives you a bad reputation... Then again, as one of the Twenty-One Heretical Ways, a bad reputation is only natural. Whenever people pass on such tales, they embellish, take things out of context, and let errors spread. Evildoers must bear a little extra infamy... Ding Songyan could not help musing.

Then Xie Fengchao and Jiang Lanting said to the corpse in unison, ”You’re dead. How would the Ghost Yu Way know why the assassination failed?”

You two are sharp, grasping the key point at once... Ding Songyan immediately raised the question.

The assassin’s ghost looked around timidly, dazed.

”There are ’field watchers.’ They gather information, only confirming the assassination’s outcome and never interfering.

”If the site is difficult to infiltrate, they investigate carefully afterward to learn the specifics.”

Hearing that, Ding Songyan and the others instinctively looked around.

The air was cold, the grass withered, the plum blossoms not yet open, and the view unobstructed.

In such surroundings, a ”field watcher” could see the assassination’s details clearly from far away.

He would not even need a special art; a few pricey mechanical devices would do.

Jiang Lanting’s expression shifted, and he said urgently, ”We must go to the Hidden Recluse Bathhouse right now!

”I hope we’re not too late.”

If the ”field watcher” saw Ding Songyan spirit channeling, he would surely report to He Jianyun at once, so that he would abandon the perfume shop, relocate, and hide.

”Right, no time to lose!” Xie Fengchao nodded gravely.

Bai Qilin told the guards and attendants around them, ”Send a few of you to report to the authorities that something is wrong with the Hidden Recluse Bathhouse. The rest stay here and guard the corpse.”

Ding Songyan had been recalling the scene, checking for any unusual movement. He glanced at the other three.

”Do you know where the Hidden Recluse Bathhouse is?”

He could not be sure whether the ”field watcher” would rely purely on his legs to return. If he and He Jianyun had agreed on signal fireworks, they could never catch up.

It was even possible that He Jianyun was the ”field watcher.”

Jiang Lanting and Bai Qilin whipped their heads toward Xie Fengchao.

This was the local expert, after all.

Xie Fengchao looked embarrassed.

”That perfume shop isn’t very well known.”

In short, he didn’t know where it was.

This is the chivalry of youth: impulsive, hot-blooded, passionate... Ding Songyan clicked his tongue, half praise and half censure, and questioned the assassin’s ghost.

He had wanted to discuss the Book of Covert Movement and the Seven Methods of Spitting Sand with it. The pretext would have been helping Jiang Lanting ask, since the Boundless Forms Art could not emulate a technique just from watching and sparring; the better he understood it, the closer the emulation. But with the ”field watcher” problem, Ding Songyan had no time to communicate with the ghost.

Fortunately, this is the Yu legacy, not Progenitor Yu’s. If I miss it, so be it. If I later get to discuss the Progenitor Yu Scripture with some kind soul, it won’t matter whether I’ve mastered the Book of Covert Movement or the Seven Methods of Spitting Sand. The corresponding traits are included in the Progenitor Yu Scripture.

The assassin’s ghost answered obediently, ”Shaqiao Street, in the east of the city.”

”Go.” Jiang Lanting, in a water-blue straight robe, raced toward the foot of the mountain as if riding a gale.

Xie Fengchao and Bai Qilin, both superb in movement skills, followed closely.

Ding Songyan unfolded Waxing Moon Phantom Form, leaving a trail of gently swaying scenery behind him.

He was not as fast as Jiang Lanting and the others, but on crowded streets, Southern Dipper Calamity-Averting Steps combined with Waxing Moon Phantom Form was more refined and disturbed no one.

Xie Fengchao was equally good at dodging and weaving, but that inevitably slowed him a little. Jiang Lanting and Bai Qilin simply rose on the wind and passed over the crowded areas.

For the people of the Flame Capital, this was common, and they were long used to it. No one was alarmed.

Shaqiao Street lay in the eastern part of the city, toward the west. Jiang Lanting, Ding Songyan, and the others burst into the Hidden Recluse Bathhouse like a whirlwind, giving the doorway guards no chance to stop them.

”Where is He Jianyun?” Jiang Lanting asked the bookkeeper at the counter.

Urgent as he was, his bearing lost none of its grace; only a light sweat dampened his lovely face.

The bookkeeper was dazzled and answered without thinking, ”On the fourth floor, in the Aqua Clouds Room, getting his back and legs massaged.”

He’s enjoying himself... As long as he’s here... Ding Songyan followed Xie Fengchao and the others up to the fourth floor, watching closely for anyone leaping from a window or bolting for the back door.

Only after the four vanished up the stairs did the bookkeeper recover.

”Why is that girl dressed as a man? What a distinctive charm...

”She looks like... like Young Master Brightstream, Jiang Lanting...

”So beautiful. The Peerless Beauties of the Jianghu, no, the Martial World’s Jade Tree Rankings truly don’t lie...”

Soon Jiang Lanting reached the Aqua Clouds Room on the fourth floor, raised his right foot, and kicked the door open with a bang.

Inside were one man and two women. The women were graceful, wearing thin gauze skirts. The man was short and somewhat stout, with a crane’s head with a human face, a single horn, and a white beak. Blue feathers with red markings covered much of his body, and a white cloth was wrapped around his waist. He stared at Jiang Lanting in surprise.

”Miss, have you come to massage my feet?”

Can the Hidden Recluse Bathhouse find even a beauty like this?

”Where is He Jianyun?” Jiang Lanting’s expression turned cold.

At the same moment, Xie Fengchao behind him blurted out, ”Senior Niao?”

The man of the Yanchang Bird clan glanced at Xie Fengchao and understood.

”You’ve come to make trouble for He Jianyun?

”He invited me to bathe and get a massage, but left early, saying he had something to deal with.”

”This is Senior Niao Mingwei.” Xie Fengchao first introduced him to Jiang Lanting, Ding Songyan, and Bai Qilin, then asked, ”Senior Niao, did He Jianyun say where he was going?”

Niao Mingwei... Ding Songyan looked at the bird-man before him and nodded almost imperceptibly.

He had heard of him.

He was one of the Niao clan of Yanchang’s three most famous Grandmasters in the Flame Capital, ranked alongside Niao Jingbai of Prince Kang’s Manor.

Niao Mingwei tried to recall.

”He said he was going to Huaiyuan Street.”

Huaiyuan Street? Ding Songyan suddenly remembered the news Master Xiaozhang had given him: The Ghost Yu Way was searching Zhendong, Huaiyuan, and Shuning Streets and the nearby alleys for a renegade.

So there’s a lead? He Jianyun rushed off so hastily that he missed the ”field watcher’s” warning? Though Ding Songyan had not used Mirror Lake Divine Reflection, he tentatively judged that Niao Mingwei was not lying, since both sides’ information matched.

”Why are you making trouble for He Jianyun? You’re Jiang Lanting of the Yin-Yang Order, aren’t you?” Niao Mingwei asked, puzzled.

Jiang Lanting’s fame was widespread and his looks unforgettable, so he was easy to recognize.

”Senior, I am Jiang Lanting. He Jianyun is suspected of being part of the Ghost Yu Way,” Jiang Lanting replied concisely.

”The Ghost Yu Way?” Niao Mingwei was startled.

I only came for a bath, a leg massage, and a foot treatment. How did the Ghost Yu Way get dragged in?

”Senior, what does He Jianyun look like?” Ding Songyan asked.

Niao Mingwei composed himself.

”He cultivates the Bifang art’s Heaven-Burning Formula, which is how we know each other.

”Mm, perfected Great Proliferation Realm, tall and thin, prominent cheekbones, a fleshy horn on his forehead, white beak, blue feathers with red markings, and a black mole between his brows.”

”Thank you for telling us, Senior. The Martial Prohibition Bureau should arrive soon. Please relay all this to them. We’ll go search Huaiyuan Street first.” Xie Fengchao cupped his hands in salute.

The four left the Hidden Recluse Bathhouse and again used their movement skills, rushing toward Huaiyuan Street near the south of the city.

When they arrived, they found a crowd gathered along the street, with constables hurrying over from a distance.

With candlelight and stars in his eyes, Ding Songyan looked deep into the crowd. On the wall at the mouth of an alley hung a peeled-off human face nailed in place.

The face was bloody and crane-like, with a black mole between the brows.