Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 217: The Deed Done, He Departs

Sun Feiyang’s question hit Ding Songyan like a bucket of icy water.

There’s someone else behind this?

He steadied himself. Perhaps he was reading too much into it. After a moment’s thought, he asked, ”Fu Yangquan works for Master Wei and was sent to Dingjiang Prefecture on an assignment. Master Wei is a Two-Faced who cultivates the Heart Demon Scripture. You must know who he is?”

This time, Sun Feiyang’s ghost nodded.

”Wei Wuji, the hidden leader of the Ten Reflections Sect. He’s a natural-born Two-Faced, not someone turned through corruption. He controls the Ten Reflections Sect on the Way Master’s behalf.”

Wei Wuji... Ding Songyan committed the name to memory.

The Ten Reflections Sect was the unorthodox faction Marshal Yi had mentioned, heir to the Heart Demon Scripture. It had three Grandmasters. The Martial Prohibition Bureau had previously given the Brightnight Sect information on them, listing all three names, but none had been surnamed Wei.

Now the mystery was resolved. Wei Wuji had always remained behind the scenes, never revealing himself publicly.

”Is the Ten Reflections Sect an independent offshoot of the Accumulated Evil Way?” Ding Songyan’s alarm subsided.

”No. They’re the Way Master’s servants. Apparently, the Heart Demon Scripture is very useful to the Two-Faced. It lets them control their selfishness, treachery, greed, and malice as they would inner demons, so they can at least keep the larger plan in mind. That was why the Way Master brought the Ten Reflections Sect under his control.” Sun Feiyang’s ghost shared everything he knew.

A Malevolent Envoy who has ruined plenty of plans just to indulge his urge to do evil is criticizing genuine Two-Faced for ignoring the larger picture? That’s rich... Then again, a true villain should embrace his double standards without shame... Since killing Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang, Ding Songyan had been in quite a good mood, except while asking about Bai Zhaolin’s death match. He only had to avoid dwelling on the man’s atrocities. The question ”Who is Fu Yangquan?” had given him a brief fright as well.

”Have you had much contact with the Two-Faced?” Ding Songyan pursued the lead.

Sun Feiyang shook his head again.

”There are one or two Two-Faced among each group of Malevolent Envoys, Evil Intent Envoys, and Eight Winds Envoys. The rest are controlled on the Way Master’s behalf by genuine Two-Faced like Wei Wuji. I don’t know much about them.

”I don’t know whether any of the three Supreme Masters besides the Way Master are Two-Faced either.”

Ding Songyan carefully established which envoys were Two-Faced, then returned to the subject at hand.

”How strong is Wei Wuji?”

”About as strong as I am, but he’s over forty years younger, with a fair chance of reaching Heaven-Man. I’d love to kill him. If I can’t become a Supreme Master, why should he?” Sun Feiyang said bitterly.

Wei Wuji stayed behind the scenes and probably worked under aliases. He was not listed in the Malevolent God Prison.

Good, still full of spirit. A villain through and through... Ding Songyan asked, ”Were your arrangements concerning the Brightnight Sect separate from Wei Wuji’s? You didn’t know much about his side?”

If so, it made perfect sense that Sun Feiyang knew nothing of Fu Yangquan.

”Yes. The Way Master keeps his guard up against us.” Frightened as he was, Sun Feiyang’s ghost could not resist mocking Tan Guanchan. ”He doesn’t want the different factions under his control making private arrangements with each other.”

Tan Guanchan may be the Accumulated Evil Way’s leader, but it isn’t his only faction... Ding Songyan nodded slightly and asked, as if to confirm something, ”What sort of man is Wei Wuji?”

Still trembling, Sun Feiyang’s ghost sneered.

”Treacherous, vicious, selfish, and greedy, but he can control it. He has some brains and is fairly cautious.”

Fairly cautious... Ding Songyan’s expression tightened. A chill crept into his heart.

Why wouldn’t a man like that wait until the matter involving Master had played out and news of his death had spread before sending that Demon Seed Two-Faced to Dingjiang Prefecture?

That Two-Faced’s capture almost ruined Tan Guanchan’s plan.

The year-end recruitment was still more than four months away. Wei Wuji had no reason to rush...

Besides, the plan gave that boy nothing to do in Dingjiang Prefecture except wait for the year-end recruitment. Fu Yangquan was responsible for everything else...

In his place, I’d have waited for confirmation of Master’s death before sending the Demon Seed Two-Faced to Dingjiang Prefecture. Why risk anything going wrong?

As his thoughts raced, Ding Songyan recalled the words he had heard back then.

”Wait for Tao Wenshu to die, then use the year-end recruitment to slip into the Brightnight Sect.”

In the urgency of the moment, he had found nothing wrong with those words. Now, the more he considered them, the stranger they seemed.

That was an inexperienced Demon Seed Two-Faced, prepared specifically for the sect’s recruitment.

Why tell him to wait for Tao Wenshu’s death? That was crucial information!

If Wei Wuji were careless, that would be one thing. But even Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang didn’t fault his caution.

Why not simply say, ”Use the year-end recruitment to slip into the Brightnight Sect”?

If Master survived the affair with Bai Zhaolin, Wei Wuji would still have more than four months to recall that Two-Faced. There was no need to mention Master’s death at all!

Those words were deliberate!

As though... as though they were meant to warn someone!

The Brightnight Sect? Me?

Ding Songyan narrowed his eyes, his mind in turmoil.

There really is someone else behind this...

It feels a little like Demoness Ji’s handiwork. But if my undeserved sister had done it, she would surely have brought it up last night, played the good little sister, and teased me...

I’ll have to ask next time she comes to toy with me. I can’t afford to misjudge something this important...

Ding Songyan questioned him about Master Wei and the Two-Faced for a while longer. Only when nothing more emerged did he turn to the Accumulated Evil Way’s internal affairs.

Even after all those questions, Sun Feiyang’s ghost had not dispersed. His decades at the perfected Dharma Realm certainly counted for something.

Ding Songyan carefully sensed the area above. The household servants avoided the main house unless they had reason to approach it, and had not yet discovered the dead.

He seized the opportunity to question Sun Feiyang’s ghost about the Accumulated Evil Divine Art, especially the Faith-Slaying Sword.

That sword art excelled at disrupting an opponent’s moves and planned variations. It might be possible to incorporate it into the Unified Way Sword.

Ding Songyan had no intention of cultivating the Accumulated Evil Divine Art as a secondary art for future derivation. For one thing, it seemed to gradually alter its user’s temperament, strengthening every sort of evil thought. For another, without accumulating evil deeds, even a derived version would be an empty shell, unable to exert 30% of its power. That meager gain was not worth the risk.

Better to discuss its moves, techniques, and use of apertures, explore the underlying principles, and incorporate whatever was useful into his own arts.

Partway through the discussion, Sun Feiyang’s ghost finally failed to hold together. With a scream, he dissolved into nothing, leaving no trace.

”I’ve memorized most of the Faith-Slaying Sword, but only the basics of the others.” Ding Songyan felt a little regret.

He crouched, coated his right hand in dark Presence-Absence Myriad Forms Qi, and searched Sun Feiyang’s corpse.

Besides the two weapons, both at least equal in quality to Frostshade, he found banknotes worth 11,200 taels, a bottle of dark-red, almost purple pills that reeked of blood, a notebook full of cultivation insights, several severed human organs preserved by special methods, and some loose silver.

The pills were notorious in the jianghu: the Accumulated Evil Way’s supreme healing medicine, Seven-Month Fetus, refined from unborn seven-month fetuses. They worked only for Accumulated Evil Way cultivators who drew power from evil deeds. More effective than the Life-Sustaining Pill, they could also help wear away true qi that countered the user’s own, though they were still far from reviving the dead or regrowing flesh on bare bones.

Disgusted by the Seven-Month Fetus pills and human organs, Ding Songyan picked up the cultivation notebook first. Using the Celestial Heart Art’s self-deception, he swiftly memorized every page he considered useful.

Once that was done, he carefully considered whether to take the banknotes.

He certainly could not take the bloodlit longsword or the sharp spike. They would be hard to sell and could easily reveal him as the killer.

He had neither asked Master Granduncle Wang for help nor asked the Martial Prohibition Bureau to arrest Sun Feiyang because he did not want the Brightnight Sect involved. The Accumulated Evil Way avenged even the slightest offense, and the Brightnight Sect was still relatively weak.

Letting the Golden Boy take credit for punishing evil was just right!

These banknotes don’t seem to have any special markings. Who could tell whether they came from the Accumulated Evil Way or the Brightnight Sect? Even if they do have marks, once I pass them through a few banks, no one will be able to trace them to me...

The only problem is that word might spread that the chivalrous Golden Boy is greedy for money. That would be embarrassing in front of Senior Sister. But I don’t intend to spend this bloodstained silver myself. I’ll put it into the Relief Society we set up and help more people. Senior Sister will only praise me... As he considered it, Ding Songyan used Presence-Absence Myriad Forms Qi to cleanse the surface of every banknote, dissolving all traces into unity. Only then did he fold them and put them away.

He drew Frostshade again, brought it to Sun Feiyang’s neck, and released sword qi with a casual sweep.

Sheathing his sword, Ding Songyan tidied up the scene, then carried Sun Feiyang’s head along the secret passage toward the surface.

As he neared the main house, he stamped his right foot hard on a stone step.

CRASH! The ground trembled, and the entire main house shook.

The disturbance immediately alerted the household servants, who instinctively rushed over.

They arrived just in time to see something round fly out of the main house and land in the courtyard.

It was a bloodied head, its eyes still open, black markings forming the character for ”evil” on its forehead.

The servants all worked for the Accumulated Evil Way, but none had seen anything like this. Some cried out in terror; others instinctively looked toward the main house.

They saw a painted mask.

Upturned eyes, straight brows, a white forehead, and a golden face.

The mask appeared for only an instant, then vanished.

...

Before long, constables from Chengtian Prefecture arrived outside the main house of Qian Shulong’s former residence.

They all looked at the head that had rolled into the middle of the courtyard. Black markings formed the character for ”evil” on his forehead. His cheeks sagged, his beard was a mix of black and white, and his eyes, though open, were caked with blood.

The constables recognized the face. They had seen his wanted notice both last night and today.

Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang!

Such a renowned Grandmaster, a heretic ranked seventh in Malevolent God Prison, had been killed without a sound, his head discarded in the courtyard.

...

In the market outside Dangkang Temple’s headquarters.

Wearing a dark-red padded jacket that fastened down the front, Twelfth Madam Luo squatted before a stall. She picked up a rattle drum and gently shook it, smiling as she listened to its soft, rhythmic beats.

At some point, Ding Songyan had squatted beside her. He smiled and said, ”Twelfth Madam, I didn’t know you liked children’s toys!”

Twelfth Madam Luo glanced at him and said tartly, ”I’m still young at heart.”

Ding Songyan picked up a paper pinwheel and blew on it.

”Then I like this one.”