NOVPUBChapter 747 -51: Heavenly Inquiry Scroll Fragment, Reemerges in Jianghu (2/2) (3000)
“What did you say?!”
Upon hearing the report from his subordinate, even though the middle-aged man seated above was deeply cunning, he couldn’t help but show a moved expression and said,
“Is this true?!”
The younger man sitting below, around thirty and seemingly unremarkable like any ordinary businessman but with a decent demeanor, knew the importance of the matter and did not dare to conceal anything, replying with a fist salute:
“I dare not deceive Elder Yuan.”
“The folks from One-Leaf Pavilion stopped at Guan City on the Jiangnan Road for two days and then turned back towards the way to their sect, no longer planning to come our way to Zixiao Mountain Villa.”
The man above flicked his hand to dismiss the spy, closed his eyes in deep thought; the room was rather luxurious. At the head stood a three-panel screen, a table and chairs made of golden Phoebe zelkova wood, emanating a calming faint fragrance that captivated the mind.
Aside from this imposing middle-aged man, there was also a young swordsman present, bursting with youthful energy, looking somewhat curious upon hearing the news but chose to remain silent.
The middle-aged man sighed, speaking to himself:
“I had already sent people to wait in Jiangliu City earlier. Discovering that the Xiahou Family planned to take action against One-Leaf Pavilion, I arranged for my men to stand guard on those few streets. If Jiang Lan was unharmed, it would have been enough, no need to intervene, even if only Wu Qiong and Jiang Lan were left; a few more deaths, and humiliating that old scholar Wu Qiong further, wouldn’t hurt.”
“These scholarly martial artists, mostly tough and stubborn, try to act morally superior within Jianghu, looking down on common warriors. Breaking them a bit makes them easier to manipulate for our purposes. If we let his scholarly arrogance come into play, it would be troublesome.”
“And if Jiang Lan’s life were in danger, I could then conveniently arrange for my men to intervene, extend a favor to him, save his life, and he would naturally be grateful and trusting towards us without suspicion.”
“It’s just a pity, I didn’t expect others to intervene, repelling the Xiahou Family’s guest elder. If I had intervened then, I would have inevitably seemed like a mere onlooker, an extremely awkward position, what a pity… such a pity…”
Now understanding the situation, the young man didn’t really care about the other details, only getting that the famous maiden from Jiangnan probably wouldn’t be deceived into his bed so easily, slightly annoyed, he fidgeted with the luxurious longsword in his hand and said,
“What’s the meaning of this? Master… ”
The middle-aged man opened his eyes, murmuring:
“The news came that Jiang Yang’s brother, who was reportedly traveling abroad, has returned to One-Leaf Pavilion. Internal chaos ensued within the Pavilion, quelled by a Shao Yu Sword, and they dispatched their capable disciple, Ye Zhuhua, who, disregarding fatigue, rushed thousands of miles within days, making contact with Wu Qiong before us.”
Yuan Ziyi sensed the implied meaning, scoffing and said,
“Shao Yu Sword? Zhang Zuosheng?”
“This famous gentleman seems to have a significant prejudice against our Zixiao Mountain Villa…”
The law enforcing elder of Zixiao Mountain Villa, also a hopeful aide for Wu Qiong, chuckled and said,
“After all, he’s been a celebrated man for fifteen years, shrewd and insightful, a stark contrast to the pedantic and rigid Jiang Yang, who has ruined his mind with books—one is in the heavens, the other on the ground.”
“What Jiang Yang couldn’t handle, he could accomplish easily.”
“Thus, one remains merely the master of One-Leaf Pavilion, while the other traverses the world, associating with nobles as well as bold and carefree men of Jianghu. In his forties, capable of moving the world, among our generation, few can match his freedom.”
“Such a man, quelling the internal chaos of One-Leaf Pavilion, naturally does it with ease.”
Yuan Ziyi, unwillingly, said, “Does that mean we give up this time?”
“That’s the Jiangnan Qinglian after all…”
Zixiao Mountain Villa’s sword-wielding elder, Yuan Shouyue, not rebuking his disciple’s lustful inclination for it was considered natural for men, calmly said,
“Of course we cannot just give up like that.”
“After all, the thing that caused the internal chaos in the Seven Sects of Jianghu, appearing hardly a handful of times in the past century, last emerged four years ago in the Fufeng County sect annihilation incident. That time, White Tiger Hall came out, leading to the extermination of a clan, even causing the eradication of Danfeng Valley.”
“It then disappeared without a trace, unknown whose masterly hands it fell into.”
“But worry not, as this object, inherently whole, is known as ‘Heavenly Inquiry’. Naturally, it is tied by the secrets of heaven, like a magnet attracting iron, fated by the universe, and its owner, even unwittingly, will be drawn to this scroll fragment, tangled with it.”
“Like a decree of fate, inescapable.”
His voice fading, Yuan Ziyi leaned in to catch those few words, his body trembling, his face initially showing disbelief, then turned into sheer joy, even suppressing his lustful desires, and stood up abruptly, saying,
“Is this true?!”
Yuan Shouyue calmly said,
“Though we are master and disciple, our relationship is akin to father and son; I would never deceive you.”
“The best opportunity has now passed, but we mustn’t give up. We should strategize carefully. For now, take the guest elder with you. With his Fourth Rank Grandmaster Realm, he has great potential now. Once he gains trust, move forward with the plan to seize control.”
“It would be ideal to marry Jiang Lan, then, taking advantage of Zhang Zuosheng’s travels, deceive and kill Jiang Yang, that decomposed scholar. One-Leaf Pavilion is merely a thing in the palm of our hands as master and disciple, and the second volume of the Heavenly Inquiry Scroll Fragment can also be claimed as mine.”
A moment later, the Swordsman who ranks alongside the seventh son of the Xuanyuan family in the fourth position on the subsidiary list of the Sword List, Yuan Ziyi, and a dignified lady both rode horses out of Zixiao Mountain Villa, heading in the direction of Jiangnan Road.
Yuan Shouyue stood with his hands behind his back, positioned in the main hall.
“One-Leaf Pavilion, Jiang Yang.”
“Traitors…”
Thinking of his friend from youth, who was almost considered the carrier of seventh-tenths of Western Shu’s cultural spirit, his face twisted not just in hatred but also in pain. He heaved a long sigh as if exhaling all his energy, and his expression calmed, eventually muttering to himself:
“The Imperial Dragon Qi on the ‘Heavenly Inquiry’ scroll fragment must return to Shu.”
“Your servants still wished to fight to the death, Your Majesty, why surrender first…”
Zixiao Mountain Villa, located in Jiangnan Road among the seven prestigious sects under the heaven, holds substantial renown.
Thirty years ago, it was the premier faction in Jianghu of Western Shu Kingdom, known as Imperial Sword Mansion.
After the fall of the country, it took in scattered members of the Western Shu Imperial Family. As the Great Qin troops approached the city, three hundred disciples of the sect donned mourning clothes and white bands from head to toe, readying themselves into formation, fully prepared to fight to the death. At that moment, he stood with his sword at the forefront, ready to die for his country.
Yet, he saw the Western Shu Prince step out from the mountain gate, who after a secret discussion with a Qin general, kowtowed with his son toward the direction of Western Shu’s capital three times, and then calmly slit his throat before the troops.
The last of the lineage died.
And with that, the Western Shu Kingdom fell.
He could hardly grip his sword.
The dreams of numerous forebears, the nation for which countless righteous and brave souls had willingly ventured to their deaths, was ruined; the ancestral temples worshipped generation after generation were trampled under iron hooves, the history of Shu was virtually torched, citizens were forbidden to wear Shu robes or speak for Shu, and loyal officials who fought Qin to the death were recorded as treacherous in the annals.
At that time, the Qin general was a war general under the Grand Commander of Great Qin, Yang Jinwen, who returned with the Crown Prince’s head in a brocade box. Though coarse, he had the meticulous mind of a maid of spring chamber, having fought many years without dying. Even the dullest could become as cunning as a fox, his calculations incredibly shrewd.
Knowing that Great Qin was to achieve unparalleled accomplishments, aiming to unify the Central Plains, it couldn’t afford even a spark of royal lineage from the Six Kingdoms to remain. If there was resistance, he would sacrifice every soldier today to kill the Crown Prince of Shu.
The unification under one achieved by sweeping across the lands with the might of a million armored soldiers.
Leaving even the slightest risk made him uneasy.
But by then, having achieved his goal, he naturally did not want to fight with the disciples of the Sword Mansion, famed for their sword qi reaching the azure sky, unnecessarily losing valuable lives.
Moreover, at that time Sword Mansion had split one massive peak with a sword strike to create the Shu Pavilion, and the one responsible was not long freed from flesh. To fight them, Great Qin’s troops would have to lose at least three thousand armored soldiers’ lives to drag him to death by attrition.
Such a trade would be far too costly.
The jeopardy of Sword Mansion was avoided by the death of one man instead of a massacre of three hundred. Due to their collective readiness to die in battle, the faction gained fame across the land and became one of the seven major sects.
The ancestor of the Sword Pavillion who had stepped into the Great Grandmaster level with a single stroke of the Three Fools Sword before his death was swayed by the fall of his native empire, the extinction of his old friend’s bloodline and nearly twenty more years of his lifespan left, refused to consume Great Qin’s grain. Disheartened, he let his spirit, vigor, and essence decline and passed away voluntarily within two years.
The Western Shu Sword Mansion was renamed Zixiao Mountain Villa.
Great Qin did not slay any of its people, instead using it to pacify the warriors of the Six Kingdoms.
Now the villa was led by Manor Master Liu Sigong, assisted by sword-wielding elders on either side, with over a thousand disciples adept in drawing their swords for battle, renowned throughout Jianghu. Liu Sigong, exceptionally skilled in swordsmanship and aged just over thirty, had long reached the Fourth Rank Grandmaster level but always suppressed his qi mechanism, refusing to step through the Grandmaster’s gate of heaven.
This time, on the Sword List naming the bravest sword wielders in the land, he ranked just below Qingfeng Edge’s Zhu Ling.
His disciple, Yuan Zixia, aged around twenty-three or twenty-four, had already stepped into the Fifth Rank realm. He ranked in the top five of the subsidiary Sword List, just below the Heavenly Mountain Sword, the former young manor master of the Xue Family, and The Number One Manor in the World’s Sikou Tingfeng, and was on par with the seventh son of the Xuanyuan family, which boosted his reputation among the sect.
His master, Yuan Shouyue, had been in the Fourth Rank realm for quite some time, an elder in charge of sword wielding, his swordplay unrestrained and his heart ruthless in slaying, has been noted as intentionally refining his temperament, otherwise at a moment’s thought, he could advance into the ranks of Kunlun Mountain’s Grandmaster’s gate.
Yet, at this moment, this swordsman known for his brutal and cold-blooded swordsmanship, renowned throughout the world, stood alone in this place invoking the accent of Western Shu, tears streaming down his face, unseen by anyone.
PS: The second update for today… 2,800 characters per chapter; well, the setup is almost over… The “Heavenly Inquiry” Scroll Fragment indeed is the Fufeng Scroll, snatched back by Mr. Ying.”
