The Curtain Falls

The Curtain Falls

Qishan County.

Inn.

Lu Zhaojin and Lu Jinlin split up, each returning to his own room.

But.

After Lu Zhaojin heard the door of the room opposite close, he quietly slid the bolt into place, blew out the candle, and climbed onto the roof through the window.

His feet stepped across the ridged tiles as Lu Zhaojin looked toward the County Yamen, his eyes narrowing slightly.

The cool night breeze blew gently. Dark clouds drifted past, revealing the crescent moon hanging high in the sky, its silvery light spilling over the earth.

It also fell upon Zhao Huaishui's pale face.

At this moment, no one else remained in the vast County Yamen.

He put on the official robes he had not worn for many years. There were some wrinkles in them, and he patiently smoothed them flat.

But having gone unwashed and unaired for so many years, the clothes still carried a faint mildew smell that drifted into his nose.

Zhao Huaishui had no time to wash them.

He had been wounded by Uncle Chen. Later, after Uncle Chen flew into a rage and attacked Lu Zhaojin because that youth had been killed by Lu Zhaojin, Zhao Huaishui finally found a chance to catch his breath. He had even abandoned the Cave Mansion's treasures and sneaked back here.

This was the most bedraggled he had ever been in his life.

Perhaps it would also be his last.

Zhao Huaishui walked step by step into the courtroom and sat upon the seat from which a county magistrate exercised his authority. One hand rested on the armrest, the other on the desk. Looking at the judge's block, command slips, and other objects atop it, he found they had actually gathered dust.

After thinking carefully for a moment, he suddenly realized that he had not appeared in court for many years.

Was it because Qishan County had no injustices?

Of course not. Where there were people, there would be grudges and injustices. Not to mention those jianghu folk who claimed to be free-spirited by nature and refused to respect laws and decrees.

Then why did no one report their grievances to the authorities?

Because the people of Qishan County no longer trusted him, their county magistrate.

Zhao Huaishui himself did not know when he had lost the people's trust.

Perhaps it had begun with the cases he had once judged wrongly.

None of that mattered now.

Zhao Huaishui heard footsteps approaching from outside. They were light yet steady, showing that the visitor had great confidence in his own strength and did not fear a Seventh-Rank Realm county magistrate like him. As for the imperial court behind him... by the time the court's people arrived, his corpse might already stink to high heaven.

Fortunately, Nuanyu had left ahead of time.

On the road to Mount Qi during the day, Zhao Huaishui had constantly felt a sense of unease, his heart pounding with apprehension as though some great event was about to occur.

Zhao Huaishui had hesitated at the time. But when he saw so many jianghu people heading for Mount Qi, he felt he could not miss this chance. Thus, he forcibly had Captain Liu take Zhao Nuanyu and the others out of Qishan County and hurry to the home of an old friend in Yanling Commandery. If nothing happened to him tonight, they would merely stay there for a few days. Otherwise, they could only leave it to fate.

Zhao Huaishui looked at the person entering the courtroom. He had only seen that handsome face twice: once when he had hosted him at a banquet, and once in that Cave Mansion. Yet each encounter had left an exceptionally deep impression.

Zhao Huaishui was somewhat surprised that Lu Zhaojin had made it here. After all, he had actually escaped Uncle Chen's grasp—or rather, he actually possessed the ability to kill Uncle Chen.

Zhao Huaishui could not see through this youth. Perhaps he had been wrong from the very beginning. "So it's you."

Lu Zhaojin walked to the center of the courtroom and stopped there, looking at the county magistrate. His face was pale, his eyes devoid of light, and his lips white and dry, as if he were gravely ill.

Yet his official robes were quite neat and clean, though they no longer fit him very well.

Lu Zhaojin said nothing more. He walked up to the desk, formed a sword gesture with his right hand, gathered true qi at his fingertips, and then slashed toward Zhao Huaishui's neck.

A horizontal streak of azure light appeared in the air.

Zhao Huaishui only felt a wisp of cool breeze brush across his face. A chill flashed over his throat, and a red line slowly emerged.

Experience for killing a Seventh-Rank Martial Artist +5000

Experience: 32318

When Lu Zhaojin left, Zhao Huaishui still sat there, his eyes fixed on the outside of the courtroom, unmoving for a long while.

The next day.

Morning clouds filled the sky, golden light stretching ten thousand fathoms.

Mount Qi.

Dingshan Sect.

Sect Leader's Grand Hall.

Zhang Yue stood with his hands behind his back, pacing within the hall.

He had not expected that the two elders he sent to suppress and kill those who defied the Dingshan Sect would both go and never return.

They had been Seventh-Rank Realm martial artists. On Mount Qi, they could be considered top-tier combat power.

A disciple outside the hall delivered a message. "Sect Leader, Elder Yueshan has arrived."

Zhang Yue stopped pacing and looked toward the entrance. "Come in."

A figure resembling a small mountain appeared in the doorway, blocking most of the daylight and making the hall somewhat darker.

The man was broad and brawny, tall in stature, yet he had a round, gleaming bald head. "Senior Brother Sect Leader, where is Senior Brother Hengshan?"

His voice rang out like a great bell, carrying coldness and hatred.

After Zhang Yue informed Elder Yueshan of Elder Hengshan's death, the rest became much easier to handle.

This Elder Yueshan possessed considerable talent in Hardening Techniques and had been born with divine strength. His physical body was formidable, and among the Dingshan Sect's three elders, he was the strongest.

He was Zhang Yue's trump card hidden within the Dingshan Sect, one he would not easily reveal. Yet he had never expected Elder Hengshan to die.

The two were fellow disciples and came from the same village. When Elder Yueshan had been very young, he had eaten tremendously, but his family was poor and could only abandon him. Had Elder Hengshan not appeared, Elder Yueshan might well have died in the mouths of wild beasts long ago.

Therefore.

Though the two were not blood brothers, they were closer than blood brothers.

Elder Yueshan also listened to Elder Hengshan's every word.

Now that Elder Hengshan had died at Lu Zhaojin's hands, with Elder Yueshan making a move, as long as Lu Zhaojin was not a Sixth-Rank Realm martial artist, capturing him would be as easy as reaching into a bag.

Yanling Commandery, Jinshui City.

The atmosphere in the Chen family's main hall was exceptionally heavy.

Chen Yanrui, the Chen family head seated in the place of honor, listened to the news sent back from Mount Qi and smashed the table beside him with a single palm strike.

Chen Jingyi's birth mother was grief-stricken. Her vision went black, and she fainted. Several maidservants hurriedly supported her back to her room to rest.

The Chen family's Attendant elders also wore ugly expressions.

Chen Yanrui calmed down somewhat. "I never expected even Uncle Chen to meet such a vicious end. He was at the Late Seventh-Rank. On Mount Qi, unless Zhang Yue acted personally, who could possibly be his opponent?"

Elder Gu said coldly, "Family Head, that Dingshan Sect is no peaceful thing either. We should not have spared it back then."

Elder Yu nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Ever since Zhang Yue broke through to the Sixth-Rank Realm, he has been racking his brains to seize control of Mount Qi. He must have received the news passed down from the imperial dynasty long ago."

At that moment, Elder Liang stepped forward and volunteered. "Since that is the case, Family Head, I am willing to lead men to Mount Qi, eliminate the youth who killed Young Master Jingyi, and incidentally let Zhang Yue know that the Chen family's blade can still cut across his neck even if he has broken through to the Sixth-Rank."

Chen Yanrui nodded. "Then we shall proceed as Elder Liang suggests."

Elder Liang cupped his fists, turned, and strode away.

The other two elders secretly cursed that old bastard for reacting so quickly.

Zhao Huaishui was dead.

This news quickly spread through Qishan County.

It caused quite a stir.

But before long, no one paid attention to it anymore. Instead, they were more concerned with who the next county magistrate would be.

According to past custom, one would be selected from among the officials within the Mount Qi region.

Yet those officials were all weaker than Zhao Huaishui. No one knew whether they could keep the Moon Wolf Gang in check.

Then news of Moon Wolf Gang Leader Chen Kang's death also spread through Qishan County... For a time, both the people and jianghu folk of Qishan County felt completely lost in a maze of mist.