Nanqiu Town lay sixty li south of Qiu Yang City. It was a must-pass stop for anyone traveling north from the south to Qiu Yang City.
Only three days had passed since the great calamity that had struck Qiu Yang City. The taverns and tea stalls in town were still buzzing with talk of the terrible disaster.
"Tragic! So tragic! So many people died!"
"Leng Qianye was the Vice Sect Leader of the Sun Moon Radiance Sect. Who knows what made him lose his mind! He not only killed Leng Qingqiu, the sect leader, but even reached the True Person Realm and killed City Lord Lan! Then he went on a killing spree through the city!"
"If Yellow Heaven Sun Daoren hadn't stepped in, the consequences... would have been unthinkable!"
In a tavern, the head of a merchant caravan that had come from Qiu Yang City brought the latest news to everyone there.
"Absolutely. It was pure madness!"
"Alas... I haven't heard from my relatives in Qiu Yang City."
"We were lucky! So lucky! Thank goodness I didn't go to Qiu Yang City a few days ago."
The people in the tavern whispered among themselves. Shi Feizhe and Fan Jianqiang sat there too, listening to the rumors circulating through the jianghu.
"Have you all heard that there was a mastermind behind all this?" the caravan leader continued.
"What? There was a mastermind too?"
"Who was pulling the strings? Could it have been some devil?"
The caravan leader sighed. "They say that after Sun Daoren beat Leng Qianye to death with three strikes of his staff, he rescued Elder Hua, the Teaching Elder, from the Sun Moon Radiance Sect's dungeon."
"Elder Hua had been tortured until he was barely breathing. He said some devil had altered the Sun Moon United Heart Art of their sect."
"And then he forced their sect leader and vice sect leader to practice it, secretly ordering the two leaders to have over a hundred disciples throughout the sect practice it too."
"In the end, everyone in the sect went mad and started killing one another. Elder Hua refused to practice the altered Sun Moon United Heart Art, so that devil had him thrown into the dungeon and tortured!"
"That devil had lost all humanity. He took pleasure in watching the sect's people slaughter one another!"
"Most of all, that devil loved disguising himself as a young man who had just entered the jianghu and sneaking into other people's sects!"
"That old devil was called... Shi Feizhe!"
"Pfft..." Fan Jianqiang couldn't hold back when he heard the caravan leader. He spat out a mouthful of tea. Even he, a man who lived for the fun of it, found this too hilarious.
Shi Feizhe, meanwhile, sat expressionless, listening as people pinned the blame on him.
This was the third version he'd heard today.
They were all more or less the same: some devil who knew human nature inside and out had come to Qiu Yang City. After watching the city for a long time, he'd started with the Sun Moon Radiance Sect and used it as a lever to throw the entire city into chaos!
The details were similar, but there was only one devil in the story, and it was him, Shi Feizhe.
Who the hell was pinning this black pot on me?!
I'm not carrying this black pot!
What did the Qiu Yang City chaos have to do with me?!
I didn't do anything!
Shi Feizhe screamed inwardly, but he didn't dare say a word.
He was afraid that the moment he opened his mouth to say, "I, Shi Feizhe, am not that kind of person," they'd brand him a devil and hack him to death!
Who would've thought that one day, he'd have to think twice before even giving his name?
This was too hard!
"Brother Shi, this version has a few details wrong, but it's probably the closest to the truth!" Fan Jianqiang sent him a voice transmission.
For all his love of a good spectacle, even he didn't dare call Shi Feizhe by name when everyone in the tavern was eagerly discussing Qiu Yang City.
Shi Feizhe glared at Fan Jianqiang, his face dark.
What do you mean, "a few details wrong"? This is completely off the mark!
What devil altering the martial art? The Sun Moon Radiance Sect was the one that provided the Sun Moon United Heart Art!
What devil throwing the whole sect into chaos and taking pleasure in watching them kill each other? I was holed up in the courtyard, practicing martial arts with all my might! And even when I did watch the fun, Fan Jianqiang was the one who dragged me along!
I just wanted to learn a bit more about the jianghu and pick up some scraps!
Was that wrong too?
And that nonsense about the old devil disguising himself as a young man new to the jianghu—what a load of crap! I really am a young man new to the jianghu!
Even if my soul belonged to an old office drone!
That Elder Hua was a vicious bastard. I'd only met him twice, and he still smeared all this filth on me! What a piece of shit!
"Alas! The jianghu is treacherous, and there's no way to clear my name!" Shi Feizhe thought for a moment, then sighed and said just that.
Fan Jianqiang rolled his eyes. "The jianghu is treacherous? You're a lot more treacherous than the jianghu."
So many people had died in Qiu Yang City. Shi Feizhe was responsible for at least thirty percent! The Sun Moon Radiance Sect was responsible for another thirty percent, and Leng Qianye for the remaining forty!
Still, he understood. From Shi Feizhe's perspective, he'd just been practicing martial arts quietly in the sect, and then...
"Brother Shi, I suggest you change your name in the future!" Fan Jianqiang teased.
"Keeping my real name wherever I go is really hard!" Shi Feizhe said darkly.
If I can't call myself Shi Feizhe, what should I call myself?
Shi Lezhi?
Dead Fatty?
"Brother Fan, you've spent years wandering the jianghu. Do you know where I can buy martial arts manuals?" Shi Feizhe asked.
"There are plenty of places. Three Talents Town, for example," Fan Jianqiang replied without hesitation.
"I've been to Three Talents Town. They didn't have what I wanted."
"Then there's Kongtong Mountain Market, a thousand li to the west. Ten thousand li south, there's the South Sea Book Market. And southwest, in Yu Province, there's Luoyang City, which has a book market." Fan Jianqiang rattled them off.
"Which is the closest?" Shi Feizhe asked.
"Kongtong Mountain Market, naturally."
"Oh! I'm planning to go there. Are you coming too, Brother Fan?" Shi Feizhe invited him.
"No. I still have to travel the world! Then I'll record what I see and hear and turn it into a book," Fan Jianqiang said.
"What book?"
"Jianghu Anecdote Records!" Fan Jianqiang said earnestly. "I'll write down all the interesting things that happen in the jianghu and share them with everyone. It'll be great fun."
"So, a book for people who live for the fun of it?" Shi Feizhe saw right through Fan Jianqiang's plan.
That bastard Fan Jianqiang just loved watching the commotion and enjoying the spectacle!
"Hmm... A book for people who live for the fun of it. That might work too!" Fan Jianqiang seriously considered the title.
"Still, I suggest you stay away from the jianghu, Brother Shi. Find somewhere to train quietly until you reach the True Insight or Qi Sea Realm before venturing back out!" Fan Jianqiang turned to advise Shi Feizhe.
"Why?!"
"First, you'll be able to protect yourself in the jianghu. Second, your notoriety will die down. Otherwise, I'm afraid someone will beat you to death the moment you step outside!" Fan Jianqiang said earnestly.
He loved watching a good spectacle, and he thought Shi Feizhe would provide an even bigger one in the future.
The jianghu was all the more interesting with people like him in it!
"If I get beaten to death, it'll be because you sold me out!"
"Hmm... That actually sounds like a pretty good idea!" Fan Jianqiang furrowed his brow, wondering whether selling Shi Feizhe out might bring him even more fun.
Shi Feizhe: A black pot from the heavens. (A surprise extra chapter! Were you surprised?)
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