What Happened Afterward

Abbess Dingyi of the Hengshan Sect examined Fei Bin's injuries. Fortunately, he had merely fainted from anger and an upward surge of poison; his life was not in danger.

Watching this, Wang Jingyuan curled his lip in disdain. The Black Blood Divine Needle was dangerous because it was coated in poison. Since they were already using poisoned needles, why did they have to stab him in the Jade Pillow Acupoint? And why would Qu Yang have turned back just to kill a swindler pretending to be an official?

Anyone with half a brain could tell that Fei Bin had staged the whole thing himself. As for where he got the Black Blood Divine Needles, hadn't Qu Yang just generously given them several? All he had to do was pull one out.

But Fei Bin had laid it on far too thick. With so much happening, everyone might not see through it right away, but once they went home, they would inevitably start thinking it over. After all, everything the Songshan Sect had done today was highly suspicious.

Fei Bin understood that, of course, but he couldn't afford to worry about it now. The other sects could suspect all they wanted without evidence; they couldn't do anything to him. But if the Imperial Guard captured that man today, the Songshan Sect would truly be finished.

The Ming Dynasty might have been little more than a backdrop in the original story, and the Imperial Guard might never have appeared. But in the real world, ordinary people could at most expect to encounter the police. How many had ever dealt with national security?

That didn't mean they could afford to take the other side lightly.

Commander Chen was a shrewd man. When Qu Yang attacked earlier, he hadn't even shown himself, afraid that the crazed Demonic Cult scoundrel might injure him by mistake. But impersonating an official and issuing a fake imperial edict was a serious crime. He had no choice but to investigate.

As for the lack of a living witness, that didn't matter. He gave Wang Jingyuan a meaningful look. He was sure this madman would hand over solid evidence and the mastermind behind it all. After all, hadn't Wang Jingyuan been the one to set the stage for this whole performance?

Commander Chen of the Imperial Guard said nothing. He took away the impostor's corpse, the fake imperial edict, and the men who had posed as constables, but he didn't take a single person from the martial world. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Only Fei Bin, lying on the ground and pretending to be unconscious, was privately retracing his steps, wondering if he had left any loose ends. He had been the only one to interact with the man posing as an official. The others had all been invited by that man himself.

And the man posing as an official was just an old scholar from out of town who had failed the imperial examinations for years. He had no family left besides himself, and no relatives or friends. Fei Bin had chosen him for precisely that reason; it would be easier to kill him afterward. Thinking it over, he was fairly sure he hadn't left anything amiss.

A Hengshan Sect disciple went over to Liu Zhengfeng and whispered in his ear. Liu Zhengfeng looked down at Fei Bin, who lay on the ground, and a trace of coldness entered his gaze before it quickly returned to normal.

He cupped his hands to the others. "Allow me to explain. I planned to buy an official post, and this swindler came to me and cheated me out of quite a lot of silver.

"Later, I sensed something was amiss. Thinking it better to let the matter go, I accepted my loss and didn't pursue it. Who could have guessed that the scoundrel would actually dare show up, leading to everything that followed? But in the end, Fei was put in danger because of me.

"I've already left the martial world, and I'll be setting off to take up my post soon. I'm afraid I can't look after Fei. The Songshan disciples have also suffered a calamity. I wonder if any of you..."

"Our Huashan guesthouse is already full," Wang Jingyuan said. Gentleman Sword Yue Buqun might have found it hard to say that, but Wang Jingyuan had no such qualms.

"Our Hengshan Sect brought quite a few White Cloud Bear Gallbladder Pills this time, but..." Abbess Dingyi was a generous soul, but everyone in the Hengshan Sect was a nun. Looking after a man really wouldn't be convenient.

"Then let's take the wounded to the Mount Tai Sect's lodgings for now," Daoist Tianmen offered.

The farce was over, and everyone left Liu's residence. On the way back, Wang Jingyuan heard a series of loud crunches beside him. He turned and saw the little girl, Qu Feiyan.

It made sense. The girl had been standing right next to him earlier, watching him badmouth her grandfather at full volume. It was impressive that she had managed to hold it in this long.

But Wang Jingyuan's skin was far too thick to feel guilty over an NPC. He took a candied haw from a passing vendor and handed it to Qu Feiyan. "Do you have some old injury that's acting up too? I brought some white-sugar hawthorn pills. Want to take one?"

There were Huashan disciples all around them, so this wasn't the place to discuss anything important. Qu Feiyan took the candied haw and bit into it viciously, ignoring Wang Jingyuan.

Back at the guesthouse, Wang Jingyuan pulled Qu Feiyan into a room and asked her very seriously, "Have you finished washing my clothes?"

"Hmph!" Qu Feiyan turned her head away and ignored him. Wang Jingyuan held out his hand and wagged a finger at her. "If you keep acting like this, I'll spank you. Believe me, I'm very ruthless."

Qu Feiyan blushed and covered her bottom as she took two steps back. If anyone else had said that, they'd probably have been joking. But she knew Wang Jingyuan was crazy. One moment he'd be lying on his bed, staring into space; the next, he'd be darting around the room with his lightness skill.

So she could only answer honestly. "I washed them all. I hung them out in the courtyard before we left."

Wang Jingyuan pushed open the window and looked outside, satisfied. "Good. You've completed your mission. I hereby declare that, starting now, you're expelled from my sect."

Qu Feiyan froze for a moment. Wang Jingyuan continued, "The strongest of the Songshan disciples who came to Hengyang City are probably still recovering from their injuries at the Mount Tai Sect's lodgings. Most of the weaker ones are dead.

"Your Grandpa Liu really has an official post now. Even Zuo Lengchan will have to think twice before making a move against him, so he's safe for the time being. I've also done what I promised your grandfather. It's time for you to leave.

"By the way, once you're gone, just live peacefully with your two grandfathers. Don't go roaming around the martial world. You showed your face as a Huashan disciple today. If anyone with an agenda figures out who you are later, Huashan will be held responsible."

Qu Feiyan looked at Wang Jingyuan for a long while, then left without a word.

After she was gone, Wang Jingyuan picked up the bronze mirror on the table and admired his reflection. "Tsk. With a face this easy to get attached to, I'd be a perfect sorcerer in D&D. No wonder the little girl's getting ideas. Did she really think I didn't notice her sneaking a sniff of my clothes? Shameful.

"Why the hell doesn't this game let you assign your starting stats? If I could take all this Charisma and put it into Strength and Dexterity, my early game would be a breeze.

"Good looks? What use are good looks? They don't increase your attack."

The Huashan Sect had come to Hengyang City to attend the Golden Basin Hand-Washing Ceremony. Now that the ceremony was over, everyone would be heading back to the mountain.

They had planned to set off the next day, but Wang Jingyuan had an appointment with Commander Chen, so Yue Buqun simply postponed their departure until the day after. The disciples gained a new appreciation for how important Wang Jingyuan was to Yue Buqun.

Wang Jingyuan refused, though. Besides visiting Commander Chen, he had a whole pile of things to take care of. A group as large as the Huashan Sect was far too conspicuous.