The Edict of Accusation

Back at the shop, Liu Shuyue insisted that Chen Xuan retell the whole incident in words she could understand.

"Otherwise, I followed you around the whole time and still barely understand what happened. Wouldn't I have gotten the short end of the stick?"

Chen Xuan had no intention of hiding anything, and he indulged her request as if they were having an ordinary chat. Seeing how engrossed she was, he suddenly asked, "Did the Life-and-Death Eight Gates Formation really take that long to cast? You were ready just when I'd fallen into a disadvantageous position. Was that on purpose?"

Liu Shuyue's gaze shifted two degrees to the side. "Of course not. I had to put up eight talismans... It really did take some time. Are you accusing me of slacking off? I won't accept that!"

Chen Xuan could tell that she really wasn't much of a liar.

But it was understandable. If he were in her place, he'd probably want to see just how capable the shopkeeper of this mysterious shop was, and whether he could actually fight. The only way to keep a low profile was to keep his distance from customers and always work alone.

But he wanted to be a shopkeeper, not an idol. For now, building good relationships with customers did more good than harm.

"Speaking of which, why were you so... rusty with the Thousand Thoughts Sword?" Liu Shuyue asked, guiltily changing the subject. "With the skills I taught you, you should've been able to take your opponent down with ease."

That reminded Chen Xuan of a question he'd been wondering about for a while. "What level had you trained the Thousand Thoughts Sword to?"

"Level?" She thought for a moment. "You mean its stage? It's written right there, isn't it? Nine stages."

But what he saw was LV8.

"Then how many stages are there at the highest?"

"Ten stages is the state of great perfection."

She was just one stage away from great perfection, yet her level showed LV8. There was clearly some sort of conversion between the two. Chen Xuan wondered if the level number actually represented a percentage, and if the state of great perfection was a full 20% stronger than the ninth stage. He was now a LV2 shopkeeper, so the Thousand Thoughts Sword he used was only at 20% strength. To Liu Shuyue, that must have seemed like he'd barely learned the basics.

Of course, all this speculation assumed that LV10 was the highest level. After all, he'd never seen an ability above LV10.

"How do you usually improve your cultivation level?"

Liu Shuyue raised an eyebrow. "That's not something you should ask so casually. Every cultivator has their own method of training, and no one would easily reveal theirs to another fellow cultivator. Asking outright could even be taken as a provocation."

"I see..."

"But I can still give you a few pointers." She changed tack. "Simply put, the Thousand Thoughts Sword is a practical sword art, so the ideal way to improve is through combat. I became an itinerant disciple of the sect by fighting my way through a group of candidates."

Chen Xuan was surprised. "Doesn't that mean you killed people when you were just a few years old?"

"Huh?" Liu Shuyue froze, then burst into laughter a moment later. "By fighting, I meant normal competition! What on earth were you thinking? The Lotus Cloud Sect isn't some evil cult. I mean that although sparring with swords is dangerous, it's also the most controlled way to train. Your opponent is either experienced or evenly matched with you, so every fight helps you make great progress. If all you do is use spells to bully the weak and slaughter innocents, you could spend your whole life without improving much."

I get it. It's like getting worse at chess the more you play against a terrible opponent.

"When you said you'd give me pointers... did you mean you'd spar with me?"

"If you agree to reduce my rent a little more, I wouldn't mind sparring with you now and then." Liu Shuyue finally showed her hand.

Looking at her expectant expression, Chen Xuan deliberately replied in a helpless tone, "Well... all right."

I'll double your rent when I get back!

You're just a tenant. You think you can outsmart your landlord? Dream on!

Liu Shuyue returned to her room on the second floor, perfectly content and entirely unaware that her rent had just doubled.

She felt she'd made a lot of progress. When she'd first come down from the mountain, the sly and cunning Chen Xuan had left her speechless. Now, she could hold her own against him.

Liu Shuyue suddenly felt an urge to write down everything that had happened that day.

It had been a long time since she'd written anything... The last time had been when she was copying books in the sect's library. By any measure, these events had nothing to do with her duties as a sect disciple and did nothing to help her cultivation. They shouldn't have been worth spending time recording. But she felt so happy that even thinking back on them made the corners of her mouth turn up.

It certainly wasn't because she'd saved the life of someone from the Abyssal Sea.

It was because, for the first time, she'd had an unexpected "adventure" with someone as a partner.

She'd not only earned herself a month's rent, but also gotten him to owe her a small favor.

It was a feeling she'd never experienced before.

Everything she'd done up to then had been for the sect and her duties. She'd never gained anything from it herself. She didn't think there was anything wrong with that, and she'd probably keep doing the same in the future.

And yet this was an experience that brought no benefit to the sect or Great Qing. Still, she wanted to record it. Liu Shuyue couldn't explain why, but she decided to follow this natural impulse that made her happy.

After preparing her ink, Liu Shuyue found herself stumped over what to call the shopkeeper.

She couldn't use Chen Xuan. Whether or not it was his real name, it would seem too impersonal in a travel journal. It would be better to give him a more refined alias. She thought for a moment, then pulled a stack of shiny packets from her waist pouch. They were instant noodle wrappers, and one line of small print listed the place of manufacture: Foothill Mountain So-and-So Food Processing Factory. Chen Xuan might not have noticed, but she'd already examined every detail on the wrappers. That place wasn't mentioned in any of the Six Nations' records, so it was probably where the shop was based.

In that case, she would call him the Lu Mountain Hermit.

Knock, knock.

Just as Liu Shuyue put pen to paper, she heard a knocking sound from the warding talisman attached to the inside of the door.

That meant someone was touching her door.

Not the entrance to cave dwelling 201 inside the shop, but the room where she was staying at the prefectural office.

She set down her pen and left the cave dwelling through the back entrance beside the pool. When she returned to her room at the prefectural office, the muffled pounding on the door had grown unmistakable.

"Immortal Master, are you inside?"

"Sorry to bother you so late, but I have something important to discuss!"

Liu Shuyue straightened her clothes and put on her outer robe before opening the door. Standing outside was Zhangwei City's second-in-command, County Lieutenant Tang.

He cupped his hands and said, "General Gong just arrived in Zhangwei with a large force. He has an edict from the King and is waiting at Wei Wu Hall. He wants to meet with you right away, Immortal Master."

"Did he come from the Royal City?" Liu Shuyue perked up.

"Yes."

"I'll go at once."

The only troops coming from the Royal City could be transporting disaster relief supplies. The General from the Gong Family was no nobody, either. Everyone in the Gong Family, young and old, served in the imperial guards, and they'd always been favorites of His Majesty.

Though the instant noodles were tasty and filling, the shop clearly wouldn't keep supplying them forever. They just had to get through the hardest initial stretch, then wait for the relief grain from the various provinces to arrive. Liu Shuyue had estimated that it would take about half a month, but the Royal City had made it in just a week.

Their speed also suggested they'd traveled light, so they probably hadn't brought much in the carts.

"How much money and grain did they bring?" Liu Shuyue asked. "If the Prefect doesn't mind, I can oversee the distribution."

The County Lieutenant's gaze flickered. "I'm not sure about that... You can ask the general yourself."

When Liu Shuyue entered Wei Wu Hall, she spotted General Gong at once—or, more accurately, Gong Lingwu, the youngest son of the Gong Family. The last time she'd seen him had been five years ago in the Royal City. He'd been a typical spoiled heir, fond of roaming the streets and picking fights, with a terrible reputation. She hadn't expected him to be wearing armor and a cloak now, serving His Majesty.

Under normal circumstances, Liu Shuyue wouldn't have given someone like him a second glance.

But this was official business, so she clasped her hands and bowed first. "General Gong, you've had a hard journey. May I ask why you wished to see me?"

"The King sent you an edict."

Gong Lingwu pulled a paper scroll from his backpack.

As sect disciples held a special status, they weren't required to kneel before the King unless they were meeting him in person. Liu Shuyue simply inclined her head and waited for the edict to be read.

"Immortal Master Liu Shuyue, upon receiving this edict, you are to depart for the Royal City at once. Do not delay." General Gong rolled up the edict and handed it to her with one hand. "That's all."

The short order sent a shock through Liu Shuyue.

It wasn't about subduing monsters, nor was it about helping the people... He simply wanted her to return?

But His Majesty couldn't possibly be unaware of why she'd spent these past years traveling from place to place and rarely returning to the capital.

"Are you taking it or not? Refusing means defying the edict." Gong Lingwu said impatiently.

Liu Shuyue had no choice but to accept it. But all she could think was that she'd no longer be able to work with Chen Xuan to care for the refugees. "I understand."

"Good. They're in a hurry, so we'll rest for the night and set off with me tomorrow morning."

Set off with him?

They wouldn't even have time to unload the supplies in one night!

"What about the disaster relief grain and money? Aren't you staying here to supervise their delivery?"

"What grain and money? Did you bring any?" Gong Lingwu sneered. "There's no disaster relief in my orders. We brought all these men to suppress a revolt. Aren't you leaving? Once the city no longer has an Immortal Master to protect it, we'll have to leave more soldiers here..."

Liu Shuyue could no longer hear what he was saying.

Only one sentence kept echoing through her mind.

What grain and money?

What grain and money?

What grain and money?

She looked at the Prefect and the County Lieutenant standing nearby. Both were as expressionless as stone Buddhas. They weren't surprised or angry. They simply listened in silence to the general's sneer.

"You... knew this all along?"

"Well... I didn't know about this before." Shen Fang coughed twice. "I'd only heard that grain supplies were tightening everywhere, so it might not be easy to spare any for the refugees—"

"You're not short on grain at all!" Liu Shuyue interrupted him, unable to hold back her raised voice. "This isn't a year of famine. Apart from Qingzhou, which was ravaged by monsters, how could the other provinces and cities possibly be unable to spare grain for disaster relief?"

The fact that the refugees had been able to sell their instant noodles at a high price and use the money to buy grain was the best proof!

"Those wealthy families and clans are just insatiably greedy!"

Shen Fang sighed. "First of all, there's nothing wrong with them wanting to sell their goods at a higher price. And secondly... that isn't the real reason the provinces can't spare grain."

"Immortal Master Liu, do you really know nothing?" Gong Lingwu sneered. "The country is on the brink of life and death, and all you care about is that handful of refugees in Qingzhou. Don't make me laugh."

On the brink of life and death? Liu Shuyue looked at him.

What was he talking about?

"Luo Kingdom has stationed hundreds of thousands of troops along the border and set up a camp stretching for a hundred miles. All the evidence indicates that they'll invade Great Qi on a massive scale within a year or two at most! War is about to break out, Liu Shuyue! And the one leading them is Immortal Master Lan Qin, the Lotus Cloud Sect's senior disciple!" He pointed at Liu Shuyue and shouted, "Look at her, then look at you. If Great Qi loses, you'll be the one to blame!"

Lan Qin was going to help Luo Kingdom invade Qi?

How could that be?

Weren't sect disciples supposed to assist the kingdoms, keeping the world orderly and ensuring that people could live and work in peace and prosperity?

"There must be... some misunderstanding!" Liu Shuyue said in disbelief. "Let me write a letter to Senior Sister Lan Qin..."

"There's no need. What you need to do is follow Immortal Master Lan's example, teach powerful cultivation methods and spells to the sons of military families, and, ideally, bear the King a few heirs. That way, we can last through a protracted war." Gong Lingwu shrugged flippantly. "I've been wondering for ages why Qi's Immortal Masters are always nowhere to be seen. Shouldn't assisting His Majesty and strengthening the royal house be an Immortal Master's duty? It's His Majesty's lenience that let you indulge yourself up to this day."

So that was why the Zhangwei Prefect had refused to release grain on a large scale... Liu Shuyue looked at Shen Fang. He was waiting, too—waiting for His Majesty's response! Once today was over, even that little bit of thin gruel might be gone.

Once the war preparations began, every region would have to gather grain for the army. Naturally, none of them would be willing to spare even a single grain for the refugees in Qingzhou.

"Speaking of which, why is everything so peaceful here? I thought those people would have started making trouble after going hungry for so many days." General Gong asked curiously. "Prefect Shen, you haven't been secretly helping the refugees, have you?"

"No, nothing of the sort. I've simply kept distributing gruel on a small scale and gathered the refugees here to stop them from wandering around." Shen Fang answered at once. "Thanks to Immortal Master Liu's wondrous art, the refugees received a convenient food called instant noodles, so they didn't have to go hungry."

"Huh? There's a spell that can conjure food?" Gong Lingwu froze, then lit up. "Good! That means the army will have food wherever it goes! Do the refugees still have any of the food the Immortal Master gave them?"

"They do."

"Please collect it all. I'm taking every last bit."

"This..." Shen Fang hesitated.

"What are you afraid of? My soldiers are at your disposal. They won't be able to put up the slightest resistance." General Gong shot Liu Shuyue a sidelong glance. "Just kill anyone who refuses. They'll starve to death once the Immortal Master leaves anyway. Sending them on their way early is a kindness, isn't it?"