Caught in the Crossfire

Nothing happened that night.

The next morning, the sky looked different from usual.

"What huge clouds." "Looks like it's going to rain. It's been so hot these past few days, I was nearly fainting from it."

A wave of sighs came from nearby.

Li Mu could not help looking up as well. Vast masses of dark clouds surged in from the distance, soon to blanket Azure River City and even Hidden Sword Manor.

After a long drought, rain at last. This would be a heavy downpour.

He hurriedly finished breakfast and returned to Myriad Swords Tower for work.

From afar, Li Mu saw Zhao Tuo, who was standing guard at the entrance, stop a female slave and whisper something to her.

The female slave had originally been smiling, seemingly even pleasantly surprised. But after hearing Zhao Tuo's words, her face turned pale at once, and her lips began to tremble. She reached out to grab Zhao Tuo, only to be shoved away.

Li Mu recognized her. She was Si Xiaoshuang.

After pushing Si Xiaoshuang away, Zhao Tuo waved his hand, his face full of impatience.

Zhao Tuo's vicious reputation was well known. Though quite a few people glanced over curiously, none dared linger, and they hurried past.

Si Xiaoshuang walked inside with a pale face and her head lowered. It was only when a freckle-faced youth suddenly came over and put an arm around her that she forced out a faint smile and shook her head.

The two spoke in low voices. When they reached the fifth floor, they turned toward the sword racks.

Li Mu withdrew his gaze and followed the crowd up to the seventh floor, taking down a broad, heavy sword to begin wiping it.

Si Xiaoshuang's avenue has been cut off. What will Wang Que do about the spot?

The question surfaced in his mind.

If Si Xiaoshuang knew about the spots, Wang Que certainly knew as well.

It was just that Si Xiaoshuang had surely hidden it from Wang Que and connected herself to Zhao Tuo instead.

Judging by his usual behavior, Wang Que had never been a settled, obedient sort.

But chances like last night's, where he could follow someone and eavesdrop, were almost entirely accidental.

It would not be easy to find out whether Wang Que had been making moves, or how he was making them.

If he goes upward, then based on what happened last night, Leng Shuangyu and Zhao Meng should stop him.

If he starts with people among us... I hope he won't.

As for whether there were others secretly pulling strings, that was even harder to know.

People's hearts were unfathomable, and the world was unpredictable... Li Mu drew a deep breath and suppressed the anxiety in his heart.

He only hoped for a fair chance to compete for a spot.

The sky grew increasingly overcast.

By noon, the dark clouds had gathered thickly, easing the heat somewhat. By nightfall, the cloud layers slowly shifted and merged, gradually blotting out even the moonlight.

Only sparse light from lanterns remained around the training ground, and even the night wind had died down.

Suddenly, a drop of water landed on his skin, and Li Mu stopped practicing his swordsmanship.

Then, a light drizzle abruptly began to fall.

Li Mu quickly put away his sword and, together with Hui Zhen, pulled a large sheet of cloth over the sword racks. After completing the closing work that the two of them were always responsible for, he jogged back.

Boom.

Thunder flashed.

A heavy rain that had been brewing for a long time came pouring down.

The weather was unpredictable.

The rain continued for five straight days, from morning to night, without stopping once.

Li Mu's sword practice plan was forced to halt, leaving his proficiency stuck at:

[543/1000 (Proficient)]

Practice swordsmanship in the rain?

His qi and blood was currently at 6.7, and his constitution was indeed quite good. But if he caught a chill from training in the rain, that would only make things worse.

Nor was he the only one. No one could go to the training ground.

Over these past days, the sword-wiping workload had suddenly increased as well.

Rainy weather brought heavy moisture, and maintaining the ten thousand stored swords had already been difficult enough.

Yet Forging Sword Tower kept sending over sword blanks as though they had been injected with stimulants, and Leng Shuangyu, the steward, no longer stopped them.

As a result, the entire Myriad Swords Tower had been working nonstop.

If Instructor Zhao Meng had not given advance notice and allowed the eleven people who had entered the Dripping Water Swordsmanship enough rest to prepare for the assessment,

Li Mu would still be unable to return from Myriad Swords Tower.

Lightning occasionally flickered within the clouds, while thunderclaps seemed to strike down directly overhead before rolling away into the distance.

The wind drove the rain slantwise against the walls and window frames, creating a steady pattering sound.

Li Mu had not shut the window tightly, leaving a small gap.

Fine rain spray drifted onto his face, icy and cool.

"Rain..."

Li Mu sat cross-legged on his bed, quietly watching the rain. His heart gradually became still, and he vaguely caught a trace of swordsmanship's artistic conception.

This was the change in perception brought by months of hard training, his swordsmanship talent reaching 30.0, and Dripping Water Swordsmanship entering the Proficient level.

"Fine Rain Flying, gradually becoming a fierce wind and driving rain..."

Unable to train, Li Mu meditated on the rain instead, and he could still feel his qi and blood being stirred in a wondrous way.

No, perhaps it's my spirit, twice that of an ordinary person, at work?

Whatever the reason, Li Mu greatly enjoyed the feeling. Though it could not visibly translate into proficiency, it gave him more ideas about how to fight in actual combat.

Knock, knock.

"Wooden Head, this little monk found out about what you asked me to investigate."

Hearing Hui Zhen's voice, Li Mu stopped his meditation and quickly got out of bed to open the door.

The two lived across from each other. Hui Zhen often came over to chat and had brought Li Mu plenty of information.

The moment Hui Zhen entered, he shut the door tightly. After sitting down, he did not waste words and said in a low voice:

"I heard that Ye Wanqing, the steward of Forging Sword Tower, has a grudge against Steward Leng. It seems the two are now competing for the position of core disciple, and the struggle is fierce.

"The day before yesterday, Instructor Zhao Meng sparred with Forging Sword Tower's instructor and suffered a small loss.

"Last night, Zhao Tuo went to the laundry room to eat meat and happened to provoke the lover of some servant from Forging Sword Tower. The man burst in and beat him badly. Didn't you see how bruised and swollen his face was...

"In any case, the smell of gunpowder has been thick lately. The rumors have already spread in private..."

"So that's what happened. No wonder Forging Sword Tower has been sending sword blanks over nonstop lately." Li Mu suddenly understood.

This matched what Zhao Tuo and Zhao Meng had discussed.

"When the kings of hell fight, the little ghosts suffer." Hui Zhen shook his head. "This little monk also heard that Ye Wanqing comes from a branch of the Ye Clan. Her elder brother, Ye Puyuan, is a core disciple with deep connections throughout the manor. Logically speaking, it should be difficult for Steward Leng to compete with her.

"But Ye Puyuan seems quite taken with Steward Leng and repeatedly mediates between the two.

"And although Steward Leng has no Ye Clan bloodline, she is exceptionally talented among the inner court disciples. Her swordsmanship is even a level above Ye Wanqing's, and the Third Manor Lord favors her greatly.

"Therefore, the two have remained deadlocked in their struggle..."

Li Mu was surprised. "These matters have spread so widely?"

"They were never much of a secret to begin with. The two have been openly and secretly fighting for years. You and I have only been here for a little over a month, so it all seems new to us." Hui Zhen smiled.

Li Mu nodded slightly.

That was true. Hidden Sword Manor was only so large, with so many people and so many eyes. Any servant or maid could casually spread news until everyone above and below knew of it.

With so many people in the manor, tracking down rumors and silencing every mouth would take quite a bit of effort. It was normal not to bother over matters that were neither scandalous nor malicious.

"None of that is the real issue. The key is that it has affected the spots for this servant assessment."

"The exact details have not spread, but Myriad Swords Tower's spots have already been reduced from five to three."

There were five major towers in the manor: Myriad Swords Tower, Forging Sword Tower, Sword Canon Tower, Sword Guard Tower, and Night Watch Tower.

They were respectively responsible for storing swords, forging swords, storing scriptures, guarding secrets, and patrol duty.

The steward of each tower trained their own slaves and selected servants from among them.

But during the assessment, the matches were held on separate platforms at the training ground, witnessed by multiple parties.

Ye Wanqing, the steward of Forging Sword Tower, had chosen this moment to make trouble.

Anyone with eyes could see that she intended to suppress Leng Shuangyu's faction from every angle and throw her off balance.

"Three spots..." Li Mu's gaze shifted. Aside from Cao A-Man being rather troublesome, if everything went smoothly, he could still secure one.

Ye Wanqing and Leng Shuangyu restrained each other, openly and secretly limiting the development of the other's influence.

In the end, the consequences fell upon the servants and slaves. There was nothing to be done about that.

From the moment he entered the manor as a slave, Li Mu had never had a choice.

Only by becoming a servant and continuing to fight his way upward could he avoid being swept up in such oppression again...

Hui Zhen paused, lowering his voice even further. "Of those three spots, Wang Que and Cao A-Man have reserved two. Only one remains.

"They are preparing to assign it to Si Xiaoshuang, making her Steward Leng's personal maid..."