Otherworldly Demon

Before dawn had fully broken the next day, Cheng Yang woke up. Morning light leaked through holes in the window paper.

He rolled over and sat up, shaking the remnants of last night's liquor from his mind as he began planning today's cultivation.

Stance training would be the priority.

Advancing his realm was his foremost goal. He had to improve as quickly as possible.

Second was the Breath Concealment Formula he had exchanged for at Star Tower.

It concerned concealing his strength, so its priority was not low either.

As for the Clearwind Saber Technique, he would set it aside for now and wait until his stance training had reached a certain stage.

What he did not know was that Yang Zheng's death had already stirred ripples in places beyond his sight.

The Four-Ping Gang had lost two men in succession over the past few days.

First Huang Xuan, then Yang Zheng. A Fragrance Master and a Hall Master had died one after another; this was the first such occurrence since the Four-Ping Gang had been founded.

Thus, an emergency internal meeting of the upper ranks was convened that afternoon.

The meeting was held in the discussion hall behind an old teahouse in the west of the city.

Passing through a hidden door behind the teahouse counter led to a hall large enough to hold twenty or thirty people. Blue cloth drapes hung from all four walls, concealing the rough earthen walls. A long black-lacquered table stood in the center, with three oil lamps burning atop it, their flames casting interwoven light and shadow across every face at the table.

The meeting had been called by Deputy Gang Leader Huo Changgeng.

He wore a long gray silk robe, his face fair and clean, his features regular. Seated at one end of the long table, he looked neither like a gang leader nor a martial artist, but more like an accountant in a ledger room flicking abacus beads.

Nine people sat along both sides of the long table: five Hall Masters, three Fragrance Masters, and Huo Changgeng himself.

Zhao Tiankuo sat closest to Huo Changgeng, both hands resting on the table. Rarely, he was not cracking sunflower seeds.

Nearly all of the Four-Ping Gang's upper ranks were present. Only one person was missing.

"Will the Gang Leader come today?" Zhao Tiankuo turned his head and asked Huo Changgeng.

He had joined the Four-Ping Gang for over half a year, yet he had never once seen the Gang Leader in person.

No, it was not just him.

Other than Huo Changgeng, no one present knew what the legendary Gang Leader actually looked like.

Some guessed that the Gang Leader was not in Qinglin County. Others guessed that the Gang Leader was merely a front, and that Huo Changgeng himself was the true power-holder.

Zhao Tiankuo had initially guessed the same, but whenever he cautiously brought up the Gang Leader, the fleeting wariness in Huo Changgeng's eyes had been too clear to be faked.

"I informed him." Huo Changgeng crossed one leg over the other, his fingers tapping the tabletop now and then. "The Gang Leader said he would come today. Wait a little longer."

So everyone continued to wait.

The oil lamps burned soundlessly. Their flames occasionally flickered, shaking wavering shadows across the walls.

No one whispered among themselves, and no one left his seat. The entire discussion hall was as quiet as a coffin buried beneath the earth.

An hour passed.

The young Fragrance Master seated at the very end finally could not endure it any longer. He slammed a hand onto the table and sprang to his feet, chair legs scraping sharply across the floor with an ear-piercing creak. "Damn it, the Gang Leader still isn't here! Is he treating us like monkeys for his amusement?"

Huo Changgeng raised his eyes to look at him. A smile still hung on his face, and his tone remained calm. "If you cannot wait, do as you please."

"Heh. You lot keep waiting, then. I'm not staying to keep you company!"

The Fragrance Master tossed the cup in his hand onto the table and strode toward the door.

Yet just as he reached it, before his hand could touch the door panel, the door opened by itself.

A tall, slender figure stepped over the threshold, blocking his path.

The newcomer wore a dark teal brocade robe, with a piece of white jade hanging at his waist. His face was unbelievably young, his skin so pale it was nearly translucent, and an indescribable, uncanny charm lingered between his brows and eyes.

The corners of his mouth curved slightly, as though he were smiling, yet those eyes seemed to reflect nothing at all.

The young Fragrance Master instinctively took half a step back. "Who are you?"

"I am the person you have been waiting for all this time." The young man's voice was neither loud nor soft, yet it carried a strange soothing quality when it fell upon the ears. "My apologies for keeping you waiting."

The Fragrance Master opened his mouth. The anger that had been lodged in his throat suddenly seemed to have its source pinched shut by something, fading away bit by bit.

He stood there blankly for two breaths. Then, when he heard the other man say, "Go back and sit down," he turned around as though possessed and returned to his seat, never uttering a word of objection.

The others looked at one another. No one could see clearly what had just happened.

Yet everyone could sense the indescribable shift in the atmosphere. The young Fragrance Master, who had been raging just moments ago, had had his arrogance snuffed out with only a few words. Now he sat quietly at the end of the table, not even raising his head.

The moment the young man entered, Huo Changgeng sat up straight.

His hands rested properly upon his knees, his back drawn taut and straight. The loose smile on his face had tightened into cautious respect.

Zhao Tiankuo glanced at him and saw the terror deep in Huo Changgeng's eyes, so obvious it could not even be concealed. His heart tightened.

He had never seen such an expression on the other man's face.

The Four-Ping Gang Leader slowly walked to the seat of honor at the innermost end of the long table. The hem of his robe brushed lightly across the chair as he sat down.

His gaze slowly swept over every face at the table, as if he were taking inventory of something.

After a moment, he spoke.

"Before we formally begin the meeting, I would first like to ask everyone a question."

He leaned forward slightly, folding his hands atop the table. The curve of his lips deepened a little.

"Has anyone present betrayed my Four-Ping Gang?"

All three oil lamps flickered at once, and the entire discussion hall fell utterly silent.

As the Four-Ping Gang Leader spoke, a strange gleam flashed deep within his eyes.

"No, Gang Leader..."

"No..."

Everyone present hastily denied it.

The Four-Ping Gang Leader nodded slightly and said in relief.

"That is good, then."

Cold sweat streamed down Huo Changgeng's back.

Just now, he too had answered no without thinking.

Such a method...

As expected of a demon...

His mind began to recall everything he knew about demons.

Demons were also known as Otherworldly Demons.

Legend said they were invasive beings from beyond the Central Sea Great World.

They had only begun appearing in the Central Earth Great World over the past three hundred years.

The methods of demons were strange and unpredictable, impossible to guard against.

Every demon possessed a special ability of its own.

What had happened just now was clearly this demon using its own special ability.

Even he, a Force Tempering Martial Master, had been unable to guard against it.

His sect had sent him to join hands with this demon. Wasn't that the same as seeking a tiger's skin while standing beside it?

In his heart, Huo Changgeng cursed his own sect a thousand times over.

"Alright, let us begin discussing the matters of this meeting."

The Four-Ping Gang Leader began to speak of business.

"Regarding Fragrance Master Huang and Hall Master Yang, do any of you have your own suspects? Who exactly is targeting our Four-Ping Gang from the shadows?"

The moment those words were spoken.

Zhao Tiankuo could not help thinking of Cheng Yang.

If Huang Xuan had been killed by Cheng Yang, that could still be explained.

But Yang Zheng's death...

He truly had no idea who had killed him.

Could it possibly have been Cheng Yang as well?

At that thought, he nearly laughed at his own stupidity.

Cheng Yang was only at Flesh Tempering, while Yang Zheng was a Copper Bone martial artist comparable to himself.

How could Cheng Yang possibly have done it?

No matter how talented he was, it was impossible for him to gain the strength to kill Yang Zheng in such a short time.