The Gathering Storm

The county office, inner courtyard hall.

Chen Haoyan sat upright in an armchair, his eyes closed as though dozing. Suddenly, he sensed something and looked up at the young constable entering the hall.

"You... broke through?"

Surprise flashed in Chen Haoyan's eyes. Wang Ping stood fully armed, the Black Chi Bow on his back and the Ox-Tail Saber at his waist. With every breath, he seemed like a blazing furnace.

As Wang Ping approached, Chen Haoyan felt a wave of heat wash over him. His expression shifted. "Blood Like Fire, and Supreme Yang Blood of the highest grade at that... Could the Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow produce this? Or was he born not only with divine strength, but with blood unlike any ordinary person's?"

If that was true, it was extraordinary.

"Even in an ordinary county, a martial artist like me, with one extraordinary trait, appears only once in several decades. Two traits in one person are rarer still."

After all, how could a Flood Dragon emerge from shallow water? A turtle, maybe.

From what Chen Haoyan knew, he would have to search all of Changle Commandery to find a few martial prodigies with two such traits, and they did not appear every year.

Could a mere constable really possess such talent?

For a moment, Chen Haoyan even felt a pang of appreciation for Wang Ping's talent and hesitated to send such a prodigy on the coming assignment.

But he soon mastered his emotions.

"The court rewards those who recommend martial talents to their superiors, but those rewards are useless to me. No matter how gifted he is, what good is he if he isn't mine?"

Talent meant nothing to him. What had value was the material a person was made of.

In a moment, Chen Haoyan had regained his composure. "Good. True Dragon Sinew and Supreme Yang Blood. If you survive this, I'll recommend you for further training at the Capital Divine Constables' Bureau. When you return, you'll start out as an Inner Force Martial Master, and you'll have a good chance of receiving an Imperial Title."

Another promise of a pie in the sky?

Wang Ping sneered inwardly, but nodded respectfully. His words rang firm and clear. "This subordinate will go through boiling water and fire. I won't forget your lordship's kindness in raising me up."

Wang Ping put particular weight on "won't forget."

He had actually profited handsomely from accepting the assignment, but Chen Haoyan had meant him harm. He had succeeded only because he had a cheat.

So I'm still keeping score!

Chen Haoyan, meanwhile, paid no attention to Wang Ping's change in tone. Talent meant little until it became strength, no matter how great it was.

Besides, as far as he was concerned, Wang Ping would never get that chance.

"Set off."

Chen Haoyan slapped the armrest of his chair. Several servants soon carried an enormous wooden chest before Wang Ping.

When they opened it, Wang Ping saw a blade stand with a heavy base. Shouchong's Lotus Blade rested on it, curved like a crescent moon. Sunlight struck the blade and flashed back in a moonlike gleam, while a piercing chill rose from it.

Wang Ping stepped forward to take the blade.

But Chen Haoyan stopped him with an outstretched hand. "Leave the blade where it is. Deliver it to the Spirit Wandering Temple together with the stand."

"...Oh?"

Wang Ping immediately sensed something was wrong. He looked down at the stand holding the Lotus Blade, then fixed his gaze on its base.

If he's sending the blade, why include the stand?

Is there something fishy about it?

Wang Ping glanced up at Chen Haoyan. Seeing his unchanged expression, he understood. This must be his backup plan.

Is something hidden inside the stand?

Too bad the material is remarkably sturdy. It feels hard as iron, and I can't break it. With ordinary eyes, I couldn't see through it either...

Wait. My eyes aren't ordinary.

Then no problem!

Wang Ping looked away as though the secret did not interest him. In truth, he had already activated his Spirit Sense and quietly peered into the base of the stand.

It's hollow, just as I thought!

The contents came into view the next instant.

Wang Ping froze. Inside lay a copper seal decorated with carved patterns and jade, bearing two ancient seal-script characters.

[Longxing]

Is this... the Dragonrise County Seal? The court's official seal for Longxing County, the symbol of its authority. Every official document issued by the county office needs its stamp.

How had Chen Haoyan obtained it?

However capable Chen Haoyan was, as head constable he was no more than a blade in the magistrate's hand. How could he have taken the county seal from him?

And why put it here?

Lost in thought, Wang Ping hoisted the blade stand onto his shoulder and strode out of the inner office. A carriage had been waiting there for some time.

The county office's constables stood around it.

Wang Ping spotted Liu Ye among them. His expression was complicated, as if he wanted to speak, but he closed his mouth when Chen Haoyan emerged.

Suddenly, Wang Ping looked up as moisture touched his cheeks.

"...Rain again?"

The weather had been changeable lately. Only a few days after a torrential downpour, another fine rain had come to Longxing County.

"This rain came at just the right time."

In a small courtyard, Shouchong looked up at the sky with a smile. Behind him stood dozens of White Lotus Sect followers whom Wang Ping had seen before at the temple.

"I heard county constables killed Xie Shi on a rainy night. Now it's raining again, so I'll kill a few constables to avenge him. It'll honor the bond between master and disciple while I'm at it. If he knows of it in the underworld, I'm sure he'll find peace."

"Surely you jest, Sect Master."

Several White Lotus Sect members approached, smiling. "We all know you're the most heartless and disloyal man under heaven."

Shouchong shook his head.

"As your master, I am a good man who stands tall between heaven and earth. I have always valued loyalty and affection. Don't believe the filth the authorities sling at me. It's all malicious slander."

"As for Xie Shi's death, the White Lotus Sect is in the business of rebellion. What rebellion doesn't spill blood? Sometimes a man should examine himself. After all these years, had his martial arts improved? Had he trained in earnest? If he'd taken one step further and cultivated Inner Force, would he have died?"

"..."

The followers opened their mouths, then thought better of it. When Shouchong heard no response, he turned and smiled at them.

"What? Nothing to say?"

They lowered their heads. "We wouldn't dare."

Shouchong smiled. "Don't worry. Your master welcomes criticism."

"Then we'll say it." One follower raised his head. "Didn't Senior Brother Xie Shi fail to cultivate Inner Force because you never taught him the true art, Master?"

Shouchong's expression stiffened.

After a moment's silence, his face darkened. "Insolent disciple. How dare you sully my name... And the rest of you—do you all think the same?"

The other followers hurriedly shook their heads.

"Hmph. Fools."

Shouchong shook his head. "The true art... Do you think I don't want to teach you? It isn't that I refuse. I can't—or rather, even if I did, you couldn't learn it!"

The followers were unconvinced. "How do you know we can't learn it if you haven't taught us?"

"Because I already have."

Shouchong sneered. "Xie Shi, you, everyone who joins the White Lotus Sect—I pass on the true art on their first day."

"Yet you're all like Xie Shi. You proclaim your devotion to Liansheng Bodhisattva and follow me into rebellion, but you don't truly believe in Liansheng Bodhisattva or the teachings I've given you. No matter how hard you study, you'll never learn the White Lotus Sect's true art."

"The teachings...?"

They exchanged baffled looks. Liansheng Bodhisattva? That business about a homeland in the void? They had all thought it was meant to fool outsiders. Master, you actually mean it?

"Wasn't that just a name?"

The followers did not understand. Such things could be found all across Great Shun, but almost no one took them seriously. They were merely reasons and pretexts for rebellion.

"That's why I say you don't understand."

Shouchong sighed, then changed the subject. "Enough of that. Let's talk about the matter at hand. Do you think this might be Chen Haoyan's trap?"

His gaze pierced the curtain of rain and found the carriage rolling slowly out of the county office. He could sense his bonded weapon, the Lotus Blade, inside, but not Chen Haoyan's presence. The strange sight left even him puzzled.

"He sends it out of his own accord, yet doesn't escort it himself."

"What is he planning?"

Shouchong soon had his answer. The carriage made no attempt to conceal its destination. It took the main road straight toward the Spirit Wandering Temple.

"So that's it..."

Shouchong's face changed. "What did he offer to make the Transcendent at the Spirit Wandering Temple agree to intervene?"

"Master, this is a scheme laid bare by the county office!"

Someone beside him spoke softly. "If the Lotus Blade enters the Spirit Wandering Temple, it'll never come back out. He's forcing your hand."

"No."

Another follower shook his head. "If that were his plan, Chen Haoyan should escort it himself. But he isn't in that carriage."

"The court's Transcendents and ritual masters may be formidable, but they almost never leave their own halls. If we intercept the carriage along the way, the Transcendent at the Spirit Wandering Temple most likely won't intervene. Then this so-called open scheme becomes a joke. It serves no purpose."

"I say it's a bait-and-switch!"

One follower slapped his hands together and declared with certainty, "The Lotus Blade in the carriage must be a fake, a decoy to conceal where the real blade is going."

"That makes sense..."

The courtyard filled with discussion and speculation until Shouchong lifted his eyes. "Enough. Your master has his own plan."

The clamor subsided.

Shouchong studied the carriage heading toward the Spirit Wandering Temple, then turned to look toward the county office.

Could he have thought of the same thing I did?

Inside the carriage.

Wang Ping sat cross-legged, the Black Chi Bow to his right and the Ox-Tail Saber to his left. The Lotus Blade and its hollow stand lay before him. His eyes narrowed.

Mortal danger...

A faint throb pulsed between his brows. His powerful Spirit Sense kept warning him that someone capable of killing him in an instant was within a hundred paces.

Shouchong? Chen Haoyan?

It did not matter who it was. From the moment he entered the carriage, he had been as good as dead. The carriage itself was his coffin.

But that did not matter either. Wang Ping was ready to start over. In fact, he could have killed himself as soon as he obtained the Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow; he had not needed to wade into these muddy waters. He had entered the carriage because he had spotted an opportunity.

Wang Ping raised his eyes and looked straight ahead.

The Lotus Blade. That old bastard Shouchong really used the finest material for his weapon. The rare metal Imperial Flowing Essence is even better than Hundred-Forged Primordial Copper.

This is wonderful!

To Wang Ping, the so-called Lotus Blade was simply a fine piece of high-grade rare metal. Such precious material deserved to be used to refine the Peace Scripture.

And there's an unexpected bonus.

He did not know why Chen Haoyan had hidden the Dragonrise County Seal inside the hollow stand. But since it was here, he would gladly accept the extra gift.

There was also the Black Chi Bow and the Ox-Tail Saber. He could not take them with him anyway, so he might as well use them all to refine the Peace Scripture and leave Chen Haoyan nothing!

Wang Ping had no interest in fighting and killing.

But he was more than happy to make one last haul before he died.

Even so, he did not act at once. Plenty of people were surely watching him inside the carriage, and the risk was considerable.

Besides, unless he had no other choice, Wang Ping did not want to display the Peace Scripture's wonders in public.

His rebirth was not a return to the beginning; it could not turn back time. Once his secret was exposed, his future in this world would be fraught with difficulty.

Looked at that way, the Peace Scripture still isn't quite enough!

Ah, if only my cheat could turn back time and let me start over—and bring the things in my hands back with me.

Wang Ping sighed inwardly, but did not rush. Instead, he grew more patient.

The arrow's already on the string. They'll come to blows sooner or later.

That will be my chance.

Wang Ping was considering his next move when his Spirit Sense suddenly flared in warning. Instinctively, he turned his head.

He looked toward the side of the carriage.

The carriage was passing an alley, its window facing the alley mouth. Through it, Wang Ping made out a figure in the rain.

A man in a conical hat walked out of the downpour. His movements were slow, yet he covered ground with astonishing speed. One moment he was deep in the alley; the next, he had reached its mouth, as though the ground beneath his feet had shrunk. Though he carried no umbrella, not a drop of rain touched him.

"I never expected you to be the one who killed Xie Shi."

The man's voice was not loud, yet somehow it rose above the rain and sounded clearly in Wang Ping's ears. "My good disciple, you're still alive."

Rumble!

As lightning flashed and thunder crashed, the man in the conical hat raised his head.

Wang Ping recognized him at a glance. That white hair, youthful face, and air of an immortal could belong to no one else. It was Shouchong, leader of the White Lotus Sect!