Vicious Plot, the Master Gifts a Saber

At the City God Temple, beneath the Old Yin Locust.

Intermittent screams drifted through the night wind, along with Chen Mu's icy voice.

"Ah... brat... if you've got the guts, kill me..."

"Kill you? Wouldn't that be letting you off too easily?"

Chen Mu put the skills of the Ox-Slicing Saber Technique to use.

At first, this bastard had remained stubbornly defiant. Even with a hand severed, he refused to talk.

But after Chen Mu spent half an incense stick's time taking him apart until every sinew and bone in his body was broken, yet somehow keeping him alive—

The bastard finally broke down, weeping and howling as he begged for mercy.

"Stop, don't, don't cut anymore! I'll talk..."

"I was ordered by the sect master to hide in the city, keep watch on that old bastard Liu Qingcang, and find a way to lure him out..."

He was actually a Rakshasa Gate Protector!

"Out? Where to?"

Chen Mu's gaze turned abruptly cold as he continued pressing him.

"To the Yin Mountain Ghost Market! Three days from now will be the first day of next month!"

Once the bastard opened his mouth, he no longer had the heart to conceal anything and confessed everything he knew.

"When the ghost gates open, the sect will set up a grand formation there. I'm to work with Commander Zhao and seize an opportunity to lure Liu Qingcang over..."

"Ghost Market?!"

The instant Chen Mu heard that, shock flashed through his eyes. He used further methods and thoroughly interrogated the matter.

Sure enough, the Rakshasa Gate shared roots with the foreign tribes beyond the pass. They were lackeys of the evil cultivators from the White Mountain Ghost Kingdom!

The man before him had plainly been arranged by the Rakshasa Gate Master!

Earlier, he had disguised himself as the "Hundred-Puppet Opera Troupe" and infiltrated the city.

First, to gather intelligence; second, to keep watch on the Azure Dragon Martial Academy.

Before he had even become a disciple, Chen Mu had heard passersby mention that opera troupe by the roadside.

They said it was an opera troupe from the south.

At the time, he had even thought of finding a chance to contact them and ask about news from the south. Who would have thought they were the disguised identities of Rakshasa Gate disciples?

After sorting through his thoughts, Chen Mu slowly withdrew his saber and rose to his feet.

The bastard on the ground could no longer endure the torment. Bleeding heavily, he had fainted.

Chen Mu's eyes were ice-cold.

"They want to deal with Master at Yin Mountain Ferry...? Good thing I stumbled onto this..."

According to that old ghost's confession,

The Rakshasa Gate Master had actually colluded with Wei Chen of the Red Whale Gang, intending to lure Liu Qingcang out of the city and ambush him to death.

Even Zhao Dong was tangled up in it!

The thought sent a chill through Chen Mu's heart. He dared not delay any longer and planned to return to the academy at once to report it.

With a backhand slash, he cut the old ghost's throat, threw the corpse into the dry well behind the Old Yin Locust, and covered it with broken stones.

After erasing every trace, Chen Mu strode away.

By then, a faint line of pale blue had appeared on the horizon.

It was already the beginning of the Rabbit Hour. In another half hour, it would be cockcrow.

Chen Mu used the Grass-Top Flight movement art and took less than half a quarter-hour to return to the academy, where he changed into a disciple's attire.

Then he sorted through the items he had searched from the Rakshasa Protector.

Apart from a few taels of loose silver, there was also a small wooden box.

He had not had time to inspect it closely earlier.

Opening it now, he found dozens of gold leaves stacked neatly inside, of exceptionally pure quality.

At market value, they were worth at least nearly a thousand taels of silver.

But Great Yue controlled the circulation of gold and silver with an iron hand.

Without official documentation, depositing these things at a bank would inevitably require proof of their origin.

Taking them out rashly would be little different from turning himself in.

"Perfect. I'll spend them at the Ghost Market."

Chen Mu put away the wooden box and pushed open the door.

By then, it was past the middle of the Rabbit Hour. Dawn had not yet fully broken.

The academy's disciples had already begun rising one after another to wash up, preparing to leave the city at daybreak.

Yesterday afternoon, Liu Qingcang had personally presided over the burial of his adopted son, Liu Qi.

Several paper funeral banners still hung throughout the academy, snapping loudly in the cold wind.

Chen Mu crossed the bluestone square of the second courtyard, passed the Patriarchs Hall in the third courtyard, and made his way to the inner courtyard of the fourth compound.

This was where Liu Qingcang lived.

The disciples he passed along the way all recognized him now, and no one questioned him.

Only at the gate of the fourth courtyard stood a lean Martial Master surnamed Han, assigned to the night watch.

He had been in the academy for several years. Seeing Chen Mu approach, he hurriedly straightened up.

"Ninth Senior Brother? What brings you to see Master so early?"

"Junior Brother Han, sorry for the trouble. Please inform Master that I have an urgent matter to report to him in person."

Seeing how solemn Chen Mu looked, Junior Brother Han did not dare delay. He answered and ran inside.

A short while later, Junior Brother Han came sprinting back. From afar, he called, "Senior Brother! Master says for you to enter."

"Thank you."

Chen Mu's eyes lit up. He immediately stepped inside and headed straight for Liu Qingcang's quarters on the western side.

A moment later, inside the room.

Liu Qingcang looked as though he had not slept all night, dressed in a neat set of black martial clothes.

Chen Mu was not surprised. He himself hardly slept anymore; at night, he mostly sat in meditation, circulating his qi and blood.

"Old Ninth is here. Speak. What do you seek from your master?"

Chen Mu did not beat around the bush. After saluting, he said seriously, "Master! This disciple has something to report."

Then Chen Mu laid out in full the plan he had extracted from the Rakshasa Protector.

Three days later, on a yin day at a yin hour, when the ghost gates opened, they would set up the Nine Nether Dark-Soul Sealing Formation at the Yin Mountain Ferry Ghost Market and lure Liu Qingcang into the trap.

The recent abnormalities at Luo Family Fort—the supposed signs of collusion with the Northern Barbarians—were all bait meticulously laid by the Rakshasa Gate.

The purpose was to lure the academy's people out of the city to investigate, following the Li Family Caravan's route through Luo Family Fort before detouring to White Horse Ravine.

In the end, they would pursue the trail to Yin Mountain Ferry three days later.

As for what other methods the Rakshasa Gate had at Yin Mountain Ferry besides that formation, even the Protector could not explain.

"Oh? Is this truly the case?"

After hearing this, a fierce gleam immediately burst from Liu Qingcang's eyes.

"This disciple would not dare utter half a falsehood. Master, please look."

With a flick of his hand, Chen Mu spread open a piece of black cloth.

Liu Qingcang's pupils narrowed slightly as he recognized the Soul-Refining Banner commonly used by Rakshasa Gate disciples.

"Good! What a Rakshasa Gate!"

He rose and paced back and forth through the room, then suddenly turned and stared at Chen Mu.

"The Nine Nether Dark-Soul Sealing Formation? Repeat everything he said, from beginning to end."

Chen Mu immediately recalled the details carefully and recounted the entire matter in detail.

After hearing him out, Liu Qingcang sat back down in his chair and gave a cold laugh.

"I was wondering why Zhao Dong had taken the initiative to leak information to me this time. So he has been in league with this rabble of ox-demons and snake-spirits."

He paused, and his tone suddenly sank.

"So be it. Since they want me to go to that Ghost Market, what harm is there in this old man making the trip?"

Chen Mu was greatly startled. He could not understand why Liu Qingcang would still go when he knew there was a trap.

Liu Qingcang did not explain. Instead, he instructed him.

"Old Ninth, do not spread word of this matter."

"Tie Ya has told me about your business. Just act as though you know nothing and follow him out of the city to Luo Family Fort to search for people."

"After this matter is settled, we will arrange the patrol. Leave the rest to your master."

Hearing these arrangements, Chen Mu knew that Liu Qingcang must have his own judgment.

Perhaps he intended to beat them at their own game.

"Yes, this disciple accepts the order."

He said no more, clasped his fists, and was about to leave.

"Wait."

Chen Mu turned back. "Does Master have anything else?"

Liu Qingcang rose and walked to the incense table by the wall. He lit an incense stick and offered it before the portrait of Patriarch Liu Yunji hanging on the wall.

"Old Ninth, now that I think about it, you entered the sect in haste, and then we suffered the recent loss of a disciple. Your master has yet to give you a gift upon entering the sect."

He took a single-edged saber from the weapon rack, turned around, and held it out before Chen Mu.

"I see that you are accustomed to using saber techniques. Take this. Consider it your formal entry beneath my roof."