The One Behind It All

Thud. As the foreman's corpse hit the ground, Li Zhi, who went by Ding Daniu, had already lunged before the constable disguised as an accountant, moving so fast he nearly left an afterimage.

He used no fancy moves. His arm bulged as he raised a fist the size of a clay bowl and drove it straight forward.

Seeing the air split apart, the constable had no time to dodge. He could only hold his saber in front of himself.

Clang!

The saber and its sheath shattered into several pieces. Li Zhi's fist slowed only slightly before striking the constable's chest.

Amid the cracking of ribs, the constable staggered back several steps and collapsed, breathing out far more than he breathed in.

His hoof-like feet stamped down. Clad in coarse brown clothes, Li Zhi raced like a divine steed toward the nearby cargo depot, his Black-Scaled Serpent Tail trailing behind him.

Three arrows hissed from the eastern watchtower, tracing a line from where Li Zhi had stood toward his destination. They pierced wooden boards or "blasted" craters in the dirt, but all came a beat too late.

After diving into the cargo depot, Li Zhi kicked out repeatedly, smashing several jars of strong liquor. Alcohol poured out wildly, its fragrance spreading everywhere.

Then the notorious New Yu bandit dug out several jars of gunpowder he had hidden deep inside the depot and lit their fuses with a Fire Striker.

As the fuses rapidly shortened, Li Zhi ran toward the depot's other side. Turning sideways, he slammed through the wooden wall with a bang and rolled out as the building swayed.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One explosion followed another, blowing the roof off the cargo depot and sending dense black smoke billowing out.

Crimson flames sprang up after it, swiftly engulfing the depot and leaping into the air.

The commotion immediately drew squads of patrolling constables and Xiaoming Sect disciples toward the dock. At the eastern watchtower, Yi Qincang also drew four white-feathered arrows and set them all on his bowstring.

Whoosh!

The four arrows made a single sound as they flew. Each blazed with crimson light, becoming a brilliant fire serpent as they shot toward Li Zhi, covering his front, rear, left, and right.

Li Zhi ignored everything and charged straight ahead, a fiercely burning crimson arrow reflected in his eyes.

The arrow moved so fast it nearly blasted the air apart. Li Zhi did not even have time to raise a fist to deflect it. He could only tense his leg muscles and drive his hoof-like feet against the ground, forcibly leaving an afterimage behind.

This was the divine movement method from the Secret Script of the Ten Celestial Powers.

The three arrows Yi Qincang had fired to the left, right, and rear all missed. The crimson fire arrow pursuing Li Zhi struck his afterimage and kept going, racing toward his back as his speed began to wane.

Li Zhi abruptly twisted his waist and turned sideways. The crimson arrow grazed his back as it flew past, leaving a distinct scorched smell, a deep, blackened bloody gouge, and a patch of horsehair burning.

Tumbling and rolling, Li Zhi ducked into another cargo depot.

Inside the Zhen Estate.

Lin Hansheng, prefect of Dingjiang Prefecture, had already arrived. He heard the explosions from the eastern dock and saw flames rising into the air.

His dark-looking face remained unmoved. Rather than head to the dock to help, he raised his hands, which were covered in blue-black scales.

Deep, shadowy mist immediately spread through the area, seemingly concealing banks of dark clouds within it.

Wind suddenly rose across a hundred-foot radius. The clouds and mist, as though brewing a downpour, swept swiftly toward Riverwave Hall, enveloping it within just a few breaths.

To Dai Shen of the Overturned Boat Faction, those storm-laden clouds and mist seemed strangely elusive. Something long appeared to be approaching from their depths, flickering in and out of sight, making it impossible to tell where it would emerge next.

Lin Hansheng had trained in the martial arts of the Flame Capital and climbed step by step to the Law Realm. He was now a second-grade Subtlety Martial Grandmaster. The martial art he cultivated was the Flood Dragon Transformation Scripture, and this strike was its first transformation, the Cloud-and-Mist Transformation:

Hidden within clouds and mist, his trail vanished; his fist was a flood dragon, a mountain torrent pouring down.

Dai Shen could not discern where Lin Hansheng's punch would come from, how it would strike, or where it would land. He could only bring his tiger claws facing each other, as though cradling an invisible ball of water before his chest, then gently turn them.

The Zhen Estate's attendants, household guards, and disciples, along with Su Chongxiao's followers and Ren Youyang's guards, were still slaughtering one another inside and outside Riverwave Hall. Nearly illusory traces of bloody red suddenly streamed from their bodies, converging between Dai Shen's palms in the blink of an eye.

The viciousness in their hearts dissipated with it. Drained of strength, they collapsed to the ground, nearly unconscious.

An instant later, only Zhen Qianfan remained attacking Su Chongxiao, while Lin Hansheng's clouds and mist enveloped Dai Shen.

Streaks of bloody red rapidly stained the invisible ball of water between Dai Shen's palms.

Just as Lin Hansheng's blue-black-scaled fist and arm emerged from the dark clouds like a leaping flood dragon, striking at the heterodox fiend's waist from an utterly unexpected angle, Dai Shen abruptly clapped his hands together.

The blood-colored ball of water burst soundlessly, becoming an illusory red wave composed of sword moves, fist intent, saber force, staff strikes, and more. Centered on Dai Shen, it surged in every direction, leaving no gaps and covering everything, successfully intercepting Lin Hansheng's elusive punch.

Only by gathering water could one overturn a boat!

It even broke apart the dark clouds and mist, exposing the "flood dragon" to view.

Lin Hansheng had a horse-like face dotted with several blue-black scales.

After releasing the specially made firework, Qi Xiaoxiang, who went by Liu Yuzao, paid Qin Nuangsheng no further attention. With a push from her toes, she slipped nimbly out of the Lotus Pond Courtyard.

She swiftly entered another building, tore down curtains and other furnishings, then took out a Fire Striker. With a pull and a puff, she set them all alight.

Flames rose. Qi Xiaoxiang moved through the buildings, setting fires with abandon as she went, turning the entire Zhen Estate into a hellscape, with fires burning and smoke rising everywhere.

Servants and maids either fled in all directions or tried to fight the fires. Chaos reigned.

Occasionally, household guards or retainers who had not gone to Riverwave Hall encountered Qi Xiaoxiang. The woman either slipped straight past them with her movement technique or drew a sword just over a foot long, casually flicked their weapons aside, and then swept the blade across their throats as bewilderment filled their faces.

Shock and incomprehension froze in those guards' and retainers' eyes. They seemed never to have imagined they would die so quickly, or that the martial arts they had practiced until they knew them inside out would suddenly feel so unfamiliar, as though they belonged to someone else, leaving openings everywhere.

Atop the tallest watchtower.

Zheng Zhuxi alternated between looking toward the County Yamen and the Zhen Estate, discovering that both had descended into considerable chaos:

Inside the County Yamen, the Xiaoming Sect disciples had not been afflicted by the Moth Species. Together with some constables, they were fighting former colleagues who were now "Mothmen." Qiu Chen, who went by Ding Shengyi, kept darting between rooms, preventing the watchtower's surveillance from catching sight of him;

Meanwhile, fires burned throughout the Zhen Estate, and maids and servants ran everywhere. Apart from the area around Riverwave Hall, it was impossible to tell where intruders remained or how many there were.

Seeing that Gao Canjun and the others from the Prefectural Yamen had reached the County Yamen, Zheng Zhuxi breathed a sigh of relief and returned her attention to the Zhen Estate.

Her mother, Tao Wenshu, merely watched the Zhen Estate with starlight concealed in her eyes, not even making to draw her sword. A little puzzled and worried, Zheng Zhuxi asked:

"Mother, why haven't you acted yet?"

Tao Wenshu smiled.

"The one behind it all hasn't appeared yet."

The one behind it all? A thought stirred in Zheng Zhuxi's mind, and she immediately let dim but warm candlelight suffuse her eyes.

When she looked toward the Zhen Estate again, every detail became remarkably clear, as though the distance between them had shrunk to within a hundred feet.

Zheng Zhuxi rapidly scanned the various locations. Suddenly, she saw a figure flash through the covered corridor leading to Zhen Qianfan's residence, revealing a glimpse of pale white.

Inside the Zhen Estate's secret prison.

Seeing that Yan Changqing in his Sea of Consciousness had stopped speaking and closed his eyes to rest, Ding Songyan could only suppress his anxiety, devote half his attention to the task, and earnestly narrate Legend of the White Snake.

After he had told the story for a while, Yan Changqing slowly opened his eyes within his Sea of Consciousness and said with a smile:

"You can act now."

Underground, Ding Songyan had heard no commotion. First he froze, then his heart rose into his throat.

Yan Changqing told him unhurriedly:

"Split the qi I gave you in two, move it into your palms, and attack the people on either side at the same time.

"I'll replenish it for you afterward, so you can take me out of the Zhen Estate."

"All right." Ding Songyan immediately split the hazy, clear "seed" in two and moved each half into a palm.

His mind immediately unified and "rose" into the air. He sensed the auras of the two Zhen Family disciples beside him, sensed the workings of qi between heaven and earth, and sensed chaotic changes of cloud, mist, rain, and water not far away.

Ding Songyan could no longer narrate Legend of the White Snake at the same time. He closed his mouth and, following the auras he sensed, thrust his palms toward the two Zhen Family disciples.

At that moment, he suddenly felt something was wrong:

Why am I obeying Yan Changqing so readily, attacking when he tells me to attack and killing when he tells me to kill?

Hadn't I decided to stall whenever possible, refuse to cooperate whenever possible, and wait for the authorities to arrive?

The Zhen Estate is an enemy, the "Ding Family" is an enemy, and Yan Changqing is an enemy too!

It was already too late for Ding Songyan to stop his sideways palm thrusts. He could only forcibly withdraw part of their power.

Bang!

Roaring torrents erupted from his palms and struck the two Zhen Estate disciples.

The two disciples flew backward and slammed into the walls. Each gave only a pained grunt before falling silent.

Ding Songyan hurriedly pulled off the black cloth covering his face and discovered that both Zhen Estate disciples had lost consciousness.

Then he directed his gaze ahead.

Inside the cramped little chamber, behind a flickering oil lamp, stood a grand armchair with a man seated in it.

The man wore a Huayang Headscarf and a Blue Lan Shirt. His face was lean and his temples graying. It was Yan Changqing.

Almost at the same moment, Ding Songyan noticed that the Blue Lan Shirt's sleeves and lower portion hung empty, with nothing supporting them.

Yan Changqing had neither arms nor legs.

"Young friend, you can take out that dagger now." Yan Changqing's voice echoed in Ding Songyan's Sea of Consciousness.

His eyes had both whites and black pupils, yet the black seemed to possess some strange power that drew all attention to itself:

"Zhen Qianfan doses me with a strange medicine every day. Unless that thing is removed, I fear I won't truly be able to escape him afterward. He underestimated my knowledge far too much."

You want me to cut open your belly? Despite his surprise, Ding Songyan took the refined steel dagger from a hidden pocket in his clothes.

He had barely taken two steps forward when a sudden banging sounded at the door behind him.

Before he could react, the heavy iron door was pushed open with a grinding creak.

Who? Ding Songyan hastily turned sideways and saw a figure both familiar and unfamiliar.

She wore a pale white, straight-collared, front-opening short jacket embroidered with silver edging, paired with a light gauze skirt in soft yellow. Her hair was simply gathered up and tied with a white silk kerchief, most of it falling loose, black and lustrous.

Her beauty was incomparable, her brows and eyes like poetry and painting. Her mere appearance seemed to make the little chamber, with its stale air, instantly fresh and clean.

"Qingyan..." Ding Songyan called her name.

The woman was unmistakably Ding Qingyan, yet she seemed to have grown several years older overnight. Her features had fully blossomed, and her figure had become graceful and willowy. She retained a young girl's freshness while possessing a captivating allure, her beauty beyond compare, impossible to look away from.

In that instant, out of the corner of his eye, Ding Songyan caught a change in Yan Changqing's expression.

In his experience, the old man either smiled calmly or remained unruffled, rarely showing any other emotion. Yet now, a measure of barely concealed fear appeared on his face.

"You..." Yan Changqing's aged, hoarse voice sounded.

The woman's beautiful eyes shifted, and she said with a charming smile:

"Master, your disciple has come to rescue you."

At the top of the tallest watchtower.

Zheng Zhuxi questioned her mother in puzzlement:

"Mother, who could the one behind it all be?

"And earlier, I asked you what methods besides the Moth Species and witchcraft and gu arts could make someone do things they don't want to do and prevent them from saying what they want to say. You still haven't given me an answer."

Tao Wenshu's expression grew slightly solemn as she said:

"I thought about it for a long time. Considering that the abnormalities in Qiu Chen's, Li Zhi's, and Qi Xiaoxiang's appearances were concealed, I think the likeliest possibility is:

"The Heavenly Heart Wisdom Scripture."