Waves of Intrigue, Clouds of Deceit (Part One)

A day later, three figures stood silently before the ruined temple. The air reeked of scorched earth and lingering smoke.

On the left stood a giant of a man wearing a Black Tortoise crown. His towering frame rose like a mountain, an inch or so taller even than Monk Sanjie. An enormous executioner's saber rested on his back, its blade broad and thick, its edge gleaming with a chilling light. Knotted muscles showed beneath his tight clothing, as though they might unleash world-shattering power at any moment. Merely standing there, he resembled an insurmountable mountain, inspiring dread in all who looked upon him.

In the middle stood a woman wearing a Vermilion Bird crown, her face concealed by a gauzy veil, her posture straight and poised like a leopardess. Arms folded, her eyes blazed as she silently studied the ruins before her. Though her face remained hidden beneath the veil, her icy bearing discouraged anyone from drawing near.

The man on the right wore a White Tiger crown. His long hair fell over his shoulders, and his youthful face carried a streak of vicious perversity. He rolled his neck slightly, his bones cracking sharply, his gaze as keen and nakedly threatening as a blade.

"Any leads? Which faction did this?" The White Tiger youth spoke first, his voice cold as frost.

Xu Ming had vanished, the Corpse Buddha had fallen, the mountain god's temple had been reduced to ashes, and the Buddha Treasure they had nurtured for so long had disappeared without a trace. Throughout Great Zhou, the factions capable of accomplishing all this beneath the Demon Suppression Bureau's very nose could be counted on one hand.

A cold gleam flashed in the White Tiger youth's eyes, his tone cutting. "Was it those lunatics from the Heavenly Gate, the remnants of that bitch Nanwu's faction, or the Myriad Nations Trading Company's shop hands?"

The Heavenly Gate was an evil cult that had entrenched itself on the continent for hundreds of years. Its followers were ruthless and utterly unafraid of death. The major factions regarded them as lunatics and avoided them like the plague.

Commandery Princess Nanwu, one of the Demon Suppression Bureau's two leaders, had wielded power over court and country alike. Though certain circumstances had earned her the Great Zhou emperor's displeasure and seen her banished to the southern frontier, even a starved camel was bigger than a horse. She had spent years building her influence within the bureau, with undercover spies scattered everywhere. It would hardly be surprising if some of her hidden agents were operating in Chongzhou.

As for the Myriad Nations Trading Company, it was a merchant association on the surface, but in truth the Way of Great Peace's largest brokerage organization. Its armed force, Blackwater, was publicly referred to as its shop hands, but was actually the largest assassin organization in the underworld.

All three factions were suspects, and all three were capable of accomplishing this.

The Heavenly Gate's people were mad enough that no outrage they committed would come as a surprise. Though Commandery Princess Nanwu's influence had waned, if she learned they were raising a wild god here, she might well send people to pluck the fruit of their labor. As for the Myriad Nations Trading Company, it recognized money, not personal ties. If it learned that someone was using a mountain's Orthodox God as a crucible, a region's fortune as feed, and the lives of over a thousand commoners as sacrifices, all to refine a Buddha Treasure in which yin and yang converged, it would surely pour out in full force to seize it.

The giant, Wu Dongyan, folded his arms, his chiseled face stern as iron. His icy gaze swept toward the White Tiger youth. "Don't rush to conclusions. Xu Ming was the Azure Dragon Rider. He wielded his sword to kill enemies, and his escape arts were unparalleled. If he was determined to flee, even the three of us together might not have stopped him. Now that he's missing, who's to say the keeper didn't steal what he was guarding?"

Before his words had faded, a streak of white light tore through the air like lightning, shooting straight toward Wu Dongyan's chest!

The vicious saber light struck without warning. Yet Wu Dongyan did not budge. Instead, he lowered his arms and thrust his chest toward that silvery slash.

Clang—

The saber light cut across Wu Dongyan's chest, leaving a bloody line, then swept onward without losing momentum and sliced through several towering trees behind him. Their trunks snapped with a crack, and they crashed to the ground amid billowing dust.

Only a breath later did the saber-wielding White Tiger youth, Xu Shang, reveal himself. Wiping the blood spattered across his face, he said coldly, "Wu Dongyan, useless as he is, he's still my older brother. Don't go slandering him!"

Wu Dongyan glanced down at the saber wound on his chest. Blood slowly seeped out.

He raised his head, his gaze sharp as a blade. "Slander? Hmph. Even if Xu Ming really is dead, he won't escape punishment for recklessly chasing merit. Relying on his speed as a Rider, he raced ahead of us to get here first and claim all the credit. Did you think he could hide those intentions from us? From that lord? With an older brother like that, you still dare stand here barking like a mad dog? Watch yourself, or I'll twist your head off and use it as a chamber pot!"

Xu Shang grinned, exposing a pair of conspicuously sharp canine teeth, and met his threat head-on. "If you can do it, go ahead and try!"

Just as the two men stood ready to clash, a barely perceptible flame suddenly appeared between them.

Their murderous expressions changed abruptly. Xu Shang moved like a phantom, his toes tapping rapidly as he retreated thirty feet in an instant. Wu Dongyan dared not take chances either. He stepped back, bent his towering frame slightly, and held his executioner's saber across his body, bracing for the attack.

The next second, the fingernail-sized flame abruptly swelled into a crimson fireball the size of a human head, and searing energy erupted!

Boom—

The deafening blast shook the sky, sending smoke and dust billowing in every direction. A deep crater more than ten feet wide remained at its center, with earth and stones scattered everywhere.

Several dozen feet away, Xu Shang's White Tiger armor had been blasted black. Fortunately, his nimble footwork had carried him clear early enough to spare him serious injury. Wu Dongyan had weathered the explosion head-on with his executioner's saber. Both his hands were torn and bloody, yet his expression remained unchanged.

Leaning on his saber, he looked coldly behind him. "Xuan Feng, if you want to kill us, don't hold back."

"How would I dare?" Xuan Feng, the woman in the black veil, clasped her hands behind her back. Her voice was gentle, as though the explosion had nothing to do with her. "Women are weak, and I'm merely a Qian Gate spellcaster. I still have to rely on you two esteemed warriors to protect me."

Her tone was soft, like a girl next door chatting about everyday matters, yet it silenced both Xu Shang and Wu Dongyan.

This woman had an extraordinary background. Before accepting the assignment, Xu Shang had heard his superior mention that she had been specially transferred from the imperial capital. She had completed three vicious-ghost-level missions in succession in Chongzhou, emerging unscathed every time. Yet the Black Tortoise, White Tiger, and Azure Dragon guards partnered with her had all died in battle. Not one had survived.

Vicious-ghost-level missions were dangerous, but losing nine elite operatives over three consecutive missions was no coincidence. Chongzhou's Demon Suppression Bureau had sent investigators, only to uncover nothing.

Xu Shang, Xu Ming, and Wu Dongyan had been temporarily reassigned precisely to assist Lady Xuan Feng.

Ordinarily, the Demon Suppression Bureau's field agents operated alone. Those who deployed in formation, as they did, were elite units tasked with handling high-level demons and ghosts, known as the Purple Star Mansion Guards. Only enemies at the level of a ninth-rank Nether Mystery Ghost King warranted their intervention.

The Purple Star Mansion Guards were named after the constellations of Purple Star Astrology, and their jade pendants were purple to distinguish them from ordinary field agents. Xu Shang, Wu Dongyan, and Xuan Feng were all Purple Star Mansion Guards, while Xu Ming was a blue-badge field agent.

Normally, a blue-badge field agent like Xu Ming would not have qualified for selection into the Purple Star Mansion Guards. But Chongzhou was short of personnel, and after losing nine elite operatives in succession, it had no choice but to replenish their ranks with ordinary field agents. Xu Ming had been admitted as an exception because he and Xu Shang were brothers who worked together seamlessly.

That was also why Xu Ming had broken away from the main group and hurried here ahead of them. He wanted to prove himself—to prove that he had earned his place among the Purple Star Mansion Guards through strength, not his younger brother's standing.

Yet now his fate was unknown, and only scorched earth remained...

"No matter what, we cannot afford to lose the Buddha Treasure!" Xuan Feng's tone remained gentle, but her seemingly tender words carried a fierce murderous intent.