When Lin Yi returned, he first looked in surprise at the completely undamaged Tea House, then turned his gaze toward Shangguan Cangxing.
He had briefly left partly because he really did have arrangements to make, and partly to deliberately give the other man room to act. He had never expected nothing to happen.
"What are you looking at me for?" Shangguan Cangxing had a rather devil-may-care air, utterly lacking the imposing dignity Fang Yunhua had seen in him at their first meeting. "So what if I win? One look tells you this young sect leader fights with his brain. What if he holds a grudge afterward?"
Lin Yi gave a wry smile and did not take issue with his blunt words. Watching quietly from the side, Fang Yunhua took this as confirmation that Shangguan Cangxing indeed held a rather special position in the prince's household.
He promptly stepped forward to steer the conversation past it, and they returned to discussing how to carry out their plan.
After learning that Wuhua was also pulling strings behind the scenes, Lin Yi made a request that was not particularly unreasonable.
"You'll handle the negotiations with Southern Shaolin?"
"Yes. It will also repay an old favor. In exchange, the An Prince's Mansion will not interfere with the Beggar Gang's properties in Henan. And if you need Southern Shaolin's cooperation, we can help you communicate with them."
Fang Yunhua nodded.
Shaolin was the foremost sect in the martial world today. Even though Southern Shaolin was only half of it, Fang Yunhua could not go too far. With Mount Hua's current strength, it could only bully a Beggar Gang riddled with internal troubles, and even that relied on the advantage of a bitter blood feud giving him ample grounds to strike.
Otherwise, if he really went around biting like a mad dog, Mount Hua would probably be branded an evil sect in no time.
And this exchange was well worth it for Mount Hua.
After all, the An Prince's Mansion already held a vast fief in Henan. If it voluntarily gave up interfering with the Beggar Gang's properties there, Mount Hua could secure more tangible benefits in the region. Under his original plan, Fang Yunhua had been prepared to abandon that entire portion.
Of course, this did not mean the An Prince's Mansion would refrain from taking advantage of the situation to strike at the Beggar Gang. The Divine Land was vast, and the title of the world's largest gang carried considerable weight. Even a prince's appetite could be thoroughly satisfied.
Fang Yunhua and Lin Yi then exchanged many more suggestions and refinements concerning the details of the plan.
Shangguan Cangxing volunteered to accompany Fang Yunhua for a while. In his own words, of course, he simply wanted to watch the fun.
Before the two concluded their discussion, Fang Yunhua also revealed that he had another brilliant idea.
However, further talks with the An Prince's Mansion would have to wait until this plan to unleash the Western Peak's sword had reaped sufficiently rich rewards.
In addition, the An Prince's Mansion hired thirty disciples from Mount Hua as household guards at a generous rate. This also served as powerful proof of the ties binding the two sides together.
After bidding Lin Yi farewell, with the thoroughly unapproachable-looking Shangguan Cangxing now at his side,
Fang Yunhua shared a round of drinks with Jin Ban Hua, then left the capital the following day.
Meanwhile, Chu Liuxiang was still laboriously working his way through the plot.
On his way to see Qiu Lingsu, he once again encountered Wuhua, disguised as Tianfeng Jushiro, blocking his path. This man's assassination attempts truly ended in defeat after defeat. Once he had beaten another retreat, Chu Liuxiang finally managed to meet Qiu Lingsu.
Things here were much the same as in the original story. Qiu Lingsu had no idea that she and Ren Ci had already stirred up an enormous storm in the martial world. As far as she knew, Nangong Ling still held a firm grip on the gang chief's power and position.
Naturally, she did not dare tell Chu Liuxiang anything in Nangong Ling's presence.
Nevertheless, she conveyed some information in a veiled manner, allowing Chu Liuxiang to understand how little control she had over her current circumstances.
Afterward, Chu Liuxiang returned to Jinan Prefecture with Nangong Ling. Along the way, he met Su Rongrong earlier than expected. She had already returned from her investigation at the Divine Water Palace and had survived an assassination attempt.
This time, Su Rongrong told Chu Liuxiang outright that she had questioned members of the Divine Water Palace and confirmed that Wuhua had once preached scriptures there. This firmly nailed him as the culprit who had stolen the Heavenly One Divine Water and deceived a Divine Water Palace disciple into his bed, leaving her pregnant.
At this point, Chu Liuxiang was already very close to the truth.
He only needed to piece together all the clues he had obtained from Qiu Lingsu to reconstruct the broad outline of what had happened.
That night, he hosted Nangong Ling and Wuhua at the Wind and Rain Pavilion. After a few cups of wine, he even assured Nangong Ling that he would testify on his behalf, declaring that Madam Ren was doing well under his care and that all the rumors about him in the martial world were misunderstandings!
Nangong Ling was delighted, drinking cup after cup without pause.
Wuhua wore a smile as well, though inwardly he watched with cold detachment.
He had wrestled with whether to seize the opportunity to add Heavenly One Divine Water and simply poison both men to death!
But what Wuhua did not know was that Chu Liuxiang possessed a bug-level conceptual passive ability when it came to poison. If you did not poison him, or used poison that did not work on him, he would eat and drink as usual. His hearty enthusiasm would leave anyone planning to poison him bitterly regretting their failure to act.
But if you gave him a lethal poison, he would suddenly leave every dish untouched and refuse even a sip of wine. He would also seize directly upon the opening the poisoner had exposed while administering it to identify the culprit.
It was practically invincible!
So while Wuhua was secretly regretting that he had not taken a gamble and poisoned them outright, he had no idea that his hesitation had saved his own life!
Halfway through their drinking, Chu Liuxiang found an excuse and slipped away.
By borrowing Black Pearl's Thousand-Mile Steed, he could reach the Beggar Gang Forbidden Grounds, where Qiu Lingsu was being held under house arrest, in the shortest possible time.
Here, events diverged somewhat from the original plot. Originally, Chu Liuxiang would have encountered White Jade Demon at this point. The man had intended to brutalize Qiu Lingsu in revenge, and Chu Liuxiang had only saved her in the nick of time.
But this time, wary that Mount Hua might make a major move, Nangong Ling had already dispatched most of his trusted followers to deal with them, and White Jade Demon was among them.
Nangong Ling both valued the deterrent offered by his martial prowess and feared that White Jade Demon might attack Qiu Lingsu. Right now, he needed her alive to clear him of suspicion over secretly murdering Ren Ci.
As a result, when Chu Liuxiang visited the Beggar Gang Forbidden Grounds for the second time, he found only Qiu Lingsu, all alone.
Upon seeing Chu Liuxiang, she seemed finally to lay down the burden she had carried for so long. She explained in detail that the four people who had received letters had died because Nangong Ling had initially set his sights on their wealth.
Later, however, after speaking with a mysterious man, he had decided to kill all four outright.
She also recounted Nangong Ling's origins and the truth behind Ren Ci's death. This allowed Chu Liuxiang to confirm that the Heavenly One Divine Water had been stolen to secretly murder Ren Ci.
During her account, Qiu Lingsu repeatedly mentioned a mysterious man. Everything he had done pointed to him as the true mastermind behind the scenes.
And Chu Liuxiang already knew that this man was Wuhua.
After sorting through all the clues he currently possessed,
Chu Liuxiang had deduced that before Tianfeng Jushiro fought Ren Ci, he had also fought another powerful martial artist in the south. Tianfeng Jushiro might also have had another child with him, but had entrusted only one of them, Nangong Ling, to Ren Ci's care.
With Wuhua already identified as the true mastermind, working backward led directly to the first powerful martial artist Tianfeng Jushiro had encountered: Wuhua's teacher, Master Tianfeng of Southern Shaolin.
His next task, then, was to obtain the final piece of the puzzle from Master Tianfeng.
Before that, however, he had to settle matters with Nangong Ling.
Because he also owed that much to Qiu Lingsu, who had leaped off a cliff to her death before his eyes!
Before you continue