Fang Yunhua's Methods

Chu Liuxiang returned to Jinan Prefecture with grief written plainly across his face.

He had watched Qiu Lingsu plunge into that ten-thousand-foot abyss, watched the hazy clouds swallow her, yet had been powerless to save her.

No one could save a person whose heart had already died. For Qiu Lingsu, every further day of life was torment.

Death was now merely an everlasting rest for Qiu Lingsu's weary life, but Chu Liuxiang still felt an indescribable sorrow, an indescribable fury.

He swore he would find Nangong Ling.

Yet he did not rush to the Beggar Gang immediately.

One Red Dot, who had long been waiting at their agreed meeting place, first gave him a great deal of information.

This fellow, who had been a constant letdown throughout the Blood Sea Fragrance storyline, to the point of seeming like a hater masquerading as a devoted fan, had finally come through at the end.

"I've been keeping an eye on the matters you asked me to investigate."

One Red Dot held a stack of letters sent from various regions. Already weary at heart, Chu Liuxiang accepted one but did not open it, instead asking him to explain directly.

For the normally taciturn One Red Dot, this should have been torture.

But with his idol giving the word, it became a reward that made him especially happy.

"First, Mount Hua. Several days ago, Master Kumei personally killed the White Jade Demon and cut his corpse into seventeen pieces. She declared that this was an offering to the families of the seventeen women he had raped and murdered over a decade ago.

"After the White Jade Demon defected from the Beggar Gang, he took revenge on those seventeen families, slaughtering every last member.

"Afterward, the local authorities worked with Mount Hua and produced evidence linking no fewer than two hundred and sixty-five unsolved cases to Beggar Gang disciples.

"These included cases of government officials secretly colluding with Beggar Gang disciples to persecute commoners.

"Meanwhile, the mysterious deaths of forty-three outer disciples of Mount Hua also appear to be inextricably linked to the Beggar Gang."

"And then?"

Chu Liuxiang was so calm that One Red Dot almost found him unfamiliar, prompting him to quicken his speech.

"The officials who committed offenses were arrested by the imperial court for trial, while the guilty Beggar Gang disciples were publicly executed by Mount Hua.

"Before they died, several members suspected of being Nangong Ling's trusted followers claimed that he had poisoned the previous gang leader, Ren Ci, and that the gang leader's wife had also long since fallen victim to him.

"At that point, Master Kumei raised a question.

"After the White Jade Demon defected from the Beggar Gang more than ten years ago, why had the world's foremost intelligence organization failed to find him all that time, yet happened to locate him just when Nangong Ling had no one left to use?

"In only a few days, he had summoned this expert back.

"Mount Hua then openly raised the banner of purging the Beggar Gang's villains, headed by Nangong Ling.

"Now, centered on the junction of Shaanxi, Henan, and Shanxi, Mount Hua has begun sweeping through all three regions. Several Beggar Gang branches have already been uprooted. Inside them... they found over a hundred child beggars whose limbs had been broken and whose eyes had been blinded.

"Investigations conducted with the authorities revealed that some of them had been abducted by Beggar Gang disciples."

"Go on..." Chu Liuxiang's voice grew lower still.

One Red Dot drew a deep breath before continuing.

"After Mount Hua began its operation, Fourth Master Jin of the Ten Thousand Blessings and Longevity Garden, the foremost figure in Jiangnan's martial world, declared that he would cooperate with Mount Hua in purging the villains headed by Nangong Ling.

"Cup-Tossing Manor, Xue Family Manor, Shi Family Manor, and forces such as Diancang, the Hainan Sword Sect, and Emei of the Seven Great Schools all followed suit.

"The abbot of Northern Shaolin did step forward to offer a few polite words on the Beggar Gang's behalf, but once his voice was drowned out, he said nothing more."

"And the Beggar Gang?"

"Chaos. Its factions are tangled, and most are trying to draw a clear line between themselves and Nangong Ling. Master Kumei also formally declared on Mount Hua's behalf that the villains headed by Nangong Ling must be distinguished from the Beggar Gang's other disciples, so that righteous men would not be harmed by mistake.

"Even the Beggar Gang's Lone Wanderer of Ten Thousand Miles has emerged from seclusion because of this."

"Dai Duxing? Senior Dai...?"

"Yes. He only called on disciples who hadn't violated the gang's rules to relocate to a certain branch in the northeast. As for Mount Hua taking the lead in striking at these so-called villains, he hasn't interjected with any other opinion."

This time, Chu Liuxiang remained silent for a long while.

He sensed that Senior Dai was waiting.

Waiting for Nangong Ling to give an explanation. And the only person left who could force him through that final step was Chu Liuxiang himself, who had buried his head in the investigation from beginning to end, never realizing when he had become someone else's pawn.

"What masterful methods."

For the first time, Chu Liuxiang sincerely admired someone his own age to such a degree. Much of One Red Dot's intelligence seemed to describe Master Kumei's actions, but he was certain that the Amorous Young Master had planned everything behind the scenes.

In particular, the response from Fourth Master Jin, Cup-Tossing Manor, Xue Family Manor, and Shi Family Manor-forces in the martial world so closely connected to him-could hardly have come without his handiwork.

With one turn of his hand he summoned clouds, and with another he brought rain, pressing the Beggar Gang, renowned as the World’s Greatest Gang, into a half-dead state.

And yet those who remained in the Beggar Gang would still have to be grateful to him.

Senior Dai's conduct already spoke volumes. Presumably, the next step would be for him, Fragrant Marshal Chu, to expose Nangong Ling's origins, and all the causes behind this affair would be laid at the feet of a vast conspiracy that Japan had begun brewing thirty years ago.

By then, although the Beggar Gang would have fallen into an unprecedented decline, it might also be a case of breaking the old to build the new.

A perfectly satisfactory ending.

Yet Chu Liuxiang felt painfully stifled inside.

He said nothing more to One Red Dot. He merely nodded and headed toward the Beggar Gang's incense hall.

The night was already deep, but the incense hall remained brightly lit.

After Chu Liuxiang entered, he saw someone.

Beneath the brilliant lamplight, sitting as still as a stone statue in a broad rosewood chair, was Nangong Ling.

He sat with his cheek resting on his hand, seemingly lost in thought, yet also as though waiting for someone.

"It's you. I thought it would be him..."

Nangong Ling raised his head. Only then did Chu Liuxiang discover, with horror, that in the few days since they had last met, a third of the Beggar Gang leader's hair had gone gray. His eyes were thoroughly bloodshot.

Now Chu Liuxiang began examining the incense hall closely. Letters and sheets of white paper lay scattered all over the floor, plainly intelligence sent from various regions.

Naturally, there was no ambush hidden in the shadows. Most of the Beggar Gang disciples close to Nangong Ling had died at Mount Hua's hands, while the rest had fled at the first sign of trouble.

"Is Madam Ren still alive?" Nangong Ling's voice trembled slightly, and a gleam of hope flared in his eyes.

How ironic. The person who should have wanted Qiu Lingsu dead more than anyone now hoped most desperately that she was alive. Only then could he overturn his trusted followers' wild accusations and clear these stains at their very source.

"She's dead." Chu Liuxiang gazed deeply at Nangong Ling. He had originally come to demand an explanation, but now it seemed that the punishment and torment Nangong Ling had suffered already exceeded his expectations.

"Did you kill her?" Nangong Ling's question made Chu Liuxiang frown instinctively.

But before he could deny it, Nangong Ling corrected himself.

"Not you. You've been nothing but a pawn for him from beginning to end. Then it was him... He managed to kill Madam Ren right in front of you?"

"Who is this 'him' you're talking about?"

"Don't tell me that with all your wisdom, the mighty Fragrant Marshal Chu still hasn't seen through the situation by now. If not for that rumor he spread earlier, I would have listened to... and killed Qiu Lingsu first! You wouldn't have found a single clue!

"But he insisted on setting a trap to force me to keep her safe!

"And in the end, he let her die without a sound, when she was the only hope I could still hold on to!

"Heh... hehehehehe!"

Nangong Ling looked as though he was falling apart. Or perhaps he had already gone mad after reading all those intelligence reports strewn across the floor.

"Tell me who he is!" Chu Liuxiang demanded again.

After sneering for a long while, Nangong Ling raised his head and looked at his friend with mockery in his eyes. From his somewhat hoarse throat, he uttered the name with exceptional clarity.

"Fang Yunhua."