Was he Liu Bingyuan?
Dressed in brocade, ostentatious and lavish, he was a finely featured young nobleman whose skin looked like polished jade in the dim firelight, with bright eyes and gleaming teeth.
There was a trace of spoiled arrogance in his brows and eyes, however, and hearing that he would die had added a touch of malice.
Jiang Che withdrew his gaze after a brief appraisal and stuck to his strategy. "I truly came from forty years in the future. I don't know how I arrived here, either, but I read the future gazetteer of Willow Source County. The record was clear: Young Master Liu would die tonight. Only my arrival, breaking the course of events, could give you a thread of hope for survival."
He was emphasizing his own importance, doing everything he could to stay alive.
Liu Bingyuan scoffed. "A mere mortal claiming to come from forty years in the future-who would believe you? Still, what you said did remind me of something..."
The young nobleman's gaze moved away from Jiang Che and slowly swept over the other five people present.
"This Teleportation Array was built by the Liu Ancestor. It normally lies hidden in Void Maitreya, and no one can detect it before it's activated. Once opened, it silently sends people into the mountains outside the city in an instant. In all of Willow Source, only the core members of the Liu Clan know about this arrangement."
He cast a sidelong glance at Jiang Yunwei and Jiang Yunlin, making no attempt to conceal the condescension in his eyes.
"A foundation establishment cultivator only needs to expend some spiritual energy to open this array. But a qi refining cultivator has to pay with his life. When I mentioned it to Jiang Zongcheng, he proved loyal enough and volunteered to open it. That's about all an early-stage qi refining cultivator is good for."
At those last words, Jiang Yunwei's expression turned ugly and cold. His back was to Liu Bingyuan, so the young nobleman could not see it, but Jiang Che, pressed close in front of him, saw it clearly.
Liu Bingyuan abruptly changed tack, a sinister look rising between his delicate brows. "If I really am in danger tonight, setting aside the Azure Mystic Sect-they can't track us here yet-the only people who could kill me are you."
The moment he said that, all five of their expressions changed.
Except Jiang Che's.
He actually thought Liu Bingyuan wasn't stupid to have considered that possibility.
"Bingyi is my cousin. Zicheng is a more distant relation and doesn't count as a member of the Liu household, but Liu Clan blood still runs in his veins. The Jiang have always followed my family. Jiang Zongcheng was a good, loyal dog who sacrificed his life for me, and his two nephews aren't bad, either. You alone..."
Liu Bingyuan's gaze settled on a tall, thin man in the corner.
"Huo Shen. You're a rogue cultivator who only entered my family's service two years ago. My father thought you were honest, which was why he made you my guard. You're usually a man of few words, but you've defied my orders from time to time. If there's a traitor, you're the first one I suspect."
Huo Shen took half a step back and repeatedly waved his hands, looking panicked. "The defiance you speak of was because your father told me to watch over you and report anything that happened. I truly had no choice. I may be a rogue cultivator, but ever since I entered the Liu Clan's service, I've been utterly loyal! Please judge fairly, young master!"
"Is that so?" Liu Bingyuan tilted his head. "Then cripple both your hands to prove your innocence."
He said it with utter nonchalance.
Huo Shen's face went white. "Young master..."
"What? You don't dare?"
Huo Shen's lips trembled twice. He slowly lowered his head and raised his hands, as though he really intended to cripple his own arms.
But just then, he suddenly darted backward and sprinted into the depths of the darkness.
"After him!" Liu Bingyuan showed no surprise. Instead, a measure of excitement appeared on his face. "It really was him!"
The four surged forward together. Only Jiang Yunwei, carrying Jiang Che, moved a little slower and fell to the rear.
Huo Shen's cultivation was considerable, and he ran fast. This was a winding cave, its terrain rugged and uneven. The pursuers could not pick up speed, and instead the gap gradually widened.
Growing anxious, Liu Bingyuan pulled something from inside his robes and flung it forward. A brilliant streak of light burst through the dim cave.
Jiang Che could not make out what it was at all. He heard only a scream, and Huo Shen was already on the ground.
He could still move and was struggling, but Liu Zicheng and Liu Bingyi had caught up behind him. Two longswords thrust out together, one from the left and one from the right, pinning him dead to the ground.
"I had to use a treasure my elders left me just to stop Huo Shen. You lot are useless, too."
After berating the four, Liu Bingyuan took a few steps forward, kicked Huo Shen's corpse twice, and spat. "A dog that never learned loyalty, no matter how well we fed him. How dare he try to harm me?"
Then he turned his gaze to Jiang Che again. "Now that Huo Shen has been executed, will I still die tonight?"
A faint cold sweat broke out on Jiang Che's back, but his expression remained composed. "You've dealt with one danger, young master, but that doesn't necessarily mean there are no other threats."
Behind him, Jiang Yunwei suddenly tightened his grip, nearly crushing Jiang Che's shoulder blade. "How dare you! You wretched scoundrel, you dare sow discord between us?!"
"Don't be hasty." Liu Bingyuan waved a hand for Jiang Yunwei to stop. "Perhaps he's telling the truth? Come on, point them out. Who else here would plot to harm me like that dog Huo Shen?"
Jiang Che looked straight back to one side, fixing his gaze on Jiang Yunwei. "Forty years from now, everyone in Willow Source County will know only the Jiang, not the Liu Clan. Quite a few members of the Jiang will have joined the Azure Mystic Sect, too."
"You!" Jiang Yunwei's expression changed dramatically. "You're courting death!"
"Trying to silence him?" Liu Bingyuan stopped him.
Jiang Yunwei explained urgently, "Young master! This man is trying to make us slaughter one another!"
"All right, all right," Liu Bingyuan soothed him. "I haven't believed him. How could I possibly distrust you?"
"Then let me kill him!"
Liu Bingyuan refused outright. "Don't bring that up again. Things are urgent right now. Let's leave this place first. He's only a mortal-what storms could he possibly stir up? Once we rejoin the main body of my Liu household, whether we interrogate him under torture or use Soul Searching, we'll have plenty of ways to deal with him."
After that, Jiang Yunwei continued escorting Jiang Che, and the group made their way through the pitch-black cave.
Jiang Che felt that things weren't over yet.
Was Huo Shen really the one who ultimately killed Liu Bingyuan? In Jiang Che's view, not necessarily.
All six of them, Liu Bingyuan included, were cultivators at the embryonic breath level. As a guard, Huo Shen might have been somewhat stronger, but not so much that he could overwhelm them by an entire cultivation tier. He was no match for the other five. Alone, he could not kill Liu Bingyuan.
There was probably something else.
As he was thinking, Liu Bingyuan's voice came from ahead.
"We're here."
Jiang Che looked up and saw a hazy shaft of moonlight spilling through the cave entrance a short distance ahead.
Then a sudden pain struck his chest!
Jiang Che lowered his head and saw a bloodstained sword tip protruding from his chest before it was withdrawn.
He opened his mouth, but only a string of indistinct bubbling sounds came out. All strength left his body, and he collapsed to the ground as his vision rapidly darkened.
Before he died, he saw a scene.
Jiang Yunwei stepped over his body, holding a bloodstained sword.
On the other side, the silent Jiang Yunlin ambushed Liu Zicheng from behind, killing this capable cultivator from a collateral branch of the Liu household.
Liu Bingyuan whipped around, his face filled with shock and fury.
Jiang Che widened his eyes and struggled to breathe in and out, hoping to live a little longer and hold on until the end. But the force that had surged in with the longsword had shattered everything inside his chest, and his vision finally, inexorably went completely black.
Immediately afterward, he jolted awake in the pure-white space and burst into curses.
"Jiang Yunwei, you son of a bitch! That fucking hurt!"
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