The Thousand-Li Great Marsh lay amid boundless wilderness. Looking out from its shores felt like standing on the coast.
A black-canopied boat pressed through the wind and waves. Raindrops the size of soybeans battered its canopy with a crackling clatter.
Xuanyuan Hongzhi, second-in-command of Junshan Terrace, held a black oil-paper umbrella as he approached a pleasure boat floating on the water, his brow tightly furrowed.
That morning, Junshan Terrace had sent Xuanyuan Hongzhi a carrier pigeon with word that a mysterious person had provided a lead-a new expert had emerged in the Black Bureau, named Ye Jingtang. He knew the Eight-Step Mad Blade and was highly valued by Prince Jing.
The informant's intention was obvious: knowing of Junshan Terrace's old grudge with the Eight-Step Mad Blade, they had deliberately supplied this intelligence to kill with Junshan Terrace's borrowed blade.
Xuanyuan Hongzhi had no idea who the informant was, but he thought the information was most likely true.
A few days earlier, he had examined Zhou Huaili's remains and determined that he had died at the hands of the Eight-Step Mad Blade. The Imperial Court had also acknowledged that someone from the Black Bureau had done it.
This saber wielder was very likely the Ye Jingtang the mysterious person had mentioned.
If all he knew was the Eight-Step Mad Blade, Xuanyuan Hongzhi would not have considered the situation urgent. But the words "highly valued by Prince Jing" had struck Junshan Terrace squarely in its vital spot.
The head of Junshan Terrace was a marquis appointed by the Imperial Court. Even if people of the martial world bore a sea of blood-deep hatred toward Junshan Terrace, the Imperial Court's deterrence meant they would not rashly attempt to wipe it out to the last person.
The Imperial Court was another matter. If it