Inside his room at the inn, after eating and drinking his fill, taking a bath, and changing his clothes, Zhang Qingyuan lay on the bed with a Daoist scripture in his hands.
His eyes were on the scripture, but his thoughts were elsewhere.
His mind was filled with that girl named Li Qiuran, dressed in an apricot-yellow Daoist robe.
He had never expected her to be so loyal, taking all the responsibility upon herself.
He had no idea where she had gone now. It really was worrying.
"Ah!"
Zhang Qingyuan sighed and went out for a late-night snack.
Leaving his sword behind, he took his horsetail whisk and headed out onto the street.
The street was quiet. Only a handful of pedestrians were still walking about, while carriage drivers waited by the roadside for fares.
What did it mean to roam free?
What counted as living unfettered?
Roaming free and unfettered did not mean viewing flowers from horseback, but experiencing the romance of different places.
Zhang Qingyuan knew best how to experience romance. First, he visited a teahouse and listened to a tale called "The Sword Immortal Storms Night King Tower Alone," then went to a roast duck shop and bought a roast duck.
Passing a brothel, he glanced inside.
He walked in carrying his duck, found a non-prostitute courtesan in the main hall, and listened to another little tune.
Fine wine went with roast duck, and the songs were a side dish for his drink.
It was not that he did not want to hire a prostitute courtesan to sleep with him; he was all too familiar with the 998 service from his previous life.
Having become a Daoist in this life, he had to have a little class.
Visiting pleasure houses only to hear songs-carefree, but not debauched.
After eating and drinking his fill, he left the brothel humming a song from his previous life.
He was on his way back and nearly at the inn when several figures emerged from it. Leading them was the middle-aged man who had mocked the burly man during the day.
They came toward Zhang Qingyuan. As a well-mannered young socialist who had received nine years of compulsory education, he instinctively kept to the right.
Unexpectedly, they moved to that side too, blocking his path.
Zhang Qingyuan raised his head and looked them up and down.
There were six of them, all wearing matching dark blue robes and holding swords.
"May I ask what business you gentlemen have with this humble Daoist?" Zhang Qingyuan cupped his hands. "If you want your fortunes told, forget it. I know nothing of divination."
The middle-aged man was unsmiling, his expression solemn. "I am Ling Yanqiu, sect leader of the Seven Luminaries Sword Sect on Seven Luminaries Mountain."
"Greetings, Sect Leader Ling. What business brings you to stop this humble Daoist in the middle of the night?" Zhang Qingyuan was full of bewilderment. He had had no dealings with them.
Ling Yanqiu smiled. "I heard you say during the day that you were Li Qiuran's fiancé, young hero. Others may not believe it, but I do."
"Oh?"
"Perhaps you don't know this, but the Cloud Dust Manor Lord and I come from families with generations of friendship. His wife is my elder sister."
Understanding dawned on Zhang Qingyuan. It seemed that not everyone believed Qiuran's claim that she bore all the responsibility.
But Zhang Qingyuan was not alarmed. After all, the Cloud Dust Manor Lord had been the one to provoke him first. His whole attitude was: with right on his side, what did he have to fear?
"My apologies for not recognizing you."
"You're too courteous, Daoist." Ling Yanqiu nodded, then continued, "I stopped you because I wanted to ask you about something, young hero."
"What is it?"
"I learned that, over ten days ago, you killed the Black Lotus Sect's Black Lotus Holy Envoy in Qinghe County, then left Qinghe for Qi Prefecture."
"Yes." Zhang Qingyuan nodded in acknowledgment.
Ling Yanqiu continued, "Judging by the timing, Li Qiuran left at the same time you left Qinghe. Did you happen to see her, young hero?"
"Yes, I did."
Pleasantly surprised, Ling Yanqiu hurriedly asked, "Then did you happen to see anyone from Cloud Dust Manor?"
"Yes."
"Do you know how they died, young hero?"
"Uh..."
Thinking he had reservations, Ling Yanqiu hurriedly said, "I examined the bodies. More than thirty corpses lay in the mountain woods. The Cloud Dust Manor disciples all had their throats slit with a single sword stroke. The killer's swordsmanship was vicious, unlike Li Qiuran's Mysterious Maiden Pure Heart Swordsmanship.
"And my brother-in-law's fatal wound came from a sneak attack from behind. That means someone was holding him off from the front before he died, giving Li Qiuran an opening.
"Did you happen to see who that additional person was, young hero?"
Ling Yanqiu stared fixedly into Zhang Qingyuan's eyes, his own bloodshot.
Zhang Qingyuan could not tell whether he was testing him or genuinely asking whether there had been a third person.
But Zhang Qingyuan had no intention of concealing anything. He answered truthfully, "To be honest, all those Cloud Dust Manor disciples died by my sword. The Cloud Dust Manor Lord was also killed by Bamboo Green Fairy while he was staring at me."
His gaze was clear, pure, and sincere, without a trace of affectation.
Zhang Qingyuan's sincerity left Ling Yanqiu so stifled that his chest heaved. It hurt him deeply.
Upon learning that his brother-in-law had been killed, Ling Yanqiu had taken five disciples down the mountain overnight and headed to Qinghe County to investigate.
After peeling back the layers, making careful observations, and visiting people to question them, he had concluded that more than one person had killed his brother-in-law.
Based on his deductions, he was fairly certain that person was Zhang Qingyuan.
That was why he had spurred his horse onward, finally finding him here in Jing'an City today.
He had assumed Zhang Qingyuan would refuse to admit it, and had prepared to present a flawless deduction before him, leaving him utterly convinced.
Who could have imagined-
He had just fucking confessed.
And confessed so sincerely, so brazenly.
All the deductive arguments Ling Yanqiu had prepared in advance had gone to waste. It made him extremely uncomfortable.
Shing!
Steel rang as all six drew their swords at once.
Ling Yanqiu raised his sword, pointing its tip straight at Zhang Qingyuan's throat.
Grief-stricken and furious, he said, "My brother-in-law had no grievance or enmity with you. Why did you help that demoness and ruthlessly kill him?
"As a Daoist, instead of carrying out Heaven's justice, you helped a demoness aid a tyrant in his atrocities and murder the righteous of the martial world. What punishment do you deserve!"
Ling Yanqiu roared at Zhang Qingyuan, drawing the other martial artists out of the inn to watch.
Like zha beasts in a melon patch, they stood on rooftops or hid to one side, feasting on the drama to their hearts' content.
Zhang Qingyuan licked his lips, the corners of his eyes narrowing slightly.
"I don't know either. I had no grievance or enmity with the Cloud Dust Manor Lord, but he came right up threatening to kill me, saying he'd finish me off. I didn't want to die, so I could only kill them instead."
"Utter nonsense! Why would my brother-in-law want to kill you for no reason!"
"How would I know? I'm puzzled too!
"I was just there being lovey-dovey with Qiuran, and he sent hidden weapons flying at us-whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. He started mocking me the moment he showed up, then said I wouldn't be leaving. What was I supposed to do?" Zhang Qingyuan spread his hands, sounding aggrieved.
"Besides, your brother-in-law was clearly coveting her martial arts."
Ling Yanqiu's face twisted with fury as he snapped, "Shut up, you wicked Daoist! You must have been wallowing in the same filth as that demoness, and you dare slander my brother-in-law! I will cut you down and avenge him!"
"Holy shit, do you people listen to reason at all? Did everyone see that? This is how an upright, prestigious sect behaves?
"They're allowed to kill me, but I'm wrong to fight back?
"No way, no way. Surely nobody could actually be this shameless?"
"Stop your nonsense, wicked Daoist! No matter how you argue, you won't escape death tonight."
Ling Yanqiu suddenly thrust his sword forward. Already on guard, Zhang Qingyuan used Lotus Steps, his ghostlike footwork swiftly carrying him clear of the strike.
Ling Yanqiu was startled. What kind of movement technique was that?
After retreating, Zhang Qingyuan narrowed his eyes, licked the corner of his mouth, and swept his horsetail whisk across to rest before him.
Looking at Ling Yanqiu, he shook his head lightly. People of the righteous path are fucking disgusting.
"Fuck you!"