Qiao Wanmian 3

After spending most of the day at it, Li Xiangyi finally managed to restore the confidence of his followers, which had been on the verge of collapsing. He had only just found time to circulate Yangzhou Man and heal his internal injuries

when Liu Rujing, whom he had sent to capture Yun Biqiu, interrupted him. "Sect Master, our people found Jiang Wuya and the others unconscious from a drug. They just woke them by splashing water on them, and they're waiting to report to you now."

Li Xiangyi's heart leaped. Since returning, he had begun putting the Sigu Sect in order, and the whereabouts of its members had soon been accounted for. Only Jiang Wuya and his companions remained missing; no one knew where they were, no matter how many people he asked.

Soon afterward, another member reported that an explosion had occurred at the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance's main headquarters, killing many people. Li Xiangyi grew suspicious. He had not originally intended to deal so quickly with Yun Biqiu, who had betrayed him. But when he remembered Jiang Wuya and the others' disappearance, and that Yun Biqiu had been responsible for assigning the sect's members after he left, a bad premonition seized him. He therefore selected subordinates from the remaining members who were loyal to him and reasonably skilled in martial arts, and sent them to capture Yun Biqiu.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Wuya and the others had turned up before Li Xiangyi could interrogate Yun Biqiu.

Li Xiangyi hurriedly summoned Jiang Wuya inside. Only then did he learn that Yun Biqiu had assigned them to attack the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance's main headquarters, but before they left, they had run into Qiao Wanmian, who had knocked them all unconscious with a handful of knockout powder.

Recalling the violent explosion at the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance's main headquarters that his members had reported earlier, Li Xiangyi felt an even stronger urge to kill Yun Biqiu.

"Wuya, I need to trouble you to make another trip. Take a few brothers and search Yun Biqiu's room and study thoroughly. See if there are any hidden books or letters."

Jiang Wuya thought of Yun Biqiu, whom Liu Rujing had captured, and remembered how Miss Qiao had knocked them unconscious for no apparent reason. Hearing Li Xiangyi's current orders, he gradually realized that the order to attack the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance's main headquarters might have been a trap.

Without another word, he cupped his fists and departed to carry out the order.

Only when Li Xiangyi was alone in the room did he reveal a vulnerability he would never have shown before. Everything A Mian had said had matched up. Could his senior brother's death have been a plot too?

But Li Xiangyi was Li Xiangyi, after all, and his vulnerability lasted only a moment. Now that he had a way to deal with both his injuries and the poison in his body, he had the courage and ability to face every hardship and betrayal.

After some thought, Li Xiangyi left a note in the room saying where he was going, then temporarily departed for Pudu Temple. With danger closing in on all sides, he still had to heal his internal injuries as quickly as possible, and had no choice but to trouble the old monk again.

After leaving the Sigu Sect, Qiao Wanmian spoke briefly to A Rou and instructed her to use the Lineage's influence to spread word that, at a critical moment for the Sigu Sect, Xiao Zijin had wanted to abandon its members and disband the sect, and that Qiao Wanmian had, in her indignation, purged him from the sect as a traitor.

The situation was unclear. Who knew whether anyone was backing Xiao Zijin? His death was no loss, but if he brought her trouble, it would be his fault. She might as well strike first and make her killing of Xiao Zijin appear righteous.

Wasn't that just how people in the martial world were? They parroted whatever others said, and no one took the trouble to learn the truth. Once enough people said something, it became the truth.

A Rou left to carry out her orders, while Qiao Wanmian sat in the teahouse, lost in thought.

By rights, she should have found a safe place as soon as possible, shut her ears to everything outside her window, and devoted herself to cultivating the Heavenly Devil Instruction to mend her frail body.

But perhaps because she could never quite suppress the fire in her heart, she kept wanting to raise her blade and bring it down, slaughtering every last one of those treacherous scoundrels.

A Rou had left on Qiao Wanmian's orders, but as a daughter of an aristocratic clan, Qiao Wanmian did not lack people to serve her. She beckoned Liuxue, who was waiting outside, over and learned from her the full story of how the Sigu Sect and the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance had come to blows, a matter she had not cared about at the time.

After hearing Liuxue's account, Qiao Wanmian pondered. Shan Gudao, Shan Gudao, it all began because of you, yet your corpse disappeared at just the right moment. Are you truly dead? Were you merely a chess piece, or were you the one behind it all?

Qiao Wanmian lowered her head in thought. If Shan Gudao was merely a chess piece used to start a war between the two factions, who was behind it? The answer was simple: the imperial family, which had lost its voice in the martial world because of Li Xiangyi.

But if Shan Gudao was the one behind it, he must have had another force backing him. After all, while Li Xiangyi lived, the Sigu Sect would not be his to command. And since this entire series of events had been arranged with such perfect timing, there must also have been a force that obeyed his orders.

She asked Liuxue, "Have any new sects or factions been established in the martial world these past two years?"

Liuxue was already responsible for gathering information, so she quickly answered Qiao Wanmian's question. "Of the factions established in the past two years, the only one worth mentioning is Wansheng Dao. They've been very cautious since their founding; no one even knows where their headquarters are. Yet wherever Wansheng Dao members have gone, the local sects have sung their praises. Judging by everything they've done, their ambitions are considerable."

Qiao Wanmian carefully recalled Shan Gudao as he appeared in the original owner's memories. He had been an all-too-ordinary figure. Was he capable of founding such a cautious and competent faction? His origins were probably not so simple.

She instructed Liuxue, "Prepare a carriage. We're going to Mount Yun Yin."

She had nothing to say about Li Xiangyi's blind trust. She might as well visit his master, see what he thought of Shan Gudao, and judge the mettle of Li Xiangyi's master's sect. Was it as wretched as the Kunlun Sect?

While Li Xiangyi stole a moment from his busy schedule to seek out Master Wuliao and enlist his help in using Yangzhou Man to treat his internal injuries, Qiao Wanmian had already ascended Mount Yun Yin with a sword in hand, fully prepared to launch another massacre at the slightest disagreement and quench the flames in her heart.

To Qiao Wanmian's disappointment, Li Xiangyi was luckier than she was after all: his master and mistress were wholeheartedly devoted to him. And by a stroke of good fortune, the mastermind was discovered to be Shan Gudao.

As for why that was fortunate, in Qiao Wanmian's view, the dim-witted Shan Gudao was far easier to deal with than a member of the imperial family.

As for how she had identified Shan Gudao as the mastermind so quickly, it was naturally because Qiao Wanmian had happened to encounter him on Mount Yun Yin, returned from the dead and preparing to betray his master and destroy his lineage.

Unfortunately for Shan Gudao, even though he had obtained all of Qi Mushan's inner power, and even though Qiao Wanmian's body was frail, she needed neither poison nor more than a few sword moves to take his life.

Qi Mushan, who had lost his inner power and suffered Qi Deviation, was also fortunate enough to encounter Qiao Wanmian, who was skilled in medicine. Not only did he escape with his life, but his Dantian and meridians were also completely unharmed. Although he had lost his inner power for the time being, cultivating it anew would not be much of a problem.

Having accidentally helped Li Xiangyi again, Qiao Wanmian felt even more gloomy. She stopped thinking about the plots surrounding him and, having saved Qi Mushan's life, went into secluded cultivation of the Heavenly Devil Instruction on Mount Yun Yin, a place no one would think to look.