Li Xuanfeng lowered his head. Knowing better than to answer aloud, he remained silent. Yuansu raised a hand and said casually, "Make another trip to the Eastern Sea. Kill some people for me."
Reaching into his sleeve, he drew out a roll of silk densely inscribed with names. Prominent family names were not lacking among them, though only a small portion belonged to Foundation Establishment cultivators; the vast majority were young, unfamiliar names.
Li Xuanfeng nodded, caught it gently, and slipped it into his robes.
Yuansu then drew a jade talisman from his bosom. His voice sank low, and the indolence that usually marked his demeanor finally revealed a touch of age. "This is a Buddhist object obtained from the north. It can obscure your karmic mandate. Keep this on you when you kill, lest someone trace it back to your door."
Watching Li Xuanfeng accept it, he waved his hand listlessly. "Go. Clean them out within ten years."
Li Xuanfeng bowed and withdrew. Once he flew back into his own cave dwelling, he examined the cloth carefully. Upon it were people from Chijiao Island, Tangjin Gate, the Han family, and even Xuanyue Gate, Hengzhu Dao, the Qingchi Sect... every sect had members listed.
Just the cultivators named on this silk alone would offend virtually everyone in the State of Yue and across the Eastern Sea.
As Li Xuanfeng departed, a patch of cloud and mist dispersed. Ning Heyuan was kneeling on the other side of the jade platform, his face covered in sweat.
Yuansu slowly rose and stood beside him, murmuring, "Do you understand now?"
Ning Heyuan cast his eyes down, trembling as he said, "True Person, why must you go to such lengths..."
Ning Heyuan was by no means stupid. He saw things clearly: virtually no one in the Ning family could keep Li Xuanfeng in check. If Yuansu were to die suddenly overnight and Ning Wan failed her breakthrough, the family's future would be precarious and unpredictable.
Yuansu had cultivated his way to becoming a True Person, and his scheming was naturally profound. He could never pin Li Xuanfeng's loyalty solely on Ning Hemian. When the time came, with Li Xizhi and Li Xuanfeng stationed in the sect as two Foundation Establishment cultivators while the Li family rose like the morning sun, it would be hard to say who was whose vassal.
His present scheme had Li Xuanfeng secretly assassinate these people, placing undeniable leverage in the Ning family's hands. If ever exposed, it would be enough to doom Li Xuanfeng with no burial ground.
Likewise, once Li Xuanfeng was burdened with these blood debts, Yuansu would not even need to act—Li Xuanfeng would sever ties with the Li family entirely on his own... Truly killing three birds with one stone.
Yet no matter how thoroughly Li Xuanfeng was controlled, it could not provide even a ten-thousandth of the security of Yuansu remaining in the world. Ning Heyuan's hands trembled as he wept, "Heyuan... Heyuan is useless. There are still so many matters I must consult the True Person on... How can it... end like this? I fear the clan will lose its pillar."
True Person Yuansu paused slightly. His expression twisted for a moment, and his hands clenched tightly under his robes, as though restraining something.
A Purple Mansion True Person was unlike an ordinary man of power. When common men grew old, their minds wandered into senility, leaving them frail and impotent, powerless to do whatever they wished.
Yet a Purple Mansion cultivator retained the might of divine abilities until the very final breath of their lifespan. They watched with sober, wide-open eyes as they perished, shrouded by the omens of dwindling longevity. The horror in this surpassed that of ordinary mortals ten-thousandfold.
Thus, it was not unheard of for Purple Mansion experts to embark on bloody rampages or torment their own kin before dying. Ning Heyuan had heard such tales; seeing Yuansu's darkened expression, he clamped his mouth shut at once.
Only after several long breaths did Yuansu slowly open his eyes. His visage was ruthless and grim. Taking a step forward, he spat out a single word: "Get out."
Ning Heyuan scrambled back, clattering out of the cave dwelling. The stone doors shut heavily, leaving Yuansu standing alone in place.
Ning Tiaoxiao gritted his teeth in silence for an instant, exhaling a deep breath. As the clouds and mist in the cave dwelling dispersed, layers of eerie light surfaced on the stone walls, revealing lifelike faces one after another.
Ning Tiaoxiao stared deeply at these faces. He counted their numbers, pinched his fingers in divination, and a look of despair surfaced. He murmured in a low voice, "Books burned, registers erased, the false substituting for the real, the spurious confusing the genuine... The people of this world have no clear path left to tread.
"Brother Qun...
"Chi Wei said that in a world where the orthodox path has been sealed off, all crooked and depraved paths become the orthodox. Brother Qun... Tiaoxiao's lifespan is near its end. I never awaited any immortal. I have only drunk a century more of the people's blood, committed a century more of evil deeds, merely waiting for death."
Mist slowly rose, and his silhouette vanished into the white smoke. Lowering his head as if in repentance, the spiritual water on the ground ceased flowing and drifted up in stillness.
"Only thus can I protect our clans."
***
"True Person Yuansu is planning for matters after his demise. This is a certificate of allegiance."
After leaving the cave dwelling, Li Xuanfeng flew all the way to his own manor before taking out the register for a closer look.
He squinted, his hands trembling slightly as name after name flashed across his mind. As expected, nearly every family friendly with the Li family had members on the list.
"...Yuansu... quite the stroke."
Without a word, Li Xuanfeng walked dazed and crestfallen into his manor. Ning Hemian was sitting in the courtyard beneath the gentle sunlight while a child recited lessons. The man stopped in his tracks, arms folded across his chest in a daze, as if ensnared by a hallucination.
It had been the same gentle sunlight, the same tranquil courtyard, with a molting wild goose that honked as it wandered back and forth.
Only, Yishan City's aura pierced the heavens; wild geese migrating south never flew over this city. The Ning family's threshold was equally lofty, inscribed with arrays, and a goose flapping its wings could never fly inside.
"Husband!"
Ning Hemian looked up in delight, her bright eyes overflowing with joy. It struck Li Xuanfeng with sudden horror. He did not hear his wife's gentle, soft-spoken words; his stomach churned violently, nausea rising within him.
Two faces flickered back and forth in his mind, making him grit his teeth until they nearly shattered.
Li Xuanfeng stood pale and motionless. The scene of his wife and son's tragic deaths resurfaced before his eyes, interweaving with the scene before him. Memories he had buried deep and deliberately avoided came unearthing layer by layer.
He breathed heavily until Ning Hemian stepped forward and shook his arm, her eyes full of worry and affection. Only then did the haze recede from his mind, and he gave a gentle wave of his hand.
His expression soon returned to normal. He sat on a stone stool for a while, his eyes somewhat blank.
To whom should he look for vengeance? He already knew a great deal: he understood it was a transaction between Chi Wei and Jiang Boqing that forced Tangjin Gate to make its move and head south... At that time, Chi Zhiyun had not wanted to dirty his hands, so he had the Ning family oversee things and watch from the shadows.
Now Chi Wei was dead, and Jiang Boqing was dead too. Where could he seek this revenge? Against Ning Wan and the Ning family who oversaw the matter? Direct all the hatred toward the Chi family? Pondering back and forth, Li Xuanfeng gripped his golden bow and shut his eyes.
"Now... I am ordered to kill, to slaughter the clans of friends and kin as a certificate of allegiance, no different from Tangjin Gate, the Ning family, the Xiao family, or the lackeys of Qingchi back then.
"How am I any different from those who killed Yu'er and my son? Enjoying the wealth of an immortal clan, marrying and fathering children... If Yu'er knew, she would spit on me for being shameless."
His brows lowered again, taking on a somber gloom, his lips trembling. The sky darkened rapidly. It felt as though a cold, venomous fire was burning in Li Xuanfeng's heart, leaving his hands and feet icy and his mind dazed.
The courtyard was now empty, save for Ning Hemian, who still sat gently before him, holding his hand without a word.
He raised his brows to look at his wife, but how could such words cross his lips? They only stuck like thorns in his throat. After trembling for a long while, he merely managed, "Mian'er, the True Person wants me to kill."
Ning Hemian was exceedingly clever. Casting her gaze down, she took the list from his hand. Her grip on his fingers tightened as she forced herself to say, "This is a certificate of allegiance..."
Li Xuanfeng's heart felt as cold as an unyielding stone. He listened as Ning Hemian read with a pale face:
"Xiao Fu... this is Xiao Guitu's sixth grandson... Kong Gusun... Kong Yu's nephew! Cheng Xu'en... an inner disciple of the Sword Sect... though not highly regarded... still a person of the Sword Sect... The True Person... how could the True Person!"
Ning Hemian rose abruptly from her seat, her pretty face as white as paper. Just as she was about to ride the wind into the air, Li Xuanfeng pulled her back. His lips pale, the man whispered, "My family killed Yu Muxian."
These words fell upon Ning Hemian's ears like thunder. She sat back down in a daze, watching Li Xuanfeng staring at the ground, his eyes avoiding hers. Husband and wife sat facing each other in silence until Li Xuanfeng said, "There is no other way out of this. If there is guilt before Heaven and Earth, let it be visited upon me, so that it does not implicate... others."
Ning Hemian's hands slowly slipped down. She watched him quietly; under the moonlight, his temples had turned entirely white.
***
In the ninth month, the rain fell incessantly.
The people of Lijing Town had been scattered and idle for several years. Not a day passed without rain, and without a break in the downpour, crops could not grow, rotting into a black blight across the fields.
Famines had already broken out beyond their borders. Stable factions fared tolerably well; as long as Qi Refinement cultivators took to the wind, they could always trade for plenty of grain wherever they went. The lands of Jiangnan were fertile to overflowing; with due effort, people would not starve to death.
The Yu family had splintered into six or seven minor clans, yet the common people's lives had actually improved. These non-agnatic clans were thinly populated and eager to promote cultivators of humble birth; having received warnings from the Li family as well, they were naturally not stingy with their grain.
Li Chengliao was in the hall holding his heir while reading, when he saw someone approaching from below.
This man was clad in armor, a late Qi Refinement cultivator holding a large golden mallet in each hand, tall and burly—it was Li Wen.
As a rare standout among the Li family's collateral branch, Li Wen had gradually climbed to the peak of power attainable to him. Fiercely loyal, his twin golden mallets had guarded several generations of family patriarchs, even though he was unneeded most of the time.
Li Chengliao had been gradually taking over authority from Li Xicheng. Transferring Li Wen to his command was like handing him a banner, an unmistakable sign of succession.
Li Chengliao was courteous to this veteran retainer. Setting Li Zhouwei down from his lap, he looked up, and the burly man spoke: "Reporting to the Young Master, Guest Elder Lu is here to see you."
"Guest Elder Lu?"
Li Chengliao was not surprised. This man was the prime culprit behind Yu Mugao's death and the Yu family's fracture. Just as he was about to ask further, Li Wen continued, "He was stopped over the lake by Senior Wushao and can neither advance nor retreat. Senior Wushao called Old Ancestor Ximing over, and the three of them are now in a standoff above the waters."
Li Wen was rough by nature, yet spoke with unhurried composure. This was quite a major incident. Li Chengliao raised his brows, swiftly rose, and strode out, asking, "A mere Qi Refinement cultivator... was able to summon two Foundation Establishment experts to receive him?!"
Hesitating for a moment, he rode the wind into the sky, observing only from a distance.
***
Guest Elder Lu, dressed in white robes and holding a folding fan in hand, drifted down lightly onto the surface of the lake, completely fearless before the Foundation Establishment demon monster.
Taking a few steps in midair, he watched a man in golden Daoist robes arrive upon the wind to join the other. Only then did he tuck away the flippancy on his face, cupping his hands with a faint bow as he smiled, "An old friend pays a visit. Will you two not invite me inside for a seat?"
Li Wushao's face was dark as he stared fixedly at him. This person possessed middle Foundation Establishment cultivation; by all logic, there was no way he could be a mere Yu family guest elder. The serpent demon merely waited for Li Ximing to speak.
Li Ximing felt his heart thumping, but having received a proper upbringing in his youth, though out of practice for years, he could still manage if he steeled himself. Adopting an appropriate posture, he extended a hand. "Fellow Daoist, please."
Guest Elder Lu showed no fear whatsoever. Following the two into the formation, he gave a chuckle and cupped his hands: "I am Jiang Heqian. Having once had the fortune of joining hands against enemies with Fellow Daoist Tongya, we share some friendship. I wonder if your noble clan still remembers."
At these words, Li Ximing was instantly startled. Having read the family history, how could he not know?
Back then, the Yu family had flourished like oil poured on fire, with two Foundation Establishment cultivators holding the fort. They had established the Dense Forest Market and sought to climb higher, only to encroach upon the interests of multiple factions at once, even drawing the ire of the Xiao family.
Li Tongya had allied with multiple parties, not only slaying the Yu family's old ancestor but also razing the market. During that destruction, he had joined forces with Fei Wangbai and Jiang Heqian, the scion of the Jiang family remnants, dealing the Yu family a devastating blow.
Jiang Heqian had even played a pivotal role in breaching the Yu family's grand array with ease. Li Ximing had only read this name in the records, and now seeing a figure from history standing before him brought a rushing sense of the passage of time.
Yet what followed immediately was a profound dread.
*This man is an orphan of the Jiang family, which was founded long ago by an outer disciple of the Yuehua Primordial Mansion. Countless factions sought him, yet his whereabouts were never heard.*
*Who would have thought... who would have thought he would disguise himself as a Qi Refinement guest elder, enduring decades within the Yu family, only to end up killing Yu Mugao and orchestrating the Yu family's fracture...*
Thinking of this, Li Ximing experienced a flash of enlightenment:
*No wonder... No wonder the Yu family, a prominent clan, lacked any means to stabilize itself and came so easily to the brink of collapse. If Yuanwu Peak had not intervened once, the Yu family would have fallen apart long ago!*
*It was this man driving things behind the scenes all along... seeking an eye for an eye! Blood for blood!*
In the past, the Jiang family had flourished, with the Yu and An families serving as outside branches under their wing. Later, when the main line lost power, several neighboring immortal sects quietly nudged the collapse along, shattering the clan completely.
The Yu family had been the greatest beneficiary among them, producing a succession of talents over the ensuing decades to achieve their former stature. Yet Jiang Heqian had bided his time for a hundred years, exacting full retribution for everything that had been done.
As his disbelief subsided, Li Ximing pondered it further and realized the scheme had indeed been entirely viable. The Jiang family's legacy likely contained concealment techniques; while they could not deceive a Foundation Establishment cultivator of equal cultivation, they were more than enough to baffle mere Qi Refinement cultivators.
Once Yu Xiaogui died, the Yu family had no Foundation Establishment cultivators left. Who remained capable of discerning his true cultivation? Even the spies from various families were at best Qi Refinement cultivators who could never see through him.
*Ingenious... truly ingenious...*
Jiang Heqian observed his reaction with ample satisfaction, seemingly deriving the pleasure of successful vengeance from it. Laughing heartily, he pointed toward the north and grinned: "Well? Yu Mugao's head and this generous gift—does your noble clan find them to your liking?"
He laughed uproariously, taking on an almost manic air. Slowly regaining his composure, he added with a tinge of regret: "A pity, though... that Fellow Daoist Tongya and Wangbai cannot witness this with their own eyes. It takes away a bit of the satisfaction!"
Chapter 483