Ma the Fifth drew back ninety percent of the Joy Fire from Fan Bicong's body, leaving the remaining ten percent slowly burning across his back.
Looking at the soot and ashes covering Fan Bicong, Fatty Qin chuckled. "You're already seventy or eighty percent cooked. Reason dictates I should eat you while you're still hot, but I hear a certain senior is a friend of yours. Out of respect for him, I'll spare you a bit longer and take you to see him."
Having lived to his age, Fan Bicong naturally knew which senior Fatty Qin was referring to. The moment he laid eyes on Ye Jianhuang, Fan Bicong straightened his back, dropped to his knees, and cried out shrilly, "Spare my life, and I'll do whatever you say!"
Ye Jianhuang packed a bowl of tobacco leaves, pressed them down lightly twice with his thumb, and said to Fan Bicong, "Fetch me a light first!"
Fan Bicong grabbed a box of matches from beside the bed, struck one, and lit it for Ye Jianhuang.
Ye Jianhuang took a drag. The smoke circled Fan Bicong's skull twice. "Speak. How do you want to die?"
Fan Bicong raised his head and answered clearly, "I don't want to die!"
"Then tell me first: who sent you?"
"Mo Ruhei sent me."
"Mo Ruhei?" Ye Jianhuang bit down on his pipe bowl as the memory returned. "The Shadow Cultivator, Mo Ruhei. Just like you, he became a territory god more than a decade ago. Have the two of you made no advancement all these years?"
Fan Bicong replied without fear, "The territory is too remote to gather much popularity. My cultivation has remained stagnant as well."
Ye Jianhuang exhaled another puff of smoke. "Even if you haven't advanced, your lifespans aren't short. Why work for the Inner State?"
"The Inner State?" Fan Bicong shook his head repeatedly. "The Inner State has nothing to do with this! Mo Ruhei and I just felt our territory was too remote, and when we saw He Yuxiu had a proper land here, we wanted to seize it. Back when the two of us made a name for ourselves, He Yuxiu was still playing with mud and piss. Now that she's latched onto Li Qi, she gets a proper land just like that. We couldn't swallow our resentment, so we wanted to kill her—"
Sizzle!
Ye Jianhuang pressed the hot pipe bowl against Fan Bicong's face, tearing away a large chunk of flesh and skin.
Fan Bicong endured the agony, not daring to utter a sound.
Ye Jianhuang wiped the pipe bowl and chuckled. "Seize territory? Who are you trying to fool? If you really wanted to kill He Yuxiu, you'd have to lure her out of her territory first, or else you'd violate the peddler's rules. With your pathetic caliber, you dare challenge the peddler? Do you truly take me for a fool?"
Fan Bicong said, "Senior Ye, I wouldn't dare lie to you! Chuituogu and I came here precisely to escort He Yuxiu off her territory. Then we'd join forces with Mo Ruhei, trick her out of her covenant deed, and finish her off."
Sizzle!
Ye Jianhuang seared away another large patch of skin and flesh from Fan Bicong's face. First roasted by fire, then branded by hot metal, he was now truly on the verge of being fully cooked.
"Is this Chuituogu you speak of her?" Ye Jianhuang dragged over the corpse of the female Wind Cultivator.
The body seemed extraordinarily light, as if a gust of wind could blow it away.
Fan Bicong cast a glance at it and found Chuituogu's eyes completely lifeless and vacant. Looking closely, they truly were hollow voids—the whites and pupils were gone, leaving only two empty sockets. Not only her eyes, but her brain, internal organs, and bone marrow had all been turned into smoke and carried away by Ye Jianhuang. What lay before Fan Bicong was nothing more than an empty husk of skin.
Ye Jianhuang asked again, "Her name is Chuituogu? What is her relationship to the Blade Cultivator ancestor, Chuiduanfa?"
Fan Bicong kept his head lowered. "She is Chuiduanfa's descendant. Her Wind Cultivation medicine powder was procured for her by Chuiduanfa. Senior Ye, we were honestly just coveting He Yuxiu's newland. We have no ties with the Inner State!"
"Still refusing to tell the truth?" Ye Jianhuang dangled Chuituogu's skin sack, chuckling. "Do you want to end up like her?"
Around six in the morning, the battered and bruised Fan Bicong arrived at a desolate territory. Collapsing at the base of a tree, he panted heavily.
A shadow manifested beside Fan Bicong and whispered, "Is it done?"
"What do you think?" Fan Bicong sneered. "If it were done, would I look like this?"
The shadow rose from the ground and asked urgently, "Where is Chuituogu? Didn't she come back with you?"
Fan Bicong shook his head. "Chuituogu died at Ye Jianhuang's hands. I wanted to help her, but I didn't make it in time."
The shadow stomped his foot. "She couldn't die! She's Lord Nian's goddaughter! What the hell did you come back for? It should have been her who returned!"
Fan Bicong flared with rage. "Bullshit! Do you hear yourself speaking like a human being?"
The shadow sighed. "How am I supposed to account for this to Lord Nian?"
Fan Bicong smirked. "In my opinion, you won't need to account for anything."
The shadow froze. "What do you mean by that? How... did you get back?"
Fan Bicong said nothing. Sensing danger, the shadow instantly pulled back, intending to vanish on the spot, but it was already too late. A dense cloud of smoke engulfed him.
Unable to break free, his form—originally insubstantial as a shadow—condensed into solid flesh under the tight wrap of smoke.
Ye Jianhuang chuckled. "Mo Ruhei, how many years has it been since we last met?"
Mo Ruhei shouted in panic, "Senior Ye, this is a misunderstanding! I didn't come after you—I was after He Yuxiu!"
"Oh, so you were after me?" He Yuxiu stepped out slowly from the smoke and kicked the shadow.
Kicked flat onto the ground, the shadow simply stayed down. "Eldest Miss He, we saw that you had a proper land, and out of momentary greed, we wanted to take it for ourselves. We admit defeat this time. We only beg Senior Ye and Eldest Miss to show mercy and spare our lives."
Ye Jianhuang's voice came from the smoke. "Another stubborn mouth. Fan Bicong has already spilled everything he needed to spill. Stop your nonsense."
The shadow turned back to look at Fan Bicong. With shame written across his face, Fan Bicong nodded.
He Yuxiu asked, "The 'Lord Nian' you mentioned just now—is that Nian Shangyou?"
Mo Ruhei lay on the ground, motioning neither a limb nor a muscle. He had no expressions to show, being as pitch-black as a shadow. This was his territory; to say he was completely powerless to fight back would be a lie. He was waiting for the right moment.
Now was a good opportunity. Mo Ruhei's form swayed, releasing over a dozen shadows from the surrounding trees to besiege He Yuxiu and Ye Jianhuang.
These shadows had been prepared long ago. In terms of combat prowess, they were no match for Banfeng Two or Banfeng Zi. Yet they had a special use: when hugging the ground, their bodies became as thick and coarse as earth, making them very difficult to harm—a quality lacking in the technique of Body and Shadow Comforting Each Other.
Mo Ruhei intended to use these shadows as cover to buy himself a chance to escape.
Moving in a formation practiced over many years, the shadows darted back and forth beneath He Yuxiu's feet.
He Yuxiu did not strike rashly, merely watching the movement of the shadows in silence.
Mo Ruhei sped up the shadows. Taking advantage of He Yuxiu's lack of guard, two shadows burrowed beneath her feet, preparing to cripple her legs first.
Yet before Mo Ruhei could make his move, the soil on the ground suddenly flew upward, hurtling into the depths of the smoke.
Mo Ruhei was bewildered. Who had gathered the earth away? Without the earth, the shadows remained just the same; this was plainly an exercise in futility.
Still planning his escape, Mo Ruhei suddenly realized that his shadows were flying into the air along with the shattered soil.
What was going on?
Mo Ruhei had never seen such a move. Was this a new method Ye Jianhuang had developed? Ye Jianhuang was a Smoke Cultivator beyond above the clouds, and cultivators beyond above the clouds could create their own techniques; it was entirely reasonable for him to possess novel arts. Yet Smoke Cultivators generally fought through insidious permeation—never had he seen such an overwhelmingly forceful technique.
Whether to retrieve his shadows placed Mo Ruhei in a dilemma. If he recalled them now, he would lose his chance to flee. But if he didn't, losing each shadow would cost him a portion of his life—the greatest weakness of Shadow Cultivators.
Losing a portion was still better than harming his true body. Even though Ye Jianhuang could tear the shadows from the ground, Mo Ruhei gambled that the old man possessed no method to annihilate them swiftly. He chose to keep running.
Before he had run far, Mo Ruhei slowed. Every shadow pulled into the air had been destroyed, inflicting severe trauma upon him.
Was this Ye Jianhuang's technique, or was it He Yuxiu's doing? He Yuxiu hadn't seemed to move just now.
Gritting his teeth, Mo Ruhei darted across the ground, when amidst his daze he suddenly caught a whiff of smoke.
Disaster!
The smoke had penetrated into the earth, encircling Mo Ruhei's true body.
Left with no alternative, Mo Ruhei burst out of the ground and fled toward an open clearing, only for He Yuxiu to catch up in two strides, kicking him half to death in a flurry of blows.
Dragging Mo Ruhei before Ye Jianhuang, He Yuxiu tossed him onto the ground. Mo Ruhei looked up and saw a burly man standing beside Ye Jianhuang.
Mo Ruhei had investigated those acquainted with He Yuxiu; he knew this stout fellow was Qin Tianjiu, the Great Gold Seal of the Three Heroes Sect. Rumor had it this lad possessed no real skill and had reached his current standing purely through Li Qi's favor. What was he doing here? Could it be that Qin Tianjiu was the one who had destroyed all those shadows just now? How could he possibly wield such power?
Not only was Mo Ruhei astonished, but Ye Jianhuang was also somewhat mystified. He had watched with his own eyes as Qin Tianjiu devoured all of Mo Ruhei's shadows.
Ye Jianhuang had seen this technique once before. Called Whirlwind Sweeps Scattering Clouds, it was an above-the-clouds technique of Food Cultivators. The crux of the technique was to select a broad target and devour everything indiscriminately, then filter through it, spitting out what was useless and retaining what was beneficial. This art was quite difficult, and Food Cultivators above the clouds rarely practiced it. Ye Jianhuang felt Qin Tianjiu's cultivation shouldn't have reached above the clouds yet, but he had indeed executed an above-the-clouds technique, which struck Ye Jianhuang as defying reason.
Qin Tianjiu was Li Qi's man and the Great Gold Seal of the Three Heroes Sect. Out of regard for his status, Ye Jianhuang could not directly inquire about his cultivation.
Crouching on the ground, Mo Ruhei glared at Fan Bicong. "You bird of an asshole, you sold me out just like that?"
Fan Bicong remained seated beneath the tree. "Had our positions been reversed, you would have sold me out too. Neither of us has room to talk."
Mo Ruhei turned to Ye Jianhuang. "Senior, don't listen to Fan Bicong's nonsense! We sought out Miss He to—"
Ye Jianhuang blew a mouthful of smoke directly into Mo Ruhei's face. "Think through the consequences before you speak."
Mo Ruhei hung his head, hesitated for a moment, and confessed the truth. "I took up a post in the Inner State, and Nian Shangyou is my superior. Although this territory belongs to me, I no longer manage it; I usually serve in the Inner State. This time, Nian Shangyou gave me the assignment to kill He Yuxiu and seize her covenant deed. If the mission succeeded, Nian Shangyou would reward me with a massive amount of popularity. So I recruited Fan Bicong and Chuituogu to carry it out. Once done, I was to split half the popularity with them."
Hearing this, He Yuxiu laughed. "You sure made a tidy bargain—pocketing half without putting in any effort yourself!"
Mo Ruhei mumbled softly, "I procured the business, so I deserved that share—"
He Yuxiu kicked Mo Ruhei. "Don't talk about 'business' in front of me! That's my life and my territory! Now that you've botched the job, how will you account for it to Nian Shangyou when you return? You're dead either way, so why don't I grant you your wish right here?"
With those words, He Yuxiu drew a dagger and pried open Mo Ruhei's skull with a single slice, faintly revealing his brain.
"You're not even dead after that?" He Yuxiu peered closely at the crack in his skull. "Your brain looks different from other people's. I brought a spoon with me; let me scoop out a spoonful for you to see."
Qin Tianjiu said, "Sister Xiu, Mo Ruhei is a senior after all. We shouldn't treat him like this. Wait here while I go find some dipping sauce."
Mo Ruhei shrieked, "Eldest Miss He! Spare my life, and I can give an explanation to Nian Shangyou! If the mission failed, I just won't ask for a reward! I'm still useful—I can return to the Inner State and serve as an insider for you all! Whether big or small, whenever anything happens in the Inner State, I'll return immediately to inform you!"
He Yuxiu wiped her blade against Mo Ruhei's face. "What kind of intel could a minor pawn like you possibly dig up?"
"I have intel, vital intel!" Mo Ruhei clutched his skull, terrified she would pry it open again. "I know the whereabouts of the Bandit Suppression Battalion! This isn't hearsay—I've been there in person! When running errands for Nian Shangyou, I delivered letters to the Bandit Suppression Battalion! I've seen the encampment, and I've seen the royal soldiers inside! From now on, whenever the Bandit Suppression Battalion makes a move, I'll let you know. You can prepare in advance and guarantee victory in every battle! If you kill me now, Nian Shangyou will definitely become suspicious, and he'll know the secret of the Bandit Suppression Battalion was leaked. By then, the camp will be relocated, and you'll miss such a golden opportunity!"
Hearing this, Qin Tianjiu glanced at He Yuxiu.
He Yuxiu wasn't sure either, so she looked toward Ye Jianhuang.
Ye Jianhuang asked, "Where is the Bandit Suppression Battalion located?"
Mo Ruhei replied immediately, "In Meiyi."
Ye Jianhuang had some knowledge of the Shang State and found Mo Ruhei's claim utterly preposterous. "Nonsense! Meiyi is a land of music and dance; how could it be a place for training troops?"
Mo Ruhei said, "I'm truly not lying! It's precisely because nobody would ever suspect that place that it was kept so secretive!"
Ye Jianhuang fell silent for a long while. Reaching into his breast pocket, he pulled out a sheet of covenant paper, blew a mouthful of smoke onto it, and handed it to Mo Ruhei. "You understand the rules of Puluo Province."
Naturally, Mo Ruhei dared not refuse. He turned toward Fan Bicong. "I can certainly get the job done, but I fear this man might leak word."
"No need to fear." Ye Jianhuang looked toward Qin Tianjiu. "Brother, are you hungry?"
Qin Tianjiu shook his head slightly.
With a wave of Ye Jianhuang's hand, smoke began to billow from Fan Bicong's body, yet no sound could escape his mouth.
Amidst the smoke, a spider swayed on its web for a moment before crawling away along the tree branch.
***
Li Banfeng stood in the rear garden of the Marquis Mansion, about thirty meters away from the Emerald Green Pavilion. Calming his mind, he sensed Jiang Ling'er's every move.
Jiang Ling'er sat on the second floor of the pavilion. She flicked a vase by the bedside with her finger, producing a crisp chime.
Outside the building, Li Banfeng flicked his fingertips, employing the technique of Broadening the Bridal Chamber to transport the vase from inside the room to the outside, right beside him.
Jiang Ling'er then touched a handkerchief.
The silk handkerchief was soft and smooth, producing virtually no sound.
Li Banfeng sensed it for dozens of seconds, then used Bridal Chamber Exchange to swap the handkerchief outside as well.
Jiang Ling'er opened the third drawer of the cabinet, opened a sewing kit inside, and touched an embroidery needle resting in the fifth compartment of the box.
After waiting for over a minute, she heard Li Banfeng shout from outside, "Don't push it too far!"
Jiang Ling'er let out an eerie chuckle, feeling slightly pleased with herself.
Just as Li Banfeng intended to take a short rest, Luo Shaojun delivered a letter.
Opening it, he found it was written by He Yuxiu. The letter detailed their investigation into the Bandit Suppression Battalion and specially emphasized that they had planted an insider beside Nian Shangyou.
Li Banfeng read it over several times. He kept feeling certain details were off, though he couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong.
Taking the letter, his wife read it through and asked him, "Has my husband ever heard of this person named Mo Ruhei?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "Never heard of him."
His wife reread the letter, deduced the events from start to finish, and shook her head. "This person knows too much."
Li Banfeng had similar thoughts, but felt a few doubtful points in his line of reasoning. "Wife, explain in detail."
"Killing He Yuxiu and seizing the covenant deed—the purpose behind the Shang State's action remains unclear for now. When something is unclear, one should not dwell on it. Whatever their goal may be, this is a matter directed against Puluo Province; let us call it an external affair." His wife swept aside a layer of loose dirt on the garden ground, drew a line, and following this line, helped Li Banfeng organize his thoughts bit by bit.
"Rebuilding the Bandit Suppression Battalion is a paramount affair for the Shang State. Regardless of where the camp is stationed, how many troops are being trained, or how long the training will last, this is an internal matter of the Shang State; let us call it an internal affair. Whether internal or external, both have specific operatives assigned to them. Thus, it is hardly surprising for a minor pawn to know about one of these matters. But if a mere pawn knows about both internal and external affairs simultaneously, that is rather abnormal. Especially since this operation is spearheaded by Qiao Yi, he would never allow a figure like Mo Ruhei to know so much. Therefore, this servant believes we must treat this matter with great caution."
No sooner had she finished speaking than Li Banfeng dipped his brush in ink and penned a letter instructing He Yuxiu and the others to hold their ground and await further word.
He remained in Boundless City, continuing his study of techniques.
***
Shang State, Meiyi.
Unlike other cities in the Shang State, Meiyi had no intricate nine-ring city structure, nor did it have many factories. Instead, it was filled with teahouses, taverns, inns, music halls, and song-and-dance pavilions.
The Inner State had no sunlight, yet Meiyi was brightly lit around the clock. Shops along the streets took turns operating, and the sounds of singing, melodies, laughter, and revelry echoed ceaselessly. From highbrow art to popular tunes, all tastes were catered to, appealing to refined and unrefined alike.
Had scouts not spotted soldiers in Meiyi three separate times, Zuo Anna would never have believed that the Shang State's Bandit Suppression Battalion could actually be stationed here.
Concealed by disguise and illusion arts, Zuo Anna's frame had grown as towering as an Inner State native's. She had sprouted two extra legs, moving on all four limbs with long, slender proportions beneath emerald-green robes, looking like a praying mantis.
Behind her were over a hundred women of equally towering stature, heavily powdered and lightly clad—unmistakably dancing girls.
In Chaoge, over a hundred dancing girls walking through the streets would surely arouse suspicion, but in Meiyi, it was an everyday sight. Last year, when a high dignitary held his sixtieth birthday banquet, he hired six hundred dancing girls to entertain his guests, yet during the feast, he still felt the spectacle lacked sufficient grandeur.
Zuo Anna led the group down a quiet, deserted street. The illusion art gradually shifted, reducing the visible number of dancing girls. After walking for three minutes, all of them had vanished completely.
Among the passersby, an occasional pedestrian sensed something amiss and looked toward the dancing girls' former position. Yet driven by an unseen force, their gazes soon drifted elsewhere. Their attention was caught by the distant music, and the vanished dancing girls quickly faded from memory.
Remaining invisible, Zuo Anna led the group into a residential compound. No master or servants were visible within, yet soldiers stood sentry and patrolled the grounds.
Zuo Anna intensified her illusion art to ensure no one was spotted. Together, they descended into a water well in the rear courtyard. After diving several dozen meters underwater, Zuo Anna and the others broke the surface, emerging into an underground training ground.
Upon the drill grounds, soldiers were currently drilling, each possessing three heads—proof of their extraordinary lineage.
Zuo Anna removed a hairpin from her head, releasing a waft of peach blossom fragrance. This was the command to initiate the operation.
The hundred-plus dancing girls behind her grabbed their respective gear, rushing into the military formation under invisibility, prepared for battle.
Their gear was exceedingly simple: each carried a magic staff. By planting the staffs in fixed positions, they instantly formed a powerful magic array.
Driven by these hundred-plus sorcerers, the array would erupt with immense power, annihilating all the Bandit Suppression Battalion soldiers present.
With all staffs in position, Zuo Anna replaced the hairpin onto her head. The scent of peach blossoms dispersed once more, and all the sorcerers unleashed their magic.
The staffs radiated halos of light, transforming into invisible blades that slashed into the soldiers of the Bandit Suppression Battalion, without harming the sorcerers in the slightest.
These sorcerers were the elites of the White Falcon League.
A soldier of the Bandit Suppression Battalion fell to the ground, all three heads severed.
Bone and flesh were visible from the wounds, yet not a single drop of blood could be seen.
A nearby sorcerer was astonished, staring at the corpse for a moment.
These people seemed to have blood, but it wasn't a familiar color.
Another sorcerer faintly caught a whiff of grease. What flowed inside these soldiers seemed to be oil—
"They're puppets!" a sorcerer shouted.
"They're all puppets! This isn't the Bandit Suppression Battalion; this is a trap set by the Shang State!" Another sorcerer, having examined several corpses, realized the dire situation.
Zuo Anna immediately issued the retreat order. The sorcerers gathered their staffs and prepared to retrace their steps, only to discover that the original path could no longer be found.
The training ground was strewn with the corpses of soldiers, yet no matter which direction they turned, they could find no exit.
Zuo Anna shouted, "Do not panic! This is the Shang State's bewilderment array. Let us search for a way out together!"
The well-trained sorcerers raised their staffs in unison, preparing to break the array.
Raging flames suddenly surged from the ground, instantly sweeping through every corner of the training grounds fueled by the corpses of the "soldiers."
***
Shang State, Chaoge.
Qiao Yi drew out a document and handed it to Nian Shangyou. "Meiyi has been attacked. Few people should have known about that encampment, and only one person has been to Puluo Province recently."
Nian Shangyou nodded, took the document, and left.
Arriving at a residence within the Third Ring City, Nian Shangyou summoned Mo Ruhei. "Lord Qiao has an important matter to discuss with you in private."
Mo Ruhei started. Given his status, Qiao Yi rarely assigned him missions alone; it seemed a major task awaited him.
In the past, Mo Ruhei would have considered this an opportunity to advance his station, but today he felt thoroughly uneasy. He debated whether to inform He Yuxiu.
He didn't want to tell He Yuxiu, for he didn't wish to ruin his bright future in the Shang State, but he had yet to devise a way to bypass the covenant deed.
Reaching Qiao Yi's official residence, Nian Shangyou led Mo Ruhei into a wing room and had the guards lock the door.
Nian Shangyou asked, "Old Mo, were you captured alive by them?"
Mo Ruhei shook his head. "Absolutely not! Your subordinate fought back fiercely and broke through the encirclement to escape."
Nian Shangyou's expression remained flat. "There is still time to speak the truth."
"My lord, every word I have spoken is the absolute truth."
Nian Shangyou struck the table. Two spikes shot up from the floor, piercing through the soles of Mo Ruhei's feet. These two spikes were a weapon designed to prevent Mo Ruhei from unleashing his techniques.
Mo Ruhei dared not struggle, continuing to explain desperately, "Lord Nian, I wasn't captured! I truly fought my way out!"
Nian Shangyou tapped his fingertips lightly against the table. The spikes rose higher and higher, slowly bending until they pierced straight into Mo Ruhei's knees.
The searing agony proved unbearable for Mo Ruhei. Within less than ten minutes, he changed his story: "Lord Nian, I truly was taken alive! I was—"
A plume of dense smoke drifted out from Mo Ruhei's mouth.
Nian Shangyou called for the physician to rush in, but by the time the physician entered the room, the smoke had completely dispersed. Mo Ruhei stood frozen in place, his shell entirely empty within.
Chapter 753