On the fifteenth of August, at three-quarters past the Hour of the Snake, on the third floor of Bugui Tower—Sihui Dwelling.
Even in the daytime, the light on this floor remained extremely dim, and the air was constantly permeated with an eerie, uncanny fragrance.
That strange aroma was unlike incense, nor was it cosmetics or powder, much less the crisp scent given off by flowers or herbs... If forced to describe it, it seemed more like the natural musk produced by some kind of animal, and smelling it brought a tinge of nausea.
"Master, Mr. Wu has arrived." You Jing skillfully led Lao Wu to the entrance of a bedroom, announcing through the door in an even, measured tone.
Before long, a man's voice came from behind the door: "Let him in."
Having received the command, You Jing reached out and pushed the door open.
Yet he did not take a single step inside himself. He merely stood beside the doorway, turning his head to say to Lao Wu behind him, "Please."
Lao Wu steadied his nerves slightly, swallowed hard, and only then stepped across the threshold into the room.
Ever since becoming Shen Youran's confidant, Lao Wu had come here several times a month, yet even today, walking in here still felt thoroughly hair-raising.
The light inside the room was even dimmer than in the corridor outside. Even with the vision of a martial artist like Lao Wu, he could only barely make out the outlines of things in the room, unable to discern any details at all.
Of course, this was precisely what the master of this place intended—he did not want anyone to see his face clearly.
"Wu greets the Venerable Master." After taking a few steps inside, Lao Wu stopped and bowed with hands clasped, advancing no further.
Almost the instant he spoke, You Jing closed the door behind him.
In the dark, a person's hearing grew sharper, so Lao Wu soon clearly heard the sound of You Jing's retreating footsteps.
"Lao Wu..." Once You Jing was far off, the "Venerable Master" dwelling in the shadows finally spoke in a slow voice, asking Lao Wu, "How has Youran been lately?"
Standing in place, Lao Wu responded with utmost deference, "To answer the Venerable Master, thanks to your blessing, the Young Gang Leader is doing very well."
"Mm," the Venerable Master hummed thoughtfully, then said, "He sent you here because he has something to report, yes?"
"Yes," Lao Wu replied. "The Young Gang Leader sent me to report that the plan is proceeding very smoothly. Yesterday, at three-quarters past the Hour of the Dragon, he placed larvae of the 'Bliss Gu' into the tea and had everyone drink it. By the Hour of the Snake today, twelve double-hours have passed, and no one has noticed anything amiss... That is why the Young Gang Leader instructed me to come report to the Venerable Master while everyone's attention is focused on the tournament."
Having heard this, the Venerable Master let out a soft chuckle.
After a brief silence, he finally replied, "No, not 'everyone.'"
Those words sent a jolt through Lao Wu, turning his scalp completely numb. "Venerable Master! I..."
"I know. You repeatedly confirmed that you weren't being followed." The Venerable Master knew what Lao Wu wanted to say and answered before he could utter it. "I do not blame you, nor do I suspect you. Do not be afraid."
He had only spoken half of his words when, outside the door, You Jing's footsteps started up again.
*Tap, tap, tap...*
The footsteps came from far to near, pacing neither fast nor slow.
*Drip, drop... drip, drop...*
Yet listening closely, one could discover that besides the footsteps, there was another sound—a very faint sound of liquid dripping onto the floorboards.
At this moment, Lao Wu felt a chill run down his spine. Time suddenly seemed to crawl, as if those dozen or so steps You Jing took to reach the doorway had taken an entire hour.
"Master." Reaching the doorway, You Jing halted his steps and spoke, "Would you like to take a look?"
*Drip, drop... drip, drop...*
You Jing's footsteps had stopped, but the dripping sound had not.
"May as well," the Venerable Master replied.
No sooner had his voice fallen than You Jing opened the door once more.
Lao Wu turned his face slightly at this point, glancing toward the door out of the corner of his eye.
And there... in that dim light, You Jing stood silhouetted against the doorway, while his hand held a still-dripping, severed human head.
That was to say, in the brief span it took Lao Wu to exchange those few words with the Venerable Master, You Jing had already gone, killed someone, and severed their head—and the stir created during this entire process hadn't even been as loud as the sound of his footsteps.
"It took two moves in total. The opponent used the Five Spirits Cult's internal energy," You Jing said as he displayed the head to the Venerable Master inside. "Mediocre cultivation. Likely no one of any renown."
"Mm... good." The Venerable Master gave a casual acknowledgment. After staring at the head in the dark for a moment, he turned back to Lao Wu. "Lao Wu, if there's nothing else, you may head back. By the way, pass word along to Youran that he has done very well... Tomorrow night during the Hour of the Dog, everything proceeds according to plan."
"Understood." As Lao Wu gave this one-word response, cold sweat had already dripped from his forehead to the tip of his nose.
Even though the man had said he could return, until he actually stepped out of this place, Lao Wu still didn't dare let his guard down for a second.
"Oh, right." Just as Lao Wu turned to leave, the Venerable Master suddenly added another remark. "Regarding the matter of you being tailed by someone from the Five Spirits Cult..." He seemed to intentionally want to frighten Lao Wu, pausing slightly here before continuing, "...you needn't take it to heart. In any case, You Jing has already taken care of it for you. If you wish to mention it to Youran, go ahead; if not, then don't."
"No, no, no..." Those few seconds of pause had nearly made Lao Wu wet himself. The moment the Venerable Master finished speaking, Lao Wu answered in terror and trepidation, "This was entirely your subordinate's oversight. How could I dare hide it from the Young Gang Leader?"
"Heh..." The Venerable Master chuckled, having obtained the response he wanted. "Very well, then." Raising his voice slightly, he called out to You Jing at the door, "You Jing, see our guest out. Once you're done... remember to wash the floor clean."
............
To tell both sides of the tale, let us turn back to the Justice Sect's side.
With the noon hour drawing near, the third round of the martial exam was finally nearing its end.
Because the early rounds featured a larger number of participants, they naturally took longer; completing three rounds in a single morning was already quite an achievement. Once the later rounds had fewer contenders, the pace would naturally accelerate.
"Next up is the final bout of the third round: Guo Cong of the Zhongyi Sect of Qingyuan versus Sun Yixie of Hangzhou!"
Just as the sun climbed directly above the flagpole, the host stepped onto the stage to announce the combatants for the morning's final match.
Sun Yixie's name sat at the far right of the penultimate row on the tournament bracket, meaning that if he kept advancing, he would continually fight in the last bout of every round.
As for his opponent this round, Guo Cong, thanks to earning a passable score in the literary exam, he had received byes in the first two rounds, making this bout his tournament debut.
This Guo Cong was vastly different from Li Yuan.
Whether in scholarly knowledge or martial prowess, Li Yuan was merely stepping-stone material in this Youth Heroes Assembly. But Guo Cong... to use a modern concept, was a "seeded contender."
If nothing else, the sect Guo Cong hailed from was separated from Li Yuan's by an enormous gulf.
The "Four Sects and Three Gangs" mentioned multiple times in this tale specifically referred to: the Xingyi Sect of Cangzhou, the Justice Sect of Luoyang, the Zhongyi Sect of Qingyuan, the Xiayi Sect of Huai'an, the Salt Gang, the Water Transport Gang, and the Tea Gang.
These seven factions were the backbone of today's martial world. Comparing a sect of the Iron Fist Sect's scale to them was like comparing a convenience store to a commercial shopping mall; the difference in size was anything but negligible.
And Guo Cong was the representative of the Qingyuan Zhongyi Sect's younger generation this time around.
He had begun practicing martial arts at age five and achieved competence by fifteen. This year, at eighteen, he had already mastered the greater part of the Zhongyi Sect's advanced martial arts, and many disciples in their thirties or forties were no match for him. It could be said that he was currently in the prime of youthful arrogance, brimming with high spirits.
Coming to Luoyang to attend the Youth Heroes Assembly, Guo Cong had undoubtedly brought a mindset of seizing first place. Prior to today, other than Lin Yuancheng of the Cangzhou Xingyi Sect, he hadn't cared one bit about any of the other competitors.
Of course, after watching this morning's bouts, Lei Buji had become an eye-thorn he couldn't dislodge even if he tried. Just thinking about potentially having to clash with Lei Buji later in the martial exam made Guo Cong's legs tremble.
Yet that was another matter. Right now, his opponent was Sun Yixie, and Sun Yixie's performance up to this point... clearly wasn't worthy of Guo Cong's respect.
"Ha!"
Before the host's voice had even settled, Guo Cong let out a low shout. Internal energy surged with his voice, and his silhouette flashed into motion.
His lightness skill made the leap onto the stage as sharp and sudden as a crack of thunder. Once he landed, he seemed instantly rooted to the ring, his lower frame as stable as Mount Tai.
With this single move alone, it was evident his martial arts were far superior to those of Li Yuan whom Sun Yixie had previously encountered. Even many senior figures of the martial world beneath the stage couldn't help praising, "What splendid skill!"
Meanwhile, on the other side...
"Brother Sun, this guy Guo has some real skill. You're in for a rough beating," Huang Donglai, who also knew his stuff, murmured quietly to Sun Yixie the moment he saw Guo Cong's form.
"Shut the hell up!" Sun Yixie retorted with a crooked sneer. "Your bro is about to go up and throw down, and you're sitting here hyping up the other guy while tearing down your own side? Are you even human?"
"Fuck, you'd actually need a shot at winning for me to boost your damn pride," Huang Donglai fired back with his usual foul-mouthed swagger. "With this bastard's strength, even I might not beat him up there. With those half-baked tricks of yours, you're eighty percent likely to get wiped out in a second."
"Piss off!" Sun Yixie snapped, already getting to his feet. "I have my own tactics. Just watch and learn."
With that, he snatched up his trident, stepped forward, and let out another roaring shout just like the previous round: "Ahhh—!"
Yet this time he didn't pole-vault. It was nothing but a feint. Instead, he simply walked down the platform where his recliner was set up in the most ordinary way possible and headed toward the challenge arena. As he went, he called out to the fellow martial artists gathered around the ring: "Pardon me, coming through, please make way, thanks. Brother, give me some room. Ah, Senior, stepped on your foot, my apologies..."
He rambled and strolled his way through, slowly squeezing through the crowd to reach the edge of the arena, then skirted around toward the judges' pavilion, walked up the steps beside it, and finally hopped across a gap of about one meter to land upon the challenge arena.
Guo Cong had originally been thoroughly pleased with himself after his grand entrance, his momentum surging. But Sun Yixie pulling a stunt like this instantly threw Guo Cong's mood and rhythm into utter disarray.
"Please..." Guo Cong felt a surge of annoyance, though he couldn't quite tell what he was even angry about. His mouth twitching, he barely managed to salute Sun Yixie.
"Please!" And having gotten onto the stage, Sun Yixie set his trident down again, once more placing it near the edge on his side of the arena, before returning to the center to return the salute.
With the courtesies concluded, it was naturally time to fight.
Having witnessed Sun Yixie's unique stance and attack style earlier, Guo Cong did not fall out of sync the way Li Yuan had. The moment the match began, Guo Cong anchored his stance and assumed a counter-grappling posture, waiting for Sun Yixie to attack.
His line of reasoning was simple: Sun Yixie's cultivation was definitely inferior to his own. Even if he possessed a few bizarre striking forms, they wouldn't bridge the gap in true ability. Therefore, as long as he adopted a mindset of "taking a loss at first," enduring a few hits before finding an opening to grapple Sun Yixie and drag the fight into close-quarters wrestling, Sun Yixie wouldn't be able to pull off any tricks.
As for Sun Yixie, one look at Guo Cong's posture revealed the other boy's intentions. He instantly thought to himself, *You little punk want to play the ground game with me, huh? Heh... Today I'll teach you how to write the word "death"—which happens to be written the same in simplified and traditional, so...!*
Chapter 46