All the jianghu knew that the Da Ming imperial court boasted four renowned experts known as the "Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon."
Among them, "Wind" referred to Feng Manlou.
As mentioned earlier, he was stationed at the Yingzhou Guard; whether by seniority or martial prowess, he stood foremost among these four great experts.
However, Feng Manlou hailed from the military ranks—he was a soldier. As such, he carried none of the typical jianghu flair, nor did he put on bureaucratic airs. He was more like an exceptionally outstanding soldier or frontline commander: placing the utmost importance on discipline, possessing a sharp sense of right and wrong, and upright and unbending to a fault.
And tonight, the two watching the fire from across the river atop a roof near the Tianqi Gang compound were likewise counted among the Four Great Experts.
The shorter one was named Hua Shili.
The taller one was named Shui Hanyi.
These two were very different from Feng Manlou...
Both held posts in the Brocade Guard—the imperial secret service, so to speak. The matters they handled day to day were vastly more complicated than anything Feng Manlou dealt with.
Rather than head-on combat, Hua Shili and Shui Hanyi engaged far more often in assassinations, gathering intelligence, deep-cover operations, and the like.
Of course, that did not mean their martial arts in a straight duel were vastly inferior to Feng Manlou's.
Take Shui Hanyi, for instance. He was thirty-seven this year, had practiced martial arts for thirty years, and had trained with the saber for twenty-five under Wu Yi, the "Saber Tiger of Shandong." His mastery of saber techniques was formidable enough that even Villa Master Song of Shendao Mountain Villa would treat him with great wariness.
With his skills, besting Shen Youran would likely be well within his reach, but... add Gu Qiying into the mix, and things would become difficult for him.
Gu Qiying was undeniably a master of the supreme tier. His innate martial talent was by no means inferior to his elder brother Gu Qizong's, and having outlived his brother by more than a decade, reaching this realm was only natural.
Furthermore, beyond his martial arts, he possessed another trait that was exceptionally difficult to deal with: his constitution.
Back then, after Gu Qiying escaped from the ruins of the Five Spirits Cult's head altar, he was left with wounds and afflictions that the medical knowledge of this era had no hope of curing. To defy that fate, he resorted to forbidden methods, transforming his own body into a vessel coexisting symbiotically with gu.
One could even consider his entire being to be a gu—and not merely a gu, but a "nest" and a "host mother"...
Acupoints, joints, vital spots—the standard concepts of martial arts and medicine were utterly meaningless when applied to Gu Qiying.
In other words, he feared no acupoint striking, nor did he fear joint locks. Wounds that would be fatal to ordinary people might not even trouble him much.
On top of that, he had used this bizarre physique to master an array of supreme martial disciplines: not only the arts of the former Tianqi Gang, but also the techniques of the Justice Sect, along with numerous secret manuals of various sects gathered through the power of Youying... For someone like him, mastering all of them was hardly a challenge.
On this point, Lin Yuancheng would likely understand him. In the eyes of people with such natural gifts, only martial arts created by geniuses equal to themselves presented any real difficulty to learn; ordinary martial arts that anyone could comprehend could be seventy or eighty percent grasped just by watching someone perform them.
All things considered, at least for now, Shui Hanyi was probably no match for Gu Qiying.
Shui Hanyi himself was well aware of the disparity between them. After all, he had been secretly investigating Youying and the Justice Sect for quite some time... Hence, he had only told Hua Shili that he was going to "meet" the man, not that he intended to fight to the death.
So what were Shen Youran and Gu Qiying doing at this moment?
Naturally, they were mad with rage.
Gu Qiying in particular: upon hearing the news that the hostages had vanished en masse and fires were raging unchecked across the compound, he froze in astonishment for several seconds before nearly losing his mind to fury. Had he not struck the reporting disciple dead on the spot to vent his spleen, his blood pressure might have spiked so hard he would have suffered a stroke and collapsed right there.
Just imagine: you have quietly plotted a grand conspiracy, stewing for over a decade and turning yourself into something neither human nor ghost. You finally pull it off, and while you're smugly sipping tea, chatting with your confidant, and painting glorious castles in the air... someone goes and sacks your base!
Those two hundred-odd young heroes and executives of the orthodox sects were originally Gu Qiying's vital leverage to hold the entire martial world by the throat, and now not a single one remained. On top of that, the headquarters for his operation—the former Justice Sect and current Tianqi Gang headquarters—was on the verge of burning to the ground.
At the thought of his "headquarters," Gu Qiying could not help recalling... You Jing and Huang Donglai seemed to have been gone for far too long. Could something have gone awry there as well?
The more he pondered, the more amiss it felt. Before long, realization dawned on him, and he cursed under his breath.
"Damn it!" Gu Qiying's expression twisted into something hideous. Gritting his teeth, he barked at Shen Youran, "Where are Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai's rooms? Take me there at once!"
By now, Shen Youran had also sensed that tonight's chaos was very likely connected to Sun and Huang, so without another word, he led Gu Qiying there.
There was no need to boast of their lightness skill. Even if the flames grew larger, as long as there was no ceiling over their heads, they had no fear of being trapped. Besides, the fire had not yet reached the point where they were forced to flee. Ignoring the gang members running about in utter disarray fighting the flames, they pushed off the ground, vaulted into the air, and darted side by side toward the guest rooms where Sun and Huang had stayed.
Before long, the two arrived at their destination. Gu Qiying was a cautious man; to prevent ambushes or traps behind the doors, he did not step forward to open them. Instead, he channeled his internal energy and casually drew two half-man-high ornamental boulders from the garden toward him, then thrust his palms forward, launching them outward.
The two boulders hurtled toward Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai's doors like twin missiles. With two tremendous crashes, the doors were blown to splinters, looking like glass windows struck by gas canisters.
Yet as it turned out, there was neither ambush nor trap inside.
Gu Qiying led Shen Youran inside for a look nonetheless. Huang Donglai's room contained nothing of note; signs of occupation were visible, as was the fact that all useful luggage had been cleared out. But in Sun Yixie's room, something had indeed been left behind.
Only after entering the room, by the firelight pouring in from outside, did Gu and Shen see it clearly...
Before leaving, Sun Yixie had used ink to scrawl a line of large characters across the wall—some of the few relatively simple traditional Chinese characters he actually knew how to write:
*Feeling breezy down below, you two?*
What made it most outrageous was that this illiterate buffoon had tacked a modern question mark onto the end of a message meant for two Ming Dynasty natives—and judging by the context, the two of them actually understood what the punctuation meant!
"Argh—!"
Shen Youran took it relatively well, but Gu Qiying let out a furious bellow on the spot the moment he saw those words. His complexion shifted drastically, and with a wet cough, he spat a mouthful of blood across the wall.
His body was abnormal to begin with, and now, with searing fury assaulting his heart and nowhere to vent it, his heart meridian was directly damaged, inflicting an internal injury.
Shen Youran rushed forward to support him. "Uncle Ying, how are you?"
"I... I..." Gu Qiying staggered a step, but under Shen's support, he quickly steadied himself. "I'm fine..."
Once that mouthful of blood came out, his breathing actually eased, though he felt momentarily weak. After a few ragged breaths, Gu Qiying finally regained his composure. In a tone heavy with remorse, he muttered, "To think... I've spent a lifetime hunting with eagles, only to have my eyes pecked out today by two fledglings..."
From Gu Qiying's perspective, he was not wrong to say so; after all, in this world, Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai were merely seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youths.
Had the Venerable Master known that the psychological age of these two bastards was greater than his own, he would not have spoken of "fledglings"—he would have spat "two old hounds" or "thousand-year-old turtles."
"Uncle Ying, what do we do now?" Shen Youran had lost his bearings as well, hurriedly asking Gu Qiying for their next move.
Gu Qiying composed himself, thought for a moment, and replied, "Youran, do not panic... Rest assured, we haven't lost yet." Here, he gently pushed away Shen Youran's supporting hand, standing upright on his own strength before continuing, "If the Justice Sect headquarters is destroyed, so be it. These former Justice Sect disciples were never going to amount to much anyway. As long as we hold the Bliss Gu, we can find replacements at any time. Right now, what matters most is recovering the gu materials I left at Sihui Dwelling, along with my gu refinement notes..."
Hearing this, Shen Youran had a sudden realization. "Right! Huang Donglai must have gone after those!" He paused half a second, his brow furrowing. "But he left over two hours ago. I fear he may have already..."
"Hmph... you underestimate your Uncle Ying." Gu Qiying gave a cold snort, full of confidence. As he spoke, he stepped out of the room and gestured for Shen Youran to follow.
By now, the flames had begun creeping into this courtyard, so the two could only leave, speaking as they walked.
"By all logic, Huang Donglai is no match for You Jing. But considering he is a scion of the Huang Clan and struck with premeditation against an unsuspecting foe, I reckon the chances of You Jing being poisoned to death are quite high... Even so, even if You Jing is dead, Huang Donglai cannot slip from our grasp." Gu Qiying's internal energy foundation was truly formidable; wounded internally just two minutes ago, two minutes later he was using lightness skill while speaking smoothly without the slightest tremor in his breath. "First of all, before leaving Sihui Dwelling, I set several poisons to guard against intruders. Toxic incense burns in every room, and poison is smeared on the doors. Except for You Jing and myself, anyone whose hand touches a doorframe will die of poisoning on the spot...
"Second, I stationed several hidden scouts near Bugui Tower... Youying's manpower may be small, but every single operative is a capable hand who can hold their own, far superior to these Justice Sect disciples. If they saw Huang Donglai enter with You Jing and only Huang Donglai came out, they would certainly grow suspicious. Even if they didn't kill him on the spot, they would tail him to see where he went next."
Hearing this, Shen Youran's expression stirred, and he interjected, "Wait! Following Huang Donglai... could we track down those escaped martial artists?"
"Precisely." A smile finally returned to the corners of Gu Qiying's mouth. "Your mind works quickly, Youran... That is exactly it. If Huang Donglai truly made it out of Bugui Tower alive, it is actually a blessing in disguise. By now, he must have read my notes and learned the cure for the Bliss Gu, and he's undoubtedly on his way to rendezvous with those orthodox figures to tell them how to dispel it.
"Heh... But they have no idea that Youying has infiltrators among the city garrison as well. I gave orders long ago: if any anomalies occur tonight, they need not fear exposing their identities—they are to fire a cloud-piercing arrow immediately to alert me. Those watching near Bugui Tower received the exact same instructions...
"Yet, not a single arrow has been fired so far, which proves two things: first, the escapees are still within the city; second, Huang Donglai has not yet met up with them... And the instant they do, my man tailing Huang Donglai will fire that arrow without fail."
"Heh..." Hearing this, Shen Youran smiled broadly as well. "So all we have to do is wait for that cloud-piercing arrow to take to the skies, descend upon them, and use the gu bell to round them all up once more."
Gu Qiying said, "Indeed. So... it's about time you tell those fools below to stop fighting the fire and follow us outside. We'll still need them shortly to help herd the prisoners."
As they spoke, they happened to arrive atop the roof of a building near the center of the headquarters.
Shen Youran understood why Gu Qiying had brought him here. He drew in a breath and circulated his energy, preparing to project his voice and bellow a few commands so the panicked underlings below could retreat in orderly fashion.
Unexpectedly, right at that moment, a figure streaked toward them from the distance.
The newcomer merely tapped his toes, skimming across one roof ridge after another. That mastery, that movement technique... skittered like a dragonfly skimming water, pierced like an arrow splitting the void.
Shen and Gu both shuddered, their expressions instantly hardening—one with brows deeply furrowed, the other with a twitching mouth. Both were men of discerning vision; without even seeing the figure's face, this display of lightness skill alone told them a formidable adversary had arrived.
In the blink of an eye, Shui Hanyi, clad in a flying fish robe with one hand resting on his embroidered spring blade, stood before Shen Youran and Gu Qiying.
"Do you two recognize me?" Shui Hanyi had no reason to be polite.
He was an official, while these two... were common subjects. Showing courtesy would merely be good breeding; showing none was his natural prerogative.
"Heh..." Gu Qiying let out a cold laugh. "If I am not mistaken, Your Excellency must be Shui Hanyi, of the imperial court's Four Great Experts—the 'Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon'?"
His tone was equally unfriendly, for he well knew that Shui Hanyi's appearance at this moment boded ill.
"Good," Shui Hanyi replied. "As expected of the Venerable Master of Youying. Truly well-connected, to recognize a minor runner like me who rarely shows his face in public."
"Master Shui is remarkably well-informed as well..." Gu Qiying countered. "To know that I am the Venerable Master of Youying..."
The killing intent in his words was practically spilling over; could Shui Hanyi possibly fail to catch it?
"Gu Qiying." Shui Hanyi addressed him plainly by name. "Did you really think the imperial court was blind to everything you've been plotting and orchestrating all these years?"
"What do the private affairs of jianghu folk have to do with the court?" Gu Qiying retorted.
"Nonsense." Shui Hanyi replied with righteous confidence, his voice ringing loud and clear. "Under Da Ming's heavens, what matter does not concern the court? Who dares claim they are beyond the court's jurisdiction?" His words were backed by absolute conviction. "Let me tell you... if the court chooses not to meddle, you are left alone. But if the court chooses to intervene... nothing is beyond its reach."
"Aren't those words... rather against the rules?" Gu Qiying's tone grew even colder. The sole reason he had not struck yet was the man's official imperial standing.
In terms of official rank, Shui Hanyi held the post of a Brocade Guard Hundred-Man Commander, principal sixth rank. Strictly speaking, it was neither particularly high nor low, and someone like Shui Hanyi performed no administrative duties, handling grueling frontline dirty work instead.
The crucial point, however, was that he was one of the "Four Great Experts" personally recognized by the Da Ming imperial court. What did imperial recognition mean? It meant the Emperor himself acknowledged it. The flying fish robes and embroidered spring blades worn by him and Hua Shili were bestowed directly by His Majesty. Did one dare kill such a man? What consequences would follow, had one not better weigh them carefully?
"Venerable Master Gu, don't you find the word 'rules' rather laughable coming from your mouth?" Shui Hanyi was no slouch in debate; moreover, justice was on his side, so how could he lose an argument? "If you had obeyed the 'rules,' would we ever have set our sights on you?"
"Sigh..." Gu Qiying actually let out a sigh upon hearing this, then turned his head. "Youran, carry on."
The very instant that last word left his lips, his body moved. Like an upright phantom gliding along the ground, he flashed toward Shui Hanyi.
And at the exact moment he made his move, in the sky over the west of the city, a cloud-piercing arrow shot straight into the heavens, lighting up the night sky...
Chapter 61