News spread like wildfire through the rivers and lakes: Tang Lici had traveled west to Biluo Palace and vanished without a trace on Cat Tooth Peak.
The revelation sent shockwaves through every sect and school across the martial world. Why would Wanyu Yuedan, the reclusive palace master who had withdrawn from worldly affairs, shelter such a controversial figure?
The Central Plains Sword Assembly had lost two great masters in rapid succession. Shi Tinghe—dead. Yu Qifeng—dead. Both at Tang Lici's hands. Yet Tang Lici had offered no formal explanation to the martial world, no reasonable justification for his actions.
Jiang Feiyu of Yanmen had testified strongly that Shi Tinghe's involvement with the Scarlet Ghost Nine Hearts Pills marked him as a villain seeking fame through treachery, making his death well-deserved. But Yanmen was not a major sect, carrying little weight in martial circles. Few listened.
Moreover, even if Shi Tinghe was a villain, Yu Qifeng was different. The Sword King was a renowned righteous hero of the Central Plains with an impeccable reputation spanning decades. Tang Lici had brought the underworld master Chi Yun and the Thirteen Towers assassin Shen Langhun to invade the Yu Family Sword Manor, killed Yu Qifeng, destroyed the manor, and—most shockingly—desecrated Yu Qifeng's mother's grave.
Such vicious acts were truly outrageous.
No one knew why the master of Ten Thousand Apertures Studio wanted to kill the Sword King. Both were men of extraordinary status and considerable power. Within days, rumors multiplied like rabbits, and Tang Lici's name became known to everyone from the highest mountain peaks to the lowest river valleys.
Some called him an arrogant, conceited demon.
Others proclaimed him a far-sighted hero who eliminated evil from the martial world.
Still others claimed the conflict between these two men was merely about mutual interests, likely stemming from some broken agreement made in years past.
A few whispered that Tang Lici's killing of Yu Qifeng was simply out of extreme boredom—a desire to make a grand spectacle in the martial world, to see how far he could push before anyone dared push back.
Various discussions abounded, each more sensational than the last.
That Wanyu Yuedan actually allowed these people to stay in Biluo Palace caused an even greater uproar. Some predicted Biluo Palace would surely be razed to the ground by the demon surnamed Tang, that Wanyu Yuedan must already be dead. Others claimed Wanyu Yuedan dared not offend Tang Lici, fearing to provoke the imperial court and high-ranking officials.
Speculation ran rampant.
Yet despite all the discussions, the martial world had been surprisingly quiet these past ten days. The Central Plains Sword Assembly had invited swordsmen from various sects to meet at Haoyun Mountain to discuss Tang Lici's crimes in detail, but there were still eight days until the scheduled gathering. The Haoyun Mountain meeting seemed destined to yield no concrete results.
Most mysteriously, the legendary Scarlet Ghost Nine Hearts Pills—which had supposedly killed "West Wind Swordsman" Feng Chuanxiang and "Iron Pen" Wen Ruiqi—had not appeared anywhere in the martial world. It was as if such a thing had never existed at all, merely nonsense and wild speculation.
The storm was gathering, but the sky remained deceptively calm.
On Cat Tooth Peak, ten days passed in relative peace.
The Left Guardian of Biluo Palace handed Wanyu Yuedan a message sent by carrier pigeon—a brief summary of the current situation in the martial world. Naturally, Wanyu Yuedan could not see the contents on the paper, but the Left Guardian, Tie Jing, had already read it aloud in his characteristically calm manner.
Wanyu Yuedan sat leaning against a brazier, a white jade hand warmer beside him—snow-white and elegant, making his delicate frame appear even more frail. After listening, he smiled faintly. "Do you also find it strange?"
The Left Guardian shook his head, standing quietly without speaking.
Wanyu Yuedan picked up his ginseng soup and took a sip. "What does Tie Jing think of Tang Lici?"
The Left Guardian remained silent for a long while. When he finally spoke, his voice was grave. "A harbinger of disaster."
The corners of Wanyu Yuedan's eyes crinkled slightly with amusement. "What about Yan'er?"
The "Yan'er" he mentioned was precisely the Right Guardian of Biluo Palace, He Yan'er.
"He thinks Tang Lici is not bad," Tie Jing replied.
Wanyu Yuedan laughed softly. "He must have taken a liking to some opponent."
Tie Jing allowed himself a faint smile. "These past few days he's been pondering methods to counter flying daggers."
"The palace is rather lonely after all," Wanyu Yuedan mused. "Finding a worthy opponent is also a very good thing. You may go."
Tie Jing bowed and withdrew.
Wanyu Yuedan closed the lid of his ginseng soup, closed his eyes, and quietly contemplated.
Tang Lici—a man as venomous as a snake or scorpion, with an evil and ruthless nature, yet strangely inclined toward acts of genuine kindness. Great evil and great good, great wickedness and great righteousness flowed and merged within him like opposing rivers meeting in a storm, creating a distinctive and unusual brilliance.
Such a man was very attractive to cooperate with, to witness the results of his good deeds. However, to conspire with a snake—even if it was a good snake, even an enchantingly beautiful snake—one still could not say it was completely harmless and non-toxic.
He slowly opened his eyes and gazed out the window. In the distance were towering ice peaks, a flawless blue sky, and a boundless sea of clouds. But in his damaged eyes, there was only a field of blood red.
How far the sky reached, so far reached the martial world. And so far reached the winds of blood and rain.
"Little Yue." He Xiaoqiu quietly peeked her head in at the doorway. "What are you doing?"
"Xiaoqiu?" Wanyu Yuedan's expression softened immediately. "What's the matter? Come in."
"My brother and that Chi Yun are fighting again." He Xiaoqiu entered with obvious concern. "Aren't you going to do something about it?"
Wanyu Yuedan sighed but said nothing.
"My brother also says that Young Master Tang is causing us trouble," she continued. "Now many suspicious people have come to the foot of Cat Tooth Peak, all trying to discover where Biluo Palace is located. They're all here for Young Master Tang." She paused, her voice dropping. "Little Yue, why did you let them stay?"
He Xiaoqiu's older brother, He Yan'er, was precisely Wanyu Yuedan's Right Guardian—one of the palace's most skilled martial artists.
"They're not bad people," Wanyu Yuedan said gently. "If I drove them away, those people down the mountain would certainly kill them. Wouldn't that be very pitiful for them?"
He Xiaoqiu made a sound of understanding. "So we're saving people?"
"Yes." Wanyu Yuedan sighed softly again.
"Then why are you sighing?" He Xiaoqiu frowned as she studied Wanyu Yuedan's melancholy expression. "I think that Young Master Tang doesn't look at all like someone being hunted. He's just sitting there reading books all day. It's quite amusing—such a grown man who appears learned and refined is actually reading the 'Three Character Classic,' and he spends so long on each page. I don't know what he's looking at."
"Is that so?" Wanyu Yuedan's lips curved with faint interest. "What have you been reading recently?"
"Me?" He Xiaoqiu looked down. "I haven't read books in ages. There aren't any new books to read here, and I don't like reading those ancient books written by old scholars—poetry and manuscripts don't reach us in this remote place either." Her voice grew quieter. "But I know that moving here was for everyone's good. I don't resent it at all."
"You've suffered for it." Wanyu Yuedan's expression dimmed. "Everyone has suffered."
"I haven't suffered at all, and everyone else hasn't suffered either." He Xiaoqiu's words came faster, as if trying to convince herself as much as him. "To move here, Little Yue, you... you... even left behind A'Nuan's grave..."
She became dejected and couldn't continue speaking.
To move to this remote and desolate place, Wanyu Yuedan had abandoned the graves of Wenren Nuan and Yang Xiaozhong, leaving those two graves forever in the south of the Yangtze River. Though he made the journey to pay respects every year on the anniversary, what he had abandoned was far more than two lonely graves.
Cat Tooth Peak was a land of ice and snow, with treacherous paths. The location was over a hundred zhang high, requiring rope bridges to cross clouds. Moving graves would be extremely difficult. Besides, no one knew how long everyone could actually stay here.
There had been no other choice.
"Xiaoqiu, are you happy living like this?" Wanyu Yuedan asked slowly, his voice carrying an unusual weight.
"I..." He Xiaoqiu said quietly, "As long as Little Yue is happy, I'm happy, and everyone else is happy too."
"Were you happier before, or are you happier now?" he pressed gently.
He Xiaoqiu's eyes slowly filled with tears. "Of course it was... when A'Nuan was alive... when I was little... I was happier..." Her voice trembled, and she suddenly turned around. "I'm going to eat." She covered her face and ran out.
Wanyu Yuedan's lips curved into a faint smile—a smile tinged with desolation.
Silly girl. There's still an hour before mealtime. Children who can't lie.
Happier before. Happier when A'Nuan was alive. Happier when little, not having to live this kind of wandering, displaced life.
Biluo Palace, oh Biluo Palace. Father, oh Father, how exactly did you hold up this piece of sky back then? How could you support Biluo Palace's tremendous reputation, keep it safe and sound, keep it away from the dust and clamor of the martial world, and truly make us all so happy?
Perhaps Father encountered better times. But there was one thing Wanyu Yuedan didn't want to envy his father for—he didn't want Biluo Palace to face another day when enemies stormed their gates and blood splattered three feet high. He didn't want to live too many more days of wandering displacement. He didn't want the swords in the palace to remain lonely, didn't want the people in the palace to shed tears.
So he must become stronger.
Someday, he would bring back those two graves. Someday, he would make sure no one in the world dared walk to the gates of his Biluo Palace and point at the plaque to utter the word "Biluo" with anything less than reverence. He wanted the next generation and the generation after that to live simple, happy days just like when he was little.
Wanyu Yuedan gripped that cup of ginseng soup, gripping it so tightly his knuckles turned white.
So... A'Nuan, I can never go back, can never again be that child who lay in the grass sleeping and catching dragonflies. Although I really want to go back... I cannot, because I am the Palace Master.
In the guest room, Tang Lici leaned against two beds' worth of bedding, reclining comfortably while reading a book.
One bed of bedding was his own, the other was Chi Yun's. Biluo Palace's bedding was naturally soft and snow-white, infinitely comfortable to lean against. Tang Lici had arranged both sets of bedding against the wall, creating a luxurious backrest, and was carefully reading the "Three Character Classic."
Chi Yun sat on another bed with a face like green iron, meditating with visible frustration.
Earlier, Tang Lici had smiled and casually mentioned that meditation should be done with a calm and peaceful mind, free of distracting thoughts. With Chi Yun full of resentment and his emotions so unsettled, he might fall into qi deviation—it would be better not to meditate at all. Perhaps some tea instead?
Those words had made Chi Yun's face even more like green iron. He'd sat firmly on the bed meditating ever since, refusing to come down out of pure stubbornness.
Someone approached with measured steps outside the door—not too tall, not too short, footsteps like an ordinary person rather than a martial artist. It was Shen Langhun.
Tang Lici gestured with his book, inviting him to sit wherever he pleased.
Shen Langhun nodded slightly but didn't sit, saying coolly, "There's something I can't figure out."
"Can't figure out?" Tang Lici turned a page of his book without looking up. "Can't figure out why Wanyu Yuedan is willing to let you and me stay on Cat Tooth Peak?"
The bone-cleansing silver bracelet on his left wrist gleamed, complementing his fair, smooth skin beautifully—an accessory that seemed more ornamental than practical, yet was rumored to have mysterious properties.
Shen Langhun nodded. "What's the reasoning?"
Tang Lici kept his eyes on the book, his lips curved in a knowing smile. "What kind of person do you think Wanyu Yuedan is?"
Shen Langhun said coolly, "A master."
Tang Lici's gaze moved from the first line to the second line of text. "He's not a master. He's a king."
Shen Langhun was visibly startled. "A king?"
Tang Lici smiled faintly, finally looking up. "A king of the martial world—one who serves under no one and bows to no one's might. When weak, he flees to the ends of the earth. When strong, he dominates the world."
He set the book down, his expression growing more serious.
"Biluo Palace was destroyed under Wanyu Moru's hands and reborn under Wanyu Yuedan's hands. Wanyu Moru was material for maintaining the status quo. Under his leadership, Biluo Palace's mysterious reputation reached its peak, but mystery is merely an illusion."
Shen Langhun listened intently as Tang Lici continued.
"The advantage of mystery lies in inspiring awe and fear in people. The disadvantages of mystery are twofold. First, a mysterious palace that closes its doors and keeps to itself will have no friends in the martial world. Second, people within the palace rarely venture out, and those like Bi Qiuhan are too few. Even when disciples do go out, they dare not claim to be from Biluo Palace. Though the disciples have high martial arts skills, most engage in armchair strategizing and lofty theorizing, inevitably becoming detached from reality."
"So—" Shen Langhun interjected, understanding dawning. "So when Li Lingyan led his forces to their gates, Biluo Palace faced near annihilation."
"Correct." Tang Lici picked up his book again. "When there's a first person to lift the veil of mystery, there will be a second and a third. After Biluo Palace revealed its true strength in the battle at Luoyang—showing it wasn't as formidable as the legends claimed—it fled to the ends of the earth. Those two words 'mystery' could no longer serve as the foundation for establishing the palace."
His gaze moved from the third line to the fourth line, though Shen Langhun suspected he wasn't actually reading at all—merely using the book as a prop while his mind worked through far more complex calculations.
"So after that," Tang Lici continued, "if Biluo Palace doesn't want to remain a displaced pack of defeated dogs fleeing from the martial world, if it's unwilling to abandon the Central Plains entirely, it must take action. This doesn't depend on whether the Palace Master is Wanyu Yuedan or someone else—it's driven by circumstances, inevitable."
He paused for effect.
"Therefore—" his smile widened, "Therefore, Wanyu Yuedan's agreement to let you and me stay in Biluo Palace isn't because he's taken leave of his senses or because he fears us. It's because he has the intention of ruling over the martial world, and I have the ability to disrupt the winds and clouds. With mutual feelings and intentions aligned, we can coexist peacefully—even profitably."
Shen Langhun nodded slowly, processing this information. "These past few years, Biluo Palace has been hiding outside the martial world, and its strength has undoubtedly grown considerably. Biluo Palace's return to the martial world needs a good opportunity, and it just so happens that your investigation of the Scarlet Ghost Nine Hearts Pills—leading to the deaths of Shi Tinghe and Yu Qifeng—caused the winds and clouds of the martial world to change color."
He fixed Tang Lici with a penetrating stare. "But how can he be certain that lending you his strength is the right choice? How does he know you won't bring destruction to his door?"
The corners of Tang Lici's lips curved upward, forming a moist, smooth, beautiful arc—the smile of a fox who'd just spotted an unguarded henhouse.
"That involves the so-called judgment of a 'king.' Wanyu Yuedan judges that I can give him this opportunity. And furthermore—everyone who cooperates with me knows..."
His tone gradually became softer, his eyes slightly upturned, his lip line slowly rising. That tone became so soft it was soul-stirring, almost hypnotic.
"The stakes I offer have always been... extremely generous. Basically, whatever you want, I can give you."
Shen Langhun smiled faintly—the first time he had smiled with genuine expression in front of Tang Lici, though whether in belief or disbelief was unclear.
Tang Lici turned to the second page of his book. "I'm very happy that you came today."
"Oh?"
Tang Lici closed his book and smiled warmly. "It shows you consider me a friend."
Shen Langhun glared at him, his habitually stoic expression cracking slightly. After a moment, he said, "I really can't figure out whether you're a clever person or a complete fool."
Tang Lici laughed aloud, closed his eyes, and leaned back against the luxurious bedding. "But I know that anyone who sells himself as an assassin to buy back his wife's corpse must be a complete fool."
Shen Langhun was startled, then suddenly smiled—a real smile, warm and sad. "To be able to find out even such things... you truly deserve to be called the world's number one fox spirit."
The reason Shen Langhun had entered the Thirteen Assassin Tower and willingly became their top assassin was indeed because after his wife had pursued someone into the Yellow River, her remains were obtained by the Tower Master. To redeem his wife's body, Shen Langhun entered the tower and drew his sword, taking money to claim lives.
People all thought Shen Langhun was cold and heartless, unable to distinguish between good and evil. But in truth, this man simply valued his love for his wife far more than his respect for the sword in his hand.
Some called it weakness. He called it humanity.
And Tang Lici, somehow, understood that better than anyone.
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