Book 8 - Chapter 5

B8C5: Towering killing intent

More than a month has passed like a flash.

Soon after Reverend Yan Xu had arrived, the Ming dynasty began to carry out a large-scale construction project outside its capital. Not only did it mobilize the capital’s army of 400,000 central guards, it also engaged the help of a great number of civilians. In less than a month, a living compound was built extremely fast.

Most of these houses are made of wood, bamboo or stone. Their surroundings are clean and quiet and have delicate bridges and running streams. Even Reverend Yan Xu expresses his satisfaction when he sees this compound.

In the evening of the same day,

Reverend Yan Xu, Reverend Huo Tian, Reverend Di Feng, Dongfang Yu and the other 4 disciples of the Chaoyang school, and the Ming emperor Zhu Yan and his several tens subordinates are quietly waiting outside the capital. They all know that tonight 2000 Xiuxianists from the Chaoyang school and its nearby schools are going to arrive.

Given their original speed, they should have arrived during the day. However, Reverend Yan Xu thought that if they came during the day, they would be seen by the common people and therefore he told this group to wait at the seaside first and resume going in the late evening.

“2000 Shangxian? Your Majesty, are there really so many?” A beautiful woman beside Zhu Yan asks in a lovely voice. She is none other than the imperial concubine he dotes on the most. Although the matter at hand this time is a secret, he still told this concubine about it and even took her to this place with him.

Zhu Yan gives a grunt and says in a low voice: “I only heard so. Don’t talk. Just wait quietly. You’ll know when the time comes.”

Zhu Yan and his entourage are all nervous.

On the Qian Long continent, Shangxian are supreme beings in the eyes of every mortal. If emperors are the summit of positional power then Shangxian are the summit of personal power and are out of reach to mortals. However, tonight, 2000 Shangxian are unexpectedly coming.

2000, no less!

“They’re arriving!”

Reverend Yan Xu says indifferently. There is also a faint smile on his face.

Given the status of Reverend Yan Xu, Reverend Huo Tian and Reverend Di Feng, it will even be normal for them to casually mobilize over 10,000 Xiuzhenists on the Qian Long continent, so naturally 2000 Xiuzhenists cannot surprise them.

After a while, countless vague silhouettes appear in the pitch-black sky. They then dive down extremely fast. In just a moment, 2000 Xiuzhenists land directly on the ground. The leading man takes a look and immediately bows, saying: “Greetings, Reverends. I am Dongfang Nian of the Chaoyang school.”

Soon afterwards, only the other several school leaders among the 2000 Xiuzhenists bow to salute. The other Xiuzhenists get down on one knee directly and says resoundingly: “Greetings, Reverends!”

Those sounds are very loud but no citizens dare to come out to take a look because by now the night curfew has already started.

“Headmaster Dongfang and the other headmasters please rest for a day or two first. After that we’ll talk about the matter of searching for a black jade case. Please do not worry. Forces of every school within 10 million li of this place are already coming quickly. It’s just that they are a bit too far from here so they will only arrive in a few days.” Reverend Yan Xu says with an indifferent smile.

Dongfang Nian says smilingly: “We’ll certainly listen to your orders, Reverend. Ah, my son didn’t bother you during this period of time, did he?”

At the moment Dongfang Yu is very respectful.

Reverend Yan Xu strokes his beard and says with a smile: “Headmaster Dongfang is really good at educating your son. This kid Dongfang is very well-behaved.”

However, the hearts of the Ming emperor Zhu Yan, his beloved concubine and his subordinates are thumping inside their chests. Hearing about 2000 Shangxian is one thing, but seeing 2000 Shangxian fly down from the sky is another thing.

Flying on swords,

In the eyes of mortals, it is a symbol of Shangxian. Normally, seeing a Shangxian fly across the horizon is already a great shock to these people. But today various Shangxian have come down from all over the sky so they have all been scared stiff by this.

Zhu Yan is an emperor at any rate so his composure is still relatively high. He takes a step forwards and says respectfully: “Headmaster Dongfang, that living compound has been prepared well. It is specially built for all of you to stay in.”

Dongfang Nian takes a look at that nearby living compound and nods in satisfaction.

……

Qin Yu has been very happy for the last several months. When he had nothing to do, he chatted with his brothers or let chess ace Li’er thrash his big and 2nd brothers. Li’er’s terrifying chess skill immediately became famous. Even the so-called God of Go of the capital had no choice but to yield to her.

Qin Yu also cared about Xiao Lu’s and Tie Shan’s current situations.

Only later did he know that a few years ago Xiao Lu had married a scholar who is called Tang Yuan and styles himself Qing Lan. He is a well-known scholar of the Qin dynasty and is extremely good at calligraphy. It is said that one word written by him is worth 1000 gold sycees. Their love for each other is very deep. And Tie Shan is the military leader of Su Yan City, where Tang Yuan resides. He is in charge of the city’s army.

Knowing that Xiao Lu is living so happily, Qin Yu is in no hurry to meet her. He wants to meet his father first then go see Xiao Lu and Tie Shan. After all, they are his childhood close friends.

……

In Prince Yu’s Mansion in the Qin dynasty’s capital,

At the moment, Qin Yu is leaning on the railings of a pavilion while Li’er and a white-haired old man are quietly playing the game of Go. They have been playing for so long that it is already dark.

“Hey, old man Su, why are you still playing this game with my family’s Li’er? Well, is this any different from seeking defeat?” Qin Yu says smilingly.

Li’er does not react to him. Perhaps because Qin Yu has been in a very good mood since he returned home, he has exercised less and less restraint in talking and often joked about Li’er. At first she was furious and pinched his ears to punish him, but now she only gives him a stare at most.

That old man Su is no ordinary. He is called the no. 1 Go player of the Qin dynasty.

After the capital’s God of Go undoubtedly lost to Li’er, this Shang Que County-based old gentleman has come to the capital to specially play against her. In fact, his Go skill is frighteningly strong.

However, that is only true in the eyes of Qin Yu.

In Qin Yu’s opinion, Li’er’s Go skill is ‘humanly impossible.’

A hint of joy suddenly appears on the face of old man Su. He takes a look at Qin Yu and says smilingly: “Miss Li’er’s Go skill is high, but … Prince Yu, I’ve been playing this game in my whole life. They say ginger gets hotter with age, don’t they.”

Li’er keeps playing the game while smiling calmly.

After a while, old man Su’s face changes color when she puts a piece down.

He looks for a short time then says with a shake of his head: “Miss Li’er, you, you’ve even aimed at my entire big dragon. No wonder you didn’t attack me just now. I see. Your trick was to gain through abandoning your ground. It was really a brilliant idea. I admit defeat.”

Old man Su has been defeated convincingly.

He fell into the opponent’s trap but he was even excited and contented. Despite his strong skill, he was unexpectedly unable to discover Li’er’s trap early on, and when he saw the truth, it was already too late.

“Miss Li’er, every day I have played with you, I have learned something.” This old man Su is also a strange person. After losing, he is very excited instead of getting angry.

Qin Yu says smilingly: “Old man Su, why do you change your clothes every day? I know that … professional Go players like you are a bit superstitious. But you’ve always lost despite changing clothes every day, right? I think you shouldn’t change your clothes tomorrow.”

Old man Su however says stubbornly: “Tomorrow I’m still going to change my clothes.”

Qin Yu says nothing.

Quite a few Go experts unexpectedly think that some clothes bring them good luck and greatly improve their chances of victory if worn. No wonder old man Su has changed his clothes again and again. However, despite this, he has never won against Li’er.

“Alas, looks like … I’ve run out of clothes to change.” Old man Su suddenly says frowningly. “Forget it, let’s save some money by not changing.”

Having played against Li’er for so many days, even though his family is fairly wealthy, now he has used all of his various clothes.

“I take my leave now, Miss Li’er. Tomorrow I’m going to come and play a game with you again.” Old man Su says smilingly. Li’er also says with a smile: “Old man Su, your Go skill is profound. Your middlegame and endgame are both very formidable. Only your opening arrangement is a bit flawed.”

Old man Su smacks his lips a couple of times and says: “Little Miss Li’er, it’s not that my opening is a bit flawed, but you’re too strong. Your arrangement is too clever. You can make a move that seems wild, but several tens or even 100 moves later, its subtleties are shown. I’m sincerely convinced of my defeat.”

After old man Su has left, there are only Qin Yu and Miss Li’er in the pavilion.

“Li’er, my father and Uncle Feng have been doing closed-door training all the time. Though in theory they’ll only come out in a month or two, it’s very hard to be exact about closed-door training. So, I’m about to go see my master General Zhao Yunxing first. Anyway, my speed is fast.”

At the moment, Qin Yu suddenly wants to meet his first master General Zhao Yunxing very much.

Li’er says with a nod: “All right. Since you want to go then just go. If other people ask, I’ll help you answer them. And if your father comes out, I’ll tell you about this right away through your transmitter.”

“Good. I’ll have to trouble you, cute Miss Li’er.”

Qin Yu says smilingly. Right afterwards, he soars into the sky like a meteor.

……

When Qin Yu was still assassin Liu Xing, he visited Zhao Yunxing’s residence. As Zhao Yunxing was an important general, his residence was naturally very easy to find.

Qin Yu rides his flying sword without too much worry.

Thinking that he is about to see his master, Qin Yu cannot help recalling what happened in the past. He remembers clearly how he chose Zhao Yunxing as his master and how severe the training Zhao Yunxing put him through later was.

“Oh?”

Qin Yu frowns then takes out a transmitter. It is none other than the leading guardian Yan Rui who has just sent him a message. Under the command of 4 guardians, 10,000 guards of the Stellar Tower have arrived in the Qian Long continent.

“Very well, if you keep flying north, you’ll see a huge primeval forest. Wait there for the moment. When I have arranged staying places for you all, you’ll fly to the Qin dynasty!” Qin Yu immediately gives his subordinates an order.

That primeval forest is none other than the forest in which Qin Yu made a simple wooden ship when he was leaving the Qian Long continent at that time.

In just a while, he arrives at General Zhao Yunxing’s mansion. With a sweep of his holy sense, he cannot help frowning because he does not detect Master Zhao Yunxing and only detects Zhao Yunxing’s son, Zhao Yanyun.

……

Zhao Yanyun was already promoted to general and was originally going to command a large army in place of his father. But the emperor ordered him to stay home and calmly think about what had happened. Zhao Yanyun did not oppose that either. So, he has been staying together with his wife and son and, at the same time, earnestly studying some books on military tactics.

Zhao Yanyun, who is meditating in a pavilion, suddenly hears a familiar voice —

“Big brother Yanyun.”

He turns his head to take a look and cannot help getting astonished: “3rd Prince!”

In the past, after Qin Yu had killed Xiang Yang, the Qin clan’s various armies gathered in the capital. Zhao Yunxing and his son then met Qin Yu. During those several months, Qin Yu and Zhao Yanyun got to know each other and came to like each other very much.

“So you’ve come back, 3rd Prince. This is very good. When did you come back?” Zhao Yanyun says with excitement.

Qin Yu says smilingly: “It’s already been some time. Right, where is master? Why isn’t he in the mansion?” He asks doubtfully.

Zhao Yanyun, who just now was still excited, is startled. He then says with a sigh: “3rd Prince, my father … he’s already dead. He died on the battlefield!”

Died?

His master already died?

Qin Yu’s face goes pale instantly. He only hears a series of explosions in his head, as if it has been hit by lightning. He takes several deep breaths. Only when the Meteoric Tear sends its clear streams to his head does he calm down.

“Big brother Yanyun, you said master had died on the battlefield? How was that possible? At that time he had already reached the peak of external practice. Who could have killed him on the battlefield? That was definitely impossible!” Qin Yu says in disbelief. He just cannot believe this outcome.

Zhao Yanyun’s eyes blaze: “Of course he wasn’t killed by ordinary soldiers. It was Shangxian, the Ming dynasty’s Shangxian. If not for those Shangxian, the Ming dynasty’s Jia Ling Pass would hav6e been broken through by my father. But they were so despicable that they even asked Shangxian to kill my father.”

“Shangxian? The Ming dynasty’s Shangxian? I get it.”

Qin Yu’s eyes shine very brightly with a terrifying hint of killing intent for a moment.

Whizz!

A light flashes. Qin Yu has disappeared completely. Seeing this scene, Zhao Yanyun cannot help getting startled. But he is immediately horrified as he realizes what Qin Yu wants to do.

……

“Yan Rui, take the 10,000 guards to the Qin dynasty’s capital. Here’s the map.”

With ice-cold eyes, Qin Yu instantly sends some rough information using his holy sense.

Now he wants to go the Imperial Palace instead of the Ming dynasty. He can feel a tinge of anomaly in the palace. Why did his big brother and 2nd brother not tell him about his master’s death at the hands of the Ming dynasty’s Shangxian? Given the character of the Qin clan’s members, they definitely cannot tolerate this. What happened actually?

A war that involved Shangxian must have been related to his father. But why is his father doing closed-door training again? Could this really be coincidental?

……

At night, outside the Imperial Palace,

Qin Feng, Qin Zheng and Qin De and Fengyuzi, who both have been doing closed-door training, are standing quietly. They are expanding their holy senses to the utmost waiting for Qin Yu attentively. After learning from Li’er that Qin Yu had gone to the home of General Zhao Yunxing, they knew that they definitely would not able to hide the truth from him. Now they are all here only because they want to stop Qin Yu.

Whizz!

A beam of light shoots towards them extremely fast.

“Yu’er.” Noticing Qin Yu’s aura, Qin De and Fengyuzi immediately say via holy sense communication. In an instant, Qin Yu lands on the ground.

“Father, Uncle Feng.” As soon as Qin Yu sees his father’s appearance, he figures out some things. Because his father came out right after he had gone to Zhao Yunxing’s mansion, not much earlier, nor much later, it seems his conjecture is correct.

When Qin Yu is about to ask a question, his face suddenly changes color greatly —

Both his father and Uncle Feng have unexpectedly, unexpectedly lost an arm!!!

“What happened? What happened, father? Was it the Ming dynasty’s Shangxian? They killed Master Zhao Yunxing and even cut off your arms? Aren’t there only 2 of them? And don’t you both have middle-grade holy weapons? How could they do this to you? What actually happened?”

Qin Yu asks continuously. At the moment he is about to go totally crazy.

Qin De looks smilingly at Qin Yu: “Calm down a bit, Yu’er. I lost only an arm and not my life. I know your character so I won’t hide the truth from you anymore. You’re right. The Ming dynasty originally had only 2 Shangxian, but now it has 5, one of whom is even the junior master of the Chaoyang school.”

Fengyuzi says: “Xiao Yu, the Chaoyang school is the no. 1 Xiuxian school within a million li of this place. It has several thousand disciples. My Pure Sword school is simply no match for them. That junior master is even an early Yuanying-stage expert. He only cut off an arm of each of us because … he disdained us.”

Fury keeps surging in Qin Yu.

Disdain?

Cutting off an arm of his father’s and Uncle Feng’s and sparing them out of disdain? Indeed, 2 Jindan stage Xiuzhenists of the Qian Long continent really do not mean diddlysquat in the eyes of someone like the junior master of the Chaoyang school. Killing them would only dirty his hands.

“Arrogant.” Qin Yu’s eyes are filled with killing intent. In his mind, he can already picture what happened.

That arrogant junior master cut off an arm of his father’s and Uncle Feng’s directly, causing blood to spurt profusely …

Qin De looks at Qin Yu and says solemnly: “Yu’er, remember to restrain yourself when you still lack power. My severed arm isn’t important. But you must not be rash. Only when you’re strong enough can you seek revenge. Otherwise … you’ll die worthlessly for this cut-off arm of mine. Do you understand?”

Qin Yu clenches his fists so tight that the knuckles turn white.

Qin De knows his son’s character.

He believes that once his son recognizes the insurmountable gap between him and the Chaoyang school’s junior master, he definitely will not rashly go just to get killed. His son will only go all out for vengeance if he has at least a fifty-fifty chance of success.

“Don’t act on impulse, Xiao Yu.” Qin Feng and Qin Zheng also look at Qin Yu.

The Qin clan’s only hope rests upon Qin Yu.

Even though they want revenge, they would rather not have it than see Qin Yu go to get killed.

“Chaoyang school! Ming dynasty’s Shangxian! Die!!!”

Qin Yu says in a deep voice, which sounds as if it comes from Hell. “Father, you and everybody else just wait here. I’ll be back very soon.” After saying so, he suddenly turns around.

“Xiao Yu, don’t do that.” Seeing Qin Yu acting this way, Qin De says hurriedly. He never expected Qin Yu to be so rash.

All of a sudden —

Sounds which are similar to the whistles of an incoming rain of countless arrows on the battlefield are heard. They cause the faces of Qin De, Fengyuzi, Qin Zheng and Qin Feng to change color.

“Those are the sounds of people flying their swords extremely fast. There are so many of them!” Fengyuzi’s face changes color like crazy.

They are flying on their swords so they are Xiuzhenists. And judging from the fact that their swords are even sounding like an endless rain of arrows, it is easy to imagine how terrifying they are. However, before Qin De and the others have time to think much, countless silhouettes shoot down from the sky like arrows.

This group lands densely outside the city wall.

Most of these Xiuzhenists then get down on one knee with a thud in unison. By contrast, the 4 people in the front bow very respectfully.

“Tower master!”

Their voices resound through the sky!

End of b8c5.