The figure of the swordsman was filled with desolation and coldness.
“That’s not the case.”
Meng Qi immediately shirked responsibility, firmly insisting that it was Master Yuan Zhi who suddenly had a great awakening and comprehended the ultimate truth of Zen Buddhism.
Mo Li was skeptical.
How could an ugly piece of clothing make someone see through worldly matters and understand the mundane?
Mo Li’s gaze fell on Meng Qi, and he said thoughtfully, “Last night when we were buying clothes, you were still resisting, but suddenly you were full of confidence. When you walked over just now, your expression was just like when you used to rob General Liu’s money bag.”
It was as easy as taking something out of a bag.
Unfortunately, even though Mo Li was curious, he had to consider that the person Master Yuan Zhi wanted to see was Meng Qi, the former national teacher of the previous dynasty.
Maybe if there was a third person present, Master Yuan Zhi wouldn’t say much?
Who would have thought that after just a cup of tea’s time, something unexpected would happen.
“If it’s not the clothes, then did you say something to him? Did you explain why you were wearing such clothes?” Mo Li vaguely sensed the truth. He thought Meng Qi would definitely try to save face. What else could two people who met for the first time talk about besides exchanging pleasantries? It would just be explaining the items in hand, the clothes on their backs, and the purpose of this visit.
Master Yuan Zhi wanted to break through in martial arts, why couldn’t he do it somewhere else, why did it have to be in front of Meng Qi?
It should be noted that they were still in an unclear situation of friend or foe.
The culprit might not be the crimson robe, but it was definitely related to Meng Qi!
Facing Mo Li’s determined gaze, Meng Qi’s chest surged not with guilt, but with pride.
—Look, after all the teachings along the way, the doctor could now handle things on his own.
Peeling away the layers to see the truth, pushing forward the whole situation step by step, whether wandering the martial world or drifting through mundane life, this skill was indispensable.
Uh, if only it wasn’t used against himself. Meng Qi’s gaze wandered, and he vaguely said, “I just talked to the master about the fading of the clothes.”
“You could explain it more clearly.” Mo Li saw through someone’s attempt to avoid the main issue.
Meng Qi had no choice but to bring out the doggerel he had made up.
Mo Li remained silent for a long time.
Meng Qi became a bit panicked and hurriedly said, “Clothes fade after washing, they fade with time, isn’t that normal? I’ve long been a faded and useless piece of clothing, forcibly wearing it doesn’t look right. It was just a clever remark, how was I to know this old monk would suddenly have an epiphany?”
Mo Li thought Meng Qi had a point. In the classics and miscellaneous books, monks and literati would exchange Zen riddles and clever remarks, it was a back-and-forth of brilliant phrases, how could Master Yuan Zhi lose in one round?
Wait, he got sidetracked by Meng Qi.
Mo Li suddenly came back to his senses, the key was not in the clever remarks or Zen riddles, but in Meng Qi’s habitual show-off attitude, which accidentally caused trouble.
“How many days does it take to break through a martial arts boundary?” Meng Qi asked humbly.
The dragon veins had no such concept of boundaries; their bodies had no bottlenecks, they just needed to keep practicing martial arts and accumulating spiritual energy to use as inner strength.
Mo Li at least had a teacher, Meng Qi was entirely self-taught, so naturally, he was unsure.
“It’s hard to say, some people need an hour or two, others might take three to five days.” Mo Li rubbed his forehead, utterly helpless.
They definitely couldn’t just leave Master Yuan Zhi in the woods and walk away.
“Someone’s coming!”
Meng Qi’s ears twitched, sharply looking towards the mountain foot.
***
At noon, the scorching sun hung high, baking the earth.
No birds or beasts were seen in the mountains; it seemed they had found places to avoid the scorching weather.
Suddenly, shadows appeared in the silent forest, one after another, swiftly sweeping through the woods, causing a rustling sound as they brushed against the branches and leaves.
The leader wore a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat that covered his face completely; he was the mysterious swordsman that Fengxing Pavilion was looking for.
The swordsman pressed his scarred and calloused hand on the hilt of his sword, his aura growing sharper. The branches in front of him trembled slightly and then split in half without warning, a result of his killing intent being released.
As his steps slowed, this killing intent gradually retracted and was finally suppressed within the sheath.
The swordsman stopped.
He scrutinized a footprint on the ground, seemingly entranced.
Then he stepped back to look for the previous footprint.
His sudden stop to investigate caused all the Piaoping Pavilion assassins to stop as well.
The swordsman picked up some dry, hard soil from the ground and brought it to his nose to sniff. He smelled smoke and ashes.
—After walking in the mountains for so long, why would the soles of the shoes still have this scent? Where had the owner of these shoes been?
It could only be the land temple that they burned last night.
“Someone got ahead of us,” the swordsman said in a hoarse voice.
Upon hearing this, everyone gripped their weapons tightly.
They had followed the clues left by the people who slaughtered the shopkeeper and clerks of the Si family’s rice shop. Although Meng Qi and Mo Li were highly skilled in martial arts, they couldn’t completely erase their tracks. Especially since Meng Qi and Mo Li had stayed near the town for so long, had dealings with the Four Gangs and Twelve Assemblies, and had gone to the ghost market last night. These clues were enough for the Piaoping Pavilion to track them here.
They just didn’t expect that someone else had gotten ahead of them.
The swordsman continued to examine the footprints, trying to determine the person’s martial arts level.
His brows furrowed deeper; the footprints were very strange, with small intervals between them, like those of an ordinary person walking, seemingly incapable of using lightness skills.
This was mountainous terrain, uneven ground, requiring extra effort to walk through it. Who would have the patience to tread slowly?
“Move.”
The swordsman kept his eyes fixed on the ground as he continued forward, observing the footprints.
What concerned him was that the distance between the footprints hadn’t changed, but the depth gradually increased, as if the person walking had used great force to steady themselves.
The deepest part of the footprint was at the arch, indicating the force was applied by the walker themselves, not from an opposing force or a push from behind.
The ground bore no signs of a struggle.
Why would a person, not using internal energy to walk, suddenly increase their walking force for no apparent reason?
While the swordsman pondered, a flock of startled birds suddenly took off from the mountaintop ahead, followed by wild animals fleeing in panic through the forest.
“This…”
The swordsman’s eyes were filled with astonishment.
The normally robotic Piaoping Pavilion assassins, who followed commands without question, all looked up, showing signs of fear.
They had killed many people who were more skilled in martial arts than themselves. Martial arts experts were still human, prone to lapses. They were not afraid of any master.
After killing many people, one gradually loses feeling, becoming muddled, sometimes unable to distinguish between being alive or dead. This was also related to the rules of Piaoping Pavilion; they could only come out on missions. On ordinary days, they lived like mice in a hole, unseen by the world.
At this moment, the overwhelmingly formidable aura felt like a bucket of cold water poured over their heads.
—In front of such a master, running even a bit slower would mean death, and they wouldn’t even have the chance to turn back and assassinate.
This was not someone they could deal with at all. Piaoping Pavilion assassins were graded, and their level wasn’t supposed to take on such a task.
“Steady,” the swordsman whispered a command.
The assassins barely managed to compose themselves, their dull minds finally remembering that this trip wasn’t for a paid job but a command from above to eliminate threats to Piaoping Pavilion.
Failing the mission meant a fate worse than death upon their return.
“Chief, should we reconsider our plan?” One assassin, suppressing his fear, said nervously.
The swordsman’s icy gaze swept over them, making their scalps tingle.
After a long pause, the swordsman said hoarsely, “You all retreat to the foot of the mountain.”
The group instantly breathed a sigh of relief, quickly retreating without asking where the chief was going or if he would return safely.
The swordsman stood alone under the scorching sun, his straw raincoat cracking from the heat. The cloth wrapped around his head and face, combined with the bamboo hat, made him almost airtight—ordinary people couldn’t endure this for a moment. Yet, the swordsman’s figure exuded an indescribable sense of desolate coldness.
“Crack.”
A crack suddenly appeared on the ground, split by an invisible sword aura, with pebbles rolling into a shallow pit.
The swordsman, who had been standing there, was already far away, using his lightness skills to swiftly travel through the forest, his aura not retracting but growing even stronger.
The overwhelming killing intent surged like a tide.
Master Yuan Zhi, who was meditating and breaking through his boundaries, was immediately affected, his brows furrowed, and white mist rose from his bald head.
The white mist was caused by the agitation and release of internal energy. Due to the intense heat and the scorching sunlight making the leaves and rocks appear slightly distorted, the white mist also drifted, left and right, never leaving Master Yuan Zhi’s head.
Meng Qi: “…”
Mo Li: “…”
The scene looked like Master Yuan Zhi’s soul was leaving his body, his spirit trying to transform into a phantom humanoid figure, but being almost scattered by the scorching sun.
“An unfriendly visitor, Brother Meng, be careful.”
Mo Li gripped the edge-less sword in his sleeve, vigilantly looking in the direction of the approaching killing intent.
Meng Qi moved faster, flipping up onto a tree.
Standing high, he could see farther, and from a distance, his face wasn’t visible, making his unevenly colored clothes look less ugly.
The swordsman, full of killing intent, stepped onto the gentle slope.
Six eyes met, all showing surprise.
Meng Qi wondered why someone would so directly display their identity as an assassin; although his face was covered, it was no different from being written on his face.
Mo Li wondered if this person had some condition that couldn’t be exposed to light, hence wearing such heavy clothing in the scorching heat.
The swordsman thought, this was indeed the worst situation—two unknown masters he was tracking, plus another master who had tracked them ahead.
Meng Qi moved with the sway of the tree branch.
In a blink of an eye, he was close at hand, and the dark purple sword light shot up to the sky.
The swordsman quickly retreated.
Meng Qi didn’t really pursue him, casually twirling his sword and holding it single-handedly behind his back.
The swordsman noticed that Meng Qi had shaken out this flexible sword from his waist.
Pink clothes, a purple sword, and that exceptionally rare face—a demeanor of a reclusive hermit.
“……”
The swordsman remained silent, suddenly wanting to descend the mountain.
“Saying nothing, not uttering a word, it seems you are a nameless nobody.” Meng Qi sighed.
Although Mo Li hadn’t figured out why Master Yuan Zhi was breaking through his boundary here, the swordsman’s overwhelming killing intent clearly indicated ill intentions.
Mo Li took a few steps forward, just enough to block the swordsman’s path to Master Yuan Zhi.
“Living in the martial world, one ought to have a name.” Meng Qi looked at the swordsman with great interest.
This mysterious person’s martial arts were exceptionally high, and his intense killing aura was something Meng Qi had never seen in his life.
Even for Meng Qi, encountering such a master was rare.
—He could topple the heads of major sects; Elder Cai was no match for him.
Masters at this level, regardless of their martial arts skills or favorite moves, had long transcended one-on-one combat. Individual enemies posed no threat to them, so even if the swordsman was unlucky enough to encounter three masters at once, he might still have the ability to engage or escape.
Of course, he definitely couldn’t win in a fight.
But since Master Yuan Zhi was in the midst of a breakthrough, Meng Qi didn’t want the swordsman targeting Mo Li. Hence, he hinted at drawing the swordsman’s attention to himself.
“Piaoping Pavilion is really stingy. A renowned assassin should be a golden signboard, right? Why hide your identity, not even revealing your name?” Meng Qi scrutinized the swordsman, shaking his head with disdain. “Dressed like this, you might as well have something written on your face.”
“What would that be?” Mo Li asked at the right moment.
The doctor didn’t want to play along, but wasn’t this stalling for time? Master Yuan Zhi was still emitting smoke!
When martial arts reach a certain level, each breakthrough feels like a life-and-death test.
One wrong move, and the true energy could deviate, leading to severe internal injuries or madness.
Fat Mouse had “forced” the person to break through, and Mo Li instinctively felt responsible.
“Perhaps it says ‘I am an assassin’?”
Meng Qi nodded seriously and said, “Indeed, it also says ‘I don’t want to show my face, nameless, kills indiscriminately, those who block me will die, today I don’t want to fight, I just need to get the account book and return to report.'”
Mo Li looked incredulously at the swordsman, whose eyes were the only part visible.
Ignoring the first part, how did Meng Qi deduce the last sentence?
“Brother Meng, you’re wrong.” Mo Li took a deep breath, continuing to stall for time.
Hahaha that last line 🤣
What a duo they make certainly ❤️
Thanks for the chapters!