The chaos in Sword Village's guest hall was no less deafening than it had been at the front gate. Though seated, the many martial artists created a roaring din of speculation and debate. The air hummed with a tension that was audible, the sheer volume of their voices a testament to the furious discussion.
Kuo Lok and Bazar Batu followed Kuo Jin Song and Kuo Ju into the main meeting hall, where everyone was already gathered. They took their places, standing respectfully behind Kuo Jin Song and Kuo Ju.
Yong Gui spoke, his voice grave. "Mu Dishi left with the Yueguang Sect. We don't know why, but it means they have gained a powerful new ally."
"Even if Mu da ge is with them, it doesn't mean he'll support them," Fu Yuanjun insisted. "I still believe he will not help the Yueguang Sect cause trouble in the Central Plains."
"Leader Fu, you have so much faith in him," Mo Ehuang said, a hint of suspicion in her voice. "Has your sect been receiving some kind of benefit from the Yueguang Sect? I seem to recall hearing their branch is in Tianshan."
Bazar Batu murmured, but his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. "I think the person getting benefits from the Yueguang Sect is more likely to be her. After all, she's the only one here with a poisonous dagger." He glanced at Kuo Lok. "Lok gege, am I right?"
Kuo Lok gave a brief nod.
Mo Ehuang's eyes blazed with fury. "Why are you still here?" she shrieked. "This gathering is only for martial artists of the Central Plains!"
Bazar Batu replied, "I don't want to be here." He held Kuo Lok's hand. "Lok gege, let's go." The two young men left the meeting hall.
Bazar Batu grabbed Kuo Lok's hand, and the two young men strode out of the meeting hall, heading straight for Bazar Batu's guest room.
He pushed the door open and went directly to a table, sitting down in front of an ink set. He hummed to himself, his fingers moving with a quiet purpose as he gently dipped the brush into the inkpot. "If I remember correctly..." he murmured, and began to draw.
He concentrated intensely, recreating the Mu Treasure map from memory, carefully marking the mountains and every single detail he could recall.
Kuo Lok closed the door behind him and walked to stand beside Bazar Batu. He looked down at the drawing on the table and asked, "Batu, what are you doing?"
"I'm drawing the map," Bazar Batu said, glancing up. "Lok gege, will you mix the ink for me? I just remembered something. When we were fighting Miao Mingzhu, the map she showed me was different from the one you forced me to give to Fu Yuanjun."
"Batu, the treasure isn't ours," Kuo Lok replied. "If it doesn't belong to us, we shouldn't take it."
"We could keep it and give it back to Ma da ge," Bazar Batu said, his hand moving across the paper. He continued drawing without looking up.
"Batu, do you really remember it?" Kuo Lok asked, surprised.
Bazar Batu smiled. "I don't like to brag, but if I lay eyes on something I really like, I'll remember every single detail."
Kuo Lok's gaze lingered on the drawing. "I heard the map was torn into five pieces. You had one, and Miao Mingzhu has two. Who has the other two?"
Bazar Batu put down his paintbrush. "If I'm right, the blind man in white and his followers have one or both of the missing pieces," he said. He picked up his new drawings and blew on the papers to make the ink dry faster. "They're being hunted down by those people, so I'm sure they have the map."
Bazar Batu placed the two pieces of paper he had drawn on the table, setting the human skin map beside them. He frowned, staring at the empty space where the drawings didn't meet. "The two middle parts of the mountain are still missing," he said with a sigh of frustration.
"Batu," Kuo Lok said, looking at the three items. "Do you mind if I bring these to Leader Yong?"
Bazar Batu smiled. "Alright," he replied.
Kuo Lok smiled. "Thank you," he said.
Bazar Batu smiled back. "It's okay."
Kuo Lok walked to the door and turned around. "Are you coming back to the meeting hall with me?" he asked.
Bazar Batu shook his head. "No, I don't want anyone accusing me of being a secret spy." He smiled at Kuo Lok. "You go ahead. I'll wait for you right here."
"I'll take this to them and be right back," Kuo Lok replied, a quiet promise.
Bazar Batu smiled at Kuo Lok as he walked out the door. Once the door was closed, his smile vanished. He scoffed and murmured softly to himself, "Stupid fool. Did you even listen to what I said?" He put down his brush with a sigh. "I said I remember anything that I like. I don't like bragging, but I remember every single detail."
Just then, a loud crash shattered the quiet. Bazar Batu rushed out of his room to investigate and found a horrifying scene. Kuo Changchang was on the floor, picking up pieces of a broken bowl, while Ma Jingguo lay on the bed, consumed with a furious rage.
Kuo Changchang stood up. "I'll go get you another one," she said quietly.
"Shijie, don't bother," Ma Jingguo snapped, his voice tight with anger. "I don't want to drink it."
"Ah Chen, no matter what, you have to be strong," Kuo Changchang said, her voice gentle but firm. "The Devil Fist attacks hit you directly in the left chest. If you don't take care of yourself, your wounds will never heal properly."
Ma Jingguo stared out of the door and into the open courtyard, a violent cough shaking his body as a sharp pain flared in his left chest. His heart ached, and he wished for nothing more than to die. He knew that if he could just take his last breath, the pain would finally end, and the terrible knowledge that Mu Dishi was now with another man would no longer torment him.
He closed his eyes, a single tear escaping, and whispered sadly, "Why didn't he hit two inches lower?"
Kuo Changchang looked up at Ma Jingguo with a comforting gaze. "Ah Chen," she said gently, "even the tiniest insect still loves its life."
"Shijie," Ma Jingguo snapped, "I want to be left alone."
Her voice became sharp. "How long do you plan to be like this?" Kuo Changchang asked. "No matter how you torture yourself, Benefactor Mu isn't here to see your suffering."
"Shijie, don't mention that person's name in front of me!" Ma Jingguo shouted, his voice mad with anger.
"I'll ask Benefactor Yan to boil you another bowl," Kuo Changchang said calmly. She picked up the tray with the broken bowl and left the room.
A moment later, a gentle knock sounded on the door. Ma Jingguo looked up to see Bazar Batu standing there.
"Can I come in?" Bazar Batu asked.
"Do you need something?" Ma Jingguo replied, his voice cold and flat.
Bazar Batu sat at the table and hesitated. "Ma ge," he began, "I want to say something, but I know you might not want to hear it."
"What is it?" Ma Jingguo asked, his voice cold and flat.
"It has to do with your wife," Bazar Batu replied.
Ma Jingguo's expression hardened. "What do you want to say?" he demanded.
Bazar Batu spoke, his voice gentle. "Ma ge, your wife is a very skilled martial artist, feared by many. And based on what you told me two years ago, you love him very much, and I truly believe he cares for you." He paused, watching Ma Jingguo's pained expression. "So do you really think someone who loves you so much would suddenly decide to walk away with a masked stranger with no reason?"
Ma Jingguo gritted his teeth, his knuckles white as his hands clenched the bedsheet. "Because you don't know who he is!" he roared.
"Who is he?" Bazar Batu asked.
Ma Jingguo's voice dropped, filled with a raw mix of pain and disbelief. "The masked man is Wang Biming. He's Mu Dishi's childhood lover, a man Mu Dishi believed had been dead for twelve years."
Though Bazar Batu had only briefly met Mu Dishi, he had a wealth of information to go on. He weighed his own observations against Mu Dishi's formidable reputation and everything he had heard from others. All of it led him to one conclusion: Mu Dishi would not have left Ma Jingguo for Wang Biming based on their history alone.
"Strange. Very strange," Bazar Batu murmured to himself, standing and beginning to pace the room. "I heard the entire Mu family was wiped out by three sects and four clans, with no one surviving except Mu Dishi. So how is Wang Biming not dead twelve years later?"
His questions came in a frantic rush, one after another. Did the death of the Mu Clan have something to do with Wang Biming? Did Wang Biming say something compelling to Mu Dishi to make him leave so suddenly?
He had so many questions, yet no answers. He stopped, panting slightly as a new, terrifying thought came to mind. He looked at Ma Jingguo. "Oh, no... what if Mu da ge has fallen into Wang Biming's trap?"
Ma Jingguo sat up, "A trap?" He finally realized that what Bazar Batu just say does make sense,
Bazar Batu looked at Ma Jingguo and nodded grimly. "Yes," he said. "A trap." He let out a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his temple. "This is just my assumption, of course. But what if Wang Biming was involved in the slaughter of the Mu village twelve years ago, and faked his death to deceive Mu da ge?"
"Are you saying that xiao shushu is in danger?" Ma Jingguo asked, his voice shaking.
"I don't know," Bazar Batu replied, his voice softening. "Like I said, this is just my assumption. I could be wrong."
Ma Jingguo grabbed the dagger from under his pillow and rushed out of the room, followed immediately by Bazar Batu.
"Ma da ge, where are you going?" Bazar Batu called out, trying to keep up.
"I'm going to find xiao shushu!" Ma Jingguo yelled back.
"Do you even know where he is?" Bazar Batu asked, his voice filled with urgency.
Without answering, Ma Jingguo went through the back door and vanished into the crowded street, lost to his despair.
"Ma da ge, be careful!" Bazar Batu shouted after him, his voice echoing in the street.
After leaving Yong Sword Village, Mu Dishi and Wang Biming walked up the back of Mu Village's mountain, returning to the bamboo forest and the hut where Mu Dishi had once lived alone. Mu Dishi sat down on a stool in the small bamboo shed, facing Wang Biming, who watched him with a gentle smile.
Wang Biming smiled, his eyes taking in the small hut. "Dishi," he began, his voice laced with a soft nostalgia, "you know... after I dug myself out of that grave, I returned here and stayed until my wounds healed. I missed you so much every single day. As soon as I was well enough, I went looking for you, but I found you with the Ma Clan."
"Why didn't you come to me back then?" Mu Dishi asked, his voice raw with a question held for twelve years.
Wang Biming responded, "I did, but I was badly wounded by the Ma Clan. I was rescued by the leader of the Yueguang Sect. I was already planning to get my revenge on the three sects and four clans, but then I heard Kuo Jin Song had killed you. I was so angry that I went to Tibet to train with the leader of the Yueguang Sect."
"Is that how you learned Devil Fist?" Mu Dishi asked.
Wang Biming took Mu Dishi's hand. "Yes," he said, his voice now hard with resolve. "I practiced every day with only one thing on my mind: revenge. I want to kill the three sects, five clans, and Kuo Jin Song."
Mu Dishi pulled his hand from Wang Biming's grasp. Reaching into his robe, he carefully took out a folded handkerchief and, from within it, drew out a necklace. He placed the handkerchief on the table and pushed it toward Wang Biming.
Wang Biming stared at it, his eyes wide with confusion. "What is this?" he asked.
"You once said," Mu Dishi replied, his voice chillingly cold, "that if I ever stopped loving you, I could return it."