After Feng Xiao left the stone hall, he headed where Fan Yun had pointed before, walking towards the hall in the centre.
The path there was winding; main and hidden allies intersected each other. Until now, he hadn't gained insight into everything yet. Additionally, it hasn't been long since he joined the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai. Fan Yun and the rest were still wary of him, so there wasn't any information he could give out.
On his way there he met a few maidservants. These people knew his identity and always stopped to greet him, yet they were thrift with their words. If Feng Xiao stopped to inquire about their identity and past, they would not speak too much either. Judging by their accent, they were mixed from the Southern and Northern regions. In fact, these were not their first days here, because their skin was pale, proof of not having seen the sunlight for a very long time. It was very likely that ever since this place was refurbished into a stronghold, these maidservants had already occupied this place.
Even Feng Xiao thought that these people incredibly resembled living corpses, with a sense of dank and humid air lingering about them, they did not look like they could be bought over. He examined them for a very long time yet hadn't found any openings.
Since there were no openings, then he could only set his aim elsewhere.
According to his own perception and the discussion with Cui Buqu, Feng Xiao decided that this natural cave was grown in a quasi-circular way. All kinds of winding paths were dug out from the central hall. If one were to go out, they would have to pass through the Twin Spinning Compass Array that they came in from.
Cui Buqu had vaguely taught him how to pass through the array. According to Cui Buqu, the needle was the heart of the compass, changing infinitely with the twenty-eight constellations. The creator of the array only needed to change it a little and it could send people into a spinning headache, trapped within and losing their sense of direction.
Now as he recalled, the way Fan Yun permitted Feng Xiao to lure Cui Buqu here deserved quite the recollection. He was aware that this disciple of his knew his way around the Twin Spinning Compass Array; had he long carried the intention of lending both Cui Buqu and Feng Xiao's strength to combat the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai?
If that was true, then in which side of power did Fan Yun stand behind? The Southern Dynasty, or Goguryeo?
Feng Xiao got a hold of his thoughts, determined not to think about Fan Yun at that moment.
Not going out meant not seeing the rising sun and setting moon. It meant not knowing whether it was early in the day or late into the night. He had an hourglass back in his room, but he was too lazy to tip it around and found it too troublesome to go out of the cave. Feng Xiao estimated in his heart that it should be the morning of the seventh day of the seventh month right at this moment.
It also meant that the Pavilion Lord will arrive here today and meet with everyone else.
Till this day, they have not met the Pavilion Lord of the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai; taking into consideration the disposition of Yu Xiu and Yuan Sansi, even if they fell into an alliance in order to achieve the same goals, the Pavilion Lord must have been someone with matching abilities. At least surpassing them in martial arts, or at least more tyrannical.
Feng Xiao counted backwards from the list of top masters he knew once.
Many from the grandmaster tier were no longer interested in the pursuit of power from worldly politics; they have instead set their gazes on higher grounds, exploring the realm of martial arts. Just like Cui Youwang from that year, if he hadn't forcibly strengthened his martial arts, he wouldn't have experienced qi deviation. He would have still lived comfortably in the mortal world by now.
Other than these people, there were not many left.
Feng Xiao even suspected that this matter was related to Emperor Chen of the Southern Dynasty. However, the present Southern Dynasty Emperor was abjectly poor and spent extravagantly, investing into songs and dances. No matter how he perceived him, he didn't look like a person who could pull off something so huge.
Pondering as he walked, his focus returned when brightness fell upon his eyes. He had already reached the guest hall.
The people who were conversing between themselves turned around. One of them yielded a look of surprise and quickly hurried over.
"Yuntian, I've missed you so much on the journey!"
Feng Xiao twitched the corner of his lips before giving a smile, "Long time no see, Young Master Lin."
If Cui Buqu could also say words like 'I've missed you so much' then—
In his sea of memory, Cui Buqu's pale-white face was tinted red, forced by himself to spill these words out from time to time. Not only Feng Xiao didn't feel goosebumps from it, the corner of his lips instead curled up eagerly.
It was a pity that Master Daoist Cui would never say such things.
The one approaching was ranked number seven within the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai, Young Master Lin of the Yandang Estate.
It was Fate that year when Feng Xiao and Lin Wei met each other. Initially, it only came from a feeling that this person's dissolute attitude was quite unusual, so he investigated him in secret. And truly, he discovered that what hid behind Lin Wei wasn't just his happy-go-lucky temperament. He often tortured his servants, whipping them with iron wires if he was displeased. Every month the bodies that left their villa were not just one or two.
The Lin family originally came for the Western Regions to do trading business on silk and porcelains. However, after Lin Wei succeeded, the Yandang Estate began getting involved in weapon and metalsmithing businesses. It could be seen that this person wasn't as simple as he presented himself on the surface.
When they met again in the capital, Lin Wei accidentally saw Feng Xiao's "accident", and after some investigation, he finally exposed his own identity and invited him to join the Thirteen Pavilions. Feng Xiao pulled and pushed, allowing the currents to flow. Lin Wei was already interested in Feng Xiao to begin with, thus at that moment, he felt he was closer to him than other people around them, so, unbeknownst to it, he showed it through his words.
"After not meeting for so long, Yuntian, your grace remains as flustering as ever." Lin Wei smiled, bitterness hidden within himself, "Since you're already one of our own, why are you still calling me 'Young Master'? Just call me by my courtesy name Huaya."
"I've gotten used to it, can't change it!" Feng Xiao laughed, shifting his gaze to the one behind him, "This must be Chieftain Ning?"
Ning Shewo walked forward slowly, putting his hands together and bowed, "Young Master Feng is just like his name, as radiant as a jade."
He was over fifty years of age, his figure a little plump. However, the skin on his hands was tanner than the rest of his body. At a glance, one could tell that he was trained in a specific type of martial arts and he could not be taken lightly of.
Lin Wei watched Feng Xiao and Ning Shewo talking between themselves, the first not paying any attention to him, he couldn't help but show his displeasure.
Yu Xiu spoke suddenly, "He doesn't like being close to you, so why are you hallucinating?"
Lin Wei's expression sank. He glared at Yu Xiu and laughed suddenly, "Before that eye of yours was blinded, I might have been willing to speak more pleasantly with you. It's a pity your person no longer lives up to your name. I wonder if it was for this reason that Prince Jin of yours abandoned the chess piece he had of you?"
Yu Xiu laughed coldly, "You are a cut-sleeve yourself. Do you think everyone beneath the sky is similar to you? If not for the Pavilion Lord, I would have already killed you."
Among everyone present, some of them managed the water transport in the South, some of them pulled strings between the wealthy caste in the Northern Dynasty; Fan Yun was rich in knowledge, Yu Xiu even dared to masquerade as a Göktürk Khan, creating an episode of chaos effortlessly. Although his scheme was ruined by Cui Buqu and turned into a desperado, he still was once a subject of Prince Jin, an insider person of the palace. It was granted he knew many things that went on in the palace.
On the subject of battle formations alone, these few people were enough to raise a fierce, tempestuous storm. Under sufficient preparations, it was not impossible for them to substitute a new dynasty from the old.
If Feng Xiao and Cui Buqu weren't involved, they might have succeeded.
However, these people were originally heroes scattered all over the world. Although they had gathered to achieve the same goals, neither was willing to submit to the other.
When Yu Xiu was still by Prince Jin's side, he had been a balance of grace and solid worth, elegant and quiet. Now that there was a huge change to his identity, he no longer suppressed his temper. He wasn't only just displeased at Lin Wei; a few times when his line of sight intersected with Feng Xiao, Feng Xiao could see clearly in the other's narrowed eyes the unconcealed intention to kill him.
Yu Xiu never forgot his hatred from that time, but Feng Xiao was not someone easy to get along with, and now that he had joined the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai, he wasn't someone he could kill just because he wanted to. So, he had transferred all the resentment raging within him before onto Cui Buqu.
"Alright!" Before Lin Wei could retort, Fan Yun has already spoken to make peace, "Both of you are lords of the Thirteen Pavilions, even if there are disagreements between you, in the face of the grand scheme, they should be discarded. Today the Pavilion Lord summoned us to this place to make arrangements for what's to come."
The interest peaked in everyone.
Fan Yun added suddenly as his gaze surveyed his surroundings, "Where is Master Four?"
He was asking about Yuan Sansi.
Yu Xiu said, "After last night, he went missing."
Feng Xiao smiled, "I've seen him."
When he saw everyone had turned to look at himself, he leisurely spoke the latter half of the sentence, "At Fong Xiaolian's door."
Everyone gave an understanding look.
Fan Yun alone gave him a look, the kind that spoke volumes.
Speaking of the devil, he came.
"Feng Xiao you bastard!"
In the next moment, Yuan Sansi's figure appeared within the inner guest hall.
He obviously heard Feng Xiao's words, reaching out with a hand to grab the other.
Feng Xiao calmly used the fan in his hand to parry it.
However, with every move Yuan Sansi made he aimed to kill, not leaving any room. Both of them were about to fight in the inner guest hall, yet no one moved forward to interrupt. They have instead stepped away to give them space to fight, not blinking as the battle happened, wanting to see who is superior.
Feng Xiao very obviously didn't intend to fight a real battle with him. He brought the fight into Fan Yun's direction on purpose, using the opportunity to hide behind Fan Yun's body himself. Being unaware that he had become a shield out of the blue, Fan Yun was forced to reach out and put a stop to it.
"Speak properly if you have anything to say!"
"Fong Xiaolian is dead!" Yuan Sansi exclaimed angrily.
Everyone was shocked.
For a beauty like her to pass away just like that, even Lin Wei who was never interested in women could not help feeling furious and regrettable.
"When did it happen?!"
Fong Xiaolian was ranked number thirteen, the last one. Even though her martial arts were ranked last, other people could not do as they wished with her. Moreover, who would have willingly killed a peerless beauty like her?
Yuan Sansi glared at Feng Xiao, "The night before, I heard both of you meeting privately in your room and the next day she's dead. What are your explanations?"
Feng Xiao gave a look of innocence, "What explanation do I have to give? If I was somehow involved with Fong Xiaolian, I would have been furious by now. How would I look so high-spirited? For now, set aside whether there were grudges between Fong Xiaolian and I; Brother Yuan, your room is not close to mine, how would you know that Fong Xiaolian and I met in private? Even if you wish to frame someone, surely this is not the way?"
He turned towards Fan Yun, "I am the Deputy Pavilion Lord. Yuan Sansi is Master Four. How would this insubordination be dealt with?"
Yuan Sansi gave a cold laugh, "A Deputy Pavilion Lord like you hasn't even been declared by the Pavilion Lord! Yesterday night, Master Fan and I talked until late into the night, so I didn't return to my own room. Just now when I did, she was dead at my door. The blood-scar on her neck was the doing of a zither's string. Don't think I wouldn't know that you have obtained the zither Yu Yin in Boling county, using its strings as a weapon. Who do you think it was if not you?"
Feng Xiao spoke strangely, "You've spent the night with Master Fan? What have the both of you talked about to last an entire night? Master Fan, does Yuan Sansi speak the truth?"
Fan Yun spoke dully, "Actually, it cannot be said that we've spoken the entire night. After midnight, Brother Yuan had already left."
Yuan Sansi was both furious and shocked, "I obviously left only when it was close to dawn. Fan Yun, were you really bought over by this little bastard?!"
Fan Yun furrowed his brows, "Brother Yuan, calm down. There's more to Fong Xiaolian's death than meets the eye. For now, the murderer is undetermined. It's not too late to make a decision once the Pavilion Lord has arrived. Let us go and take a look at her first."
The others did not express any opinions. Fan Yun was in the middle and Yuan Sansi too no longer spoke. He glared sharply at Feng Xiao before walking out.
After not even two steps, Yuan Sansi stopped suddenly, his face froze.
"What smell is that?"
Lin Wei cried, "Fire!"
Not waiting for the others to respond, the sound of racing guards came from the outside, shouting for help about the fire.
Feng Xiao's heart dropped as he thought about a sleeping Cui Buqu who had his sleeping meridians tapped.
"We'll speak again once we're out!" Fan Yun said in a solemn voice.
At the same time his words dissipated in the air, the ground shook violently, for even boulders from atop the mountain came rolling down.
Everyone's expressions changed.
Feng Xiao stopped pondering, he took the first step and ran.
Yu Xiu's gaze caught him and followed after.