Feng Xiao had no time to pay attention to the outside world. He was experiencing a vicious battle, nothing like the one in the tavern.
Cui Youwang left behind two Śarīras where the consciousness, the pride of its former owner, remained. Refusing to be absorbed so easily, it lay hidden for a great number of days, feigning obedience until its new owner was at the climax of healing his own heavy injuries, then it surged fiercely to the surface.
It truly was, without a doubt, the style from a line of demonic grandmaster.
Fortunately, Feng Xiao guessed earlier on that it was impossible for Xiao Lu to just give him something so valuable like Śarīras. At every single second ticking by, he had always been on guard. Otherwise, he would have fought incessantly with the intruder that would result in them both perishing together.
The great and mighty Second Commander of the Jiejian Bureau, the Sect Leader of the Fajing Sect, dying from such a way like qi deviation… This sort of death was no more honourable than dying from being choked to death while drinking but to no great extent. He would be destined to be a joke for many ages in the Jianghu.
Moreover, if his peerless, elegant, dazzling and eye-catching grace, which had no equal to this world, fell to such an end, wouldn't the world be devastated to lose one brilliant and dazzling pearl?
"Hmph!"
A cold snort, neither coquetry nor fury, but it was like the Kuiniu drums that the Yellow Emperor knew himself from the most primitive times of this world; loud and thundering, shaking the world as far as a thousand li.
At the very least, when it reached Feng Xiao's ears, it shook his heart, soul, and spirit lightly. His already disarrayed qi was tossed into a worse state.
Feng Xiao looked at the trembling shadow with the shape of a person standing opposite of him.
That wasn't the real former grandmaster Cui Youwang. It was just an illusion of Cui Youwang formed by the Śarīra that existed in his heart, soul, and spirit.
However, to a certain extent, this was also the last shadow of Cui Youwang that he had left in this world.
Just like, although a fish had died, when it's steamed or braised or fried with vinegar and served onto the table, one cannot say that this fish was gone. It had just turned from a living thing into a dish, Feng Xiao maliciously thought.
The Demonic Sects held in high esteem the concept of feasting on the weak like prey. It held little respect for senior generations, to begin with. Only the strong will be worshipped.
Feng Xiao was not an indigenous disciple of the Demonic Sects; even for the position of Sect Leader of the Fajing Sect, he was forcibly pushed to succeed it, and his days drifted on as much as he could. Instead, he felt more warmth and sincerity towards the identity of belonging to the Jiejian Bureau.
Due to being a prodigy since he was young, he was well-loved and cherished. Whatever he wanted, he only needed to reach out with his hands. Even the way of martial arts that common people thought was difficult to master, he had leisurely passed them all. Because of this, he was less persistent towards the martial path, otherwise, with his talents, he could have gone further.
And so, this Fajing Sect Sect Leader's respect for the former Grandmaster of the Demonic Sects has lessened.
Even as he was being tormented at the edge of life and death, he still had enough to spare in order to mock and ridicule him.
Faced before such frivolity from him, "Cui Youwang" not only laughed coldly, he even attacked without a second word.
A killing aura filled the air like wisps of silk from a cocoon layer by layer, solid and windproof.
Every attack coming from Feng Xiao with qi was anticipated by the enemy; caught, contained, first slowly, then viciously. Taking advantage of him being unprepared, it surged with a force that left no room for defence.
As the last line of defence, his heart, soul, and spirit were wrecked by the suddenly fierce force that came, practically losing his consciousness and control over his body.
"With something like this, you dare call yourself a later generation of the Demonic Sects?"
A rough voice rang at his ear, causing Feng Xiao's mind to freeze. He wanted to fight back but could not muster the strength to regulate his qi. His qi was forcibly held down. Only now he realized that he underestimated this Grandmaster who was his senior. Someone who had his days of glory in the Demonic Sect would not have natural talents beneath his.
Carelessly underestimating his enemies could result in a very terrible end.
Feng Xiao finally took it seriously.
Yet he too felt very helpless. During the battle in the Stormy Tavern, he had killed more than ten top-tier martial artists of the Jianghu. Among them, there was no lack of people who made a name for themselves, there was no lack of promising youths of the future. In the end, he even fought a battle with Xiao Lu, depleting all his strength and was almost robbed of the chance of returning alive. He, too, felt very tired. Why could he not even rest when he was healing his wounds and still had to fight?
A collection of trickling qi was gathered and shifted, wanting to counteract "Cui Youwang" who desired to triumph, but it was obvious the enemy had come prepared after laying low for many days. Both of them clashed, and Feng Xiao's qi was weakened by three parts. The enemy towered and didn't move, like the stubborn rocks of Mount Tai, going so far to even give a mocking and ridiculing look.
"Trash!" He heard Cui Youwang said, "During that year, I fought the six top Grandmasters beneath the Heavens alone, yet had some energy to spare and escaped unscathed. The Demonic Sects truly deteriorated with each generation having trash like you. If I were still here, let alone joining the Sun and Moon Sect, I fear you'd be killed on the spot by me at the gates!"
Feng Xiao gasped for breath, felt that the qi from the enemy was like falling mountains and collapsing seas. All of a sudden, there was an enormous pressure. His own qi practically couldn't hold it back, like it was about to collapse in an instant, ground to dust and broken bones.
In this illusionary consciousness, he staggered back a few steps, his limbs heavy as if boulders were chained to them, unable to lift even a finger.
And "Cui Youwang" who stood opposite of him was laughing non-stop.
"I advise you against wasting your strength."
"Those Six Top Grandmasters; did they attack you all at once, or one after the another?" Feng Xiao asked suddenly.
This is an illusionary test. The one standing before him looked like Cui Youwang, but it was just the two Śarīras he left behind. Since they weren't just the condensation of the martial arts of his life, they were also the residue of his consciousness. Two people who could not have met to begin with were now sharing an exchange due to this.
Cui Youwang snorted coldly. "Naturally, they attacked me at once!"
Feng Xiao: "Then you are lying. Even if your martial arts are number one beneath the Heavens during that time, it's impossible to face all six Grandmasters at once!"
Cui Youwang snapped: "How ignorant! Do you take the number one beneath the Heavens of that time as a joke like the lots of you?! If I want to kill you, it would be as simple as stepping on an ant!"
Feng Xiao paid it no attention. "Then make your move, don't hold back. Who knows, you might even reincarnate into the world of mortals in my body, like those gods!"
Cui Youwang darkly said: "Since I left behind two Śarīras , how would you know that would be impossible?"
Feng Xiao laughed. "You were incapable of doing it, so that is why you are hesitating! If you destroyed me, you would perish along. You didn't want to, and so even after so many years, you are still just a Śarīra. Yet you contain the residues of Cui Youwang's consciousness before he died. It was difficult for you to come across someone like me who you could fight hand to hand, so how could you be willing to destroy me so easily?!"
The human-shaped silhouette wavered a little, as if he'd been struck to the square, yet also looked like he was deeply in thought.
Feng Xiao would not allow any chances to destroy the enemy slip by, even if they were his martial seniors, he did not hesitate to strike!
"My Lord!"
Pei Jingzhe watched in terror as Feng Xiao's body shook violently, blood oozing from his nose and mouth.
Both of Feng Xiao's eyes were closed. He couldn't hear his calls, and his face had instead turned green and pale, a sheet of pale yellow gradually appeared, like the saying: "having a face like a golden sheet of paper".
Gold was by right a beautiful colour, but when a practitioner of the martial arts had such a face colour, they wouldn't be far from death.
Three Bingzhi Pellets being fed to Feng Xiao could only make the colour on his face better, and just as everyone thought there was hope, his condition abruptly turned for the worse.
Ming Yue said that Feng Xiao was currently busy fighting with the demons of his own heart. If he succeeded, he could live; yet if he failed, then he would die. There are only two outcomes.
During that time, Cui Buqu had stood silently for a moment, and then he turned away, probably to go somewhere. If not for him giving his own medicine that was used in case of emergency to Feng Xiao, and if not for Qiao Xian looking so terrible like that, Pei Jingzhe would have thought that Cui Buqu did not care whether his Lord lived or died. He could even inwardly feel happy.
But now, Second Commander Feng who had always been proud and unbridled, who never did something without promise of benefits, might truly die where he laid.
Pei Jingzhe lightly sighed.
In his heart, there was nothing Feng Xiao couldn't do. He refused and was unwilling to think of this sort of possibility.
He dared not touch Feng Xiao; at this moment, the other's skin was searing like fire, any contract from foreign entities might send him into his demise.
My Lord, if you wake up, then I am willing to let you deduct my salary a few more times. Pei Jingzhe gritted his teeth and made a wish that made his heart hurt.
He thought for a while, then added a few words: Weren't you fond of making it difficult for Cui Buqu? If something happened to you, and the Imperial Court sends a new person to succeed the Jiejian Bureau, he would forget you as an enemy very quickly.
He didn't know whether it was that sentence that touched Feng Xiao's heartstrings. Qi in the latter's body had truly reached a state of life and death and was locked in a mortal combat. With neither of them willing to take a step back, the qi belonging to Cui Youwang was barbaric and unreasonable, sweeping everything in its path as it surged, yet Feng Xiao forcibly held it at bay. The latter did not clash with him; he had slyly looked for ways to defeat his enemies, waiting for the opportunity to strike. This made "Cui Youwang" feel an undying hatred.
"The likes of you are undeserving to call yourself a member of the Demonic Sects…"
Feng Xiao snickered. "Do you truly take yourself for Cui Youwang now? You are just two relics left behind by Cui Youwang, when he failed to ascend the martial path and died. Even if the real Cui Youwang came, I want him to know—"
He was clear in the deepest part of his mind. This so-called "Cui Youwang" before him was just an illusion produced by qi deviation. Perhaps he truly did acquire Cui Youwang's qi, but in the end, this was just something that did not tolerate an intruder who it did not originally belong to. Today, if he couldn't turn this qi into his own, or perhaps if he failed to defeat him, then what awaited him was the same end as Cui Youwan's.
This should be the most dangerous trial he has ever encountered since he began practising martial arts. But although Feng Xiao was stronger in the face of the strong, he had never known what defeat was like.
Perhaps, in this world, there was truly someone who could make him take a step back. But it wouldn't be now.
"—However strong you are, there would be someone stronger!"
His brave talk rang loudly. Feng Xiao executed the plans he'd formed; after beating around the bush for so long and regaining his breath back, he finally declared war upon his enemy.
"Cui Youwang" looked like he had been angered. He howled, unhesitantly lunging himself towards Feng Xiao's direction.
After a violent tremble, a blinding light appeared. Feng Xiao could only feel his body heating up, his blood surging and boiling, urgent to break through his skin. His meridians and vessels twisted and turned incessantly and pain came waves after waves.
It was unknown how much time had passed, when all waves of pain slowly quelled. Feng Xiao gradually opened his eyes.
Cui Youwang was gone; that silhouette was completely gone. He felt a gradual laziness coming from inside out his body, the pleasant feeling of the aftermath of defeating his enemy. Every inch of his body couldn't help but comfortably drawl.
The sight before him was a blanket of greenery.
Just like new seedlings sowed into the soil, like a swaying forest of bamboo, like a lake filled with lotuses, gently consoling his fatigue.
There was someone else, standing at the centre of that green field, looking back at him.
Feng Xiao moved his fingers, and that person came up to him, bringing a familiar face that looked sickly and a gaze that looked piercingly cold. He didn't speak,he only looked coldly at him, simply allowing Feng Xiao's fingers to sweep across his face, pry his lapels open, exposing skin that had not seen the sun for many days.
Cui Buqu felt Feng Xiao's wrist and sighed softly. "Xiao Lu is dead."
Feng Xiao was stunned by his words. "How did he die?"
Cui Buqu said: "After the battle with you, he was also heavily wounded. Ming Yue pursued him with some people, and killed him."
Feng Xiao looked like a heavy burden had been lifted off his mind. "When the head is cut, these people of the Thirteen Pavilions are like a headless dragon. They will no longer be able to cause chaos."
Cui Buqu smiled vaguely. "Everything is owed to you. I will report your role in this conquest."
Feng Xiao also smiled. "I don't need you to report my contributions. I only need you to do one thing."
He playfully tips the other's jaw up. Cui Buqu's pale-white face very quickly yielded a faint red blush, wanting to take a step back, yet he didn't move. There was a forbearance between his brows, looking vividly beautiful.
Feng Xiao slowly leaned in forward, almost kissing him, but suddenly, he stopped.
Cui Buqu gave a look that he didn't understand.
Feng Xiao suddenly laughed coldly. "Truly a glimpse of the demons in my heart. Knowing how to use this to seduce me, laudable!"
He suddenly flipped his palm around and crooked his fingers, mercilessly grabbing Cui Buqu by his throat and contracted his fingers, and then, "Cui Buqu" suddenly turned into dust!
"How… How could you have known…" The enemy's voice drifted to him faintly, bringing a sense of disbelief that he had failed.
Feng Xiao laughed loudly. "Because what you could materialize was only the Cui Buqu in my fantasy! The real Cui Buqu would never say something like 'everything is owed to me!'"
In the midst of a battle of wits, he gradually learned that another illusion was formed outside of his state of mind. It did draw the snake out from its hole and delivered itself to the hunter's trap.
As if everything was swept clean, his heart, soul, and spirit were clear. The qi that has surged and roared comes to a state of calmness, and soundlessly froze.
Everything was beautifully soundless and shapeless.
Feng Xiao realized that the extent of his martial arts has once again increased.
"Cui Youwang, you have lost!"
...
Inside the flower hall of the Governor's Residence, there were no seats unoccupied, and the crows dared not chirped.
All the distinguished families within the county town have all been "invited" here.
When Rong Qing's invitation arrived at the Li family, the patriarch originally just wanted to send an unloved son in his stead, but he couldn't have guessed that the guards arrived immediately afterwards and forcibly took the "ill" patriarch to this place.
Not just the Li family, but the Ding, Zhao, and Wang families all had similar experiences.
Everyone dared not speak, determined to execute the "regardless of what you say, I would not speak or agree" strategy.
To speak of the main reason pertaining to this time's calamity, Yang Yun, Li Yan, Wu Yi, and the others have all been captured. They were just accomplices that were forced into submission. They've said that accomplices would be forgiven. They refuse to believe that Rong Qing would dare to kill every single distinguished family in the county.
Before Cui Buqu arrived, Rong Qing had spoken to them once.
To first take advantage of the weak then the strong; to first be well-mannered then use force; to know the cause then give the reason; to say now that the city's granary no longer contains grains, and if the victims were driven into starvation it would become a disaster. The first granary they wanted to break open would be all the native distinguished families present. So this concerned the safety of everyone there. He pleaded them to consider the big picture.
He had said so much without rest, Rong Qing felt his own throat was practically emitting smoke. This cluster of tortoises could not be moved even with a thunderstrike. Neither one of them dared to stand out. Each of them pretended to be quails, driving Rong Qing into fury that his face turned green.
He couldn't stop himself from slamming the table and allowing Pei Jingzhe to recite the names according to Li Yan's accounts. During that time when the taxes were waived, which distinguished family had obtained benefits through this exchange was all recorded in those accounts. No one could say otherwise. If they dragged one, none of them would be permitted to leave today.
The patriarch of the Li family finally slowly said: "Imperial Censor Rong has a brilliant judgement. During that time when they spoke of the waiving of taxes via donation of grains, Governor Yang put it in pretty words, but in reality, what fell into our hands were just some extra obtained that year. However, we have long finished the grains due to this year's flood. Presently, people within our family could not even eat. Where would we have extras to fund the victims? If you refuse to believe it, you can bring some people to search."
If he could put it in this way, then it proved that he wasn't afraid Rong Qing would truly send people out searching.
If Rong Qing couldn't find any rations, these people would ask their relatives and friends who served the court to report him to the Imperial Court altogether.
Rong Qing had seen the terrible situation of those flood victims, so he bore a deep hatred for these people. He really wanted to send some people to search.
Then, Cui Buqu came.
He did not make a scene. Not one person was by his side. He was holding a hand warmer, wrapped in a cloak. He passed through the courtyard quietly and reached the gate; he coughed a few times, his face that was originally pale from the cold quickly regaining its colour.
Other than Rong Qing and Pei Jingzhe, everyone present froze unconsciously like they were on guard. There were even youths who came along turning to look at him.
This Zuoyue Commander did not look at them. He didn't even look at a single person present, walking to the host's seat, weary long eyebrows and pale lips. But from the side of his face, it looked like his lips were vaguely curled, giving a half-smile as if he would grant death to any unlucky bloke.
The patriarch of the Li family felt cold sweat oozing from his spine. He quickly shut his mouth and continued pretending to be a quail.
Cui Buqu did not mention it to him, but asked instead: "Bring Governor Yang here to have a word."
====
Author's Notes:
A small conversation that's unrelated to the main story.
Feng Xiao, courtesy name: Yuntian.
Feng Xiao: People call me Feng Yuntian(sweet). Where am I sweet? Hm?
Cui Buqu: Shabaitian
[傻白甜 (sha bai tian) is used to refer to mostly people (mostly girls) who aren't calculative, cute, and gives off a gentle feeling.]