Chapter 81: Jinsheng (4)

He Tingtong made a grand entrance at the Mirage Sea Assembly. After stating his purpose, he successfully met with the master of the Mirage.

“May I ask where the President was this morning?”

Through layers of heavy curtains, the young man’s voice rang out clear, like a whimpering spring flowing in through the gaps.

“Where was I?” The man leaned back against his chair, his falcon-like gaze sweeping over the young man’s figure. He propped up his head and smirked wickedly: “In bed, tossing and turning in the throes of passion, naturally. If you don’t believe me, go ask Meng Zhezhi…”

The moment the man opened his mouth, foul language poured out. The young man indeed grew angry, his voice taking on a stern edge. “Senior, please mind your words!”

“What, Meng Zhezhi thinks I killed her husband?” The man abruptly tore open the gauze curtain. His massive frame stood tall, staring down at the young man in the hall from a superior height, letting out a mocking laugh. “If she has the ability, she should come ask me herself. What does she mean by sending a wet-behind-the-ears kid like you over? A show of force? Holding me accountable?”

The man stepped forward one pace at a time. He looked to be in his thirties or forties, with curly long hair and deep green eyes, resembling some sort of wild beast. He stared down at He Tingtong. “Central State man, I’ll kindly advise you: you’d better learn from your elders in the Immortal Alliance and mind your own business. For the sake of your sect, I won’t kill you. But try this again, and be careful I don’t throw you into the Fen Feng Plains.”

“Scram!”

He Tingtong was physically thrown out and tossed onto the street.

By now, the sky had grown dark, and there were many more pedestrians on the street. He Tingtong got up, dusted himself off, and walked by the lake with a gloomy face.

The night breeze was icy cold. He was entirely alone, crestfallen, the rims of his eyes tinged with red, looking exactly like someone who had been severely bullied.

Someone had died by the lake during the day, so no one was coming this way at the moment. A single, bright, solitary moon shone, reflecting on the clear lake water and the boundless sand dunes on the other side.

He found a corner to sit in, hanging his head in dejection.

After all, he was a Central State person who had grown up with smooth sailing. It looked as if he hadn’t suffered a single hardship in his life, undoubtedly raised in the palm of his elders’ hands.

Innocent, foolish, completely unguarded.

Easy to kill.

The speed had to be fast enough so that the blood would only spurt out after the blade left. By then, the windpipe and trachea would both be shattered. The young man would only be able to thrash soundlessly like a flipping fish, squeezing out every drop of blood in his body.

The wind rose, and ripples spread across the surface of the lake. He Tingtong lowered his eyes, looking somewhat melancholic. Suddenly, a long blade descended behind him! The moment the edge kissed his neck, a silver light like white silk viciously struck from the side. Carrying the momentum of wind and thunder, it fiercely slammed into the tip of the blade. With a loud bang, the long blade instantly shattered into powder!

It sounded like a thunderclap exploding by his ear. He Tingtong’s entire head went numb, and his whole body stiffened. Before he could move, a voice spoke first: “Duck!”

He Tingtong immediately threw himself forward, his fluttering hair ribbon sliced apart by sword qi. He sprawled on the ground, eating a mouthful of sand. The moment he turned his head, he saw an incredibly fast figure pouncing toward him. Like awe-inspiring wind and thunder, the figure directly kicked the dark shadow behind him flying.

The two figures entangled in combat, swords and blades clashing. In a flash of lightning, the silvery-white sword blade abruptly twisted, wrapping around the long blade like a swimming snake, and pierced through the assassin’s throat at an extremely tricky angle. A moment later, there was the drip-drop sound of liquid. A shriveled corpse fell to the ground, its distorted face still bearing a look of terror. A large hole was torn in its throat, quickly draining it of blood.

He Tingtong looked as if he had been scared silly. He lay motionless on the ground, watching the young man holding a sword search the corpse. Finally, the man pulled out a pendant; the pendant was a silver crescent moon.

After rubbing it a couple of times, he brought the pendant over, crouched in front of He Tingtong, and dangled it, his tone gentle: “Look clearly, this is the token of the Silver Moon Ancient Assembly. That person was sent by the Silver Moon Ancient Assembly, intending to kill you and frame the Mirage Sea Assembly. They are not good people; don’t let yourself be used as a pawn.”

He Tingtong blinked, looking extremely pure and innocent. “You are?”

The masking cloth was pulled down, revealing an elegant and beautiful face. The young man’s lips hooked up slightly, the corners of his eyes drooping just a bit, giving him the appearance of a good-tempered, mild-mannered person. He leaned in, staring at He Tingtong, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness: “What? Don’t remember me? Two years ago, we even met at Qingyun Academy. Later, Xiao Yu would miss me from time to time, making me think about you for a long time. I’ve been waiting for you to graduate from the academy so I could poach you into the Qingyang Palace.”

“Speaking of which, two years ago I still thought you were quite smart. Why do you look so dense now? Was the academic workload at the academy too heavy, studying you into a fool?”

“Hmm… it really is true that you shouldn’t spend too much time with my second uncle. Although my second uncle is kind-hearted and likes to preach grand principles about peace and equality, if you’re going to travel the world, you can’t believe all that nonsense. You only have one life, and there are many bad people in the world.”

“You must know that a person’s heart is hidden behind their belly; you can know a person’s face but not their heart.”

“I’ve been keeping an eye on you all day. You were clearly quite vigilant yesterday, knowing to stay indoors, so why did you act foolishly today?”

“Is it because you think that woman is beautiful? Or do you feel pity for her? Let me tell you, she poisoned her husband; she’s wanted to kill him for a long time. She just didn’t expect that trying to steal a chicken would result in losing the rice, ending up benefiting someone else.”

…

He Tingtong’s lips parted slightly. Seeing the young man talking incessantly, looking as if he meant to chat slowly through the night, he had no choice but to crawl up, grab the other party’s arm, and interrupt: “Jing… Lord Jingming?”

Xu Jingzhen stopped talking, smiled, and looked completely gentle. “Finally remembered me? Do you have any ideas about choosing a master next year? Do you want to follow Qin Tan into the Sword Sect? Let me tell you a secret, the treatment at the Shangxuan Realm is terrible. From top to bottom, everyone inside is a closed gourd, quiet and extremely boring.”

“I think you’re quite lively. How about joining the Qingyang Palace instead? Xiao Yu can hold his own now, but he likes to act alone and his cooperation with others isn’t very good. If you come over and work with him, you two could definitely build a lot of tacit understanding, adding flowers to brocade, with great prospects.”

He Tingtong nodded repeatedly. He pointed to the approaching torchlight nearby and whispered, “Lord Jingming, there are many people coming!”

The commotion from the fight just now had been somewhat loud. It was also possible that the people from the Silver Moon Ancient Assembly had realized something was wrong. Noisy voices came from outside the alley. Xu Jingzhen pulled He Tingtong, patted the dust off his clothes, and said softly, “Right, this isn’t the place to talk, come with me!”

Thus, He Tingtong let himself be dragged away with one hand, disappearing from the spot in the blink of an eye.

---

Fu Fengyan leaned in the shadows, watching He Tingtong being taken away, and the group from the Silver Moon Ancient Assembly who swarmed to the lakeside only to find empty air. He sheathed his sword, then looked down at the crumpled spirit letter in his palm, the corners of his mouth drooping slightly, looking displeased.

This was left by He Tingtong when he departed.

Written on it: “The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Lie low.”

He didn’t like being separated from He Tingtong, even if it was just for such a short while. But who told him to be so disappointing, always letting his mind wander and unable to do proper business. Wrapping his head up, Fu Fengyan cast a glance at the Lake of Tears before leaving full of anxiety.

The bright moon hung high, the water surface calm. A silvery-white full moon, its lunar essence dropping down and flowing into the lake, sending up a blue-and-white spiritual energy that connected with the sky.

Countless densely packed, elegant immortal seal characters half-floated in the air, forming a vast, boundless “city wall” that blocked the tyrannical spiritual power from the sand dunes on the other side.

On the other side of the sand dunes was a familiar spiritual power, originating from the same source as his. But it was impure and manic, mixed with sky-obscuring dust, murderous aura from weapons, and ghastly ghostly energy, surging mightily toward that water-like spiritual energy. The two great powers entangled, shredding the very space itself.

It was just that the supplementation from the moonlight was ultimately limited. The Lake of Tears was continuously being consumed. On this side of the sand dunes, the resentment of those who died unjustly could also be seen, piled up in a few sand dunes near the lake, corroding the utterly pure and clean formation.

In not many years, this lake would dry up.

That manic spiritual power would sweep from north to south, burning everything in the world to ashes.

He would have to find time to come over and mend the formation or destroy that uneven resentment.

But now was not the time.

Fu Fengyan withdrew his gaze, his footsteps light as he followed the direction He Tingtong had left in.

Perhaps afraid of drawing attention, the place Xu Jingzhen currently lived in was extremely remote.

It was a row of narrow, low houses, dusty grey with doors and windows tightly shut. This place was far from any water source but extremely close to the sand dunes. Aside from the dry smell of dust in the air, there was a faint, almost imperceptible stench of rotting corpses.

There were no lamps, relying entirely on the moonlight from the sky for illumination.

“A month ago, I pursued a fugitive here, only to find that Jialing City was truly in severe chaos, so I stayed here planning to observe further.” Xu Jingzhen covered his face again. “Half a month ago, I received a spirit message from Qin Tan. Knowing you were assigned here, he asked me to look after you if I had the time.”

He Tingtong’s eyebrows twitched, and he asked in a low voice, “I wonder how the Sword Master is doing lately? He left the academy several months ago, and there has been no news since. I am very worried.”

“Him? He’s currently tied up in Han…” Xu Jingzhen paused, then changed his tone and continued, “He’s alright, just relatively busy. Once my experiential journey here is over, I will naturally go over and help him. If you join the Immortal Alliance, I might be able to help you pass a couple of messages to him.”

Seeing He Tingtong’s hesitant expression, Xu Jingzhen didn’t pressure him. He patted his shoulder and smiled, “It’s fine, take your time to think about it, you still have a few months.”

Xu Jingzhen walked to a low door and knocked gently. The thump-thump of the knocking sound was very crisp in the quiet night. A moment later, He Tingtong heard an extremely weak, low cough.

Weak footsteps approached, one heavy, one light. Xu Jingzhen turned sideways and whispered to him: “I saved someone on my way here, and I’m temporarily staying with him now. He doesn’t know my identity. Just say you’re a distant cousin of mine.”

He Tingtong nodded in agreement.

Subsequently, the main door creaked open slowly, revealing a few fingers as pale as snow. Then appeared a frail young man, wearing an outer robe with his long hair loosely scattered. He supported himself against the door, his breathing unsmooth. He was built exceedingly thin, his waist slightly hunched as if he couldn’t stand straight, looking as if he were plagued by a severe illness and didn’t have long to live.

When he looked up, the bags under his eyes were dark blue, his cheeks sunken, his lips so pale they lacked any trace of blood. His raven-feather-like eyelashes drooped. First, he stared blankly at Xu Jingzhen, and then he looked toward He Tingtong beside him. After a long while, his lips pressed tightly together, and he asked softly, “Ah Zhen, who is this?”

He Tingtong’s eyelid twitched. Almost subconsciously, like an animal encountering a fierce beast, the hairs on his back stood up one by one, his body tensing up defensively.

His five fingers dug fiercely into his own flesh. Staring into the other party’s pitch-black, ink-like eyes, he quickly adjusted his mood, forcing himself to relax. Then, he pulled a sunny, foolishly sweet smile, raised his hands in greeting, bowed deeply, and said cheerfully, “Hello, Big Brother, I am Brother Zhenzhen’s younger brother, He Tingtong. I apologize for the intrusion tonight.”

“He, Ting, Tong?” The young man seemed to savor the meaning of this name, and then covered his lips and coughed lowly, as if he was going to cough his lungs out, his whole body curling up. Xu Jingzhen immediately stepped forward, supporting the person and gently patting his back.

After his breathing stabilized, the young man returned the greeting and said elegantly and gently, “Greetings, Little Immortal Lord He. I am Zhou Jinsheng.”