13 External Forces, Warnings and Popinjays (1/2)
The deal was sealed.
Unsurprisingly, Ji Ling insisted on spending the night at the Residence of Yun.
“Such a large home, and only for the both of you?” Ji Ling asked. “How lonely that must be! I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if I availed myself of your hospitality tonight then.”
“Seeing as to how we are both unmarried, that would be an inconvenience. It would be much more appropriate for Lady Ji to rent a room at the tavern, instead,” Yun Yang said while carefully nursing his bruised right eye, the price of his incessant mocking earlier.
“In that case, I’ll just have a little chat with my sisters about how fondly these mystical beasts take to you…”
“Very well, which room will you have?”
…
Yun Yang endlessly sighed as he ate.
Seated across him, Lady Ji watched with increasingly widening eyes as he shoveled food into his mouth.
“How can you possibly eat so much?” Ji Ling felt nauseous looking at Yun Yang practically inhale the small mound of mystical beast meat, albeit with table manners elegant enough to rival any lord...
This would come up to forty, maybe fifty catties?
“Eat quickly, Lady,” Lao Mei’s hands flashed as he quickly skewered a piece of meat, “It’ll all be gone very soon.”
“…”
Ji Ling had nothing to say in response.
…
Yun Yang, who initially had no interest whatsoever in the young lady’s tournament, began to think to himself. “The competition between these young masters’ will be interesting.” Yun Yang’s gaze glinted darkly, “I’m going against the Four Seasons Tower, but I have no clue where to start… I have an objective, but it’s not strength, and even if I had the strength, I would still be lacking a target. Perhaps it’d be a good idea to start with these young masters…”
The more he thought about it, the brighter Yun Yang’s eyes became.
“I can turn back if I’m in error, but I can’t go on sitting on my heels.” Yun Yang continued to brood on the matter, his eyes gazing far away. “If it were the mystical beasts tournament, wouldn’ there already be quite a number of young masters present here already?”
Ji Ling , in contrast, was feeling extremely pleased with herself. “Be vexed with me, chase me away, but in the end, you’ll still have to aid me.” Little did she know that Yun Yang had already made her his stepping stone in his plans. Furthermore, she wouldn’t be the only one caught in his web. Soon, all the young masters from these influential families who were yet to come would be as well, and their foundations would be shaken from that day onwards.
Faced with Ji Ling’s blustering threats, Yun Yang could have just ended the stand-off with a simple sentence, “Whoever you speak to about me doesn’t matter, I’ll just make sure you don’t succeed.” However, he would never do that, because if it weren’t for Ji Ling, Yun Yang’s train of thoughts would never had led this way. Since the moment she had appeared in the picture, a wide, spacious route was suddenly laid out in front of Yun Yang.
These were external forces that even his own enemies would not have foreseen, making them the real threat. It looked like he would have to make his rounds in Tiantang City more frequently now.
“Tomorrow, we’ll go pick out a mystical beast,” Yun Yang said.
“Okay.”Ji Ling smiled in triumphed.
…
It was already late into the night at the Residence of Marshal Qiu Jianhan.
The old marshal gazed endearingly at a painting on the wall in his study.
It depicted a battlefield; nine different colors were splashed across it. The earth quaked, thunder roared and lightning flashed, flames spouted high and mighty as ferocious waves churned, strong winds blew and billowing clouds filled the heavens.
It was a vision of the Nine Supremes’ valour, frozen for eternity on parchment.
“You nine men,” the old marshal’s eyes were moist, “had always been so careful. How did it come to this?”
The painting gave no reply, the nine masked warriors who stood brave in the battlefield were silent.
The old marshal sighed heavily.
Without warning, a sharp whistle tore through the night air. A stern voice hollered outside, “Who goes there?”
In the blink of an eye, the quiet residence dissolved into chaos.
A silver streak split the air as a sword flew from several dozen feet outside of the wall and crashed into the roof of the marshall’s residence with a loud crack; broken tiles flying across the sky. There was a incandescent flash of light, followed by a thud, and all present could see a strip of paper fluttering wildly, pinned against the doorframe.
In sepulchral tones, a voice hissed from the night, “Qiu Jianhan! Forget about Wu Wenyuan’s case; we honour your reputation, but a smart man knows when to stop. If you choose to remain stubborn, even those sworn to protect you will not be able to guarantee your life!”
Showers of sword sparks flashed in counterpoint to the grunts of the guards. A glowing blade could be seen rising up into the sky, with a black shadow holding onto it. On the ground, countless guards gave chase.
The light then flickered as daggers showered upon the residence, the steel shining brightly like meteorites. In panic, the guards weaved their swords through the air, attempting to deflect the shards of death. When the ray from the sword’s glow vanished, only the stars and moon could be seen in the night sky. The shadow that had been there was gone without a trace.
In the midst of bedlam, Qiu Jianhan stood calm and collected by the doorway. His gaze was filled with disdain as his arms rested firmly against his back.
“Bring it to me.”
The strip paper was passed to Qiu Jianhan’s open palm. Unfolding the strip, it contained only a single line written with blood.
“The Nine Supremes are dead, seek no rancor nor vengeance!”
“Pang!”
Qiu Jianhan tore the paper into shreds as his voice rang out loud, “The vengeance of the Nine Supremes will be sated!”
The sheer volume of his voice echoed through the night, the still air buzzed with the force of his declaration.
“Heh heh heh…”
The eerie voice spoke again, as if from a distance, “So, you’ve chosen the fool’s way. Let us see what comes next!” With that, the voice faded into the gloom.