“Evidence? What evidence?” A small, almost scornful smile crossed Xiao Yang’s lips. He did not mind Ye Qing monologuing for a bit because he needed time to recover, and because he was waiting for something.
“One, Qing Kui had called out to his junior brother moments before his death. Since he’s an Astral Refiner, his junior brother can’t be too far behind. Can you guess who’s the only other Astral Refiner in Anyang besides Qing Kui? Two, you showed up the day after Qing Kui was dead. Well ain’t that a coincidence? Three, you, a mighty Patrolman of Luo Shui, acted like I was your long lost lover during our first meeting even though I’m just a small fry. While I believe in love at first sight and the like, you were just a little too passionate in your attempt to buddy up with me. And what do we call people who buddy up to you for no apparent reason whatsoever? A person with an ulterior motive!”
Ye Qing raised his fourth finger and continued, “Four, Chief Ling is a careful and steadfast man. If he ordered you to accompany me on the investigation, he would definitely inform me about it before or after he spoke about the incident. Since he hadn’t, your decision to join me is clearly a personal one. But I’m here to conduct an investigation, not take a vacation, so why on earth would you willingly put yourself in danger? I wasn’t sure about your motive before, but now I know for certain that you came with me to kill me!”
There’s a five? Did I really screw up that badly? Xiao Yang pondered in astonishment. He admitted that he had acted a little too hastily and deliberately at the beginning, but he was certain he hadn’t given anything away during this trip.
“—you were forced to use a Strange Artifact to save your life when we encountered the Anomaly at Coiled Snake Ridge. You probably thought I didn’t recognize it, but I do, and I know all there is to know about the Substitute Doll.”
“The Substitute Doll can only be wielded by the forger themselves. It cannot be stolen or transferred to another person even after the owner is dead. Therefore, you have to be the forger of the Substitute Doll.”
“The method to forge the Substitute Doll is extraordinarily cruel and evil. It’s why it was banned by the imperial court. That is how I know that you aren’t nearly as kind as you pretend to be, and why my suspicions were fully aroused!”
“Finally, there is the matter with the Blood Jade Lotus. You claimed you were going to help me after you’ve claimed the Blood Jade Lotus, but that was a lie, wasn’t it? You were hoping that we would tire each other out so you could kill both of us easier!”
“You said you had evidence, but so far everything you’ve told me is guesses at best. What if it was just a string of unfortunate coincidences?” Xiao Yang argued, though on the inside he admitted that his “perfect” plan was far more flawed than he thought.
Ye Qing chuckled. “Are you even listening to yourself? Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and three times is enemy action! This is doubly true in the jianghu!”
“Too many coincidences is the same as enemy action? Hahaha! I’ve never heard of this idiom, but it’s wonderful! Hahahaha!” Xiao Yang suddenly let out a loud, almost unhinged cackle. “But what if you were wrong? What if it really was just a coincidence?”
Ye Qing shrugged. “Then nothing. This is the jianghu, and we are both jianghu
“I’m pretty sure you’re not innocent though. You’re a man who would damn a mother and her baby just to make a Substitute Doll to save your life. Even if I was wrong, killing you would only earn me good karma!”
“Well said, well said! You truly are a poet!” Xiao Yang let out another peal of mad cackle and dropped his act completely. “I’ll admit that I’ve underestimated you. I can hardly believe that you hail from a small place like Anyang. It’s too bad that your naivety will be the death of you!”
Ye Qing smiled. “Naivety? Ah, are you talking about me wasting my breath and giving you time to recover?”
Xiao Yang grinned devilishly. “Am I wrong?”
Ye Qing’s smile widened. “What makes you think that you’re the only one who’s buying time? You may have heard that I possess a Strange Artifact called the Blue Demon Hand. It’s the creator of the Netherflame that’s corroding your flesh and eating your insides. It must be quite an enjoyable experience for a masochist like you, isn’t it?”
“My main point is, the Blue Demon Hand has a second ability called the Hundred Poison. The Hundred Poison, as you may have guessed from its name, is an incredibly poisonous gas that’s also odorless, colorless, incorporeal and invisible. It can weaken your vigor, corrode your organs, and destroy your blood vessels all without you noticing!”
“I don’t think you’ve noticed, but I’ve been standing upwind this whole time. You think you’re recovering, but you’ve really been dying at a slow and steady rate!”
Xiao Yang had looked internally as soon as Ye Qing said the word “Hundred Poison”, and as the young man claimed an incredibly deadly poison was polluting his vigor, eating away at his internal organs, and killing his blood vessels bit by bit. Already, he was starting to lose control over his own qi.
The reason he hadn’t noticed until now was because his senses were damaged by the Netherflame, and he was too focused on putting them out to notice the invisible poison that was killing him as well. He was also too absorbed in his own plan to realize that Ye Qing was buying time as well.
He called Ye Qing naive, but he was the truly naive one. Despite his youthful appearance, the young man was really as cunning as an old fox. He really should’ve known better than to underestimate him!
“Hahaha… you got me. You’re definitely one of the most formidable foes I’ve ever faced!”
Xiao Yang coughed through his hand and caused black blood to seep through his fingers. He looked completely defeated, and yet his grin kept growing wider and wider for some reason. “But just because I lost the battle doesn’t mean that I’ve lost the war!? I haven't only been buying time to regain my strength, you know? I was also waiting for reinforcements!”
“Reinforcements?” Ye Qing’s heart skipped a beat. “Who?”
He was certain that Xiao Yang and Qing Kui had come to Anyang alone. He wouldn’t have bothered going through all the deception and trickery otherwise. Was he wrong?
Suddenly, Ye Qing’s forehead throbbed ominously. It was because he sensed dozens of people entering his range and surrounding him from all sides.
“Who else? People who want you dead, of course!” Xiao Yang sneered.
Xiao Yang’s reinforcements reached them in just the blink of an eye. They were all wearing black shirts and cloaks that concealed their appearance completely. Clearly, they didn’t want to be recognized.
Ye Qing spread his spirit far and wide and determined everyone’s cultivation level in an instant. Two peak Vessel Augmentors and thirty plus of initiate or adept Qi Invokers. No one here is a weakling either!
There was no way these people were Xiao Yang’s men. If they were, they would’ve been noticed as soon as they crossed Anyang’s border. In fact, the day after he killed Qing Kui, he had asked Qiao Six to give him a name list of every unfamiliar face who had entered Anyang as of late. However, the information broker had found no one except Xiao Yang, Qing Kui, and a handful of others.
Qiao Six was a local snake and the greatest information broker in Anyang. Even if he presumed that Xiao Yang and his men had infiltrated the county in disguise, there was still no chance they could have escaped the man’s notice. Therefore, these men must hail from Anyang.
There were only a handful of factions in Anyang, and they were the Pacification Bureau, Qiao Six, the Iron Shirt Gang, the Shen Clan and the Li Clan.
None of these factions—not even the Pacification Bureau—was powerful enough to field two peak Vessel Augmentors and over thirty Qi Invokers to assassinate a single person, so it was reasonable to assume that two or more factions were working together. It could not be the Pacification Bureau because they owed him big time for saving the county for annihilation, not to mention that Ling Jianqiu was a trustworthy character. Qiao Six was a close acquaintance who benefited much from their association, so it probably wasn’t him either. The Iron Shirt Gang was just out of the question.
This left the Shen Clan and the Li Clan only, and it so happened that their patriarchs—Shen Xian and Li Yuankang—were both Vessel Augmentors. They also had very good reasons to want him dead.
“You lot are from the Shen Clan and the Li Clan, aren’t you?” Ye Qing said suddenly.
The approaching men abruptly froze in their tracks, and their two leaders glared at him like they would swallow him alive.
It’s definitely them! Ye Qing concluded and stared at the two Vessel Augmentors. “Shen Xian, Li Yuankang, I have no quarrel with either of you, so why have you come to kill me?”
The two patriarchs weren’t going to admit this, of course. “You’re mistaken. There is no Shen Xian or Li Yuankang in our group!”
“Deny all you want, it won’t change the truth. I have just one question for you: are you sure you want to become enemies with me?” Ye Qing asked. There was so much gravitas in his voice that they felt like a mountain had sat on their shoulders.
Shen Xian and Li Yuankang exchanged a glance with each other. Then, they commanded their men forward with a firm wave.
“Got it. I hope you won’t regret this!”
Ye Qing did not try to dissuade them a second time. Sometimes, no amount of words was enough to change a person’s mind. Sometimes, the only way to convince them to see reason was to step over their cold, dead bodies!
“Kill!” All thirty plus assassins growled out and charged toward Ye Qing at the same time. In response, Ye Qing flipped his right hand and threw what looked like a couple of silver flowers straight at his enemies.
The “flowers” split into a hail of throwing knives and nailed the closest five Qi Invokers in the throat, killing them instantly. Behind Ye Qing, six Qi Invokers with the best movement arts readied their swords and attacked his major points as quickly and soundlessly as deadly vipers.
“Sword of the Six Boys” [1]
Ye Qing did not even look at his attackers though. He simply swung his sleeves and created a circle of force that diverted all the swords into his sleeves instead of his major points. Not only that, the move snapped the blades into multiple sections and twisted their arms round and round like ropes.
1. 六合童子 refers six boys with the characters 六合童子 imprinted on their butts in an old kungfu movie. What is less funny is their master needling their neck and robbing them of their consciousness to manipulate them like puppets. 👈