Chapter 425: Coming With Ill Intentions
Xu Qing stopped in place and looked down somewhat suspiciously at his command sword. The order came out of nowhere, and it didn’t explain what it was about. The voice sounded familiar, though. After thinking about it, he realized it was Honor Guard Sima who was originally from the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society. That, in turn, made Xu Qing think of Zhang Siyun and the Yao Clan. His guard went up.
What does Honor Guard Sima want with me?
Even as he pondered the situation, his command sword vibrated again. This time it was a voice message from Kong Xianglong.
“Xu Qing, did you just receive some orders?”
“Yeah,” Xu Qing replied. Already he was getting an idea of what was going on.
“I knew it. It’s the same with both little River and little Chen. Ai. I bet this is the aftermath of killing those Holytides.”
Kong Xianglong didn’t say anything more, as he was currently on his way to the Swordsage Palace.
After one final bit of thought, Xu Qing left the Corrections Division.
It was evening, and the dome of heaven was lit with red. And as the light shone down, it made the lands below seem like they were covered with blood. Xu Qing glanced down, then headed in the direction of the Swordsage Palace.
The honor guard position was a very important one in the Swordsage Palace, and it came with a lot of authority. Honor Guard Sima had responsibilities related to law enforcement, especially as it related to swordsage rules. Therefore, no one would dare to ignore his orders, neither Kong Xianglong nor Xu Qing.
Before long, Xu Qing landed outside the Swordsage Palace. Kong Xianglong and Duskspirit arrived at the same time.
“We die before telling the truth!” Kong Xianglong said quietly.
Xu Qing nodded. Soon enough Sir Mountain-River and Wang Chen were there as well, both of them looking very grim. After landing next to Kong Xianglong and Xu Qing, Sir Mountain-River started cursing.
“Big Bro Kong. Xu Qing. What the hell is the Swordsage Palace up to? What exactly did we do wrong?”
“Little River!” Kong Xianglong snapped, glaring at him.
Sir Mountain-River gave a cold harrumph but didn’t say anything further.
“Maybe there’s more to the situation than occurred to us,” Kong Xianglong said. “Let’s go. We don’t want to keep Honor Guard Sima waiting.” He walked in.
Xu Qing, meanwhile, looked at the furious Sir Mountain-River and Wang Chen in his Smokewight doppelgänger.
“We should make sure there are more witnesses around to see what happens,” Xu Qing said quietly.
Sir Mountain-River and Wang Chen immediately knew what he meant, and took out jade slips. Duskspirit did the same.
Kong Xianglong didn’t stop them. That said, he slowed his walking pace a bit. Thus, the group entered the main gate of the Swordsage Palace. After walking for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, they eventually arrived at the Hall of Regulations.
There were currently a few dozen people already gathered there. All had cold facial expressions and powerful cultivation bases. None of them wore Swordsage Palace uniforms. Instead, their garments were the color yellow, and had the character ‘dao’ embroidered on them. [1]
As Xu Qing and the others approached, the gathered individuals looked over at them.
Kong Xianglong’s eyebrows shot up, but he held back from saying anything about them. Stopping in front of the Hall of Regulations, he clasped hands.
“Your humble servant Kong Xianglong has come at the behest of Honor Guard Sima.”
Meanwhile, Wang Chen’s Smokewight doppelgänger leaned over to Xu Qing and whispered, “They’re Yao Clan cultivators.”
Then he did the same as Kong Xianglong, clasping hands and introducing himself. Xu Qing, Sir Mountain-River, and Duskspirit all followed suit.
Afterward, a cold voice echoed out from within the Hall of Regulations, whereupon three people emerged.
In the middle was Zhang Siyun’s Sect Grandfather, who was Honor Guard Sima. To his left was an old man wearing the daoist robes of the Yao Clan. He emanated clear Spirit Trove fluctuations, and his eyes glittered as if with lightning as he expressionlessly sized up Xu Qing and the others.
On Honor Guard Sima’s right-hand side was an individual that caused Xu Qing’s pupils to constrict the moment he saw them. This person was not human. He was a Holytide. In fact, it was the very same middle-aged Black Guard cultivator that had shouted angrily at them when they fled the border. He was obviously an important person among the Holytides. His cultivation base was also in the Spirit Trove level, and from the fluctuations he emanated, he already had four secret troves. As he stood there, he coldly looked at Xu Qing and the others.
To Xu Qing, it almost seemed like a cruel, ironic joke to see a Holytide here in the Swordsage Palace. Meanwhile, Kong Xianglong and the others were breathing heavily.
Around this time, Honor Guard Sima looked at the old man from the Yao Clan and said, “Steward Sun, they’re here. You can go ahead and ask.”
Steward Sun nodded, then clasped hands and bowed to Honor Guard Sima. Next, he turned and looked coldly at Xu Qing and the others. Expression grim, he sternly said, “You five have got a lot of gall! You haphazardly ignored right and wrong to, without any reason whatsoever, cold-bloodedly and brutally murder the emissaries sent to Sea-Sealing County by the Holytide people! The punishment for brazenly violating the agreement between our two species is the death penalty!”
Xu Qing frowned slightly. There was something off about this man’s wording. It wasn’t about the killing, but rather how he mentioned ‘haphazardly ignoring right and wrong’ and ‘without any reason whatsoever.’
That wording led Xu Qing to suspect that he was waiting for Xu Qing and the others to explain the reason for what they did. However... based on Xu Qing’s training and understanding, he knew that they couldn’t very well speak about the agent they had been sent to extract. Both species had agents in each other’s territory. It was a tacit mutual understanding. But if you talked about it openly, that would change everything, and would make things very difficult. What was more, however they responded to this, it would reveal clues that needed to remain hidden.
As Xu Qing thought about this, he assumed that Sir Mountain-River and the others were coming to a similar conclusion. They weren’t fools. Therefore, nobody said anything.
Looking confused, Kong Xianglong said, “You think we murdered the Holytide emissaries? That’s not even possible. We’ve been working on our cultivation this whole time. You can go check the logs.”
Steward Sun from the Yao Clan snorted coldly. Not wanting to get in an argument with a nobody like Kong Xianglong, he turned to the Holytide cultivator and respectfully clasped hands.
“Fellow Daoist Chen, see what I mean, sir?”
The Black Guard cultivator looked at Xu Qing and the others, then suddenly smiled. Turning to Honor Guard Sima, he said, “Honor Guard Sima. All of this started because, on the way here, the emissary delegation realized that they had a mole in their midst who was planning to steal Holytide relics. Because of that, the emissary issued orders for him to be arrested. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find him. It was in those circumstances that the delegation was ambushed and viciously slaughtered by your Swordsage Palace.
“Don’t tell me that mole who was stealing from us was actually someone dispatched by your Swordsage Palace. Did you assign him to steal from us? Our two species have got along for many generations. Did the Swordsage Palace put you up to this, or perhaps it was Sea-Sealing County. Or is it something humans in general are doing?”
The Black Guard cultivator’s eyes glittered and he waved a hand to produce a jade slip. Instantly, it projected an image. Within that image, Xu Qing and the others were killing the fleeing half-Nascent Soul cultivator. The things Kong Xianglong said before fleeing were also clearly audible. Kong Xianglong stood there with his eyes glittering coldly.
Xu Qing’s face remained expressionless, but his eyes were also ice cold.
Honor Guard Sima didn’t react visibly. After looking at the image projected by the jade slip, he shook his head. “This was not done at the behest of the Swordsage Palace. We don’t even have any agents in your territory.”
Steward Sun from the Yao Clan coldly said, “No agent? And they weren’t on an extraction mission? That means that this was some sort of personal vendetta. Maybe they wanted to murder Holytide cultivators to start a war between the two species. These five have committed an unforgivable crime! Men, arrest them and hand them over to the Holytides! Only in that manner can we pay homage to the dead heroes of our allies here!”
The moment the words left his mouth, the dozens of Yao Clan cultivators unleashed the power of their cultivation base as they started walking toward Xu Qing and the others.
Xu Qing’s eyes flashed with cold light. Kong Xianglong suddenly looked up, his eyes brimming with a vicious look.
But then, a host of bright lights appeared behind them, speeding in their direction. Piercing sounds filled the public square as a host of figures descended. They were all swordsages. Specifically, they were swordsages who started out as cultivators in the Eight Sect Coalition. Over the years, most of those swordsages had been assigned to work in other prefectures, but today they were here in the county capital. Xu Qing had sent messages to all of them on the way here. They all burst with baleful auras as they took up positions around Xu Qing and the others. Then they cast malicious, contemptuous grins at the Yao Clan people.
“Interesting. Do you really think you’re going to arrest swordsages right in the middle of the Swordsage Palace?”
“Come on, bitches. You want to deliver someone to the Holytides? Take me!”
“You want to ‘pay homage’ to dead Holytide ‘heroes’?”
“Ya bunch of bloody wankers!” [2]
The swordsages unleashed their cultivation base power, causing their energy to surge, and filling the area with a killing air.
The Yao Clan cultivators stopped in place.
Steward Sun opened his mouth to speak, but then a whistling sound rose up in the distance.
Another group of swordsages was flying at top speed in their direction. There were over a hundred, all of them bursting with baleful auras. They were people who originated in the Supreme Ancient Lightning Order, and they had come at the behest of Wang Chen. As they neared, rumbling sounds echoed out, shaking heaven and earth.
Chen Tinghao was in the group, and he laughed coldly as he called out, “How dare you make a move on one of us swordsages!” [3]
The other Supreme Ancient Lightning Order swordsages shouted similar things.
“Who cares if a few damn Holytide cultivators died? Is that a big deal or something? I’ve even eaten a few of them in the past!”
“Do you have any face at all, Yao Clan?”
The Yao Clan looked around, feeling deeply shaken.
But things weren’t over yet. A moment later, more swordsages showed up. They were from the Supreme Void Demonization Sect and the Blood Chill Society. Altogether there were hundreds of them. The swordsages from the Supreme Void Demonization Sect had already been demonized, and were in the form of a host of greater demons. The mere sight of them was shocking to the core. The cultivators from the Blood Chill Society emanated a towering blood energy that kicked up powerful winds in the area. Their cold voices echoed out to fill the area.
“Maybe you can’t act human, but does that mean you have to act like dogs?”
“Calling them dogs is an insult to dogs!”
“You scum are worse than dogs!”
“We’re very interested to see who would dare make a move on a swordsage!”
Other similar curses echoed out.
The combined aura of so many swordsages shook the area, while countless cold, bloody, fiendish gazes locked onto the Yao Clan cultivators and the Holytide expert. Killing intent roiled, shaking everything. It seemed that the slightest move on the part of the Yao Clan would prompt the swordsages to crush all of them out of existence. Facing such an intense baleful aura caused the Yao Clan cultivators to shift in place nervously. What was more, there were even more swordsages approaching as the moments ticked by, all of them pulsing with killing intent.
Steward Sun saw all of that and was deeply shaken. He couldn’t help but pant a bit as his pupils constricted. As far as he was concerned, this was a potential rebellion.
“Honor Guard Sima!” he said, turning to look at the honor guard. The Holytide Black Guard cultivator looked similarly grim.
Meanwhile, Honor Guard Sima didn’t betray any reaction at all. Smiling woodenly, he said, “Steward Sun, I called these five here to give some face to the Yao Mansion. You got to ask your question, and you heard their answer. The situation isn’t complicated. We didn’t dispatch any so-called agents. And we obviously didn’t kill the Holytide emissaries. As for that silly jade slip of yours, they’re easy to make. If you’d like, I can have a few more made and sent to you later.”
Stroking his beard gently, Honor Guard Sima smiled faintly. “The Swordsage Palace has done what etiquette requires. But you Yao Clan cultivators have foolishly gone and run your mouth here in the Swordsage Palace. The inaccuracies in your statement have provoked the wrath of these swordsages, and sadly, there’s nothing I can do about that!”
1. We learned in chapter 390 that cultivators from the Yao Clan have the character ‘dao’ on their uniform. ☜
2. In Chinese, this line of dialogue is a bit of dialectical cussing that makes it seem as if the speaker has a strong accent or is speaking in a non-standard dialect. ☜
3. We last saw Chen Tinghao “onscreen” in chapter 396, though he was mentioned a few times after that. ☜