Chapter 1003: Sword Immortal
Zu An took several turns and detours, using his mysterious movement technique to throw off his pursuers. Then, he returned to Pei Manor. He hadn’t been able to see his Big Manman last time after being interrupted by that mysterious swordsman, but he wanted to try again.
But unfortunately, after what had just happened, the City Lord had already strengthened the security. There were guards everywhere. No matter how high his cultivation was, it was impossible to sneak in under broad daylight without being invisible.
“Who was that sword master?” Zu An cursed that mysterious swordsman to death. At the same time, he began to wonder who the man really was.
He had thought that it was someone from the Pei clan at first. But once the manor’s guards were alerted, the mysterious swordsman chose to run and avoid the guards. This made him reject that suspicion.
But if the man wasn’t from the Pei clan, if his cultivation was so high, why would he take up residence near Pei Mianman? Judging from what Zu An had heard, the man seemed to be protecting Big Manman? But he had never heard Big Manman mention someone like that!
…
Just then, some noise came from a side door. Zhao Zhi was there, wrapped in an overcoat that could hide his face. Then, he got into a carriage that had been prepared there. Han Fengqiu looked around vigilantly. Then, he pulled a hood over his eyes and drove the carriage away.
Zu An was alarmed. He followed them several li out to a residence. From the looks of it, the building was likely the home of a wealthy merchant in the city. Even though the residence wasn’t that special, the security was strict. It was definitely one of King Qi Manor’s secret bases.
Zu An didn’t want to alert them. After looking around to remember the place, he quietly left.
…
After Zu An returned to the temporary official residence, he changed into his Golden Token Eleven uniform and headed to Xiao Jianren’s room.
Xiao Jianren sighed in relief when he saw Zu An, saying, “Sir Eleven, it’s been a long time since I received any information from you. We were extremely worried!”
After all, they had traveled through that vast desert, and yet they hadn’t seen Golden Token Eleven. They had even wondered if he arrived in Cloudcenter City. Now they finally felt as if they had a pillar to rely on again.
“I arrived ahead of time to look around a bit. I’ve already found out that King Qi’s heir secretly came to Cloudcenter Commandery; they have a hideout here. Send some people to monitor this location. Contact me as soon as you notice something strange,” Zu An said. He warned Xiao Jianren, “Han Fengqiu is here as well, and they’re on high alert. Don’t alarm them and scare them away.”
“I understand. Shadowing is the Embroidered Envoy’s specialty.” Xiao Jianren had a serious expression as he patted his chest and made a guarantee. Then, he gave Zu An a look of admiration, saying, “Sir truly is deep and immeasurable; you actually found out such important information so quickly.”
Zu An’s face heated up. All of that was merely a coincidence. However, when he saw the other party’s look of admiration, he obviously wouldn’t explain it either. He added, “There is one other matter. Are there any well-known sword-using experts in Cloudcenter Commandery at the master rank?”
When he saw how the other party didn’t treat the investigation of King Qi’s heir as a big deal at all, Xiao Jianren thought to himself that the boss really was the boss. Such an attitude wasn’t something people like him could have.
He quickly proposed a few candidates when he received the question, but then said, “But even though they’re all swordmasters, none of them seem to have reached the master rank… Sir, could it be that the one your respected self is talking about came from elsewhere?”
Zu An thought of something. He quickly gave Xiao Jianren a description of the man’s appearance. At the same time, he recalled, “He seemed to have chanted a line of poetry, something like ‘we should live every day as if it were our last; tomorrow’s worries can wait until tomorrow’. I wonder if that’s the name of his sword technique or if it’s just his favorite expression.”
Xiao Jianren’s eyes lit up and he replied, “Now that sir has mentioned that, I’ve thought of someone who seems to match your description.”
“Who is it?” Zu An was extremely curious, since it was related to Big Manman.
“The libationer’s third disciple, Sword Immortal Xiao Yao,” Xiao Jianren replied.
“He’s the libationer’s third disciple?” Zu An had never expected that person to be related to the libationer! He had heard quite a bit from Jiang Luofu, Xie Daoyun, and the others during their chats.
The libationer had twelve disciples, and each one of them was a specialist in a certain domain. For example, the senior disciple excelled at drawing talismans, Shen Xuzi at alchemy, Hei Baizi at chess…
There were still some disciples he hadn’t yet met outside of the capital. Among the remaining disciples, some had special statuses that forced them to remain outside. For example, the tenth disciple, who was excellent at military strategy, remained at the border.
There were some who were even more mysterious, the outside world not even knowing their surnames or backgrounds. There was very little information about those people. For example, the second disciple was a doctor, the sixth an artist, the ninth a singer. However, the exact information about those people, and even whether they were male or female, was completely unknown.
Apart from them, the third disciple was also a special existence. Everyone knew his name, Sword Immortal Xiao Yao, but no one knew where he was.
At the very least, he had never returned to the academy or the capital in the past twenty years. Even if there were any major events in the Royal Academy, they still wouldn’t look for him. It was as if the libationer had never even had such a disciple before.
Xiao Jianren said with a sigh, “Sword Immortal Xiao Yao really was a stunning talent in the past. He reached the peak of the ninth rank at a young age, so everyone thought he would be the one to break through into the grandmaster rank the earliest. Even the libatoner himself said that he was the one with the most talent among all of his disciples, that becoming a grandmaster was but a matter of time.
“Xiao Yao was also high-spirited, roaming the world with his longsword. He defeated all of the heroes of the world. At the time, it hadn’t been long since the war between humans and fiend races had ended, so there were still many remaining evils from the fiend races. He roamed the world while dealing with them.
“Later on, no one knew what happened, but he suddenly became dispirited. He even abandoned his cultivation for quite some time. Even the libationer publicly reprimanded him. He got into a huge argument with the libationer, then left the academy’s rear mountain, never returning since.
“Later on, traces of him were seen throughout the world. He was no longer his confident and handsome sword immortal self; rather, he drowned himself in drink. There were even rumors that he was bullied and beaten up by some smaller sects’ people, and yet never retaliated.
“From then on, no one seemed to have seen him again. Some thought he had died, others thought he had become crippled. But everyone believed a rising star had already fallen,” Xiao Jianren concluded.
Zu An frowned. “Then why do you think the one I was talking about is Xiao Yao? After all, he was only at the ninth rank. Not only did he drop in cultivation, people all think he’s already given up on himself.”
Xiao Jianren’s voice suddenly became louder as he exclaimed, “Because I don’t believe that he really abandoned his cultivation!”
Zu An was stunned. It wasn’t every day he saw Xiao Jianren so excited. What was going on?
Xiao Jianren realized that had lost his composure. He took a deep breath and explained, “Before I was chosen to become an Embroidered Envoy, I was attacked by mountain bandits. Back then, I wasn’t as skilled as I am now. Just as I was about to lose my life, a white-clad swordsman passed by and easily dealt with those bandits.” His somewhat turbid, nearsighted eyes began to flicker with brilliance as he continued, “I’ve never forgotten the elegance of that sword even to this day.”
Zu An blinked. He finally realized what was going on and replied, “So you’re his fan?”
Even though Xiao Jianren didn’t know what the word ‘fan’ meant, he could guess the meaning. He said in embarrassment, “I was also an orphan and I didn’t know my surname. But after I met him, out of admiration for him, I gave myself the surname Xiao.”
Zu An didn’t even know what to say at that point. He hadn’t expected this usually steady and cool-headed fellow to actually be such a diehard stan!
Xiao Jianren continued, “Later on, when I joined the Embroidery House, there were more and more things to deal with, so we never met again. One day, when I learned that something happened to Xiao Yao, I refused to believe that he fell. I even searched all sorts of different channels for information about him. But he really did seem to have vanished from this world.
“Then, a few years ago, I suddenly read in some archives that someone mentioned a mysterious drunkard swordsman. Even though the one portrayed was very different from the past Xiao Yao, for some reason, I felt it was him.”
Xiao Jianren suddenly looked excited. “Judging from sir’s description, I’ve become more confident in my prediction. May I ask where sir met him? I really want to meet with him again…”
Zu An felt a bit awkward when he saw just how big of a fan Xiao Jianren was. After chatting a bit more, he withdrew and went back to his room. He thought, Is that person really the libationer’s third disciple Xiao Yao? But what does Big Manman have to do with him?
At nightfall, Sang Hong participated in the evening banquet with Zu An, Gao Ying, Pei You, and the others. It wasn’t proper for an Embroidered Envoy like Xiao Jianren to attend, so he stayed behind to watch the residence.
Sang Hong asked Zu An if he had received any new information. His expression changed a bit when Zu An told him that King Qi’s heir had arrived as well. He said, “King Qi really harbors malice. He was actually willing to send Zhao Zhi here. He is definitely planning something big.”
Zu An thought to himself, Aren’t we here to pluck one of King Qi’s wings? It would be weirder if he didn’t care about this at all.
Sang Hong said with an overcast voice, “Ah Zu, this trip to Cloudcenter Commandery will be full of dangers. We might perish if we take even a single wrong step.”
Zu An said indifferently, “We just need to do what we have to do according to the situation.”
Sang Hong was stunned at first, but then laughed. “Haha, it seems that the older I get, the more cowardly I become. You are right. We came with such a grand mission, so they should be the ones who are scared.”
He began to admire Zu An more and more. He thought to himself that having Zu An as his son-in-law wouldn’t be a bad choice at all. He had to try and foster more chances for Zu An to develop feelings for Qien’er once they went back.