Lin Jianxi paid no mind to the slight jab in his words and continued, “After the battle in Jinyang City, Third Prince Zhao Li disappeared. Alive, no trace of him; dead, no body found. Even after all this time, not a single clue has been uncovered. It is as if he vanished into thin air.”
Chen Zui set down his wine gourd, the relaxed look on his face dimming a bit.
He then asked in confusion, “For gathering information, why not go to Zhizhou Tower?”
Lin Jianxi shook her head gently. “Of course we asked them. But even they have no news whatsoever.”
Hearing this, the hand Chen Zui held the wine gourd with paused midair for half a beat.
He had witnessed Zhizhou Tower's methods firsthand.
True to their motto, they could truly be described as having divine reach, their intelligence networks so informed it was terrifying.
And yet, even an organization like that couldn't find Zhao Li?
Could it be that the force behind him was vast enough to hide his tracks right under the nose of the world's most formidable intelligence network?
If so, this was hardly good news for him.
Because back in Jinyang City, that Third Prince whom he had never even met face-to-face had genuinely wanted his life.
Regardless of the reason he had provoked this Third Prince, he could not allow someone who wanted him dead to hide in the shadows like this.
If Zhao Li had disappeared forever, so be it.
But Chen Zui did not believe someone so pampered and spoiled would willingly give up.
“Fine.”
He raised his head, his gaze calm and steady as he looked at Lin Jianxi. “I accept. I will help you look into the whereabouts of this Third Prince.”
Hearing his answer, Lin Jianxi bowed slightly to Chen Zui. “Many thanks, Young Hero Chen.”
She straightened up and stepped out of the pavilion.
As she passed by Chen Zui, her footsteps paused for a brief instant.
Her eyes fell upon the sword at Chen Zui's waist.
Chen Zui noticed this unusual detail. “Sir, do you understand swords?”
“I do not.”
Lin Jianxi raised her head, her gaze unhurriedly shifting away from the sword. “I merely feel a bit of regret. That sword looks utterly battered and worn—it truly does not suit your status as a Grandmaster, Young Hero Chen.”
Pausing for a moment, she added, “If you wish, Young Hero Chen, I can send someone to deliver a few decent swords.”
Chen Zui found it amusing.
A woman who could command five top-tier assassins in the blink of an eye and overturn the current Grand Chancellor while chatting and laughing would never give a battered sword a second glance.
Yet he did not press her further.
He simply rested one hand on the broken sword at his waist and offered her a smile. “I’m used to it. Too lazy to change.”
Lin Jianxi nodded, saying no more.
She turned and walked out of the pavilion, her grey-robed servant emerging silently from the maple forest to follow behind her.
Outside the pavilion, the thread-using assassin had already stood tall, and several other presence signatures resurfaced from the depths of the maple woods, guarding her from all sides.
Chen Zui stood inside the pavilion, watching that plain scholar’s robe drift further away.
The mountain wind blew past, making the withered wisteria branches rustle above his head.
He raised the wine gourd to his mouth and took another gulp, the refreshing crispness of the Bamboo Green gliding down his throat and taking away a bit of the late autumn chill.
After taking a dozen paces, Lin Jianxi suddenly stopped and turned around.
Dusk had already sunk below the ridge line. She stood at the edge of the maple woods; behind her lay vast stretches of red leaves thoroughly dyed by autumn, and before her was the twilight creeping up inch by inch.
The mountain wind rustled her sleeves and hair, her features appearing indistinct in the alternating light and shadow.
She called out slightly louder toward Chen Zui in the pavilion.
“Young Hero Chen, where in life do we not meet again? We shall meet once more.”
Hearing this, Chen Zui, who was pouring wine into his mouth, nearly choked.
“Again?”
The autumn wind swept maple leaves past the pavilion. A few red leaves tumbled across the stone steps before finally being carried off by the wind toward the mountain stream.
Chen Zui stuffed the wine gourd back at his waist, nudged the nameless broken sword upward, and turned to walk out of the pavilion as well.
The mountain path winded toward the depths of the dusk, leading who knew where.
...
One year later.
Grand Shuo.
The northern wind blew like a blade, pressing the dead grass flat against the earth.
Heaven and earth were a vast expanse of pale yellow.
Two wretched figures pressed against the wind, taking deep steps and shallow steps as they trudged forward.
The man on the left was wrapped in a ragged cotton coat bought from who-knew-which secondhand shop, with a sword hanging at his waist.
Calling it a sword was generous; it was barely better than a scrap of iron, and the metal fittings on the scabbard were so rusted their original color was unrecognizable, clanking with every step he took.
The man on the right was half a head taller, wearing a faded green scholar's robe covered with a sheepskin vest, with a sword hanging at his waist as well.
Yet that sword looked even more pitiful than the one on the left.
Both men were covered in dirt and grime, lacking even half a thread of a swordsman's elegant demeanor.
“Brother Chen, you tell me—we’re swordsmen at any rate, so how did the two of us end up in such a miserable state?”
Having said this, Li Wu hitched the broken sword at his waist up a bit higher.
Hearing this, the man beside him smiled.
“You’re a swordsman. I’m not.”
Li Wu patted the man’s shoulder, offering comfort, “Brother Chen, don’t give up on yourself like that. We’re still young, with plenty of opportunities to show our ambition! Once I make a name for myself, I’ll be sure to equip the two of us with a few famous swords!”
However, the other man mocked him without mercy, “With your amateur skills, you can’t even handle one sword properly. What use do you have for so many?”
Hearing this, Li Wu wasn't angry either. He chuckled softly. “What swordsman turns down having too many swords?”
“It matters not how many swords one has, but whether they are of use,” the man said plainly.
Hearing those words, Li Wu couldn't help rolling his eyes and sighing inwardly.
This brother of his was good in every way, except he loved playing deep at times, spouting off profound-sounding phrases out of nowhere.
Making himself out like some reclusive grandmaster who had just emerged from the deep mountains.
Having spent three or four months together, did he not know what kind of character this guy was?
During this time, they had stolen chickens, grabbed dogs, and peeked over walls to watch widows bathe together...
It could be said they had committed every low-down, cheap trick imaginable side by side.
As for those nonsensical words that occasionally popped out of his mouth, eight out of ten were probably phrases picked up from some storyteller's booth to fool people.
However, this brother's name happened to be identical to the young grandmaster from Grand Zhao who had been overwhelmingly famous a year ago.
He was also named Chen Zui.
Li Wu was convinced that this was definitely an alias.
After making a name for himself in Jinyang City, that young grandmaster had vanished as if into thin air, never showing his face in the martial world again.
Because of this, the storytellers in the teahouses had spun countless versions of the story.
Some said he had been secretly recruited by the imperial court of Grand Zhao; some said he was in secluded cultivation, breaking through to the Boundless Realm; others said he had changed his name and was wandering the world.
Ever since Grand Zhao began implementing the policy of "joint governance by martial artists," people even speculated that a young genius like Chen Zui was likely being secretly protected and groomed by the court, destined to become a heavy hitter in the imperial court in time.
These speculations were framed with such vivid detail that even someone like Li Wu, who never cared for court matters, believed seventy to eighty percent of it.
Rate on N.U.
