There lay Grand Shuo's oldest temple, its most ferocious horse bands, and its strongest liquor.
Chen Zui paused at the fork in the road, unhooking the new wine flask at his waist to take a swig.
The liquor was a vegetarian brew made by the temple itself. Though mild in taste, it went down strangely smooth.
Tracing the crookedly carved character for “Chen” on the flask, he suddenly recalled Lin Jianxi's words about how life always brings people together again.
Standing between the two roads as the northern wind blew from deep within the grasslands, he truly hoped those words would come true for once.
As the saying went, mountains and rivers would always cross paths again.
He genuinely wanted to see just how far that kid Li Wu could walk along the Way of the Sword.
Hanging the wine flask back at his waist, he stepped onto the fork leading west.
From his conversations with Yuanzhen over the past few days, he had learned that the triennial Buddhist grand gathering was about to be held at Duwei Refectory, the premier temple of the Buddhist Order.
Eminent monks from across Grand Shuo would gather to debate scriptures, discuss teachings, and spar in martial arts—making it one of the grandest events in all of Grand Shuo.
Since he was free with nothing else to do anyway, it was the perfect time to drop by and join the fun.
...
The Xie family.
They were currently the most powerful faction among Grand Shuo's Eight Great Families.
When Grand Chu fell years ago and hundreds of thousands of survivors were driven out of the Central Plains, the Xie clan had been the lineage of the highest status and deepest heritage among them.
Centuries had passed, and the former nobility of the fallen empire had taken root anew on these grasslands, branching out, raising private armies, and standing as equals against the Royal Court.
By this generation, the head of the Xie family, Xie Xun, was an extraordinary hero of ambition and ruthlessness; even the Golden Tent Royal Court had to show him deference.
At that moment, in a quiet study deep within the Xie Manor, Xie Xun sat across from an old man in scholar's robes, playing a game of Go.
Xie Xun was around forty years old, with a lean face and narrow eyes. Pinching a black stone between his fingertips, he casually placed it in a corner of the board. Yet his force was remarkably precise, quietly driving a large dragon of white stones into a tight corner.
Beside him stood a bronze crane-shaped lamp, its flame casting flickering light across his face and making his already deep eyes appear all the more dark and inscrutable.
A flurry of hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor outside.
A servant in grey robes entered, bowing as he presented a secret letter with both hands at Xie Xun's side, before silently withdrawing.
He spoke not a single word throughout the entire process, his steps as light as a cat's.
Xie Xun unsealed the envelope and scanned the few lines written in tiny regular script. His brows knit slightly, and after a moment of silence, he set the paper on the edge of the board with a soft sigh.
“The attempt to assassinate the Jiang family's young daughter failed.”
Upon hearing this, the old man in scholar's robes remained calm. He merely reached out a withered hand, leisurely picked up a white stone from the container, examined it for a long while, and firmly placed it onto the board.
The placement of that white stone was exceedingly tricky, carving out a path to life right in the midst of a desperate situation.
Stroking his thin goat beard, his voice was aged and measured.
“Assassinating the Jiang family's young daughter was merely probing the waters to begin with. Whether it succeeded or failed matters not.”
Xie Xun raised his eyes to look at him, an inquiring gaze in his eyes.
The old man picked up his teacup, gently nudged the floating tea leaves with the lid, took a sip, and only then continued.
“My move was to test the reaction of that Xiao family Prince.
“If his fiancée, bound to him by a formal betrothal contract, is targeted by assassins and he can still sit by idly, then he is truly a useless coward. Seeing such a son-in-law, the Jiang family would rather risk offending the Royal Court than marry their daughter off to him.
“However, if that Xiao family Prince cannot sit still and reveals his edge, then he plays right into our hands. A Prince who bides his time and hides his light is the one worth fearing. If he cannot help but leap out, he will only expose his own weaknesses.
“Therefore, whether that young girl of the Jiang family dies or lives is completely irrelevant.
“What matters is Xiao Chengyan's attitude.
“And no matter how he reacts, we stand to gain.”
His analysis was flawless and uttered in a nonchalant tone.
Yet Xie Xun's brow did not smooth out.
He pushed the secret letter to the center of the board, his fingertips lightly tapping the paper twice.
“Mister, there is something you do not know. The one who saved the Jiang girl was Chen Zui.”
The old man's hand froze slightly.
The stone held between his fingers hovered midair, hesitating to descend.
After a long silence, he slowly set the stone back into the container and looked up.
The calm composure in his cloudy old eyes vanished entirely, replaced by a dark, solemn gloom.
“Chen Zui? The Spear Grandmaster who broke through two realms in succession in Jinyang City?”
“Precisely.”
Silence fell over the study, save for the faint crackle of lamp oil in the bronze lamp.
The old man tucked his hands into his sleeves, leaned back, and closed his eyes in deep thought for a long time before slowly speaking.
“This is indeed an unexpected variable.
“Grand Zhao has shifted its policy of suppressing martial artists and now promotes co-governance with martial artists. For a young Grandmaster like Chen Zui, who is unmatched in popularity and possesses boundless potential, the Grand Zhao imperial court would surely try to win him over by every possible means.
“I assumed he had either been brought into the imperial court or was in secluded cultivation somewhere pushing for a higher realm.
“I never expected him to appear in Grand Shuo.”
Xie Xun tossed the black stone in his hand back into the container with a crisp clatter, his expression grim.
“What is more troublesome is that we do not know why he intervened.
“If he saved Jiang Lai simply because he stumbled upon her out of a moment of chivalrous impulse, then so be it.
“However, if he has old ties with the Jiang family, then we have gained a Wind-Riding Realm enemy out of nowhere.
“And if he is connected with the Xiao family...”
He paused without finishing his sentence, but the implication was already crystal clear.
The old man slowly opened his eyes. The gaze that had been cloudy as mud moments ago suddenly turned razor-sharp—like an old blade hidden inside a battered scabbard that remained chillingly cold once unsheathed.
“Regardless of his reason for intervening, this man cannot be allowed to live.”
At those words, Xie Xun raised an eyebrow.
“Why?
“Why not find a way to recruit this person?
“A Wind-Riding Realm Grandmaster—if he can be brought under our command, why worry about failing our grand design?”
The old man shook his head, his thin fingers tapping lightly on the edge of the board, his tone resolutely decisive.
“Because I know that we cannot win over someone like him.
“As I said before, the Grand Zhao court must have already tried to recruit him. With the bold decisive strength of that Female Emperor, the terms she offered would certainly be no less than ours.
“Yet this man is neither serving as an official in Grand Zhao nor in secluded cultivation on some famous mountain. Instead, he wanders alone across the grasslands of Grand Shuo.
“This can only mean one thing.
“Grand Zhao could not hold him.
“A Grandmaster that even the Grand Zhao court could not retain—what could our Xie family possibly bribe him with?
“Fame and fortune? Power and status? Or beauty?
“Observing his actions, I fear that all these are nothing more than passing clouds in his eyes.”
He paused, his tone growing a degree darker.
“If he stayed quietly in Grand Zhao, we would naturally mind our own business and leave each other alone.
“Yet now he suddenly appears in Grand Shuo, happening to entangle himself in our chess game with the Xiao family.
“This is a rogue variable.
“Family Master, you and I have plotted for years—what we strive for, you know better than I.
“A Wind-Riding Realm Grandmaster might not be enough to shake the overarching situation, but an anthill can collapse a thousand-li dike. Throughout history, how many grand plans have failed due to a single unexpected pawn?
“This stray pawn...
“Must be removed!”
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