Chapter 2:
Blind Man
OF COURSE, Yan Wushi would never deign to carry some grievously injured, dying man on his own back, even if that person was the sect leader of Xuandu Mountain.
Bearing such burdens was what disciples were for. Therefore, the task fell to Yu Shengyan.
Huanyue Sect had a spare villa in Funing County, which was near Banbu Peak. Since nearly every bone in Shen Qiao’s body was shattered, it was no simple affair for Yu Shengyan to carry him on his back. He also had to be extra conscious of his strength to avoid further aggravating Shen Qiao’s injuries. Even though Yu Shengyan’s footwork and qinggong6 were first rate, it still took him almost an hour to arrive at the villa.
Yan Wushi had gone on ahead of him; at this moment, he was already languidly sipping tea.
“Shizun, do you really want to save Shen Qiao?” After making arrangements for the man, Yu Shengyan came over to report.
“You don’t think I should?” Yan Wushi asked in return.
“Nine-tenths of his tendons and meridians7 have snapped, and his bones are shattered in multiple places. A small portion of his internal breathing8 may remain, but even if we can save him, it’ll be hard for him to recover his martial arts. Not to mention that he cracked open the back of his head when he landed, so he might even wake up an idiot!”
Yan Wushi gave a small, cold smile. “Qi Fengge’s disciple, the head of Xuandu Mountain. He stood at the summit of the Daoist discipline, commanding the land in boundless glory. Yet with one defeat, he’s been rendered less than an invalid. Even if he returns to Xuandu Mountain, he can no longer be sect leader. Once he awakens and understands his situation, I wonder how he will feel?”
Yu Shengyan sighed. “That’s true. Even ordinary people wouldn’t be able to accept such a nosedive, let alone someone beloved by the heavens like Shen Qiao. The higher you stand, the harder you fall!”
Then he became doubtful. “But then again, Shen Qiao is Qi Fengge’s disciple, and he was capable enough to ascend the ranks at Xuandu Mountain and stand among the world’s top ten, so his skills must have been extraordinary. Even if Kunye did defeat him, how could it have been a defeat this crushing? Could Kunye’s martial prowess be even greater than Hulugu’s was twenty years ago?”
Yan Wushi smiled once more. “When Shen Qiao wakes up, if he hasn’t turned into an idiot, you can ask him.”
Yu Shengyan had noticed that his shizun’s mood seemed to have improved, and his smiles grown more frequent, since they’d picked up Shen Qiao. But he was under no illusion that Shizun was fond of Shen Qiao. After all, Yan Wushi had barely even given Shen Qiao a second look when they first found him.
“By saving Shen Qiao, does Shizun wish to put Xuandu Mountain in our debt?” Yu Shengyan asked tentatively.
Yan Wushi was in high spirits. “If he had died in defeat, all his troubles would have died with him. But now, when he wakes up and realizes that he is not only alive, but that he’s also lost everything he once had—grievously injured, his strength destroyed, and martial arts no more. How will he feel, then? The greater one’s prestige and authority, the less they can withstand such a blow. His heart and mind will certainly break. And when they do, I will take him under my wing. I’ll gradually train the once-sanctimonious and tenderhearted sect leader of Xuandu Mountain into a disciple of the demonic discipline. In the eyes of the world, he will become someone completely immoral. Wouldn’t that be terribly interesting?”
His words left Yu Shengyan dumbfounded. “…What if he does wake up an idiot?”
“Then bury him alive. Anywhere will do.” Yan Wushi replied, flippant.
Yu Shengyan had always known that Shizun was capricious, and the kind of man who did as he pleased. But he’d had little chance these past years to experience firsthand what he’d solely heard from the mouths of others. Only now, witnessing it, did he realize how true such assessments had been.
Practitioners of the demonic discipline were fickle in their conduct, driven purely by self-interest. In the end, Yu Shengyan was a disciple of Huanyue Sect, one of the three demonic sects. He would never have been merciful enough to save Shen Qiao if there was nothing in it for him.
“Shizun, Shen Qiao is of very special status, so why aren’t we exchanging him for a favor from Xuandu Mountain? Surely they can’t leave their own sect leader to wander around as a vagrant, even if only for the sake of their sect’s reputation?”
Yan Wushi sneered faintly. If his eldest disciple Bian Yanmei were standing here, he would never have asked such a childish and ridiculous question. Yu Shengyan was still a bit too green.
But he was in a good mood today and didn’t begrudge an answer. “Shen Qiao ranks within the world’s top ten martial artists, as you know. Even though he was a recluse, and few have seen him fight, still he was someone who could take up Qi Fengge’s mantle. So, how unskilled could he be? After all, Kunye is no Hulugu, who’s joined the ranks of Xiantian experts. Shen Qiao should have walked away from this duel unscathed, even if he did lose to Kunye. So why did he suffer such a terrible defeat?”
It turned out that Yu Shengyan wasn’t a complete fool. Hearing this, he said, “Something unexpected must have happened during the duel. And if that something was Xuandu Mountain’s fault, then if we hand Shen Qiao over to them, they might not thank us for it. In which case, not only would we not earn any favor, we might even bring down trouble on our own heads.”
So, he wasn’t entirely beyond help. Yan Wushi looked askance at him. “With me here, Huanyue Sect need not concern ourselves with the opinions of others, let alone exchange for any favors.” Shen Qiao might have been of extraordinary status, but to Yan Wushi, he was no more than a novel plaything.
It was an incredibly imperious thing to say, but Yan Wushi could pull it off.
Ten years ago, he’d battled Cui Youwang, and although he’d suffered injuries and defeat, Cui Youwang hadn’t escaped unscathed either. Back then, Cui Youwang’s power was already unfathomable, even on par with Qi Fengge’s. Ten years later, Cui Youwang and Qi Fengge were dead, and Yan Wushi had broken through the Fenglin Scriptures’ ninth stage and risen to even greater heights. It was impossible to know how far he’d progressed just yet, but he surely wasn’t below where he’d been ten years ago.
Scant few people had yet learned of his reappearance in the jianghu. Otherwise, things would be much livelier. The world’s top ten rankings would definitely need an update too.
When he thought of that, Yu Shengyan’s eyes grew hot with excitement. “While Shizun was in seclusion, Hehuan Sect came around looking for trouble twice every three days,” he said. “This disciple fought with Sang Jingxing once and was injured, so he had to leave Fenglin Province and travel far into the jianghu. That’s why he traveled about for so many years. But fortunately, your esteemed self has returned…”
What outsiders called demonic sects, or the demonic discipline, was in truth a blanket term.
Initially, the demonic discipline referred to the practitioners of Riyue Mountain’s Riyue Sect in Fenglin Province, but later Riyue Sect splintered into three branches: Huanyue Sect, Hehuan Sect, and Fajing Sect. Although the three branches were all part of the demonic discipline, they were at odds with each other. Their clashes were extensive and endless, both overt and covert.
After Yan Wushi entered seclusion ten years ago, Hehuan Sect had eyed up the leaderless Huanyue Sect and aspired to absorb it. However, the disciples of Huanyue Sect were always scattered, and the sect itself was uncentralized. Furthermore, Bian Yanmei was cautious and low-key with his actions—he couldn’t defeat the likes of Yuan Xiuxiu or Sang Jingxing, but he covertly stirred up a fair bit of trouble for Hehuan Sect. Thus their efforts canceled each other out, so Hehuan Sect hadn’t gained much for their trouble.
Instead, it was Yu Shengyan who’d gotten the short end of the stick several times, owing to his youth and late entry into the sect.
Now that Yan Wushi was out of seclusion, the members of Huanyue Sect were like lost children who’d found their mother. Naturally, Yu Shengyan was overcome with joy.
“Ordinary servants won’t be able to tend to Shen Qiao’s injuries, so stay here and look after him for a few days until he wakes,” said Yan Wushi. “Then return to Banbu Peak, and make sure to master the Fenglin Scriptures’ fifth stage.”
Yu Shengyan respectfully responded, “This disciple obeys.”