Chapter 335: Confrontation Between Court and Wilderness
In a small border inn, dragons and fish mingled tonight.
The girl Yao Lingzhi's breathing grew heavy after those five people walked out of the room.
It felt utterly unbelievable to her.
The fear she felt toward that young attendant was more of an intuition mixed with many complex emotions—a weak woman facing a man with ulterior motives, a subordinate in awe of invisible authority, and a kind-natured person instinctively keeping away from sinister characters.
But the suffocation Yao Lingzhi felt when she looked at those five on the same floor was straightforward.
Like rabbits and deer encountering tigers and bears in the same mountain forest. Like fish and shrimp meeting flood dragons in the same river.
Yao Lingzhi had served as a border army scout for three years, had been through two life-or-death battles where her life hung by a thread, and had never once felt the urge to retreat. By all logic, she shouldn't be feeling this way now.
She was the most outstanding martial arts genius of her generation in the Yao family. At just fourteen, she had already broken into the Fourth Realm, and was expected to break through the bottleneck. Whether a Fifth Realm martial artist at fifteen or even seventeen, either deserved the title "genius." Across the entire Great Spring Dynasty, whether in the military or the martial world, Yao Lingzhi was a piece of uncut jade of the highest order. With a little polishing, she would shine brilliantly. No one doubted that she would smoothly reach the Windriding Realm in the future and become a martial arts grandmaster who would dominate a region.
Especially for experts who came from the military—their killing power was especially formidable. That was beyond doubt.
In the martial world, grandmasters often fought one-on-one, mostly evenly matched duels. On the battlefield, what they pursued was holding a pass against a hundred enemies, a thousand enemies.
Yao Lingzhi clenched a silver-ingot-shaped object in her palm—a priceless military armor pill, and one that mountain cultivators sneered at as a "puddle armor"—the Sweet Dew Armor. The higher-grade "pond armor," the Golden Crow Warp and Weft Armor, was a genuine immortal treasure. This showed just how high the border army's Yao family's expectations were for Yao Lingzhi.
The young attendant looked at the five on the second floor, slapped the table, and pretended to be angry, "Bullying me with numbers?"
As he said this, there was a smile in his eyes.
Three tables of people inside the inn, and hundreds of elite cavalry outside—he probably felt a bit shameless himself, so he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
The two tables of attendants, who were clearly military elites, also started chuckling.
They didn't take the commotion on the second floor seriously at all. Sure, those people on the upper floor had quite the presence, even somewhat awe-inspiring—but so what?
Just a bunch of reckless martial artists from the wild.
The martial world of the Great Spring Dynasty had long had its backbone broken. They were just a pack of dogs groveling at the door of the court, wagging their tails for mercy.
And the man who had personally broken and shattered the backbone of the entire martial world happened to be sitting at the inn's tavern table today.
A good man does not come without reason; one who comes does so with ill intent.
The innkeeper, known by her nickname Nine Niang, did not feel relieved by Chen Ping'an's appearance. Instead, her mood grew heavier.
Third Master had already announced his name, yet the other side was still so aggressive. Clearly, they were targeting the name "Yao."
Once a dispute arose, she feared they would escalate it, and in the end, the Yao family would be the one to suffer.
The old hunchback behind the curtain nodded at the woman.
The woman smiled bitterly. The other side clearly had ulterior motives. They might even be hoping for chaos to drag the entire Yao family down.
She knew that in the current turbulent times, the Yao family should stay still, not move. And she and the inn could only endure as much as possible. But she couldn't very well tell the people on the second floor to back down now. They were doing her a favor by standing up for her, and for her to ask them to hide would be something she simply couldn't do.
The green-robed scholar asked in confusion, "These people are?"
The woman smiled bitterly, "Nobles from the capital. Can't afford to offend them."
The scholar let out an "oh," hesitated for a long time, and was about to speak when the woman said helplessly, "Zhong Kui, I'm begging you, don't make trouble. Things are very complicated now. I'm not in the mood to deal with you."
The scholar sighed and indeed shut his mouth.
Chen Ping'an looked down at the first-floor hall and asked, "Bullying a woman running a business alone? That's not very honorable, is it?"
The young attendant grinned, "Doing business, pouring a few drinks for a customer—how is that bullying?"
Chen Ping'an pointed at the young man's heart, "Ask yourself honestly."
The young man was taken aback for a moment, then raised his wine bowl, took a big gulp, wiped his mouth, and laughed, "If Old Master Chu from the academy had said that, I'd definitely have to think twice. But you? Are you worthy?"
Chen Ping'an smiled, "Truth is truth. Does it matter who says it? Aren't you just the type to bully the weak and fear the strong? I believe that as long as someone has a harder fist than you, you'll listen to them, whether they're right or not, right?"
The young man nodded, "I've taken those words to heart. You do have a point."
Then he casually threw down his wine bowl, raised his arm high, opened his five fingers, and slowly clenched his fist, "Then let's see whose fist is harder? I'd like to see, within the Great Spring territory, how many people dare to arm-wrestle with me."
The woman was worried that Chen Ping'an, being young and hotheaded, would strike first, ending up at a disadvantage while also being in the wrong. She quickly warned, "Young master, don't be impulsive. These people were sent out of the capital with a sacred decree. If you strike first, you won't be able to explain yourself even if you're in the right."
The young attendant's gaze turned dark as he turned to the woman, "Shut up! A widowed slut, who gave you the right to speak? Do you know who I am?"
The woman's face turned ashen.
The young attendant pointed at Nine Niang, then at Chen Ping'an and the others on the second floor, sneering, "Yao's Nine Niang, secretly colluding with foreign martial artists, attempting to hijack the prison cart—a heinous crime!"
The woman was filled with grief and indignation, finally cursing, "You little bastard, who the hell are you?!"
The young man pointed to himself, looking innocent, "Me? A little bastard?"
He coughed, straightened his collar, and smiled, "If Madam Yao here says that, then Gao Shizhen would be an old bastard. Hah, isn't that funny? When I get home, I'll definitely have to tell Gao Shizhen this joke."
Nine Niang and Third Master the hunchback exchanged a glance, their hearts shuddering.
Shen Duke Gao Shizhen!
The only surviving duke of the Great Spring Dynasty, deeply trusted by the current emperor.
The Great Spring had enjoyed peace for a long time. The Liu clan had held the throne for two hundred years. At the founding, non-royal titles were awarded, totaling three commandery princes and seven dukes. But the only one that could be passed down through generations without interruption was the Shen Duke line. All the others had lost the bowls their ancestors had earned with their lives. The Shen Duke had only one son, born in his old age—the young Duke Gao Shuyi. This guy was a notorious prodigal in the capital, renowned in court and among the people. Time and again, he relied on his ancestral merits to stir up big trouble, yet time and again, he came out unscathed. The emperor's tolerance toward Gao Shuyi was greater than that toward any prince or princess.
So there was a saying in the capital's official circles: when the young duke leaves his mansion, heaven and earth shake.
With such an infamous wastrel, how could he possibly be part of this southern expedition? Although the emperor favored the Shen Duke line, with his wisdom, he would never be so frivolous.
In the Great Spring Dynasty, the one who feared getting burned the least was probably this lawless Gao Shuyi.
Even the battle-hardened Great General Song Xiao, who also served as Minister of War, after his eldest grandson was bullied by Gao Shuyi, could only call Gao Shuyi a "shit-stirring stick."
On the second floor, Wei Xian quietly explained the Shen Duke's background to Chen Ping'an.
Chen Ping'an nodded. Just as everyone thought he would back down in the face of difficulty, in the blink of an eye, he had shrunk the ground and appeared before the young duke.
Outside the inn, on the road, a rider sitting behind a coachman was chewing on a dry ration that was hard to swallow, occasionally lifting a canteen for a couple of sips.
He looked up and saw a carrier pigeon flying up from behind the inn. Immediately, someone ran over, waiting for the rider's orders. On this man's shoulder perched an entirely white, majestic hawk. The rider waved his hand, "Don't bother."
The man silently withdrew.
This rider was the one who had first come to the inn to deliver news. The coachman next to him sat upright, not daring to move.
An old man lifted the curtain and asked with a smile, "Your Highness, why not go into the inn with the others?"
The man shook his head with a smile.
Self-discipline was a great study.
Controlling others—for those born into imperial families, they were exposed to it from childhood and could also learn from history, so it wasn't difficult.
Inside the carriage sat two cultivators, one old and one young, responsible for watching over a prisoner of the highest importance, escorting him to the capital, Hazeview City. The one speaking to the rider was an octogenarian in a purple robe, wearing a fish-tail crown, holding one end of a rope in one hand and a horsetail whisk in the other. The prisoner was disheveled, covered in bloodstains, head bowed without speaking, his features unclear.
A golden robe was tattered and torn, with objects like vajra stakes driven into his wrists and ankles.
In addition, his neck was bound with a pitch-black rope, the other end held by the old cultivator.
The most tragic part for the prisoner was his brow—a flying sword had pierced through his head, the tip emerging from the back of his skull, just sticking there.
This heavy prisoner was an officially ordained mountain and river deity, once a peak Seventh Realm cultivator. Within his domain, he was at least an Eighth Realm, a king and saint in his own land, capable of fighting a Ninth Realm Golden Core cultivator. Yet somehow, he had fallen to such a state.
Besides the old Daoist in the carriage, there was also a young woman. She looked at the rider with a lingering gaze in her eyes. Although she did not speak, her meaning was clear.
The woman's appearance was only slightly pretty, but she had an outstanding demeanor and skin white as snow. Compared to beauties in the eyes of mortals, she could withstand "close scrutiny." After all, in the eyes of mountain cultivators, worldly beauty was, in the end, just a stinking bag of skin—rough skin, various odors, all flaws upon close inspection.
Suddenly, the rider turned his head toward the inn, looking somewhat surprised.
The old man showed a hint of surprise, "Such astonishing martial artist aura, and so many of them. In a small border inn, so many hidden dragons and crouching tigers? Could it be that the young duke inadvertently stumbled onto the truth—that Northern Jin experts are making a last-ditch attempt to hijack the prisoner?"
The woman tentatively asked, "Should I go remind the duke?"
The rider shook his head with a smile, "We're already within the Great Spring borders. Unless the Yao family is planning rebellion, there's no danger."
A gleam flashed in the old Daoist's eyes, but he remained silent.
A moment later, just as the old immortal master was about to speak, the rider had already jumped off the carriage and was walking straight toward the inn.
After the rider was far away, the young woman from the mountain sect asked softly, "Master, the young duke is pressing the Yao family like this, and His Highness doesn't restrain him. Won't something really happen?"
The old man waved his hand, "Of all the people in the world, the Yao family is the least likely to rebel. When you've been a loyal subject of the state for too long..."
A cold smirk curled at the corner of his mouth, "It becomes addictive."
The prisoner still kept his head down, but laughed with satisfaction, "Talk about unyielding loyal ministers and border pillars, and you treat it as a joke. Even if your Great Spring Dynasty gains the upper hand for a time, what can you do?"
"Still talking tough!"
The old immortal master flicked his wrist, and the rope instantly tightened around the prisoner's neck. The prisoner's whole body trembled, but he gritted his teeth and refused to make a sound.
Inside the inn, an anomaly suddenly appeared.
A figure in white robes appeared in the main hall without warning.
The young Duke Gao Shuyi sensed something was wrong and tried to retreat in alarm, but before he could blink, his shoulder was grabbed.
At another table, three people—the eunuch continued drinking, ignoring the scene.
The tall-crowned immortal master and the silver-armored general both abruptly stood, intending to rescue Gao Shuyi, but each stopped in their tracks.
Because a crimson sword from the second floor was hovering between the two tables, its tip pointing directly at the tall-crowned immortal master.
As for the silver-armored general, he stopped and turned his head. Someone on the second floor moved sideways a few steps, smiling, holding the hilt of a blade. The narrow knife "Snowstop" at his waist was half-drawn, not yet fully out.
A short, stocky man flipped over the railing and landed near the threshold of the inn, as if he intended to block the hundreds of cavalry outside all by himself.
The hunched old man crouched on the railing, smiling as he looked down, fixing his gaze on the most composed eunuch.
The middle-aged eunuch in the bright red python robe, though he looked only thirty, was actually eighty years old. He was one of the great martial grandmasters of the Great Spring Dynasty, known as the "Guardian Locust Tree" of the royal capital. Since his rise to fame, no strange rumors had ever circulated in the imperial city, which had once been rife with ghosts and monsters—they had all vanished.
But this eunuch's true strength lay in his having gathered a large number of minions from the martial world years ago, systematically wiping out over a dozen top-tier martial arts sects within the Great Spring domain. In three years, a bloody storm had swept through the entire martial world. Whether righteous or evil, many had attempted to assassinate this old eunuch, but every single one had never returned.
The two sitting at the same table as the eunuch were: the tall-crowned immortal master Xu Tong, current master of Grass Wood Nunnery, the number one immortal sect in the Great Spring, skilled in thunder magic, able to command ghosts and gods for his own use, also a medical expert proficient in alchemy—his elixirs were fiercely sought after by the nobles and ministers of the Great Spring; and the silver-armored general Xu Qingzhou, one of the few top experts in the Great Spring army, under forty, whose external arts had already reached the pinnacle. The sword at his waist, "Great Skill," was a military treasure, equally adept at offense and defense. Every time he charged into battle, he always led from the front and was invincible.
Gao Shuyi circulated his qi and struggled, but to no avail.
Instead of fear, he showed an even stronger smile, "You Yao family really are rebelling, huh?"
The man increased his grip slightly. Gao Shuyi winced in pain but still managed to maintain his smile.
The man said to him, "I'm just a passerby. Since you like provoking me so much, I'll just kill you and flee to Northern Jin. As for the Yao family, whether you slander them or not, I couldn't care less."
Who would believe such nonsense?
Gao Shuyi grinned through gritted teeth, sweat beading on his forehead, "If you've got the guts, kill me then."
Chen Ping'an stared at him.
In a very low voice, Gao Shuyi whispered to Chen Ping'an, "Do you know? The fact that I took a fancy to that mother and daughter is their good fortune. Otherwise, after the Yao family is raided, they'd be sent to the Music Bureau, becoming public prostitutes for anyone to enjoy. Then you could also have a taste."
As soon as the young duke finished speaking, Chen Ping'an's fist had already arrived.
It slammed directly onto Gao Shuyi's forehead.
It was heavy and fierce, like a battering ram attacking a city wall.
Gao Shuyi's head snapped back. Although a five-colored radiance lit up from the jade pendant at his waist, instantly gathering at his forehead, the punch still knocked him unconscious on the spot, foam spilling from his mouth.
After that one punch, cracks appeared all over the protective jade pendant.
Because Chen Ping'an was still holding his shoulder, Gao Shuyi's head swung back and forth like a swing. Chen Ping'an landed a second punch on him.
One move set everything in motion.
With a crack.
The middle-aged eunuch set down his chopsticks heavily, his voice feminine and cold, "Young man, that's quite enough."
Although his impression of that scheming young duke was rather poor, he couldn't let Gao Shuyi be beaten to death right under his nose.
After the eunuch spoke, Immortal Master Xu Tong and General Xu Qingzhou breathed a sigh of relief.
But the man still didn't withdraw his fist.
The heirloom jade pendant on Gao Shuyi shattered with a bang.
With the pendant's destruction, Gao Shuyi instead regained consciousness, his face flushed, eyes bloodshot, his expression ferocious as he cursed, "You bastard! I'll make sure you and the Yao family all die without a burial ground!"
The eunuch in the bright red python robe abruptly stood up, furious. How many years had it been since someone dared to be so insolent in his presence?
The innkeeper screamed, "Stop!"
Chen Ping'an turned to look. The woman shook her head gently, her eyes moving anxiously, wanting to speak but unsure she could say it outright. She could only muddle through, "Young master, let's talk this out calmly. I'm sure the young duke was just joking with us."
The enraged middle-aged eunuch rendered his verdict, "No need to talk anymore. The Yao family conspired with Northern Jin to rebel. Death is too good for them!"
As he spoke, the eunuch's two fingers came together and brushed across the table.
From Chen Ping'an's waist, the gourd First and Fifteenth shot out, each shattering the lightning-fast chopsticks.
A third punch sent Gao Shuyi flying backward with a bang. Wei Xian at the door moved aside, letting the young duke's corpse crash outside the inn.
The rider had just arrived not far from the door. He looked at the corpse on the ground, momentarily unable to comprehend, clearly unable to believe this was real.
Chen Ping'an turned to the innkeeper and said, "Do you know why Old General Yao almost died from an assassination? Because your family is too easy to push around. It's obvious someone thought that even if the old general died, none of the Yao clan would dare to speak up or resist."
The woman didn't seem to hear Chen Ping'an's words. She stared in a daze, murmuring, "Dead... killed like this... the Shen Duke will go mad... the emperor will fly into a rage... the Yao family is finished."
The hunchbacked old man who worked as the inn's cook was also at a loss.
The girl Yao Lingzhi was utterly horrified.
Inside the inn, only the little girl's weak reading voice could be heard.
At that moment, the ragged scholar patted the woman's shoulder. Though his back was to Chen Ping'an, his voice rang clearly in Chen Ping'an's lake of the heart: "You just kill. I'll take care of the burying."