Jiang Chen and the others had gotten thoroughly drunk on wine, deliberately suppressing their Dao Resonance to let themselves fall into a stupor. After a chaotic mess of talk, they had solved nothing at all.
Come the next day, they could barely remember what they had said. Only a vague recollection of cursing Du Hu together. But all of them felt much lighter in their hearts.
Oddly enough, no sooner had they cursed Du Hu the night before than the very next day, a messenger bearing word from him arrived at Maple Forest City.
There was something like a meeting of minds in it.
The messenger was a dull-witted-looking foot soldier, who had first found Ling Chuan at the Dao Academy.
When Ling Chuan saw a man instead of a letter, his heart dropped into ice and he nearly burst into tears on the spot. Only later did he learn the soldier bore an oral message, nothing like a consolation or a condolence.
But the soldier insisted the message could only be delivered when all three of them were present.
Ling Chuan had no choice but to bring the foot soldier along, drag the two hung-over louts out of bed, and at last they assembled at Jiang Chen's home.
"Well? Read it, then! What message is it? All this fuss!" Zhao Yan yawned as he rattled off his questions, dripping with impatience.
He had always been ill-tempered upon waking, and now his resentment toward Du Hu had brimmed to overflowing.
Jiang An'an had already been sent off to school by Tang Dun. Jiang Chen was lazily guiding a thin stream of water to rinse his teeth.
The soldier looked at him and said in a small voice: "Lord Du said you three had to listen properly and in order."
"Quite the cheek! Little Lord here isn't listening!" Zhao Yan exploded in fury and made to leave.
Ling Chuan grabbed him by the arm, playing peacemaker. "Let's hear what comes out of that dog's mouth before you go. No harm in it."
"Pfft! Cough, cough, cough!" Jiang Chen choked on a mouthful of water.
Even a down-to-earth man like Ling Chuan could not resist needling him, which only showed how much Du Hu had coming to him.
Jiang Chen was curious now. He stopped brushing his teeth, waved his hand to summon three chairs into the courtyard, and sat down in the middle.
"Fine. We're being very proper. Go ahead."
Zhao Yan was still fuming. "What does he have to say that can't be written in a letter, that he has to send some lackey all the way here? Got himself promoted? Got an itchy throat?"
The soldier cowered. "Lord Du said that writing a letter wasn't satisfying enough, that words alone couldn't express certain feelings. He insisted that I make the trip, that I had to convey his tone exactly as he intended."
"Can't read, that's what it is! What a loa—"
"All right, all right, deliver your message." Jiang Chen cut Zhao Yan off quickly and let the soldier continue.
The soldier cleared his throat twice, then imitated Du Hu's thick voice: "Listen up, all of you! Tiger here has opened the path of Qi-Blood pulse-charging, and I've already reached minor Zhou Heavenly perfection! It's been twenty years since the Jiuxia Black Armor last saw a genius like me! Tiger's already a major — only half a rank below that brat Zhao Lang. But the Jiuxia Black Armor, compared to the Maple Forest City Guard, is a good two, three, maybe four grades stronger — you do the math!"
At this point, the soldier reached out and hesitantly patted Zhao Yan on the head.
Before Zhao Yan could erupt, the soldier quickly explained: "Lord Du said that when I got to this part, I was supposed to slap your head."
Of course, he did not dare repeat Du Hu's exact words: "Give that pretty-boy's head a good smack."
"Rucheng, ah, those two I don't worry about. It's only you, this lazy good-for-nothing — the gap between you and your Tiger brother is growing wider and wider. What are you going to do about it?"
The soldier went on imitating: "All right. You won't remember it if I say too much anyway. That's all. Oh, right — my little sister An'an must be missing me a lot. Tell her not to pine for me too much. Tiger brother will be coming home for New Year's Eve! I'll bring her a gift! That's it!"
Having finished his recitation, the soldier let out a huge breath, as if a great weight had been lifted from him. He wore an expression that screamed "I didn't miss a single word, come on, praise me!"
Jiang Chen and the others exchanged glances, all seeing the same word in each other's eyes: "Knucklehead."
Zhao Yan cleared his throat and asked the soldier: "What's your name?"
The soldier replied in a booming voice: "My name is Zhao Erting! I'm a foot soldier under Lord Du's banner! I was on my way home to visit my family, so Lord Du told me to deliver a message!"
"And how many foot soldiers does your Lord Du have under his banner, then?"
"Thr..." Zhao Erting gave a start. "Lord Du said I mustn't say!"
"Sounds like three." Zhao Yan stroked his chin. "All right. You've done well. You're a qualified lackey. Stay safe on the road."
Ling Chuan, kind-hearted as ever, was about to offer the soldier a meal, but Zhao Erting, feeling he had let something slip, had already scarpered.
No matter what, it seemed that Tiger Du was doing well in Jiuxia. Even if the way he "wrote" was infuriating, it still let them all breathe easy.
Ling Chuan got up and went back to the academy to cultivate. His foundation was already laid, and he was now trying to build his own minor Zhou Heavenly circulation.
Zhao Yan, yawning, walked toward the bedroom: "Third Brother, I'm going to sleep a bit more in your bed."
In the dark cave, the scene was a grisly one.
Corpses lay piled one on top of another, their blood stench thick and biting.
The smell drilled into the heart, raising every hair and tightening every scalp.
Fang Lin knelt on the ground, begging loudly for his life: "Spare me, I can be of use to you, of great use!"
This time, he had been tracking a pair of heretical cultivators who had been plaguing the townsfolk with his fellow disciples from the academy. At first everything went smoothly, but when they pursued the pair here, they found it was a trap.
They were already surrounded.
His fellow disciples had been killed almost in the blink of an eye. Quick-witted, he dropped to his knees and pleaded for mercy at once, and that had bought him a little more time.
Shadowy figures ringed him on all sides. No one spoke. They all watched him coldly.
Fang Lin shook like a sieve, throwing out bargaining chips one after another: "Whatever you are, whatever you want to do, I can help! I am the legitimate heir of the Fang clan of Maple Forest City! The whole Fang clan answers to my father!"
"Oh?"
At that voice, Fang Lin finally saw it: on a rock ahead of him, a figure sat with his back turned.
The figure turned around. The skull-like white bone mask he wore gave off a faint, ghastly glow. In the murk of the cave, his eyes, showing only a sharp gleam, were especially terrifying.
"What else can you do?" the one wearing the bone mask asked.
"I-I, I'm close friends with many of the academy's geniuses! Zhang Yuan! Zhang Yuan is my sworn brother! He's one of the Three Great Clans too — we have an excellent friendship!" Fang Lin ransacked his mind, scrambling to find his chips.
He thought he heard the masked man laugh, but he was not entirely sure.
"And?"
"And Shen Nanqi! Fifth on the Maple Forest City Academy's merit rankings — he always takes me on missions!"
"Do you know Zhu Weiwo well?"
"I've met him, I've met him!" Fang Lin was not foolish — he knew that lying with something easily exposed at such a moment would only cost him his last chance to survive.
So he said: "I've only met him. But someone like Senior Brother Zhu could never be controlled. I'll obey! I'll cooperate! Besides, he's already left for New An City!"
The bone-masked man gave no answer for a moment, then asked abruptly: "Can you make decisions for the Fang clan?"
Fang Lin hesitated for only a single breath, then said at once: "Yes, yes! Entirely! My father has only one son — me!"
"Good," the masked man said.
Then someone stepped forward and shoved a white object into Fang Lin's mouth.
Fang Lin did not dare hesitate. He swallowed it directly.
"I'll be in touch." The Bone Mask Messenger rose and walked deeper into the cave.
Only when all the figures around him had vanished did Fang Lin finally believe he had survived!
He stayed still for a very, very long time. Then he walked out of that dark cave alone, back into the light of day.
He braced himself on his weak knees and took two deep, forceful breaths.
Only then did he set off toward Maple Forest City.