Chapter 503: We Will Meet Again Someday

The Azure Mountain

Official Gui did not pursue and kill Shisan.

Holding the wound on his right eye, he retreated backward.

Shisan's crescent blade had only left a slash on his eyelid, not harming the eye itself, but the flowing blood caused the world he saw to turn entirely red.

He ought to have dodged this blade: he had known early on that the person impersonating Yuan Cheng was ambushing within the carriage, and Hu Shisan was merely a Connate Realm Practitioner. Dodging this blade was not a difficult task, yet he still failed to dodge.

Madam Lu had hidden in the carriage waiting patiently. Her very first palm strike had struck his Shi Gou Po, depriving him of 'startled awareness' and losing his vigilance, to the point that he momentarily forgot about the 'Yuan Cheng' in the carriage.

From the moment the slaughter began with the first palm strike, it seemed the outcome was foreordained. From then on, every step he took was a mistake.

Official Gui looked up at Madam Lu: "No wonder the Lord would instruct us that when slaughtering with you, we must be careful with every step; one wrong step and we would be Doomed Eternally. The two of you, brother and sister, ought to have joined hands. No one in this world would be your match. Forsaking your own older brother and home country for a Ning Dynasty man—you truly shouldn't have."

Madam Lu said calmly: "From the day he utilized a scheme to frame Qing Wentao, there was no longer any possibility of reconciliation between me and him."

Official Gui retreated backward: "With our grand enterprise unachieved, how could you sink into the private feelings of men and women? The Lord was trying to make you change your mind, to sever the silken threads of your emotional troubles."

With a cold sneer, Madam Lu closed in step by step: "Grand enterprise? When has Lu Jin ever had a grand enterprise in his heart? His heart only has selfish desires! Coming to the Ning Dynasty was to seek prospects for himself; returning to the Jing Dynasty was even more so for glory, splendor, wealth, and rank. At that time, I didn't yet know it was him who framed Qing Wentao behind his back. He shed hypocritical tears for Qing Wentao before me, coaxing and deceiving me by saying it was the Chen Family's act of forming cliques to attack dissidents. Only later did I learn that this was just one link in his utilization of us to assist him in assassinating the Ning Dynasty's Minister of Revenue."

Madam Lu said in a deep voice: "He knew that relying on his clumsy skills, there was absolutely no possibility for him to assassinate the Ning Dynasty Minister. Therefore, in order to utilize me and the Guyuan Border Army, he actually plotted such a vicious matter!"

Official Gui retreated to the edge of the long street, stopping one step away. Countless hands reached out from within the smokescreen, wanting to drag him into the smokescreen.

There were merchants who, fleeing in panic without choosing their path, were pulled inside. Only the sound of tearing silk and rending flesh and blood could be heard. In the blink of an eye, a pool of blood flowed out from the smokescreen.

Official Gui didn't dare retreat any further. With his back pressed against the smokescreen, he said in a deep voice: "Big Sister, Qing Wentao deserved to be killed. If not for Qing Wentao, our dynasty would have long driven straight in from Guyuan, taken the Guanzhong Plain, and seized the hinterlands of Taiyuan. Unifying the two dynasties would only be a matter of time. The Lord told you to approach him in order to kill him, but you followed him and walked away, washing your hands of it. The Ning Dynasty sits on the affluent lands of the south yet still leaves the commoners without enough to eat or wear warmly. How could you delay the grand national enterprise of the two dynasties over a single selfish emotion?"

Standing opposite him, Madam Lu said softly: "Ah Gui, tell me: when you came there were twenty-seven of you. How many remain today?"

Official Gui remained silent for a moment: "Three. Some met violent deaths; some were personally purged by my own hands."

Madam Lu focused her gaze on this familiar stranger before her: "How many died for Lu Jin's selfish desires, and how many died for the grand enterprise Lu Jin spoke of?"

Official Gui pursed his lips for a long while: "They all died for the grand enterprise."

Madam Lu shook her head: "Hundred Deer Pavilion was your Military Intelligence Division's property, right? It was destroyed by the Secret Spy Division last year."

Official Gui's expression stirred.

Looking at the patches on Official Gui's robes, Madam Lu continued: "Do you know where the silver earned by Hundred Deer Pavilion went?"

Official Gui said in a deep voice: "Naturally it was used for the Military Intelligence Division's wages and pensions. Our Military Intelligence Division has been locked in combat with the Ning Dynasty's Eunuch Faction for twenty years, suffering countless casualties. Nine-tenths of the silver earned by Hundred Deer Pavilion is used here, so the officers and soldiers can work with peace of mind, without worries about their families behind them."

Madam Lu let out a sigh: "I truly want to tear off Lu Jin's facial skin to show you guys just how much filth is hidden beneath his face. As far as I know, it's not just Hundred Deer Pavilion. Including the silver you scoured from other places, eighty percent was moved through the hands of the Chen Family's second branch, transported from Dongying Port to Lüshun, and then presented by Lu Jin as a filial gift to the Central Secretariat Manager Yuan Xiang. Otherwise, on what basis did you think he could gain Yuan Xiang's favor? Truly because he has hills and valleys in his chest, and brocade within his belly? Otherwise, on what basis could the Chen Family's second branch's business use Lüshun as a transit hub, expanding all the way to the Wo Nation?"

Official Gui's expression changed: "Do not utter nonsense. Even if these matters were true, they must be kept strictly secret. How could you come to know of them? Big Sister, having not seen you for many years, you have also come to use such methods of attacking the heart."

Madam Lu looked at him with pity: "You know nothing about Lantern Fire... Never mind, saying more is useless."

The next moment, Madam Lu threw her whole body forward, wanting to press Official Gui into the smokescreen with a single palm, borrowing the countless hands of the vengeful souls in the smokescreen to tear him to shreds.

But this time, Official Gui actually advanced directly to meet this palm strike. Madam Lu once again treaded the steps of the Eight Trigrams Swimming Dragon, wandering around Official Gui's body. It was as if Official Gui were the center of the Taiji Eight Trigrams, while every one of Madam Lu's steps landed on the Eight Trigrams at the edges of the Taiji.

With every step she took, the Eight Trigrams on the edges of her palms arose and extinguished once, transforming into a new hexagram image. Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun, Dui—they alternated in order. Her footwork, body movement, and palm techniques cycled back and forth, endlessly giving rise to one another.

When Madam Lu's palm edges locked onto the Qian hexagram, Official Gui was like a prophet, accurately calculating where Madam Lu's next step would land. He actually swung his Short Blade to stab ahead of time, forcing Madam Lu to twist her body to dodge.

Repeating this thrice, none of Madam Lu's three palm strikes were actually able to land on Official Gui's body.

The two Path-Seeking Stage Practitioners tossed and turned, shifting along the edges of the smokescreen. Tossing and turning, neither managed to even graze the other once.

The hands of the vengeful souls within the smokescreen were chaotic and disordered, as if they would touch them at any moment.

Madam Lu said calmly: "Lu Jin truly went through painstakingly great efforts. He actually taught you guys to thoroughly ponder out the Eight Trigrams Swimming Dragon. I can only blame my own carelessness back then, for not hiding from him when practicing the Eight Trigrams Swimming Dragon."

Official Gui said not a word. Right when the Eight Trigrams on Madam Lu's palm edges locked onto the Li hexagram, he suddenly stopped dodging, and stopped using his Short Blade to force Madam Lu back. Instead, he forcefully took this palm strike head-on.

In an instant, with a clang, Madam Lu's palm struck Official Gui's heart, yet it produced a booming resonance like striking a great bronze bell. A deathly pale phantom shadow behind Official Gui was knocked out of his body.

His Tun Zei Po left his body; all feelings of fear were gone.

Official Gui had already lost two of his seven Po, but using the price of taking this palm strike, the Short Blade in his hand stabbed into Madam Lu's ribs. Just as he was preparing to twist the Short Blade, Madam Lu actually grabbed his wrist and dragged him, taking a further step forward.

The Eight Trigrams on Madam Lu's palm edges suddenly jumped forward one notch, locking onto the Kun hexagram. This palm was impossible to dodge, printing itself upon Official Gui's forehead.

A black phantom shadow of Official Gui flew backward out from the back of his head. One of the three Hun, the Earth Hun 'You Jing', was forcibly peeled away by this palm. Official Gui's complexion instantly became haggard. In an instant, corpse spots actually grew upon his face, looking exceptionally hideous.

This was originally an extremely delicate slaughter of calculations. Official Gui chose to take a palm strike head-on during the Li hexagram. Losing his fear, he would only fight more courageously the more he fought; this was an acceptable price.

But Madam Lu similarly had calculations. At the cost of taking a blade strike head-on, she dragged Official Gui to step into the Kun hexagram, peeling out his Earth Hun.

The two separated at the very touch. Clutching her abdomen, Madam Lu said calmly: "It's not just you guys who dare to risk your lives fighting people. Back when I risked my life fighting people, you weren't even a Practitioner yet."

Official Gui slumped down against the smokescreen wall with a listless expression. Even though the fingertips within the smokescreen were inches away from him, he turned Turning a Blind Eye to them: "What a pity. Every day I diligently cultivated the Bitter Awakening Temple's Vajra Protector arts to become impervious to blades and spears. Yet it found no great use, as I happened to encounter the Eight Trigrams Swimming Dragon."

Madam Lu separated from him by ten paces. With pity, she said: "What you should pity is that your great prime years were all buried within Lu Jin's lies. Not just you, but also the people who crossed the oceans with you back then, resolved to make a great career."

Official Gui kept his head lowered, looking at the ground: "I remember crossing the ocean on a boat with Old Wang. We were foolish and boarded the wrong ship. The smuggling ship actually went to the Wo Nation first, before turning back to the Ning Dynasty's Dongying Port. That's why we were too embarrassed to say back then that we didn't spend seven days on the ship, but thirty-one days. We were seasick and vomited the whole way. The smell in the cabin was awful. If not for the grand enterprise, we wouldn't have been able to hold on for that long."

"After coming to the Ning Dynasty, I racked my brains day in and day out, living a life of hardship. I didn't dare slack off in the slightest, didn't dare be extravagant. I only hoped that the silver scrounged and saved in the Ning Dynasty could accomplish more."

Madam Lu casually said: "Is this how Lu Jin taught you to bide for time? He didn't teach well."

Official Gui let out a miserable laugh: "What is there left to stall for?"

At this time, Shisan squeezed out from the carriage, having already used a torn-off hem of his clothes to bind his wound. He threw a white porcelain bottle over through the air. Catching it in her hands, Madam Lu poured out some white powder into her palm and pressed it against her wound.

Official Gui looked up at her: "Big Sister, I'm going to die. Tell me a word of truth: was our Military Intelligence Division's silver truly given to Yuan Xiang by the Lord?"

Hearing these words, Shisan widened his eyes: "That's no secret. The month before last, for Yuan Xiang's eightieth birthday, the gifts Lu Jin sent lined up for a whole street. Just the Eastern Pearls alone numbered three hundred. It's said there was also a pair of red corals taller than a person... This matter has even spread to the Longyou Circuit and the Western Capital Circuit. Do you not know?"

Official Gui fell silent.

Madam Lu said indifferently: "Knowing it now is already too late. I'll send you on your way."

However, Official Gui suddenly stated: "It's not late yet."

Shisan was shocked in his heart. Subconsciously letting go of the crescent blade in his hands, he shot it toward Official Gui.

But Official Gui vaulted up, narrowly dodging that crescent blade.

With a ding, the crescent blade nailed into the ground where he was previously sitting cross-legged.

Official Gui looked up at Madam Lu, his expression showing no further signs of decline. He retreated step by step into the smokescreen. The countless pairs of black arms of the vengeful souls pulled at his torso, his neck, his head, desperately tearing at them.

But the sound of tearing flesh and blood did not arrive as expected. His expression unchanged, Official Gui allowed the smokescreen to tear at him without breaking his indestructible golden body, slowly retreating into the smokescreen: "Big Sister, I won't forget the grace of that meal back then. We Will Meet Again Someday."

Shisan found it hard to believe. Bitter Awakening Temple's Indestructible Vajra Body could actually forcefully withstand the smokescreen unharmed!

He still wanted to pursue into the smokescreen, but Madam Lu pulled him back: "Don't pursue. He can pass, but we cannot."

Shisan looked at Madam Lu: "Boss, didn't you say this person must absolutely be killed?"

Looking at the smokescreen that had already returned to normal, Madam Lu said calmly: "No need to kill him. Now that there is an obsession in his heart, he refuses to die without figuring it out clearly. Let him go."

(End of this chapter)