Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Manager Gu has left…”
Unbeknownst to Yan Liqiang, Fang Beidou had walked into the room. Yan Liqiang only snapped out of his deep thoughts when the latter spoke up. He lifted his gaze to look in Fang Beidou’s direction, only to meet the other man’s concerned gaze.
“Come here, have a seat…” Yan Liqiang smiled. In that brief moment, Yan Liqiang was recalling and reflecting on everything that had transpired ever since his meeting with Sun Bingchen. He realized that Lin Qingtian was indeed not on the same side as him. This had already been decided ever since he met those arrogant Shatu people when he first arrived at the city gates of Pingxi City. Given another chance, he would definitely never go against his will and side with Lin Qingtian.
The root cause of his predicament in the Imperial Capital didn’t stem from the fact that he sided with Sun Bingchen and the Emperor. Instead, it was because he was as powerless as a sitting duck that could easily be crushed. There were also many others who sided with the Emperor. Otherwise, His Majesty wouldn’t be able to suppress Lin Qingtian either. Yet why did he always run into things like this? This was ultimately because he was young and had yet to establish himself in the Imperial Capital. Therefore, it was easy to pick on him and people could get a lot out of it. Once people started discovering that the effort needed to bully him wasn’t worth it and could even bring about an undesirable outcome, then things like this would stop happening to him.
In a place that was akin to a tiger’s den with violent undercurrents like the Imperial Capital city, the rules and benefit structure for everything had been long been established. As a newcomer to the Imperial Capital, it was nearly impossible for him to build a foundation and establish himself in a place like this. He could only stay on the Emperor’s side. Given enough time under the Emperor’s protection and with ‘The Great Han Times’ in hand, it shouldn’t be a problem for him to become somebody that wouldn’t easily be suppressed through his own endurance and power. However, Lin Qingtian’s overly toxic and keen eyes saw this possibility in Yan Liqiang’s future too and wanted to snuff him out before he could even get there. The choices he gave Yan Liqiang was to either die or be a traitor.
This matter of life and death bore down on him with the weight of Mount Tai. Neither the Emperor nor Lin Qingtian left him with many choices. How was he going to solve this game?
Yan Liqiang had just been thinking about this problem. The overload of information he managed to ‘intercept’ from Manager Gu’s brain was too complex. He had to analyze and sort it out to see which pieces could be useful for him.
Even if he did emerge victorious and survived the upcoming blindfolded contest, the other party still had a deadly plan waiting for him…
“So, who is the person behind Manager Gu?” Fang Beidou finally asked after he took a seat and observed Yan Liqiang’s countenance.
“I’m sure you already have a person in mind. Currently, who in the Imperial Capital city do you think has the guts to bare his fangs at me and dare to offer only a tael of silver for the publishing company?”
“Lin Qingtian?” Fang Beidou started to frown.
Yan Liqiang nodded slightly.
“How dare he?” Fang Beidou was stunned. “Isn’t he asking to be insulted? What can he possibly do if we won’t sell the publishing company to him?”
“There’s something you may not know yet and I was just about to tell you. A while ago, His Majesty was thinking of appointing me as the Crown Prince’s mentor in the art of archery. There are some unforeseen circumstances revolving around this. For this position, I have to accept a blindfolded contest with someone else on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. The odds are against me as there’s only one in nine chances of me surviving it…” Seeing that Fan Beidou was still clueless on the finer details, Yan Liqiang filled him in on the blindfolded contest and told him the given conditions from Manager Gu.
News of the blindfolded contest had not gotten around yet. Only the people who were close to the Emperor and Lin Qingtian were aware of it. Outsiders like Fang Beidou were oblivious. As soon as he heard it from Yan Liqiang, he immediately understood why Manager Gu had spoken that way. By the time Yan Liqiang finished explaining, Fang Beidou’s countenance had completely changed. “By now, most of the people in the Imperial Capital know you are the owner of this publishing company. If you sell it off to Manager Gu for a tael of silver, the Emperor will definitely catch wind of this. That also means you are publicly pledging loyalty to Lin Qingtian. How can you possibly establish yourself in the Imperial Capital from then on?”
“This is exactly what Lin Qingtian wants. If I agree, that would mean betraying His Majesty and Lord Sun and becoming his lapdog from now on. If I disagree, I will lose my life in the upcoming blindfolded contest! How considerate of them to give me three days to think over it…” Yan Liqiang had a self-deprecating smile on his face.
“What do you think then?” Putting himself in Yan Liqiang’s shoes, Fang Beidou could also feel the immense pressure and danger Yan Liqiang was facing.
Yan Liqiang let out a sigh and rubbed his face. “I will give it a good thought. I’ll leave everything in the newspaper office in your care for the next two days. Carry on as usual…”
“What about that blindfolded contest?”
“Both His Majesty and Lin Qingtian wish for me to participate in the blindfolded contest. Do you think I can possibly refuse?”
“I’m just afraid that they will have other tricks up their sleeves apart from this blindfolded contest. For someone like Lin Qingtian, if he is determined to lay a finger on you, he will definitely think about the possibility of you winning or surviving the blindfolded contest and eliminating that possibility.”
Yan Liqiang resisted the urge to tell him about the despicable schemes that some of the people in the newspaper office were planning. Telling him that now would only inadvertently alert the enemies. Not only that, but Yan Liqiang also couldn’t provide an explanation as to how he had knowledge of it yet. Therefore, he could only feign ignorance for now and drop vague hints. “I’m just worried that all of you will be implicated, so keep a closer eye on the newspaper office these few days. I’ll try to think of something!”
“I have a few friends in the Imperial Capital city and my master still has some connections from back then…”
“At this point in time, there’s no use in finding anyone!” Yan Liqiang shook his head. “I am the only one who can settle this…” He stood up by the time he finished speaking. “I shall take my leave now. I’ll be training my archery skills in Deer Villa for the next few days. Keep in touch if anything comes up…”
“I shall see you off!” Fang Beidou stood up to see Yan Liqiang off. Just when they arrived at the door, Fang Beidou suddenly spoke up. “If the worst comes to the worst, let’s take a step back and leave the Imperial Capital. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel!”
Fang Beidou was the second to say something like that. Before this, Li Hongtu also said something along the same lines. Yan Liqiang smiled at his words and nodded to him.
After taking a few steps and exiting the Plum Gardens, Yan Liqiang suddenly thought of something. He casually asked while walking, “Oh right. Your master, Su Baiya, is the best sorcerer of the Great Han Empire. I am certain that such a powerful person like him knows everything in the heaven above and the earth underneath. Did he ever mention anything about rare beast core crystals to you?”
“Rare beast core crystals?”
“Yes!”
“Well, he did talk to me about it in the past. Those core crystals are rare and extremely versatile items. However, they are not things that can be used by ordinary people. They can be useful for some rare or secret techniques in cultivation, medicine, or even spiritual talismans!”
“Oh. Let’s say if I have a bunch of rare beast core crystals, apart from being able to sense the origins of these core crystals through inner Qi, is there any other way for me to tell the difference between them?”
Fang Beidou suddenly stopped walking, and Yan Liqiang stopped as well. Fang Beidou’s eyes glazed over him. After thinking for a while, he spoke to Yan Liqiang, “I remember Master told me that a talisman master is born with the gift of being able to distinguish between the good and bad core crystals through spiritual sense. Not only that, but they can also leave runes or spell circles inside the core crystals through their spiritual senses and communicate with the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth!”
“Talisman master?” Yan Liqiang murmured to himself.
“Yes. Talisman masters are just too rare on the Silver Continent. Every talisman master is a top figure within their own respective tribe or nations. Currently, there is also only one talisman master in the Great Han Empire. His name is Leng Tian and he is the only one deemed to be a non-relative king within the last five hundred years. However, no one has seen him for a few decades. My master met him once and said that he possesses unprecedented power. His mastery in talismans enables him to stand up against hundreds of thousands of armies. Killing a Martial King wouldn’t even be that much of a challenge to him either!”
“Oh? I wonder what exactly is a talisman master’s spiritual sense, then?”
“I have no idea. I only heard from my master that it is a mysterious thing inside a talisman master’s head. Ordinary people will not be able to possess it no matter how much they train…”
