Chapter 39 The Secret of the Lonely Mountain
Mo Qinggong looked with a dark expression at the case scrolls in front of him. Because he had been reading for a long time, his eyes were slightly dry. So he took out a small crystal bottle and dripped several drops of medicinal fluid to clean his eyes and mind.
Even though it was the new year, he could not rest. That palace attendant called Li Wanzhu had been in the palace for more than a decade. She had seemed ordinary during her time, and he could not find anything suspicious. However, she had said those exceptionally hateful and cold-hearted words on the banquet. The Holy One and the empress pretended she had not existed, but the Divinity Bureau could not do so.
“Dead for so many years, disappeared for so many years, but still not giving up. What is your heir doing appearing?” Mo Qinggong rubbed his eyes as he spoke in a soft but dark voice to himself. The sound echoed in the grey room.
While the Divinity Bureau always had things to do and Changling was never at peace, the underground turbulence in the city had never been so strong since the start of last year.
Ye Celeng had returned from overseas. Zhao Zhan had been killed. The great rebels of the Zhao Sword Furnace and Cloud Water Palace’s unprecedented actions around Changling. Bureau Chief Xu going out to sea. The deaths of Song Qingshu and Nangong Shang. The reappearance of the Nine Hell King Sword. The implications in the words of the palace attendant. Everything seemed to be unconnected but Mo Qinggong knew this all started from the reappearance of the Nine Death Silkworm.
That person had died for so many years, but just the faint sign of an heir … many people’s hearts were starting to move.
In his view, compared to the powerful Qin Dynasty, the movement of these people’s hearts could only create some meaningless damage.
At this moment, his deputy, the young official who had taken over from Qin Huaishu, knocked on the door and quickly walked in.
“Official Mo, Wang Taixu has sent a cultivator.” Compared to the past, this young official appeared more experienced. He bowed quickly and said briskly, “A cultivator who attempted to kill Ding Ning in Fish Market, realm five cultivation. There were two other cultivators present, a realm four and a realm five. Those two have been killed but their corpses can be investigated.”
“What!”
Mo Qinggong suddenly stood up. “Send that person to the Great Floating Water Prison!”
“No! Notify the bureau chief!”
Then he immediately changed his mind, “I will personally see this person to the Great Floating Water Prison!”
“You did well,” then he said to this young Divinity Bureau official.
Two realm five, one realm four. They had tried to assassinate Ding Ning in Fish Market. Two dead, one wounded — the realm five left alive.
This young Divinity Bureau official had stated all the information he needed to know immediately.
After the battle between Xue Wangxu and Liang Lian, the teacher of the Holy One had protected Xue Wangxu. At the very least, all the powerful in the know all knew this was the empress’ wishes.
Only true outlaws, that came from outside, would know the power of Fish Market but dismiss the power of Fish Market to act within it.
People who could invite three outlaws like these to assassinate Ding Ning at the same time were powerful!
This survivor would be an important breaking point.
Cultivators had many more special means compared to ordinary people that could make one quickly die painlessly. But the Great Floating Water Prison had many tactics to make cultivators speak, and make sure they would not die.
Most importantly, he had to make sure this one would be sent into the Great Floating Water Prison alive.
This young Divinity Bureau official was overjoyed hearing Mo Qinggong’s praise but he maintained his calm. He said quickly, “Wang Taixu said that Two Level Tower will work together with Official Mo to send this person to the water prison.”
Hearing this sentence, Mo Qinggong relaxed slightly.
—
For Changling, today was fated to be extraordinary.
It had to be said that the tracks of some people would affect the history books.
There were many abandoned yards in Changling. These had been the residences of prosperous families, but after the bloodiness of the first year of Yuanwu, people rarely came here. Most of these places had been given out as rewards, but most places were still empty, most likely because people felt too many had died here and the air was too fiendish.
There was a small temple in this overgrown garden dedicated to the city god. It usually did not have many visitors. But some nobility would occasionally give some silver and maintain it, likely as they felt a temple like this would be more reliable.
The small temple was like an ordinary farm courtyard and had bamboo walls.
Weeds had grown here, but as it was winter, the place appeared cold and desolate.
Fan Zhuo, tall of figure and filled with the rebellious presence only great rebels would have, stood in front of this small temple. A young person dressed in a white fox skin robe stood next to him. He had strong brows, handsome features, smooth skin, and looked like a gentle young master born from a rich family. However, he gave off a proud presence that even Fan Zhuo could not rival.
This kind of pride was not fabricated like other members of prestigious families. This was a presence that had settled after practicing the sword for a decade to kill the serpent, after one’s country was destroyed, after living in the mountains and being cleansed.
He was Bai Shanshui.
After singing wildly as he killed his way out of Changling, his reputation had risen above the Zhao Sword Furnace.
The temple doors with its peeling paint was not shut and the doorsill was not tall. However, Bai Shanshui’s eyes were filled with emotion. He reached to push open the temple doors.
In a corner of the center hall was an old temple attendant cooking something on a simple stove made from stone pieces.
The moment he saw this old temple attendant, Bai Shanshui sighed softly, “Everyone in the world is speculating why I have to come to Changling and stay here. They do not know it is all for you, Mister Zhuang. After all kinds of detours, great dangers and long times, I had not expected Mister Zhuang to be hiding in this small temple.”
The old temple attendant turned. His face was covered in sharp wrinkles but his brows were as black as ink, and his body seemed to release an inexplicable presence.
His dim eyes suddenly grew deep as though he could see all the streets of Changling in one glance. The wrinkles on his face seemed to give off all the age of the past.
“Not easy.”
This old palace attendant did not say any courtesies. He said, “You are a body worth ten thousand gold. If you die, the spirit of the former Wei will dissipate. You took such a great risk to find me. Have you really found the secret of the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard, and that Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard secret is related to me?”
Bai Shanshui smiled slightly and said emotionally, “It isn’t just related to Mister. This Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard is in Changling.”
The old temple attendant had experienced many things but he was still shocked at the words.
“I hope that Mister can help me.” Bai Shanshui bowed deeply to the temple attendant and said, “I do not dare think about reviving the country, but this is the only hope that the Wei people will not have to wander without any resting place.”
When a person like him bowed, it carried the heavy presence of a country.
The old temple attendant took a deep breath and straightened. He did not immediately accept and said with narrowed eyes, “What did you obtain?”
Bai Shanshui straightened and took out an item from his sleeve to present to the old temple attendant without a word.
The old temple attendant’s eyes contracted. A storm formed inside him.
Laying in Bai Shanshui’s palm was a black gold jade seal.
This jade seal was not complete and lack several corners. There seemed to be many casually carved lines on the surface. However, in the eyes of this old temple attendant, these lines all floated off the jade seal and stretched in the air like mountains and rivers.
There were no words on the jade, no signs relating to the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard but the old palace attendant knew this represented the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard!
He had once seen a jade token like this, or rather, he had seen one of the lost corners of this jade token!
“It appears that all my efforts are worth it.”
While the old temple attendant did not say a word, Bai Shanshui receive confirmation of many things from his expression. He sighed softly and said, “I made out that the paths of this jade token are related to Changling’s geography. However, I am not talented enough and cannot completely understand this secret. Mister, you once studied the remnant of this jade token with that person and successfully found some of the parts of the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard. I think you can help me.”
“The reality is not as the rumors say,” the old temple attendant looked away from the jade token as he inhaled deeply and said to Bai Shanshui.
Bai Shanshui shook slightly.
“The jade seal that appeared in the past has always been in the storehouses of the Clan Law Bureau. When I was the bureau chief of the Clan Law Bureau, I did not know that the jade token was the map for the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard. I only felt it was strange and seemed to reflect the geography of Changling but I could not understand,” the old temple attendant slowly said. “I invited him to study. Then we found the lines of the jade token were not the geography of Changling, but the movement of some unique primal energies of the universe in the Clan Law Bureau area.”
Bai Shanshui took a deep breath and said softly, “The movement of primal energies of the universe?”
The old temple attendant nodded and said, “The map of Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard is not depicted using geography, but by the hidden movements of the primal energies of the universe. Perhaps, the person who left behind the map felt that people who did not understand enough and were not strong enough are not worthy of getting the Lonely Mountain Sword Hoard.”
Bai Shanshui was silent for a moment. Then he looked up over Changling’s land. He sighed softly, “So in this case, I must stay in this hateful Changling?”
