To maintain an appearance of transparency, martial arts gatherings are usually held from sunrise to sunset. Sects disperse before nightfall and do not linger after dark, a precaution against those who might use the cover of night for assassination.
However, this year’s Blade-Sharpening Ceremony on Qionghu Island was an exception. By the time the guests reached the island, the sky was already heavy with twilight. After several days of clear weather in Jiugao, dark clouds now blanketed the sky. A sinister wind swept across Lixin Lake, and ghostly shadows flickered across Qionghu Island.
Day and night were reversed, light and shadow indistinguishable, and fortune and calamity unpredictable. This was the lingering premonition in the hearts of everyone who stepped onto the island tonight.
After passing through the first stone gate, the visitors had to traverse a sinkhole and cross a floating bridge over the water to reach their final destination.
On one side of the floating bridge stood the towering, encircling cliffs of Luowu Cliff. On the other was a waterfall nearly a hundred feet high, rushing down in a torrent known as the Qianshi Yin. The water shot out from between the cliffs like a beam of light fired from a massive stone bow. It was a narrow passage caught between perils, giving one the distinct feeling that there was no turning back. The floating bridge, suspended over the rushing water, was supported by countless bamboo rafts steered by lotus-picking girls. At the end of the bridge, fishermen stood with wind lanterns to guide the way. They welcomed guests as the moon rose and saw them off as it set.
Given what she had seen on the pleasure boat the previous night, Qin Jiuye could easily guess that these simply dressed men and women were not actual lotus-pickers or fishermen, but disciples of the manor intentionally disguised as such.
She further recalled the screen painted with strange fish and the punished dancers she had seen on the boat. Di Mo, the Master of the Peerless Manor, certainly had some eccentricities, and they all seemed to involve water.
Qin Jiuye cast a quick glance at the bamboo rafts swaying in the turbulent currents. She did not want to spend a moment longer than necessary on this bridge of "unpredictable fortune."
However, the more she wanted to leave quickly, the less she could move. The fishermen leading the way only took two or three people at a time. A large number of sects had already gathered in the sinkhole, waiting to cross, and the hundred-pace-long floating bridge was crowded with people. Among them were lifelong allies, enemies with three generations of blood feuds, and those who had long since intended to have nothing to do with one another. Now, they were all squeezed together by the damp, noisy water. The sense of suffocation and tension in the air was almost tangible.
Qin Jiuye looked at the scene and suspected that Di Mo had intended this all along. He was using these minor rules and inconveniences to blunt the edges of the various sects, reminding them who the true master of the martial world was.
In the distance, Master Kongyin of the Qingshi Temple on Mount Sidu led his disciples onto the floating bridge. Many sects still lingered on the shore, and given Qiu Ling’s non-confrontational nature, it would be ages before it was Kunxu’s turn.
Thinking this, Qin Jiuye stepped back a few paces and found a hollow beneath the cliff wall, half-sitting and half-leaning against it.
Not long after she sat down, she felt a faint moisture seeping from the stone walls. She reached out to touch it, then brought her hand to her nose to sniff. She froze.
It was a faint, pungent scent, very much like the smell of sulfur...
"What are you dazing off for?"
Qin Jiuye snapped back to her senses to find that Qigu had returned from her "wanderings" at some unknown point and was looking at her with an inquisitive expression.
Qin Jiuye wiped her hand on her sleeve and shook her head nonchalantly.
"Nothing. Just a bit bored from waiting."
Qigu was sharp-eyed and had clearly noticed something. she leaned in quickly.
"Did you find something? Don't keep it to yourself. Why not share a bit?"
Qin Jiuye glanced at the ink stains on the other woman's hand. She suddenly felt that this busybody's personality was less like a medicine peddler and more like Tang Shenyan, the information broker. On a whim, she countered with a question.
"Do you understand the principle of reciprocity? Why don't you tell me first, Qigu—you were so shameless about following us onto the island tonight, did you get some inside information beforehand?"
Qigu was taken aback. She thought she had already bluffed her way through, but it seemed she still couldn't outmaneuver this cold-hearted woman.
She initially wanted to brush it off with a few excuses, but having seen this woman's capabilities on the boat from Fangwai Temple, she felt inclined to exchange information. She pulled out the small notebook she had tucked into her robes, flipped through her notes, and spoke in a low voice.
"Don't you find it strange? There are exceptionally many people at this year's Sword Appraisal Assembly, and the fight for the jade swords yesterday was unusually fierce. Yet tonight, everyone has suddenly quieted down, as if they know something and are all just putting on an act. And then there's Fangwai Temple—hardly anyone is left alive in that entire sect. I don't believe for a second that Di Mo is truly some altruistic meddler who would just let Yuan Qi climb the ranks like that."
Qin Jiuye was somewhat dismissive.
"The sword-snatching is a farce; the rise in status is the goal. This three-day assembly is nothing more than a method of maintaining balance. How can you take it seriously?"
Qigu narrowed her eyes and spoke hesitantly.
"Do you think... Di Mo might have become obsessed with the path to immortality and is thinking of refining some elixir of eternal life? That would explain why Fangwai Temple had a chance to rise. It would make everything make sense."
Even though she had anticipated something like this, hearing a common wanderer like Qigu mention it so suddenly still made Qin Jiuye's heart skip a beat.
Ten paces away by the floating bridge, Qiu Ling was surrounded by several large men from the Tiankui Sect. His green robes were particularly striking amidst their purple attire. He was politely exchanging pleasantries with them in a low voice, seemingly unaware of their conversation. But Qin Jiuye knew the hearing of martial artists. If Qiu Ling could hear them, then every martial artist within ten paces could likely hear them as well.
If she wanted to be careful, she should shut her mouth now and be a silent observer.
But caution was not her primary objective tonight. She wanted the truth behind all of this, and only by stirring up those who knew more would she have a chance to find the answer.
Having made up her mind, Qin Jiuye followed Qigu's lead and said, "The arts of alchemy and immortality, the methods of spirit-channeling and god-summoning—those haven't been in fashion for over a hundred years. Even charlatans wouldn't bother discussing them, let alone Di Mo."
"What's so strange about that? After all, Di Mo is the one who created Qingfeng Powder. To this day, no one has found an antidote for that poison. Di Mo can be considered a genius of toxicology..."
Qigu continued to chatter, but Qin Jiuye was lost in thought for a moment.
The woman's words reminded her of something: if the secret recipe was indeed related to Di Mo, what was his goal? Was it similar to his purpose for promoting Qingfeng Powder? But as Qigu said, Qingfeng Powder was already an unshakeable means for him to control the people of the manor, and it was far more discreet and reliable than that secret recipe. Why would he need to create an uncontrollable, immature "new formula"?
Unless the Peerless Manor could no longer contain Di Mo's ambition. He wanted to extend his reach to the entire martial world, and Yuan Shuqing was only the beginning.
Compared to Qingfeng Powder's effect of stimulating human potential, the benefits of that secret recipe were far more enticing. What could be more tempting to a martial artist than healing without medicine and being impervious to fire and water?
But something still didn't feel right.
Qin Jiuye pursed her dry lips and said word by word, "The entire martial world is already in the hands of the Peerless Manor. What more could Di Mo want? Besides, even if he truly intended to engage in some heterodox practices, wouldn't it be more convenient to do it behind closed doors? What does it have to do with this Sword Appraisal Assembly?"
Qigu glanced at her, and seeing that she truly seemed to know nothing, she continued mysteriously.
"That brings us to the current situation of the Peerless Manor. Yichun, where the manor is located, has long and narrow terrain, running east to west and sitting on several major river and lake mouths. Although it's sparsely populated, it's a strategic natural barrier. While managing the manor, Di Mo often assists the imperial court in flood control. He earned a good reputation while also being able to live in peace in his corner of the world, and for years, he and the Uzhou Commandery Governor minded their own business. However, this situation began to change the year before last. The court first dismissed three Uzhou Vice-Governors in succession for 'ineffective flood control,' and then dispatched the West Seal and South Peace Armies to station in the nearby foothills. It's been three years now, and there's no sign of them withdrawing. I'm afraid flood control is just a pretext, and the real goal is to seize the land. It looks like they want to bring all of Yichun back under their control to feel at ease."
Qigu finished her explanation, clearly very confident in her deduction. However, Qin Jiuye thought back to the "secret history of the manor" that Mr. Ding had mentioned on the boat last night.
Although she had no other way to verify it, based on her years of experience dealing with people, what Ding Miao said was likely true. If Di Mo was already half a lackey for the officials, why would the capital go to the trouble of sending armies to station nearby?
Qin Jiuye felt instinctively that something was wrong, but she wasn't sure how much the person in front of her knew, so she kept her words guarded.
"All under heaven is the King's land. To have stood his ground in the martial world until now, Di Mo cannot be a fool. Why would he truly go against the officials? Does he really want to be the king of his own mountain?"
As expected, before her voice even landed, Qigu gave her a look that said, "You know too little; you should talk less and listen more."
"How do you know the Manor Master wants to oppose the court? There have long been rumors that he was originally a man of the court. Perhaps he intends to use this assembly as an opportunity for amnesty and recruitment. The sects that choose to follow him can naturally be incorporated into the court's forces. If there are unforeseen troubles in the future, they would have something to lean on."
From what she had seen at the Sword Appraisal Assembly over the past few days, it was clear that Di Mo's influence in the martial world was not exaggerated. It wouldn't even be an overstatement to say he had "held hostage" the entire martial world. Thus, no prominent sect could remain uninvolved. It wasn't impossible that Di Mo wanted everyone to take a stand during this assembly.
But was that truly all? Why did she have a lingering intuition that Di Mo was not someone who would easily submit? If he had never had any selfish motives, perhaps he would never have left the flourishing official circles in the first place to come alone to this wild and chaotic martial world, spending over a decade unifying it just to hand over the martial world he had painstakingly organized to the Emperor.
Qin Jiuye felt a faint headache coming on.
