Chapter 1249: The Pitch-Black Night (Part 1)

The dawn of the third day of the sixth month came late.

While it was still dark, a gust of wind arose. By the time the roosters crowed, only a faint greyish-white light appeared on the horizon. People who rose early lit their lamps and saw a light rain falling on the streets.

Ning Ji, who had returned to the small courtyard only in the early hours after handing Ni Po over to Zuo Wenxuan, was meditating on his bed. His Xuan Gong had already reached a small accomplishment, and his rest wasn't limited to sleep. When raindrops fell in the courtyard, the young man's eyelids flickered slightly, but they soon returned to calmness, his breathing gradually becoming one with the wind and rain.

In the southern part of the city, due to the search by government troops, Chen Shuangran and her group emerged from their temporary hiding place and moved to another location. Green Forest experts wearing straw raincoats stood on the eaves, watching the grey rain curtain spread.

Deng Nian, the water bandit who had been responsible for observing the Fish King's movements the previous night, had spent the night in a dilapidated inn where the Green Forest people gathered. He came to join them in the early morning, but it was already late. It was not until the afternoon that he reconnected with Chen Shuangran and her group.

Tie Tianying, having arranged Ni Po's affairs properly, hurried back along the morning market streets. When the wind and rain came, he looked outside.

"It's not a typhoon..."

Under the eaves, candlelight flickered. Behind the academy, Li Pin tapped his knee, sitting under the eaves watching the rain strands fall in the courtyard. Beyond the walls, the distant city had begun to stir with activity.

He was one of the first people in the city to know it would rain, because his rheumatic pains had started up again last night. He hadn't slept a wink, and Luo Shouwei, the Qingyi Zhenren responsible for his safety – actually, also his personal care – had given him acupuncture and massage, and they had talked for half the night.

Neither of them was young anymore. Although they had no marital title, they had been intimate with each other, and their relationship was in the mode of adults. After a dull and long night, the light rain fell. Li Pin wanted to go under the eaves to watch the rain. Although his rheumatism was severe, he always liked to watch the rain, claiming it was because the benevolent enjoy mountains and the wise enjoy water.

The Emperor had shown goodwill to various forces at the banquet on the first day of the month, and the Princess Manor had then adopted divisive tactics. While Chen Shuangran and others were launching a counterattack, Li Pin was also meeting with Confucian scholars from all sides every day, creating momentum and propaganda. Even if it rained on this day, a whole day's itinerary had already been packed.

In the morning, watching the drizzle, Luo Shouwei went to the kitchen to supervise breakfast preparations. When she returned, Li Pin had fallen asleep quietly under the drowsy eaves amidst the fine rain.

At the Martial Training Academy, under the leadership of Zuo Wenhuai, a group of officers responsible for ideological and military law were drilling in the rain.

In the imperial palace, the Emperor Junwu had also risen early, waiting for the morning court to begin.

At Si hour (9-11 AM), the Imperial Guards gathered in the rain on the parade ground south of the imperial city. At the same time, the students of the Martial Training Academy and some of the officials who had just attended the morning court began to gather here.

Throughout the morning, the fighting between the City Patrol Division and the Green Forest people in the city seemed to have briefly subsided, but the atmosphere of solemnity had become intense with the movements of the Imperial Guards and the Martial Training Academy.

After noon, wearing a worn-out straw raincoat, the water bandit Deng Nian passed through the streets where people were discussing the matter, and finally found a new contact person, who then led him to the new residence of Chen Shuangran and others. The residence was not far from the imperial city, and one could vaguely feel the tense atmosphere over there.

After passing through the outer courtyard and entering the inner courtyard, which had a huge locust tree planted in it, he met the steward, Chen Yan.

"...How did you come here?"

"Miss's idea," Chen Yan said in a low voice. "The original plan for this morning was in the east of the city, but I heard that the Imperial Guards had moved, and Miss wanted to see what was going on. Everyone is still discussing the matter upstairs. You have to wait a while—we've been waiting for you all morning."

"Miss is decisive in killing."

The rain was still falling, dripping along the eaves of the corridors and the leaves of the trees onto the ground. In response to the actions of the Imperial Guards, the things being discussed upstairs in the courtyard building at this moment must be truly big events. Deng Nian and Chen Yan waited downstairs. Recalling the rumors he had heard in the morning, Deng Nian said, "Everyone is saying that the Imperial Guards might seal off the city."

"That shouldn't happen," Chen Yan shook his head. "The Emperor is marrying and forming alliances, requiring a good appearance to the outside world. Enraged to the point of sealing the city and killing people would ruin his play of taking a concubine this time, and the world would think he's lost face."

"On the way here, I heard that several people with cases on their hands are running out of the city."

"The more chaos, the better." Chen Yan showed a smile that wasn't really a smile. "By the way, I heard about last night's events. After Miss left, what happened to the Fish King's side?"

"This…"

"This morning, he was looking for people everywhere to spread messages, wanting to meet us. It seems he's in trouble. When I reported to Miss, she was also curious about the progress after she left last night, whether the government took a heavy hand..."

"...It was caused by that evil star..."

Thinking of what happened last night, Deng Nian sighed and spoke in a low voice, but before he could finish, there was the sound of a door opening upstairs. Some people came down from above, presumably having discussed countermeasures against the actions of the Imperial Guards. Chen Yan went upstairs to report, and soon called Deng Nian over as well.

The room upstairs was not large. A window on one side faced the side of the imperial city, and Chen Shuangran was standing in front of the rain curtain. The discussion had just ended. Besides the "Mr." who had acted with them yesterday, there were three other companions. Deng Nian was an old member of the circle, being Chen Shuangran's driver.

Seeing him come up, the "Mr." sitting on the side nodded to him: "We've changed places twice, I was almost afraid you wouldn't be able to find us again."

Deng Nian cupped his hands in greeting.

After waiting for a while, Chen Shuangran turned her head from the window: "Uncle Nian... sit wherever you like... On the way back, did anything unexpected happen?"

"Thank you for your concern, Miss, I'm fine. But the city is chaotic, and some old friends are running away, afraid that the court will go crazy and overturn the table."

"It won't be overturned," Chen Shuangran smiled. "The court is sending out the Imperial Guards to scare the mountain tigers, just to make the Green Forest people who have guilty consciences panic first, and then seize the opportunity... On the contrary, we, with Mr. Jin's guidance, have long been prepared. The Emperor wants to send troops, but he doesn't want to disturb the people's livelihood, a bit... naive."

As she spoke, Chen Shuangran cupped her hands towards the middle-aged "Mr." on the side.

After a slight pause, she said, "In this way, what happened last night seems small in comparison... Uncle Nian, after we left, what happened over there?"

"Yes." Deng Nian cupped his hands, looked around at the others, and then spoke about the developments in Silver Bridge Lane last night, talking about how the young man came back after they left, and went straight to the Fish King's shop to fight. Mr. Jin smiled, while Chen Shuangran frowned slightly, her expression serious.

"...He really made a move?"

"Yes, the Fish King and his several disciples were badly beaten, but I was outside and heard the clearest thing, which was the Fish King kept shouting: 'Don't fight, don't fight'. Perhaps because of this, no one was killed."

"It seems that this Fish King is a real old Jianghu (江湖) figure." The middle-aged man called Mr. Jin smiled. "Ni Po's skills were such that he was killed in just a few moves, and this young man was able to find his shop afterwards. If they really fought, it would probably be a case of extermination. Moreover, the young man is skilled in martial arts, and at this age, when his blood boils, he won't have any scruples about his actions."

Young people are ruthless and heartless, with no moral constraints and little regard for Jianghu (江湖) rules. These things are understood by old Jianghu (江湖) figures.

"No wonder the Fish King has been spreading messages since last night, looking for me," Chen Shuangran nodded. "The old thing... if it was just government coercion, he wouldn't be so panicked."

"He should have been suddenly attacked by Ni Po, and that young man became alert and wanted to follow the clues," Mr. Jin said. "Walking in the Jianghu (江湖), this is a good habit. The biggest problem now is what these two people's backgrounds are."

As he said this, Chen Yan stood out from the side.

"Two days ago, after receiving Miss's instructions, I went around looking for people and inquired about it. To be honest, during the Jiangning Conference, people from all walks of life gathered, and the news was mixed and complicated. We weren't there at the time, and now if we want to trace back, many of the statements we get are false." He paused. "What we can confirm now is that these two perverts, 'Four Feet' and 'Five Feet', were famous on the reward list in Jiangning at that time, but the various statements varied. Some even drew pictures, but they didn't look alike. The more consistent statement is that the original 'Four Feet' was a bald little monk, and now he probably has hair, which is the young man that Miss and Mr. Jin saw last night. 'Five Feet' is quite handsome, with no difference."

"Hmph." Chen Shuangran sneered coldly, her eyes flashing.

"At the time in Jiangning, everyone's attention was always on the five great Kings and the direction of the conference. The most famous rumor about these two perverts was their feud with Shi Baofeng. There are many stories in between, but it is generally said that the 'Five Feet' pervert snatched Shi Baofeng's son, Shi Weiyang's wife. Shi Weiyang refused to give up, and was subsequently chased and killed by the 'Five Feet' pervert in the street. After killing more than a dozen Green Forest experts, he also chopped off Shi Weiyang's arm before stopping..."

"...The identities of these experts even included 'Dragon Saber' Xiang Dasong, 'White Mountain Palm' Qian Zhuoying, 'Bull Demon' Xu Batian, 'Divine Shock Hand' Fan Hen, 'White Shura' He Qin Zhao, 'Fifteen Strings' Yu Ci..."

Among the few people, Chen Yan, Deng Nian, and others were all Fujian water bandits, severely isolated from the outside world. Chen Yan held the paper and read the names of each person on it, his expression ordinary. "Mr. Jin" and the other person in the room kept frowning as they listened.

After a while, that person said: "Nonsense, 'Bull Demon' Xu Batian and 'Dragon Saber' Xiang Dasong are all heroes who have been famous for a long time. I can't guarantee that I can beat them in a one-on-one fight. 'Fifteen Strings' Yu Ci is even more respected and has amazing skills... In these years of Jianghu (江湖) chaos, they may have had accidents, but to be chased and killed by a young man in the street and kill more than a dozen at once? I'm afraid even Lin Zongwu, the leader of the Lin Sect, can't do it... Nonsense! Nonsense!"

This person was also brought in from the outside to help, and his martial arts and vision were trustworthy. Listening to this person's statement, Chen Shuangran roughly understood the value of the list in Chen Yan's hand.

Recalling what she had seen last night, the "Four Feet Pervert's" search after killing Ni Po in the dark had caused her to feel fear and almost lose her composure. As for the "Five Feet Pervert," he was the young man who hadn't made a move in front of the grocery stall, and hadn't taken Ni Po seriously from beginning to end. This person was young, and his skills couldn't possibly compare to Lin Zongwu, the world's number one, but if he used his full strength, what would it be like?

For a woman, to chase and kill Prince Pingdeng, Shi Baofeng's son, on the long street, continuously killing more than a dozen experts, and even cutting off Shi Weiyang's arm?

Thinking in her mind, she said, "I also saw this 'Five Feet Pervert' yesterday. He's no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, even younger last year. Even if he has a family background, I don't think he can do such a thing. Uncle Yan, this is probably fake news, right?"

Chen Yan nodded: "Yes, when I suddenly heard such rumors, I was also quite suspicious. Later, after many investigations, the story is probably just a story. Shi Baofeng took advantage of his son's broken hand to turn around and lash out at Prince Gongping. He even said that Prince Gongping colluded with the Southwest to deal with him and his son. In other words, if such a statement is true, the person who chased and killed his son is probably a Southwest Black Flag."

Someone on the side nodded: "If the Black Flag makes a move, it's not surprising that they killed more than a dozen people."

"But there are also questions at this time," Chen Yan smiled. "In fact, when Miss instructed me, I thought of one thing. Among us, there was one person who was closest to Prince Pingdeng in Jiangning at that time. Can you guess who it is?"

Mr. Jin nodded: "...Ni Po?"

"Exactly." Chen Yan cupped his hands. "Ni Po is a martial arts fanatic, but when he was in Jiangning, he went to fight in the arena, and he happened to be following Prince Pingdeng's line. At first, he thought that Prince Gongping's arena was a big project, but later Prince Gongping overturned the table and didn't want to talk properly at all, and the various forces in the city lost interest in the arena. Ni Po had also heard of the names of 'Dragon Saber' Xiang Dasong and others. When I asked him the day before yesterday, he said that these people had skills, but they didn't think about improving them, and only went to Shi Baofeng and Shi Weiyang's sides to be 'jesters'. He looked down on them. Of course, at that time, the names of 'Dragon Saber' and others were much greater than his. I think he probably looked down on him a little too."

Someone in the room laughed: "Ni Po is indeed this kind of person. Actually, if nothing happened, he would have achieved something in the future."

"Yes... so I also asked him in detail about the news of those two perverts, and about Shi Weiyang's assassination. Ni Po said that there seemed to be various statements at the time, but he didn't believe the statements of those big figures. At that time, the situation in the city was chaotic, and Shi's son was causing trouble everywhere with a large group of people, making a lot of noise. He felt that there would be problems sooner or later. Later, Prince Pingdeng used Shi Weiyang's matter to lash out at Prince Gongping. The focus was on the lashing out, saying that Prince Pingdeng wanted to find an opportunity to make Prince Gongping express his position, saying that he, Prince Gongping, had nothing to do with the Southwest or the Reading Society... This was originally a painstaking and smooth thing. In anticipation, Prince Gongping only needed to express this attitude, and the other people would be able to start talking about cooperation with Prince Gongping. Who knew that just this one coercion would result in a very bad outcome..."

Chen Yan gave a slight wry smile here: "No one expected that Prince Gongping would be unwilling to clear himself of relations with the Reading Society at all, and even wanted to force the other four to accept the ideas of the Reading Society. Everyone suddenly discovered that He Wen's Jiangning Conference, the Gongping King, was not for forming an alliance... It was also after this incident that happy events turned into bad events, and the minds of people from all sides fluctuated. The originally festive martial arts tournament, after this, everyone was already too busy to care about it, and they were all laying out plans for the subsequent division and infighting."

Mr. Jin also laughed, reaching out and patting his knee: "Because of this, the martial arts fanatic Ni Po lost attention, so his impression of this matter must be deep."

"Yes, so when he talked about this matter, he said that all the rumors were false, it was just big figures lashing out. As for people like Shi Weiyang, who brought a group of experts and made a lot of noise, what does it matter who beat them? Whether they had a feud with the pervert, or provoked people from the Southwest, or were plotted against by the other Kings? Prince Pingdeng took the opportunity to attack... As for the two perverts, if they really made a big name for themselves, he would naturally know. Since he didn't have a deep impression, obviously the other party's skills were at least not up to Lin Zongwu's level..."

"He was still careless after all... The two perverts, even if they weren't big figures of Lin Zongwu's level, their martial arts were far higher than his..."

When everyone said this, the room was silent again for a moment. From the tracing of the perverts, it linked up with the most important events in Jiangning last year. Everyone's hearts were surging, and they all had their own imaginations.

After a while, Mr. Jin said: "Ni Po is obsessed with martial arts and doesn't know much about worldly affairs, but he can be careless, which shows that at least the impression these two people gave him wasn't of any orthodox figures with great backgrounds. But now the situation in Fuzhou is such that we can't take too much risk. We can look at more situations and make plans, but Gongzi Pu's side is also trying to win over these two people, just afraid that they will get there first."

Chen Shuangran sat in front of the window, smiling and thinking for a while: "Looking at the nature of these two people, it's unlikely that the Pu fellow can recruit them... I have to think carefully, there's no rush... Uncle Yan, please investigate more when you have time."

"Yes."

"As for the Fish King's side..." She paused. "You tell him that I'll consider it... and see him as soon as possible."

"Yes."

Outside the window, rain strands fell, covering the busy city in a grey and wet tone. Chen Shuangran sat at the table, one hand propped up on her mouth, her eyes flickering, outlining the curve of the whole thing in her mind. After a moment, she stood up.

"It's almost time, the arranged things need to move, Mr. Jin, Uncle Yan, let's prepare and go take a look... and Uncle Nian, I trouble you to drive, let's go together."

Everyone nodded or cupped their hands, getting up to prepare to leave. After Deng Nian agreed, he looked at Chen Yan with a questioning look. Chen Yan then leaned in and whispered a few words in his ear.

At this time, the court's arrangements and mobilization of the Imperial Guards had been completed. They came out of the parade ground and circled towards the surrounding city gates along the city's main road.

In a teahouse near the academy, Li Pin endured the pain in his body and was feasting great Confucian scholars in the drizzle, talking about the progress and arrangements of the recent days, hoping that everyone could see the Emperor's care and efforts, but the arguing began before long.

In a small courtyard in Huaiyun Lane, Ning Ji and Qu Longjun finished their lunch. The two of them sat on a small terrace behind, near the river, watching the rain strands all over the sky and the advancing situation in the city. Ning Ji spoke of the past grudges between the Huaxia Army and Tie Tianying and others, which had been deep-seated hatreds that had been formed more than ten years ago.

At the other end of the city, Yue Yun left his residence because of a message he had received. He wore a straw raincoat and walked through the rain, like a young tiger. At this moment, he didn't know that a strong malice had surrounded him...

(End of this chapter)