Chapter 349 - Starting Down the Road to Ruin

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lu Yan looked at Li Ruoxuan, who looked like he had been shocked speechless. He was even more nervous than Li Ruoxuan, afraid that he would be able to see through Lu Yan’s forced composure. He deliberately stressed his tone, going with the flow again as he said, “If you don’t believe it, you can test the young boy’s skills yourself. See if you can survive at his hands!”

Li Ruoxuan, “...”

Lu Yan said with a half-smile, “Oh, perhaps you don’t need to test him anymore, because you killed Qi Qingzhu. If that girl finds out that you’re behind all of this, I don’t think she’ll let you go either.”

Li Ruoxuan had never laid a hand on a grand master in his entire life, and he was terrified. “Even if that young boy is really at a grand master’s level, I’m the State Preceptor. He wouldn’t dare touch me.”

Lu Yan’s gaze was very dark. He smiled and said, “He’s a grand master, he can just kill you and take your position of State Preceptor after that. Wouldn’t that be better?”

“Hmph!”

Li Ruoxuan got up and hummed a short grunt through his nose.

“Are you leaving now?” Lu Yan pretended to be calm and said, “Then, I won’t see you off.”

Li Ruoxuan suddenly turned around and said seriously, “Lu Yan, I don’t believe what you’ve just said.”

“It’s up to you whether you want to believe it or not.” Lu Yan shrugged, feeling calmer than before.

“No one can reach the level of a grand master at seventeen or eighteen! No one! Even if they’re a genius, it’s still impossible!”

Li Ruoxuan’s words carried a hint of a grudge, which was rare. He immediately continued, “If there ever was one, then they’re a monster!”

Lu Yan was silent.

He watched Li Ruoxuan leave.

Dong Jing personally sent Li Ruoxuan and Zhu Shen out to the gate. After watching Li Ruoxuan get into the carriage and leave, Dong Jing hurried back to the side hall. As soon as he entered the side hall, he saw Lu Yan sitting there in a state of absent-mindedness!

“Master, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Lu Yan stood up and said seriously.

Dong Jing noticed that a layer of dense sweat had seeped from Lu Yan’s forehead. He asked in confusion, “But why are you sweating all over when it’s winter now?”

Lu Yan, “...”

Was he sweating?

Lu Yan did not know.

He raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He let out a big sigh.

Only then did he begin to analyze the content of the conversation just now.

According to the State Preceptor, Si Jin was of grand master level. How could that be possible? Just as Li Ruoxuan himself had said, that kid looked like he was only seventeen or eighteen years old.

He had also investigated Si Jin’s background, and nothing had been found.

He seemed to have emerged out of thin air, though through Qi Qingyao, he knew how Si Jin had become her companion.

However… all of this was too far-fetched!

Some random young boy had become Qi Qingyao’s companion. He looked handsome and was very well-behaved. He had said before that his family was in strained circumstances and that he even used to work in someone else’s house. Was this possible?

If he really was of grand master level, could his family end up in strained circumstances?

A grand master, who had the strength to protect an entire city, could leave his family in strained circumstances? No matter which country he was in, a grand master had the talents of a national treasure!

Who would ever dare to lay a hand on a grand master’s family? It was not like many people were that tired of living.

Besides, if he really was of grand master level, how could he be one at this age?

Was this not all a big prank being played on him?!

That young boy’s true identity was very questionable.

Lu Yan still thought that Si Jin was probably not a grand master. Even though Qi Qingyao and Si Jin had gone out in a disguise two nights ago, that had to just be a coincidence.

The grand master had to be someone else.

As for Li Ruoxuan’s wrong guess and shock… as long as he did not lay a hand on Qi Qingyao because of this, then no harm in allowing this beautiful misunderstanding to continue.

…

On the way back.

Li Ruoxuan did not say a word in the carriage. His expression was very gloomy, and his eyes were so damp tears were close to dripping out of them.

Zhu Shen had never seen His Excellency like this before, looking like he had suffered a massive blow. Zhu Shen was a little restless, and said nervously, “Your Excellency, you don’t look too good.”

This sentence seemed to drag Li Ruoxuan out of his pensive mood. After he regained his composure, he said, almost angrily, “Have everyone withdraw.”

“Your Excellency?” Zhu Shen froze.

“Withdraw,” Li Ruoxuan repeated again, then said with a gloomy expression on his clear and gentle face, “I want to go there in person!”

“Your Excellency?!”

Zhu Shen instantly sat up, his head bumping against the roof of the carriage, hurting him a little.

What His Excellency had ordered was to withdraw the men currently in Baishui Town and Xingli Village…

Li Ruoxuan said in a deep voice, “I’m going to Jiang Yeqian’s place to discuss something with him. You head back first.”

“...”

Zhu Shen’s eyes almost fell out of his sockets.

His Excellency actually wanted to discuss something with the Head Grand Secretariat. Was this not a joke?

Everyone knew the two of them were sworn enemies.

The kind of sworn enemies that wished they could stab the other to death on the spot!

After Zhu Shen got off the carriage halfway back, the carriage turned around and headed toward Jiang Yeqian’s courtyard in Qingzhou City.

After arriving at the gate.

The guard at the gate had gone to inform Jiang Yeqian about the visit, but Li Ruoxuan could not wait any longer, so he just strode in. He shouted after walking through the door, “Jiang Yeqian, come the hell out!”

“State Preceptor, Our Excellency is…” The steward was in an awkward position.

Jiang Yeqian was in the house, giving orders to Zhao Xin about this and that. When he heard Li Ruoxuan’s voice, his expression changed. He got up and opened the door. When he walked out, he immediately came across Li Ruoxuan, who had a gloomy expression on his face.

“What’s the matter?”

Judging by the man’s expression, he could be here looking for trouble. However, he had come to the residence alone. What was this about? Did he want to block all of Jiang Yeqian’s exits, trap him here, and beat him up?

Heh!

Zhao Xin stood behind Jiang Yeqian and could not help feeling nervous.

The two of them were like two kings that were not allowed to be in one kingdom at the same time… However, today, the State Preceptor had taken the initiative to visit him!!

Li Ruoxuan told Zhao Xin irritably. “Everyone leave. I have something to talk to him about, alone.”

Zhao Xin was taken aback.

He subconsciously glanced at Jiang Yeqian.

Jiang Yeqian felt like the State Preceptor was acting a little strange today, so he nodded at Zhao Xin.

Zhao Xin frowned and reluctantly led the other excellencies to withdraw from the courtyard.

Li Ruoxuan walked into the hall and poured himself a cup of already-cooled tea of his own accord. He took a sip, then looked at Jiang Yeqian, who sat down after closing the door.

He was silent, so quiet it was scary.

After Jiang Yeqian sat down, he could not help but sneer. “You chucked all my men out. What do you want to say to me, the State Preceptor?”

Li Ruoxuan’s eyes were half-lidded. Silence coated his gentle face. He said, “I need a rank nine powerhouse to team up with me.”

Two rank nines?

He was asking for a favor himself...

Jiang Yeqian lifted the corner of his mouth mockingly. “Are you trying to kill a grand master?” He paused, then continued, “Eastern Ling and Southern Ming. Which grand master has already arrived?”

Li Ruoxuan said impassively, “I want to check whether someone is a grand master or not.”

Jiang Yeqian was a little startled, then started, “That mysterious grand master…”

“Exactly.” A somber current coursed through Li Ruoxuan’s eyes. “So I need your help.”

“You can go alone. I’m not interested in getting involved in this kind of matter,” Jiang Yeqian said blankly.

Li Ruoxuan pursed his lips tightly and said bluntly, “If I go alone and the opponent is stronger than me, I’ll die. And then you’ll never find out their identity.”

Jiang Yeqian, “...”

Li Ruoxuan’s brows were tightly knitted together. He continued, “Although I despise you and can’t wait for you to die...”

Jiang Yeqian said, “Likewise.”

“We can only test this opponent’s skills by teaming up and guaranteeing us both our survival.” There was no emotion in Li Ruoxuan’s eyes. “The matter of killing you will come much later, but that is a conflict between us.”

Jiang Yeqian agreed with that, getting rid of outside conflict before resolving personal conflict. “Who is it?”

“If I’m sure, would I still need to team up with you?” Li Ruoxuan asked.

“When?” Jiang Yeqian asked.

“Tonight!” Li Ruoxuan said.

“Tonight?” So fast?

“...” Li Ruoxuan nodded slightly.

Then, he got up and said, “Pack the weapons you’ll need, and I’ll go pack up as well. I’ll be waiting for you at the gate with a carriage half an hour after this.”

“Okay.”

Although surprised, he still understood this vigorous and resolute style of doing things.

Jiang Yeqian readily agreed.

If the two of them teamed up to test a grand master, they would probably not die! They would only get hurt at most!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

After Li Ruoxuan left.

Jiang Yeqian put down some intel handscrolls in his hand and took out the sword he seldom used from the box. He drew it out from its scabbard and glanced at the sword that was so sharp it was reflective.

Jiang Yeqian took the sword and walked to the door.

He swung the sword around in the courtyard.

The sword sliced through the air easily, and Zhao Xin felt the air tremble each time. After a few slashes, the atmosphere in the entire courtyard grew extremely terrifying. An inexplicable feeling of murderous intent was spreading through it like a rising tide.

Zhao Xin felt his scalp begin to tingle.

It was as though that sword could shave off his scalp any second now.

What exactly was His Excellency doing?

Why had he taken out the Feiyun Sword?!

He did not usually use this sword, because he had the strength of a top rank nine! He could tear opponents into pieces with bare hands! He did not need to use his weapon at all!

A possibility flashed through Zhao Xin’s mind.

Either His Excellency was going to fight to the death with the State Preceptor, or he was going to kill a very powerful person!

After Jiang Yeqian finished practicing with his sword, he retracted his aura.

Only then did Zhao Xin heave a sigh of relief.

However, he could not help but ask warily, “Your Excellency?”

“I’m going out later.” After Jiang Yeqian put the sword back into the scabbard, he said to Zhao Xin, “If I don’t come back tonight, then something will have happened to me.”

Ahh!

Zhao Xin almost went berserk.

What did he mean by ‘something will have happened’?

His Excellency had talked out the possibility of something happening to him before. This ‘something happened’ usually meant something really might happen!

“Then please bring me along, Your Excellency!” If something really did happen, he could shield him.

“No need.”

“But…”

“Tonight is a highly confidential operation.”

…

…

After Jiang Yeqian left with those words lingering in the air, he entered the house and changed his clothes. Zhao Xin’s mind was a mess. After half an hour, the sky had darkened to a near black.

A carriage arrived at the gate of the courtyard.

Zhao Xin took a glance. It looked to be the State Preceptor’s carriage. Jiang Yeqian calmly carried his sword and got on the carriage. Zhao Xin, who was standing by the gate, was shocked.

His Excellency had actually climbed into the State Preceptor’s carriage!

Were they really going to duel?

Ahh!

He did not dare to go up and ask.

His imagination flashed a constant reel of images by him. It was not very likely. The two of them never seemed to confront each other head-on, only pulling little tricks in private. It would be absolutely impossible for them to really duel!

Right.

Definitely impossible.

But if the two of them were not actually dueling, why had His Excellency specially brought his sword and met up with the State Preceptor?

Zhao Xin’s mind was filled to the brim with questions.

…

…

After Jiang Yeqian got into the carriage, he saw that Li Ruoxuan was not only carrying his sword but that there were also a lot of explosives around, as well as materials needed to make the summoning arrays and various poisons in the carriage.

The corner of Jiang Yeqian’s mouth twitched.

“You’re really serious about this!”

“I don’t want to die,” Li Ruoxuan said.

Jiang Yeqian, “...”

Li Ruoxuan silently fiddled with some materials for the rune spells. To deal with a grand master, he had to pull out all of his special skills.

It was all or nothing!

Meanwhile, Jiang Yeqian was thinking about how he never knew that this man could make rune spells! As for these poisons, he had not refined them himself, right?

He had really underestimated the State Preceptor!

The carriage headed all the way toward Baishui Town.

Jiang Yeqian glanced at the scenery outside and knew where their destination was.

The sky had completely darkened by the time they were nearing Xingli Village. It was silent all throughout the deep winter night.

Jiang Yeqian pretended not to know as he asked, “You brought me to Xingli Village… what for...”

“You’ve also investigated her background, so you should know.” Li Ruoxuan used the luminous pearl inside the carriage to give Jiang Yeqian a look that said ‘Stop pretending’.

Jiang Yeqian frowned and asked, “Do you think Si Jin is of a grand master level? That’s too outrageous.”

Li Ruoxuan grunted and said, “The ghost organization sent Na Lanjie to test him, but Lu Yan was mistakenly hurt instead. That night there were rumors about a grand master stepping in at Zuixian Restaurant. She and Si Jin were strolling outside in a disguise that night, and they happened to meet me.”

“...” What!

“Put away your boring sympathy for ordinary people later! It’s time to fully rise to the occasion!”

“...”

Li Ruoxuan got down from the carriage. He took out a torch and swept a glance across Xingli Village in the distance, then began to quickly use materials to form summoning arrays on both sides of the main road. After that, he placed a few explosives on a few spots of the summoning arrays.

Jiang Yeqian stood aside in silence.

He thought that Li Ruoxuan probably did not know he was the Ox-head man that used to be by Qi Qingyao’s side before this. He just assumed he had known all about Qi Qingyao’s background

Si Jin…

Would he be?

Jiang Yeqian did not know.

After returning to his senses, he saw that Li Ruoxuan was almost done with making the summoning array.

He thought again, ‘Damn it, no wonder the little emperor made him the State Preceptor! It turns out this person’s actual skills were in making summoning arrays!’ The large protection array in the palace was probably also maintained by him.

After Li Ruoxuan spent half an hour setting up this makeshift summoning array, he got up and looked at Jiang Yeqian, who was standing by the sidelines as stiff as a post, and said, “If you don’t give it your all, and with my style… you know what I mean.”

Jiang Yeqian did not finish his sentence and just asked. “Have you ever fought with someone of grand master level?”

“...No.” Li Ruoxuan answered. “The rumors say that a grand master is able to massacre an entire city alone. No one knows whether they will be able to deal with a few rank nines at once. But our aim today is to test the opponent’s skills. Suppose you and I gave our all and still couldn’t kill the opponent in three moves, then you would be able to imagine… what sort of strength the opponent has. We’ll retreat on the spot.”

Jiang Yeqian noticed that Li Ruoxuan’s eyes were very stern against the shine of the fire. He said, “You’re nervous.”

Li Ruoxuan did not hide it. He said, “I have never fought with a grand master before. Indeed, I’m nervous.”

“Now, how do we make sure he comes here? Are you going, or shall I?” Jiang Yeqian asked.

Li Ruoxuan did not trust Jiang Yeqian and said, “We’ll create a diversion. Of course I’ll go.”

“Then I’ll lie in wait here.” Jiang Yeqian did not say anything to refute that.

Li Ruoxuan felt that the two of them had a somewhat tacit understanding of each other. He said, “Jiang Yeqian, I hope that for once, we’ll work well together.”

“I hope so too.” Jiang Yeqian nodded slightly.

He did not refute Li Ruoxuan because the man had always been very paranoid. He would never allow the plan to fail, so he would rather go there himself!

He was clearly tired after setting up the summoning array, yet he still insisted on being the bait and creating the diversion himself.

This would consume too much of his inner energy.

He would probably be left with only half his life when he lured Si Jin in.

If Si Jin really was a grand master, someone would die here today. Jiang Yeqian still hoped Li Ruoxuan would mess up here. That would also be great. At least he would not have to kill him then!

Jiang Yeqian told the carriage to go further away.

The coachman was one of Li Ruoxuan’s men, and he knew the State Preceptor’s aim. Tonight he was going to wait for the rabbit to enter the trap, and that rabbit might very well be the rumored grand master.

The State Preceptor had said that if he died here tonight, he would let him take his body back…

The coachman was nervous. He drove the carriage two miles away.

He began to wait silently.

The State Preceptor said to come back and check on them after midnight.

Time slipped by, every minute and every second slowly but surely passing.

The coachman felt so nervous his head was about to explode.

…

…

Jiang Yeqian glanced at the summoning array. As agreed, he laid in wait in a nearby tree, restrained all his aura, gripped his sword, and waited.

The person he was dealing with might be a grand master… Would he need to hold back?

Come to think of it, it was not needed!

He was also quite curious about Si Jin’s strength.

After all, he was someone whom he had personally spent some time with but had lost to every single time he challenged him.

…

Qi Qingyao and Si Jin were in Xingli Village, but they had not left at night. Because the funeral would take a few days to complete, she, Qi Boli, and the others had stayed in the homes of Sun Shuli’s other siblings.

The Sun Family had arranged for Si Jin to stay with a few grandchildren while Qi Qingyao had stayed with an aunt of his family.

Of course, Qi Qingyao had no objection to such an arrangement.

Si Jin seemingly had no objection either.

In fact, after everyone had fallen asleep, Si Jin got up and put on his clothes. He sat on the wall of the courtyard, looking up at the sky full of stars and losing himself in his thoughts.

He was a little bored and really wanted to go to the Jiuli River to take a swim, but his Sister was still here, and someone had killed his Sister’s sister, so he could not leave.

If something happened, he would take care of it.

Si Jin, who was now growing more bored, started blowing bubbles with his mouth!

In the night sky, the bubbles reflected the starlight and Si Jin’s innocent and beautiful face. He then burst the saliva bubbles!

Suddenly, the night wind blew past.

There was a very powerful and somewhat familiar aura coming from the distance.

It made Si Jin instantly leap down from the wall.

He raised his brows.

He recognized it as the aura of Li Ruoxuan!

Had he shown up late at night to prove that it was he who had killed Qi Qingzhu and her family?

Si Jin did not hesitate. He locked in on that aura and sped straight toward it!