Chapter 95: Yin and Yang Walk Separate Paths

Meng Shanming listened carefully. When Shang Shuqing finished, he looked thoughtful.

"He certainly is capable, though his methods aren't exactly aboveboard. This man walks somewhere between the orthodox and the unorthodox. But in times as chaotic as these, being too upright may not be enough to uphold what is right. The Shangqing Sect missed out on a talented man, though they've done His Highness a tremendous favor because of it. Alas, what a waste of Mr. Dong Guo's painstaking intentions. The Shangqing Sect can be considered thoroughly fallen now... His Highness has truly suffered."

He turned toward Prince Ning's spirit tablet in the place of honor and sighed deeply. The dignified son of Prince Ning had actually fallen so far that he now had to rely on Feng Lingbo. Shang Chaozong had even lowered himself to marry Feng Lingbo's daughter, yet there were probably still people who looked down on him and thought he had gotten the better end of the bargain.

Afterward, Shang Shuqing told Meng Shanming about Shang Chaozong and Lan Ruoting's plan to seize Qingshan Commandery. The idea was not her own. Before she came, Shang Chaozong and Lan Ruoting had specifically instructed her to seek Meng Shanming's opinion.

It was the same old problem: Goldenwing correspondence was not absolutely secure. With a matter this important, certain details were unsuitable for putting into a letter. Meng Shanming had once been Prince Ning's foremost general and possessed his own mastery of strategy. Shang Chaozong's side wanted his judgment.

Meng Shanming considered the matter for a while before saying slowly, "I've been separated from the outside situation for too long. I can't give you an answer immediately. Commandery Princess, allow me some time to think it through properly first."

He asked about several other matters as well, then had someone take Shang Shuqing away to wash and rest. Afterward, his wheelchair was pushed into the study.

Meng Shanming personally wrote a secret letter and sent it by Goldenwing to Shang Chaozong, informing him that Shang Shuqing had arrived safely and that he could put his mind at ease... Toward evening, Niu Youdao stood on the mountain with his sword planted before him, watching the sunset. His expression was calm. No one knew what he was thinking. Shanhu and another young man named Lu Dasheng came up the mountain together and saluted him.

"Cultivator!"

Niu Youdao turned and smiled.

"Are the two of you on duty tonight?"

Shanhu replied, "We're taking the first watch."

Niu Youdao reminded them, "Stand your watch as usual, but remember this: without my permission, no matter what you see or hear, you are not to ring the bell or raise the alarm."

Both men nodded. Before coming, they had already been instructed by those below to obey Niu Youdao. They watched the crimson sun sink behind the mountain, and the sky slowly darkened.

When the moon rose, Niu Youdao sat on a stone outside the thatched pavilion with one hand resting on his sword. His eyes were closed. He looked almost asleep.

A cool breeze passed through the mountains beneath the bright moon. Insects chirped. Now and then came the call of a night owl. The distant waterfall could be heard faintly rushing through the darkness. The night was deep and quiet. Scattered lamplight from the village below echoed the stars overhead. Normally, two men standing night watch here would chat and joke to pass the time. With Niu Youdao present, however, both felt constrained.

They dared not wander around or speak carelessly for fear of disturbing him. Neither understood why he was sitting there. Four hours later, deep into the night, another pair arrived to relieve them. Before Shanhu and Lu Dasheng left, they quietly passed Niu Youdao's warning to the new watchmen. The replacements were equally baffled by what Niu Youdao intended.

It was not until the latter half of the night that an abnormal sound suddenly came from the nearby cave.

Bang!

Then another. And another. The disturbance seemed to come from somewhere quite deep inside. It was not loud by the time it reached the entrance, but in the stillness of night every sound carried clearly. Niu Youdao's eyes snapped open. He seized his sword, rose in one fluid motion, and flashed to the cave entrance. He was just about to rush inside when the sounds abruptly stopped. He immediately shouted into the darkness.

"Old Bear!"

Yuan Fang's drifting voice soon answered from within.

"Master Dao, I've got him!"

Before long, Yuan Fang came out dragging someone behind him. It was an old man in white robes with long, disheveled hair. The two men standing watch at the pavilion could not see the old man. They only noticed that Yuan Fang's movements looked peculiar, as though he were gripping and dragging something invisible.

"Got him!"

Once outside, Yuan Fang laughed.

"Not much ability, yet he still dared cause trouble. Just as Master Dao predicted, he really was sneaking toward this exit. I hid off to the side planning to wait until he came out before cutting off his retreat. Who knew this old ghost would be so cautious? He searched every stretch of the way, including the place I was hiding. I had no choice but to expose myself and move against him."

Niu Youdao activated his Dharma Eye and calmly looked the ghostly old man up and down.

"Was it you who sabotaged the route and destroyed the torches?"

The white-robed old man trembled with fear.

"Cultivator, spare my life! Spare my life! This lowly one will never dare again!"

"Where are your accomplices?"

The old man froze for a moment, then hurriedly said, "No accomplices! No accomplices! There's only this old man. Cultivator, I truly won't dare do it again!"

"How did you get into that underground passage?"

The white-robed old man replied shakily, "Several years ago, I was being hunted. While hiding in the mountains, I accidentally discovered a cave and went inside..."

He began rambling at length. Niu Youdao soon lost interest. He turned his back and planted his sword against the ground.

"Old Bear, go back inside and keep watch. If you discover he has accomplices and he dared lie to us, kill him immediately!"

"Cultivator, I swear there are no accomplices! If I'm lying, kill me however you please!"

Clang!

A sword rang out. Niu Youdao suddenly drew. Cold light flashed beneath the moon.

"Ah!"

A shrill scream tore through the night.

Swish!

The sword flashed once more and disappeared into its sheath. Niu Youdao stood with one hand resting on the weapon, his back still turned. He looked as though he had never moved. His expression beneath the moonlight was cold. Yuan Fang jumped in fright. He had not expected Niu Youdao to suddenly kill the ghost. His hand had already released the old man. There was no point continuing to hold him anyway. Niu Youdao's single diagonal slash had split the white-robed ghost in two.

There was no blood. Only wisps of smoke poured from the severed form. To the two watchmen by the pavilion, the scene looked even stranger.

They saw Niu Youdao slash his sword through empty air, heard a piercing scream, and then suddenly watched a white-robed figure appear on the ground. Beneath the moon, the body cut in two still seemed to twitch. Black smoke hissed from the remains. Before long, the broken form turned completely to ash and vanished without leaving a trace. The sight sent a chill through the two watchmen. Only now did they realize what Niu Youdao had killed.

To think such a thing had been lurking near the place they guarded every day... The very thought left them afraid.

Only after the last traces vanished did Niu Youdao, who had been watching the ground from the corner of his eye, turn and look toward the village among the mountains. His expression remained calm.

Under normal circumstances, he did not particularly like personally fighting and killing, and he liked killing people even less. Doing too much of that sort of thing could affect a person's temperament.

A man who became addicted to the thrill of violence eventually stopped wanting to think. Once he grew accustomed to solving problems by force, he would find it increasingly difficult to restrain his impulses. Niu Youdao often had a saying: Ride the jianghu road; wind or rain, take either as it comes. Once you lived this kind of life, you might encounter anything. If a matter could be settled peacefully, then peace was usually better.

A man who spent all his time fighting and killing would eventually meet someone he could not defeat, step into a pit too deep to escape, and stumble for good. He did not thirst for blood. He did not enjoy endless fighting and killing. But that did not mean he had never done such things. Nor did it mean he would not do them. Yuan Fang was somewhat confused.

A moment ago, Niu Youdao had told him to return inside, watch for accomplices, and then decide what to do. Why had he turned around and killed the ghost immediately afterward? Such sudden reversals were a little frightening.

What Yuan Fang did not understand was that if this ghost cultivator had admitted to having accomplices, or had stubbornly refused to answer, Niu Youdao would not have killed him yet. He would first have found some way to deal with the rest.

Instead, the old ghost had sworn there was no one else and even invited them to kill him if he was lying. Sending Yuan Fang back to keep watch was no longer enough to frighten him into changing his story. What reason was there to keep him alive? The situation was different from when Niu Youdao had kept Yuan Fang.

Niu Youdao had neither the energy nor the time now to slowly wear this ghost cultivator down, slowly judge his character, or slowly search for him if he escaped. And in the end, yin and yang walked separate paths. So Niu Youdao killed him without hesitation.

Yuan Fang looked toward the cave and tentatively asked, "Master Dao, should I keep waiting inside?"

"No need to waste the effort."

Niu Youdao answered blandly, then raised a hand and beckoned toward the two men at the pavilion. They hurried over, still unsettled by what they had witnessed.

"Cultivator!"

Niu Youdao said, "One of you go down and ask General Luo to bring a few men up here."

"Yes!"

The two answered together. After exchanging a few words over who should go, one quickly descended the mountain. Before long, torches began moving through the village below and climbed steadily toward the mountainside. Luo An soon arrived with more than ten men. Yuan Gang had come as well. The messenger had already explained what happened, so Luo An knew a ghost had just been destroyed here.

"Cultivator, what are your instructions?"

Luo An came forward and cupped his hands. Niu Youdao turned slightly and pointed at the cave entrance.

"I'll have to trouble General Luo to organize some men to bring stones up and block this cave for now. Post several people here in shifts for a month."

Luo An asked tentatively, "Didn't Cultivator already destroy the malicious ghost?"

Niu Youdao smiled.

"Just taking precautions. If nothing happens within a month, there probably won't be a problem."

He truly was acting out of caution. Whether any hidden danger remained or not, he wanted insurance. When he entered seclusion and attempted his breakthrough, he would be at his weakest and would have almost no ability to resist. If anything happened, he needed warning in advance so he would at least have a chance to withdraw. A month later, once he had returned to normal, he would be able to deal with trouble himself.

Since Niu Youdao put it that way, Luo An immediately agreed.

"All right!"

"Then I'll trouble General Luo. Old Bear, stay here. Don't come down until the cave is sealed."

Niu Youdao gave Yuan Fang the instruction. Yuan Fang nodded. He understood the reason. If other ghosts entered or left, ordinary people could not see them.

Once the cave was sealed, however, anything forcing its way through would create a disturbance that normal people could notice. Until then, Yuan Fang needed to keep watch. Niu Youdao cupped his hands toward Luo An, then turned and descended the mountain. Yuan Gang followed beside him.

At the foot of the mountain, they encountered Meng Shanming and Shang Shuqing, who had been waiting for news after hearing the commotion. A round of courtesies with Meng Shanming was unavoidable. He also asked briefly what had just happened. But it was already very late, so no one talked for long. The two men were soon led away to rest. Their room had naturally been prepared well in advance.

The moment they entered, Yuan Gang poured a cup of tea and set it in front of Niu Youdao.

Niu Youdao lifted the cup, moistened his throat, and asked indifferently, "What's the situation here?"

Yuan Gang replied, "The locations are somewhat scattered, and I didn't have enough time to investigate closely, so I don't know the exact population yet. There are quite a few people missing hands, feet, or other limbs. Judging from the scars, they should all have seen battle. They're probably former Prince Ning soldiers living here in seclusion. There are also many craftsmen, most with families. More precisely, this place looks like a secret base for manufacturing military equipment."

[End of Chapter 95]