Chapter 269: Among the White Clouds

For the same reason that people on the grasslands lived by following water, the cities scattered across this vast prairie were invariably built beside rivers as well. Their destination lay in the direction this river flowed. As long as they followed it, they could not go wrong.

When their horses tired, the group stopped at a fenced encampment belonging to some herders. Everyone dismounted, paid money, and was immediately received with great warmth by the owners. As the others selected fresh mounts, Niu Youdao stood somewhat distracted.

He had received news about the Golden Core Ranking while on the road, and it had shocked him. Ice and Snow Pavilion actually knew he had killed Zhuo Chao. How had they found out?

During the fighting, the assassins had either died or been captured. There was no way the scene itself could have leaked through them.

Niu Youdao certainly had no intention of running around telling people about it. That left only two points from which the news could have escaped: either one of the cultivators from the three sects who had taken part at the scene had leaked it, or after the disciples reported back to their sects, someone inside one of those sects had passed the information onward.

He even suspected Ice and Snow Pavilion had eyes inside Xiaoyue Pavilion as well, obtaining the news from one side and then confirming it from the other. Ice and Snow Pavilion would hardly announce something like this publicly beneath Heaven without verification. He had immediately sent word back ordering the three sects to investigate. Their answer had been simple. They did not dare.

Faced with that reply, Niu Youdao could only let the matter drop. He understood what the three sects feared. They did not dare investigate Ice and Snow Pavilion's people.

It made him secretly grateful that when he had plotted for the Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit, he had chosen caution and used the independent cultivators around him instead of people from any sect. He refused to believe Ice and Snow Pavilion could stretch its hands over every independent cultivator beneath Heaven.

What worried him now was whether someone on Dachan Mountain's side might leak the hidden details of his struggle with Shao Pingbo.

Black Peony led over a freshly saddled horse and asked, "Master Dao, still thinking about the Golden Core Ranking?"

Niu Youdao sighed. "Ice and Snow Pavilion is formidable. Their reach is practically everywhere."

Black Peony said, "It isn't difficult to understand. With Ice and Snow Pavilion's power, if they wanted to develop a few informants inside some sect, there would be no shortage of people willing to serve them. Besides, it may not even be that Ice and Snow Pavilion itself has reached into the three sects. The Golden Core Ranking has the support of forces behind several of the supreme experts; otherwise it could never be maintained. So the information may not have been obtained personally by Ice and Snow Pavilion's own people. Another force might have supplied it."

She continued, "In any case, under ordinary circumstances, as long as people obey their rules and don't provoke them directly, those lofty figures look down upon the living world from above and rarely interfere personally. It isn't really something especially dangerous."

"Not dangerous?" Niu Youdao raised an eyebrow.

This affair had certainly served as a warning. He would have to be more careful in the future.

He turned and asked, "If Ice and Snow Pavilion wanted to recruit you as one of their informants, would you agree?"

Black Peony sighed. "If they really came to me, how could I refuse? I couldn't resist them, and I wouldn't have the right to say no. But I can promise you this—I would secretly tell you!" She finished with a bright smile.

Niu Youdao chuckled, lifted his head, and watched a line of birds crossing the sky. With some feeling, he said, "This Golden Core Ranking really is formidable. It can make people slaughter one another for position, and it's enough to intimidate countless others into not encroaching on the interests of those supreme figures."

This time, he himself had been intimidated. After this experience, he no longer dared casually borrow the reflected prestige of those people. Thinking back on the Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit affair left him with a lingering chill. Green grass rolled like waves to the horizon. A Goldenwing descended from the sky and landed in the hands of a Wuliang Mountain disciple.

The secret message was urgently decoded, then Gongsun Bu brought it over. "Master Dao, news from home."

Niu Youdao took it, read it, and remained silent for a while. Then he said, "Send word back. There's nothing to discuss. Tell them to get lost."

Gongsun Bu asked, "Just reply like that?"

He himself was rather curious. There had long been rumors about the matter, but only today had he learned they were entirely true. This man truly should have been the Sect Leader of Shangqing Sect. Even Gongsun Bu could not help sighing inwardly. Shangqing Sect really had been blind.

Niu Youdao said, "Give Shangqing Sect four words: Spilled water cannot be gathered again."

"All right!" Gongsun Bu turned and left.

Curious, Black Peony asked, "Shangqing Sect came looking for you?"

Niu Youdao handed her the secret message. Black Peony accepted it. If he was willing to give it to her, naturally it was something she was allowed to read. After finishing, she could not help shaking her head.

The message said Shangqing Sect had sent Tu Han to Qingshan Commandery carrying a personal letter from Sect Leader Tang Yi. Tang Yi was willing to step down in favor of the worthier person and return the position of Shangqing Sect Leader to Niu Youdao.

As for whatever wrongs had been done, Tang Yi said she was willing to bear them alone and accept any consequences Niu Youdao chose to impose upon her. Black Peony sighed inwardly.

Tang Yi held the authority of a sect leader, yet was willing to surrender it voluntarily and even accept responsibility herself. Whatever else could be said about her, merely being able to do that was no easy thing. Black Peony's opinion of Tang Yi rose somewhat.

She rolled the secret message between her palms, used spiritual power to grind it slowly into powder, then watched Niu Youdao's expression and tentatively reminded him, "Tang Yi is a great beauty. Master Dao, you're really willing to give her up just like that?"

Niu Youdao turned his head. "Is she as good in bed as you?"

Black Peony rolled her eyes, flicked away the powdered remains of the message, and gave him a thoroughly disdainful look. Niu Youdao laughed.

The road was dull. Finding a little amusement now and then was hardly a crime. More importantly, he had no interest in discussing Tang Yi with her.

Yet Black Peony could tell that he was not nearly as carefree as he pretended. It seemed he still had some lingering attachment to Shangqing Sect. Niu Youdao clasped his hands behind his back and looked toward the sky. There was indeed something lingering.

Before, it had not bothered him much. But after what happened at Boundless Pavilion, Shangqing Sect suddenly coming to find him left him somewhat vexed. He would never return to Shangqing Sect, nor did he have any interest in doing so.

Even if he set aside personal likes and dislikes, there was no possibility he would go back and start over from the beginning. Bringing Shangqing Sect over to Shang Chaozong's side was even less realistic. Because of the consequences left by the past, Shangqing Sect was simply unsuited to becoming entangled again with the people of Shang Jianbo's line. Otherwise, no one could say what consequences might follow. There was another matter as well.

Yes, Shangqing Sect had wronged him and had never truly taught him anything. But he owed Dong Guo Haoran a debt of gratitude. His entire cultivation could more or less be said to have come from Dong Guo Haoran.

Even against Zhuo Chao this time, it had been the concentrated essence of Dong Guo Haoran's cultivation that saved his life. Dong Guo Haoran was already dead. Niu Youdao feared there was no longer any way to repay that debt. With one thing tugging at another, it all left him irritated... Amid the boundless grasslands lay a ring of mountains shaped like the rim of a basin.

Three rivers flowed into the basin, then divided into six winding waterways that flowed out again. At the very center stood an enormous city, the largest on the entire grassland, like a pearl set upon the prairie. The people of the grasslands themselves regarded it as their "Pearl City."

This was the capital of the State of Qi. Nestled within the basin, ringed on every side by mountains that formed a natural barrier, it was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

As the capital of a state, its prosperity went without saying. People streamed through its streets, houses stood row upon row, and secluded courtyards could still be found amid the bustle. A prosperous capital naturally had its pleasure quarters as well.

Among the White Clouds was reputed to be the foremost place of pleasure in the Qi capital, a true den that devoured gold. One glance at its vermilion walls, green tiles, carved beams, and painted rafters was enough to reveal extravagant luxury. Guests came and went endlessly at the entrance, while brilliantly dressed beauties smiled and called as they welcomed one man and saw another off. Inside, colored lanterns burned day and night without ever going dark. Deep within the pleasure house, however, noise gave way to quiet.

A secluded courtyard seemed cut off from the clamor of the mortal world. Among pavilions and towers half hidden by lush greenery, the lonely notes of a qin sounded one after another, carrying a melancholy that seemed impossible to dispel.

Su Zhao sat alone playing the qin, dressed in the robes and skirt of palace fashion. Her slender fingers moved freely over the strings. Her face was beautiful and alluring, yet utterly expressionless. The change of clothing only made the graceful curves of her figure more apparent.

Drawn by the music, a somewhat plump woman in bright clothing, rouge, and powder approached. She stood silently outside the pavilion for a while, sighed softly, then walked inside and stopped beside the qin. "If the Proprietress isn't in the mood, then don't force yourself to play."

On the surface, Su Zhao was the proprietor of Among the White Clouds. According to certain well-informed people in the Qi capital, however, the true owner behind Among the White Clouds was some prince, while Su Zhao was merely the secret mistress he kept for himself. The plump woman was the public-facing madam of Among the White Clouds. Her name was Qin Mian.

Just as Qin Mian suggested, Su Zhao let her sleeves fall, lifted her hands from the qin, and rose. She walked to the railing and watched the fish swimming in a nearby pond.

Qin Mian followed her. "Is the Proprietress still brooding over Mr. Bai's rebuke?"

"I failed to handle the matter properly. My master was right to rebuke me. I listened, that's all." Su Zhao's reply was cool and detached, but her mood remained heavy.

It was not really the rebuke that bothered her. Rather, after hearing Shao Pingbo's analysis, she now understood that Linghu Qiu was himself one of Xiaoyue Pavilion's people. Her master had clearly known. And he had clearly hidden it from her. Looked at another way, did that not mean he did not trust her?

Qin Mian chuckled. "If the Proprietress is truly unhappy, why not go out and clear your head? I know a place with something delicious to eat. Shall I accompany you there to try it?"

Su Zhao said indifferently, "Food is food. How different can it be?"

Qin Mian smiled. "That isn't necessarily true. A new place opened in the south of the city called the Tofu House. What they sell is quite interesting. Remarkably good, in fact!"

"Tofu House?" Su Zhao looked puzzled and turned back. "What a strange name. Is there some meaning behind it?"

Qin Mian said, "According to the people there, the food they sell is made from soybeans, so they call it tofu."

Su Zhao seemed unconvinced. "It's not as though I've never eaten soybeans before. What new tricks could they possibly make from them?"

Qin Mian giggled. "Proprietress, they really did make something new. Business is booming. These days, if you want to eat it, you have to line up."

"Oh!" That finally stirred some interest in Su Zhao. She nodded. "Fine. Let's go take a look."

The two walked out from among the pavilions and towers. Along the way, Qin Mian gestured casually to either side. Four men dressed as servants immediately appeared and followed them. Behind Among the White Clouds ran a river.

The group went out through a waterside rear gate and boarded an elegant pleasure boat directly. Lanterns bearing the name Among the White Clouds hung from the vessel. The boatman pushed off with his pole, and the craft drifted leisurely away from the waterside pavilion.

Seated inside the refined cabin, Su Zhao gazed through a beaded curtain at the scenery outside. Her eyes were distant and unfocused, and no one knew what she was thinking. They followed the waterways through the city, taking a considerable detour before finally reaching Ming Lake in the southern quarter.

The boat was still gliding across the water when Qin Mian pointed through the beaded curtain toward several green willows on the distant shore. "Proprietress, do you see it? That place with the line stretching like a dragon—that's the Tofu House."

[End of Chapter 269]