Chapter 345: Secret Meeting

The founding ancestor had only done so late in life, after reaching the latter years of his lifespan and handing over the position of Sect Leader.

In fact, even the founding ancestor had not completed a full ten years of seclusion. After nine years, sensing that he could not break through and that his lifespan had reached its end, he emerged, arranged his affairs, and passed away.

For someone as young as Kunlin Shu to take ten of the prime years of his life and imprison himself in darkness and solitude was almost unimaginable to an ordinary person. Fire Phoenix stared at the letter breaking off their engagement, tears already swimming in her eyes. This time, she was genuinely hurt.

They were already betrothed, their wedding day close at hand, yet her senior brother had suddenly thrown down a letter ending the engagement. How was she supposed to bear the humiliation? How was she supposed to face people afterward? What hurt most was that she no longer knew what she meant in her senior brother's eyes. Was she merely something he could take or leave?

"Master, how could you agree to let Senior Brother enter Lightless Cave for ten years?" Fire Phoenix broke down and wept, unable to stop herself from questioning her own master.

Entering Lightless Cave for closed-door cultivation was not something anyone could do simply because he wanted to hide from the world.

If everyone did that, who would work for Tianhuo Sect? Who would handle its affairs? How was the sect supposed to function? Anyone entering seclusion had to obtain his master's approval. You could not simply hide somewhere quiet when the sect had matters requiring you or work for you to perform.

"Yunshang, this time your master was negligent." Pang Zhuo sighed. "That beast came to me and said he wanted to enter Lightless Cave. Seeing the state he was in, I was afraid he'd ruin himself if he continued like that. My heart softened. I thought a few years of closed-door cultivation might not be a bad thing, so I took off my command talisman and gave it to him. But I had one condition: he had to obtain your agreement first. Who would've thought the beast would write this thing and hand it to that muddleheaded old fool instead?"

At the words "muddleheaded old fool," Pang Zhuo pointed straight at Tian Ren'an.

"And this old fool didn't even stop to think. Who in Tianhuo Sect closes himself away for ten years? Yet he muddleheadedly let the boy carve his vow on the Three Reflections Wall and simply sent him into the cave!"

Anyone entering seclusion carved words on the stone wall beside the cave entrance as proof, almost like making a great vow.

It was called the Three Reflections Wall because one was meant to face the wall and reflect three times before acting. No one was to carve words there lightly. Once a vow was left on the wall, it had to be fulfilled. There was no going back on it.

Across the Three Reflections Wall were inscriptions left by generations of Tianhuo Sect disciples who had sworn themselves to bitter cultivation. Weathered by wind and rain, the old words had grown mottled with age. Later generations came to look upon them and regarded those disciples as exemplars.

The moment Tian Ren'an heard the accusation, he immediately shouted back, "You're blaming me? I followed sect rules here! How was I supposed to know what was going on? He had the command talisman you gave him. Who would've guessed his own master handed it over without even understanding the situation? Tell me yourself, which of us is muddleheaded?"

When Kunlin Shu had arrived and handed over the command talisman, saying he intended to enter seclusion for ten years, the people here had been shocked too.

But Tian Ren'an had simply assumed Kunlin Shu had suffered a setback and wanted to rouse himself through hardship. He could understand that state of mind and had thought no further of it, beyond feeling some emotion at the boy's resolve. Before entering seclusion, Kunlin Shu had left the letter here and asked that it be passed to Fire Phoenix.

A ten-year seclusion was still an extraordinary matter, so Tian Ren'an had intended to ask Pang Zhuo what he thought of it and took the letter with him when he went to see him. Only then did Pang Zhuo learn what had happened. He was frightened half to death, and matters had turned into this.

"You let someone into the cave without verifying anything, and you still think you're in the right?"

"There's no treasure hidden in there for anyone to steal. Everyone who goes inside does so voluntarily to suffer hardship. As long as the proper procedure is followed, they can enter. Show me which sect rule says I have to investigate first! You couldn't even figure out what your own disciple was doing, and now you want to dump the blame on me?"

The two old men immediately started quarreling again, words cracking back and forth.

"Master!"

Fire Phoenix, eyes full of tears, suddenly dropped to her knees. Both men stopped arguing at once. Pang Zhuo stared at her in shock.

"Yunshang, what are you doing?"

Fire Phoenix choked out, "Master, please allow this disciple to enter seclusion too!"

"No!" Pang Zhuo refused without hesitation.

What closed-door cultivation?

She plainly wanted to go inside and demand an explanation. Did she take the sect's forbidden grounds for a place where children played games? Just then, a glow of fire lit the sky. A flock of great firebirds came flying at tremendous speed, enormous wings beating through the air. The firebirds landed. Their flames drew inward, revealing the figures wrapped within.

At their head came a man in broad red sleeves, walking with the composed dignity of a Daoist master and the air of someone seated among the clouds. It was Yuwen Yan, Sect Leader of Tianhuo Sect. A group of elders and other high-ranking members of the sect followed behind him. Apart from the founding ancestor, no one had ever attempted ten years of seclusion in Lightless Cave. Kunlin Shu's decision had alarmed even the upper ranks of Tianhuo Sect. Everyone present was startled.

Pang Zhuo quickly pulled Fire Phoenix to her feet, and they all saluted together.

"Greetings, Sect Leader!"

Yuwen Yan raised one hand, signaling that formalities were unnecessary.

"I heard Kunlin Shu made a great vow and entered the cave for ten years of seclusion?"

Pang Zhuo and Tian Ren'an answered together, "That is indeed the case!"

Yuwen Yan looked toward the cave entrance and gave a faint nod.

"No one's life is smooth from beginning to end. Who has never suffered humiliation? To know shame and then rise with courage—to possess such perseverance and such resolve—why fear that he cannot someday wash away today's disgrace? Tianhuo Sect has someone to carry on its legacy. This is a good thing!"

Fire Phoenix dropped to her knees again with a thud. Having failed to persuade her master, she now begged the Sect Leader. After Yuwen Yan learned what had happened, he looked down coldly at the kneeling woman.

"This is forbidden ground, not your bridal chamber! He entered seclusion to sever worldly thoughts. If you go inside, those worldly thoughts will follow him like a shadow. How is he supposed to cultivate in peace then? I understand how you feel, but for him to make a ten-year vow is no small thing. Human life is short. How many ten-year spans does anyone have to waste? Do not ruin this for him."

With that, he turned. Flames flashed and expanded in midair, transforming once again into a firebird that wrapped around him and swept away on beating wings. The high-ranking members of Tianhuo Sect followed one after another. Some looked expressionlessly at Fire Phoenix as they left. Others showed pity and sympathy. One by one, they sprang into the air, flames igniting around them as they flew away. Fire Phoenix sank weakly onto her knees and stared ahead in a daze. She understood.

Now that the Sect Leader himself had spoken, no one would dare let her enter... The underground passage was narrow, just wide enough for one person.

Two Moon Butterflies lit the way, one in front and one behind. Guan Fangyi walked ahead while Niu Youdao followed behind.

"This tunnel was your escape route in case something went wrong, wasn't it?" Niu Youdao asked.

Guan Fangyi sighed. "That was the idea before. Thinking about it now, the Office of Investigation probably already knows about this tunnel."

Niu Youdao was surprised.

"The Office of Investigation knows your escape route?"

"The path to the left from where we came down leads beneath that private reception room. It's all connected. If the Office of Investigation knew the secret of that room, how could they not know this place exists? Of course, it's possible they only discovered something strange about the room and never found the tunnel entrance."

"Even the Office of Investigation knew the secret of that private room?"

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't play dumb with me. You dare say you didn't know about this?"

"What am I playing dumb about? How would I know anything about the Office of Investigation?"

Guan Fangyi, who had been walking ahead, abruptly stopped and spun around.

"Then how did you know I had overheard the conversation between Wei Chu and Linghu Qiu? Didn't Bu Xun tell you?"

"You gave yourself away because you had a guilty conscience. I tested you a little and figured it out."

Niu Youdao then explained how he had probed her the night they first met. Guan Fangyi's eyes slowly widened. She stared at him as though she had seen a ghost.

"Ah!"

A sharp scream suddenly tore from her throat. She clutched her head in both hands and crouched down, looking as though she regretted the matter so much her intestines had turned green.

Back then, the Office of Investigation had only just come to warn her and interrogate her about the conversation between Linghu Qiu and Wei Chu. Niu Youdao, a complete stranger, had appeared at her door immediately afterward. She had assumed Bu Xun had told him what happened and that he had come because of it. After Niu Youdao threatened her, she had hurried back from hiding outside. Only now did she understand. Her own carelessness had betrayed her.

She had been too clever for her own good. She had actually signed an indenture in a muddle, and then just as muddleheadedly gone with this bastard.

Now that she finally understood, she realized he had been bluffing her from the beginning and she had fallen straight into his trap. She wanted to smash her own head against the wall. Niu Youdao chuckled.

"It's all in the past. Why keep worrying about it? Aren't things pretty good now?"

"Stop talking!"

Still crouched on the ground, Guan Fangyi suddenly thrust one palm toward him. If she had never learned the truth, that would have been one thing. Knowing it now was almost more than she could bear. She regretted asking. The truth was too cruel, too tormenting. She should have stayed ignorant. At least then she would have felt better. Now she feared this would gnaw at her for the rest of her life.

How could she have been so muddleheaded, so careless, that she sold herself away just like that? After stewing in regret for a while, Guan Fangyi abruptly stood, turned, and strode onward. She now understood the urge to wash one's face with tears. She had boarded a pirate ship. Regret had come too late. Along the way, Niu Youdao asked how the Office of Investigation could have known the secret of that private room.

Only after learning that the Office of Investigation had visited Guan Fangyi on the very day everything happened did Niu Youdao finally understand why she was so devastated. And from her anguish, he realized something else. At the time, Guan Fangyi had mistakenly believed his appearance at her door had something to do with Bu Xun. That was why his threats had frightened her into surrendering. Otherwise, this woman probably would not have submitted so easily. It would have taken far more effort.

At the same time, the discovery put Niu Youdao on guard. He had not expected the Office of Investigation's reach to be so extraordinary that it could even dig out the hidden secret of Guan Fangyi's private room. He truly would need to be careful in the future. The tunnel exit lay roughly two hundred zhang away. When the two climbed out, they emerged into the small courtyard of an ordinary commoner's home.

The owners were an ordinary married couple who made their living driving a carriage. Guan Fangyi had secretly arranged them there long ago. They happened to have a carriage at home. Once it was prepared, Niu Youdao and Guan Fangyi climbed inside. The courtyard gate opened, and the husband drove them away. The carriage wandered halfway around the city before stopping outside the rear wall of a secluded residence. Niu Youdao and Guan Fangyi got down, then quickly vaulted the wall and entered.

Gao Jianhou of Tianhuo Sect was waiting inside the courtyard and personally saw the two of them come over the wall.

"He's one of Prince Ying's people, Gao Jianhou of Tianhuo Sect," Guan Fangyi whispered to Niu Youdao.

She had never dealt directly with Prince Ying, but she had seen the prince and his entourage passing through the streets from a distance before. Gao Jianhou had also seen Guan Fangyi.

A woman with such a notorious reputation for beauty was difficult not to glance at after spending years in the Qi capital. His gaze shifted to Niu Youdao.

"You're Niu Youdao?"

"That's right." Niu Youdao cupped his hands.

"Follow me."

Gao Jianhou turned and walked away. There was a water pavilion in the garden. He led the two there, knocked, and opened the door.

"Your Highness, they're here."

Inside, Hao Zhen and Mu Jiu were both waiting. They looked toward Niu Youdao and Guan Fangyi as the two entered. Niu Youdao studied them in return. The older man clearly could not be Prince Ying.

But the other man, with both hands tucked through his sleeves, eyes lowered and manner almost meek, hardly looked like a prince either. Niu Youdao could not help glancing toward Guan Fangyi. She gave the faintest nod. Only then did he confirm that the unassuming man before him truly was Prince Ying.

[End of Chapter 345]