Chapter 361: Taking Matters into Her Own Hands

A bright moon rose over the sea. Waves rolled with the tide. A dark mass stood above the water: an enormous reef. Not far away, a large ship sailed past. And not merely once. The ship passed back and forth again and again.

To an outsider, it might have looked as though the vessel were simply passing through. In truth, it had been cruising back and forth through these waters the entire time. That way, it was actually less likely to appear as though the ship were lingering in the area.

This was the ship appointed to rendezvous with Niu Youdao. It was not one of the vessels carrying warhorses, but one of the two hundred ships loaded with supplies.

The ships carrying the warhorses had departed long ago. Niu Youdao would never have allowed them to linger here. That would have been far too dangerous. If anything went wrong, it could easily expose the seizure of the warhorses. A ship carrying supplies, on the other hand, could be explained away however necessary. At the bow, Black Peony and Gongsun Bu stood side by side, gazing toward the coast.

“Why hasn’t he come yet?” Black Peony was clearly growing anxious.

Her anxiety was not without reason. She did not know exactly what Niu Youdao had done in the capital, but Shen Qiu’s messages had told her that Fufang Garden had driven Hongxiu and Hongfu out. Afterward, Niu Youdao had extricated himself and shaken off Linghu Qiu as well. The moment she heard that, she realized Master Dao had almost certainly laid everything bare with Linghu Qiu.

She had understood the situation between Niu Youdao and Linghu Qiu better than almost anyone before this, and she knew Linghu Qiu’s true identity. Once Niu Youdao showed his hand to Linghu Qiu, it meant he had set himself against Xiaoyue Pavilion.

Black Peony had always known that Niu Youdao and Linghu Qiu could not go on like this forever. Sooner or later, the pretense would have to end. Yet now that the day had actually come, she still could not keep her heart from pounding. She knew perfectly well just how terrifying Xiaoyue Pavilion was.

Gongsun Bu reassured her. “Don’t worry. Judging from the last message we received, he shouldn’t be very far from here.”

Just then, a Goldenwing cut through the night sky and flew toward the ship, darting straight through one of the cabin windows.

The two exchanged a glance and immediately left the bow. They hurried inside together and entered the guest cabin used for sending and receiving Goldenwing messages.

“Is it from Master Dao?” Gongsun Bu asked as he shut the door.

The two disciples standing watch inside had just removed the secret message. Both rose, and one replied, “Yes. It came from Master Dao.”

Gongsun Bu said heavily, “Decode it. Quickly.”

“Yes!”

The disciple swiftly decoded the contents, wrote them onto a sheet of paper, and handed it to Gongsun Bu. Black Peony immediately leaned over to read with him. When they finished, the two stared at each other.

Gongsun Bu frowned. “What’s going on? Weren’t we supposed to rendezvous here? What does he mean by telling us to leave at daybreak tomorrow?”

Black Peony’s expression tightened. “Something must have happened. He doesn’t want our position exposed. Send a message immediately and ask what the situation is!”

Gongsun Bu nodded and gave the order at once. “Send a reply. Ask what happened!”

“Yes!”

The two disciples moved quickly.

Before long, another Goldenwing was released into the night. Black Peony and Gongsun Bu spent the next stretch of time waiting anxiously, sometimes pacing inside the cabin, sometimes stepping out onto the deck.

This time, however, they did not have to wait very long. Roughly four hours later, a Goldenwing pierced the night and returned.

The two rushed back into the cabin. Gongsun Bu asked the same question as before. “Is it from Master Dao?”

“Yes!” the disciple answered respectfully.

Gongsun Bu pointed at the secret message. “Decode it. Quickly!”

Then he turned to Black Peony. “Judging by the Goldenwing’s round-trip time, if we count only one leg, Master Dao should be able to reach here in no more than half a day. It seems there was some reason behind his telling us to sail before dawn.”

Black Peony pressed her lips together. In truth, neither of them felt so optimistic. Master Dao had told them to leave at dawn, but he had never said he would arrive here to rendezvous with them by then. When the decoded message was finally handed over and they finished reading it, both fell silent.

Neither said much in front of the Wuliang Mountain disciples that might cause needless alarm. They left the guest cabin.

As Black Peony stepped out, she also knocked on Duan Hu’s door. When he opened it, she beckoned him outside.

Gongsun Bu gave her another look, unsure why she wanted Duan Hu involved. The fewer people who knew about something this worrying, the better.

Duan Hu quickly came out and followed them to the bow. “Eldest Sister, you don’t look well. What happened?”

Black Peony handed him the secret message.

After reading it, Duan Hu looked startled and uncertain. “Weren’t we supposed to rendezvous here? Why are they sending the other group to an island off the State of Jin?”

Black Peony said, “Shen Qiu made it very clear. Their movements have been exposed. Master Dao must have sensed some danger, so the five of them split into two groups.”

Duan Hu looked at Gongsun Bu, then at Black Peony. “There’s danger? Then what do we do?”

Black Peony asked, “Come with me. You and I will help Master Dao draw away whatever danger may be following him. Are you afraid?”

Duan Hu straightened his chest. “You’re not afraid. What do I have to be afraid of?”

Gongsun Bu stared at her in alarm. “Sister Peony, draw away what danger? Don’t joke around! Master Dao may be young, but among everyone I’ve met, no one can match his mind or his methods. Since he has already made arrangements, we follow them. There’s no need for the two of you to go drawing away anything!”

But Black Peony understood the situation more clearly than the others, and she understood Niu Youdao better as well. This time was different. The enemy they might be facing was Xiaoyue Pavilion.

Even if it was not Xiaoyue Pavilion, there had to be the possibility of some extreme danger. They had traveled all this way without incident, yet just as they were about to rendezvous, Master Dao had abruptly split five people into two groups. Normally, having more people together should have given them a better chance of resisting danger.

Black Peony said, “Brother Gongsun, both of us understand what this means. Master Dao divided his people into two groups at a time like this because if something really happens, numbers won’t help!”

Gongsun Bu said, “Exactly. That’s why you can’t go! If you know there’s danger and still run toward it, what use will the two of you be if even Master Dao can’t handle it?”

Black Peony said, “Brother Gongsun, we’ve followed Master Dao for this long. In situations that complicated, has he ever treated any of us unfairly? He has taken good care of every one of us. Even if Qingshan Commandery gave us the same conditions Master Dao has, we wouldn’t have the prestige or the methods to keep all those forces balanced. None of them would even take us seriously. Only Master Dao has the authority and the skill to hold everyone there in check. He was born to take the helm. Without him, I can’t do it, you can’t do it, none of us can. Everything would fall apart at once. Where would your Wuliang Mountain go then? So even if only for our own sake, nothing can happen to Master Dao!”

Gongsun Bu sighed. “You don’t need to explain the reasoning to me. The question is, what can the two of you possibly do?”

Black Peony said, “There is a way. Isn’t Master Dao traveling with Hongniang? Duan Hu and I just happen to be one man and one woman.”

Gongsun Bu understood at once, but his face twisted with conflict.

Black Peony continued trying to persuade him. “Don’t worry. First, the situation may not be what we’re imagining at all. It could be a false alarm. Second, even if we really do run into trouble, there’s a good chance the other side won’t know the two of us. One look will tell them we aren’t Master Dao and Hongniang. We can simply play dumb and bluff our way through. And once we make enough noise, we’ll leave immediately. We won’t wait around for them to find us.”

Gongsun Bu tried to dissuade her. “Stop this. Master Dao said we are to depart at daybreak. You know his rules. We can’t wait!”

Black Peony said, “If we aren’t back before dawn, leave according to Master Dao’s instructions. We’ll go to the place Shen Qiu is heading and meet you there.”

Gongsun Bu said, “Sister, don’t act on your own. We should contact Master Dao first and let him decide!”

Black Peony said, “Master Dao doesn’t have a Goldenwing with him right now. How are we supposed to contact him?”

“…”

Gongsun Bu was left speechless.

In the end, he could only watch helplessly as Black Peony and Duan Hu flew from the ship toward land.

He could not stop them. Black Peony was the one in command at present. With Niu Youdao absent, she represented Niu Youdao, and her word was final.

Under the hazy night sky, two figures flew across the grasslands and came down outside a ranch. They called until someone opened the enclosure gate.

“What business do you two have?”

The man opening the ranch gate studied the pair suspiciously. A man and a woman, both still wearing veiled hats in the middle of the night.

“We want to buy two horses.” The woman produced a gold draft.

Money made everything easy. The people inside the ranch immediately sprang into motion to prepare horses for their guests.

When two horses were led over, the woman inspected them, then said to the man, “Master Dao, these will do.”

The two mounted and galloped away beneath the night sky.

As soon as they were clear of the ranch, the man asked, “Will that work?”

The woman replied, “It should. If they really are searching for us, once they come across the ranch, they’ll probably ask questions…”

The great fire had finally been extinguished, but the ranch was already a field of ash. Beneath the moonlight, the herders scattered in every direction looking for livestock that had fled.

Xu Yong stood silently among the ashes. Suddenly he looked up and saw several giant flying birds streaking one after another across the moonlit sky.

Not long afterward, a Goldenwing pierced the night and descended onto Xu Dehai’s hand. Xu Yong immediately walked over. Xu Dehai took out the secret message, read it, and looked distinctly displeased.

Xu Yong asked, “What is it?”

Xu Dehai said, “There’s a reply from above. In the direction of Jiudaochuan, they seem to have found traces of Niu Youdao.”

Xu Yong asked, “Why ‘seem’?”

Xu Dehai said, “The message doesn’t explain the reason in detail. The higher-ups asked me to tell Mr. Xu to wait patiently for news. Since the capital has given the word, they’ll do everything they can. People nearby have already been sent after the lead to verify it…”

The moon hung slantwise in the night sky. Two figures skimmed over the sea. They first landed atop the towering reef and looked around, then flew toward the faint outline of a ship in the distance. The two were none other than Niu Youdao and Guan Fangyi.

They landed on the deck. Niu Youdao planted his sword before him and settled into his familiar signature pose.

The cabin door opened. Gongsun Bu appeared and peered out. Niu Youdao happened to be standing with the light behind him, and Gongsun Bu seemed afraid to trust his eyes. At the sight of him, Niu Youdao reached up and tore the full beard from his face.

Gongsun Bu’s face immediately lit up. He hurried forward and cupped his hands. “Master Dao, you finally made it!”

Niu Youdao looked around and let out a long breath. “Yes. I finally made it. Let’s go. Set sail!”

“Uh…” Gongsun Bu looked troubled. “Master Dao, Black Peony and Duan Hu went ashore. They haven’t come back yet!”

[End of Chapter 361]