Chapter 520: I’m an Honest Man

“Sect Leader, what was in the letter?”

On the way, one Elder quietly asked Huang Lie.

Huang Lie did not answer. The contents of that letter were far too important. He could not casually let the information leak to outsiders.

His cheeks were taut, and outwardly he showed little reaction. Inside, however, his thoughts surged like storm-tossed seas.

The problem was that he knew Dachan Mountain itself had already been thrown into those storm-tossed waters because of this letter. One careless move could overturn them completely, and the towering wave capable of doing so might already be bearing down upon them...

In the mountain forest, a pair of eyes watched from the shadows.

Chao Shenghuai had hidden among the trees to observe Dachan Mountain’s departure and had been secretly following them.

Niu Youdao had said he was going to stop Huang Lie and collect a debt. Four million gold coins were involved, but more importantly, Chao Shenghuai wanted to confirm whether Niu Youdao had been lying to him. If the man truly was fooling and placating him, Chao Shenghuai would need to prepare another course.

And now, with his own eyes, he saw one of Niu Youdao’s people appear and stop Dachan Mountain’s party.

He was too far away to know what they had done after being stopped, but he saw plainly that Huang Lie and the others, who had been about to leave Myriad Beasts Sect, suddenly turned around and seemed to head toward the area where Niu Youdao was staying.

Watching the scene, Chao Shenghuai’s eyes flickered. He muttered to himself, “Niu Youdao really dared stop him to collect the debt?”

...

Inside the main hall, Qiu Shan had returned immediately and reported the unexpected incident to Xi Haitang.

Xi Haitang paced in thought, then frowned. “What does it mean?”

Qiu Shan said, “I don’t know. I couldn’t see what was going on, but clearly there is something Huang Lie takes very seriously. I have no idea what sort of game these people are playing.”

“These people... yes.” Xi Haitang could not help sighing. “These people who fight, kill, and seize territory will use any means once they start making trouble. At the slightest turn, someone dies or an entire sect is destroyed. Every one of them is the sort who fights until one side is dead.”

Qiu Shan said, “It’s understandable. Sects need to develop, and their disciples need cultivation resources. All of that requires wealth. If they have no stable source of income, taking territory is the only option. Once they have territory, they gain a voice and a stream of wealth.”

“Leave aside the taxes and levies handed upward. Whenever wealthy households run into trouble, the gifts they offer to have matters settled add up to a considerable amount as well. Add this and that together—what sect wouldn’t want such income?”

“The problem is that these people have all gathered inside Myriad Beasts Sect to make trouble. It’s intolerably irritating. All because Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm caused this uproar.” Xi Haitang shook his head.

He did not mean only Niu Youdao. In Xi Haitang’s eyes, Niu Youdao’s affairs were minor compared with those major sects.

Those great sects were what truly worried him. Outwardly, everyone seemed calm. Underneath, they were contesting one another constantly, and hardly any of them were behaving honestly.

News had already reached this side that, because of one clash among the forces gathered here, sects had fought somewhere else and tens of thousands of cultivators had died.

It was not that Myriad Beasts Sect objected to hosting these people. Given its wealth, the expense of entertaining guests meant little. What worried them was being dragged into the struggle through some careless mistake.

Qiu Shan breathed out. “We can’t exactly drive them away. We can only endure a little longer and be careful ourselves. Besides, the Illusory Realm affair has already attracted the attention of those few. No one dares behave too outrageously here right now. These people have their own matters to handle as well. They can’t remain here forever.”

...

“Sect Leader Huang...”

Huang Lie and the others swept in and landed inside the courtyard without stopping. They went straight for the entrance.

Yuan Gang, who was guarding the doorway, had only just begun to speak when Huang Lie brushed him aside and strode through. With Huang Lie at the head, the whole group forced their way directly into the courtyard.

Inside the pavilion, Niu Youdao looked as though nothing in the world concerned him. He was chatting and playing Go with Guan Fangyi, saying more than a few sickeningly sweet things as they played.

At the commotion, Guan Fangyi looked up, a slender finger still holding a stone.

Niu Youdao turned his head as well. A smile appeared on his face, and he rose just as Huang Lie strode in.

“Sect Leader Huang is a rare guest. What wind has blown you back here again?” Niu Youdao cupped his hands politely.

Huang Lie stared at Guan Fangyi. The killing intent in his gaze made her whole body uncomfortable.

Niu Youdao immediately waved for her to vacate the seat. “Looks like Sect Leader Huang wishes to play a game with me. Tea!”

Guan Fangyi stepped aside and lifted the boiling kettle from the small clay stove nearby to prepare tea.

Huang Lie sat down directly. With one sweep of his hand, he sent the Go board and its stones clattering across the ground.

Play Go, his ass.

Niu Youdao slowly sat back down and looked at Huang Lie with a broad smile, clearly delighted.

The great Sect Leader opposite him had lost his composure. He could not even maintain the most basic dignity anymore.

That was a good thing.

It meant Niu Youdao had truly stepped on a painful spot.

“Other than the Elders, everyone wait outside.” Huang Lie turned his head and issued the order, then stared at Niu Youdao again. “And have the irrelevant people get out.”

Niu Youdao looked left, then right. Seeing most of Dachan Mountain’s people withdraw, he smiled. “Old Six, I’ll have to trouble you. Go outside and help receive our guests.”

He did not dismiss Yuan Gang or Guan Fangyi.

Old Six Xu had actually wanted to stay and see what was happening, but he still nodded slightly and withdrew.

Guan Fangyi set a cup of tea in front of Huang Lie, then stepped back beside Niu Youdao.

She liked watching Niu Youdao deal with certain people in this effortless, unhurried manner.

Just as she had told him before, she was counting on him. The more ability Niu Youdao displayed, the more confidence she had in her own life.

Drink tea, his ass.

Huang Lie pulled out the letter and threw it onto the table. “What do you mean by this?”

Niu Youdao picked it up, drew out the paper, read it over, then could not help smiling again.

He naturally knew exactly what this letter was.

It was fortunate they had intercepted it. If they had failed, the affair would have been considerably more troublesome. Having it in hand now truly saved him a great deal of effort.

“This?” Niu Youdao tossed the letter back. “It’s really nothing much. I happen to know a few people over in the State of Han. One day, someone ran into a drunkard on the road and picked up a letter. After reading it, he thought it might be useful to me, so he sent it over.”

“I thought it might also be useful to Sect Leader Huang. When I learned you were preparing to leave, I didn’t dare delay and hurriedly had someone deliver it. I never expected to trouble Sect Leader Huang into gracing me with your presence personally. Truly my fault.”

The Dachan Mountain people finally could not hold themselves back.

Huang Tong stepped forward, snatched up the letter, and read it. His expression changed as well. His pupils contracted sharply, and when he stared at Niu Youdao there was a distinct air of someone whose teeth itched with hatred.

The Elders beside him took the letter in turn. One after another, their expressions changed drastically.

Guan Fangyi actually wanted to know what was written in it too.

Huang Lie naturally knew Niu Youdao was speaking pure nonsense.

Picked up a thing like this from the road? As if.

And it just happened to fall into the hands of Shao Pingbo’s mortal enemy?

There could not possibly be such a coincidence in the world.

Suppressing the fury filling his chest, Huang Lie drew a deep breath. “What do you want?”

Niu Youdao lifted his tea and sipped slowly. “What I want is to play a little Go, drink some tea, and pass my days in leisure. How pleasant that would be. I don’t want to do anything at all.”

“Dachan Mountain, on the other hand, has been rather busy. By the way, are the negotiations with the six great sects going smoothly?”

Huang Lie’s anger rose at once.

Niu Youdao had plainly learned from the letter that Dachan Mountain was negotiating with the six great sects.

Inside, Huang Lie cursed Shao Pingbo furiously.

Idiot! How could something this important fall into the hands of the enemy? And he still had the nerve to claim the letters had been sent secretly!

Yet the more Huang Lie thought about it, the less simple the matter seemed.

Given Shao Pingbo’s intelligence, how could he possibly have committed such a disastrous blunder?

Huang Lie’s jaw tightened. “Are you threatening me?”

Niu Youdao set down his teacup. “I warned you long ago. Myriad Beasts Sect is a dragon’s pool and tiger’s den—easy to enter, difficult to leave. Sect Leader Huang paid no attention and kept treating the six great sects like fools. Play too far and it stops being amusing. Those six great sects aren’t known for gentle tempers either.”

He lifted his shoulders slightly, as though saying he had no choice but to remind Huang Lie once more.

“You truly think I don’t dare touch you inside Myriad Beasts Sect?” Huang Lie had come precisely to feel out his bottom line.

In truth, there was no longer any need.

Niu Youdao had summoned him here this time specifically to lay his cards on the table.

“Leaving aside the fact that I’m not so easy to kill, even if Sect Leader Huang could kill me, I believe you would still show mercy.”

“Oh, right. I nearly forgot. There wasn’t only one letter. There were three.”

“People are holding the other two and waiting for a signal. If anything unfortunate happens to me, those two letters will immediately be delivered to Yan’s three great sects. Being one letter short won’t matter. That drunken courier can make up for the missing piece.”

The threat could not have been clearer.

I have both witness and physical evidence. Try touching me.

After playing the six great sects this hard, did Dachan Mountain really think it could still return home alive once everything was exposed?

The expressions of Dachan Mountain’s people became exceedingly ugly.

They had believed their maneuver had been conducted without sound or trace, their calculations flawless. Yet now both human witness and documentary evidence were in someone else’s hands.

Everyone understood what would happen if the six great sects learned they had been manipulated like this—especially by a lesser power beneath them.

How could they preserve any face once the matter spread?

Did Dachan Mountain still expect to balance between the two sides? Still expect to keep exploiting mutual restraint between them? Would the six great sects continue allowing Dachan Mountain to treat them like fools and use them against one another?

Most likely, they would reach agreement immediately and tear Dachan Mountain apart alive.

Huang Lie remained silent for a while, lips pressed tight. At last he drew a deep breath. “Since you invited us here, that means you don’t intend for both fish and net to be destroyed.”

The five fingers resting on Niu Youdao’s sword hilt rose and fell in sequence.

“Now that we’ve spoken this far, circling around would be meaningless. I stated my condition long ago.”

“I’m an honest man. I’m not the sort to loot a burning house. My condition remains the same: hand over Shao Pingbo’s head.”

“The moment Shao Pingbo dies, I’ll return both witness and physical evidence to you. Whatever game you want to play afterward is your own business and will have nothing more to do with me.”

“One Shao Pingbo’s life in exchange for the safety of all Dachan Mountain. That bargain shouldn’t be a loss.”

In the past, Huang Lie might never have thought too deeply about certain things.

But now, with the possibility of actually killing Shao Pingbo placed directly before him, his heart sank heavily.

Dachan Mountain had once resembled Tianyu Sect: occupying one small patch of territory here and another there.

That it possessed such a broad sphere of influence and such a strong voice today could largely be credited to Shao Pingbo.

It had been Shao Pingbo who persuaded Dachan Mountain years ago to summon the courage to rebel against Yan and seize Beizhou. Afterward, it was Shao Pingbo who devised plans and manipulated the political situation so that one small province of Beizhou could resist Han to the north, block Yan to the south, and survive wedged between two great powers without collapsing.

Shao Pingbo’s ability to govern was equally undeniable.

In the middle of chaotic times, he had forcibly built Beizhou into something prosperous. Compared with the surrounding regions, his political achievements were plain for all to see. Beizhou improved year after year, and naturally the benefits Dachan Mountain extracted from it increased year after year as well.

[End of Chapter 520]