Chapter 557: Making Good on the Promise

Afterward, Long Xiu asked a few more questions about Shao Pingbo, and Niu Youdao accompanied him in conversation for a while.

Long Xiu had no intention of sitting there chatting endlessly. Granting Niu Youdao an audience at all was already giving him ample face. Still, he did not hurry to send him away and invited him to remain at Xiaoyao Palace for a few days.

Niu Youdao had no desire to stay. Remaining here would leave him far too passive, so he made an excuse about having business elsewhere and took his leave.

Long Xiu did not press him. He had Yi Shu see the guests out in his place.

As they descended the mountain, Niu Youdao suddenly reached out, put a hand around Guan Fangyi's waist, and walked beside her.

Guan Fangyi started to twist away and make a scene, but Niu Youdao murmured, “Don't move.”

She turned her head, caught the look in his eyes, and froze for an instant. Realizing something was going on, she suppressed her uncertainty and played along. To anyone watching, the two now looked exceptionally intimate.

Yi Shu already found the pair distasteful. Though she was seeing them out, she followed at a measured distance behind. When she saw Niu Youdao's hand almost sliding onto Guan Fangyi's backside, contempt immediately covered her face.

Such shameless conduct in broad daylight! A filthy pair without the slightest sense of propriety. The sight nearly made her sick.

Along the way, at Niu Youdao's subtle prompting, Guan Fangyi even took the initiative to hook her arm through his for a while.

Once they were outside the mountain gate, they joined Old Second Wu, who had been waiting with the flying mount, and promptly took to the sky.

Only after Xiaoyao Palace had receded behind them did Guan Fangyi lower her voice. “What was that about?”

“Long Xiu wants to match me with Yi Shu.”

Guan Fangyi stared. “He wants you to marry Yi Shu?”

“He's the Palace Master of Xiaoyao Palace. How could he openly say he wants to use his disciple for a marriage alliance? He only hinted at it, hoping I'd take the initiative...” Niu Youdao gave her a rough account of the conversation.

Guan Fangyi immediately brightened with amusement. “That's a good thing! Who is Long Xiu? Even Misty Pavilion has a seat for him. Other people couldn't beg their way into an opportunity like this. Don't dawdle and don't bother going around in circles. Just have someone deliver betrothal gifts and ask for her hand. Long Xiu gets his face and a proper pretext to proceed. With him applying pressure, Yi Shu won't be able to refuse even if she wants to. You'll be guaranteed to carry the beauty home.”

Niu Youdao asked, “What beauty? Is she as beautiful as you? In my eyes, she isn't even worthy to carry your shoes.”

Guan Fangyi instantly beamed. “Of course! Eh? Wait...” Her smile vanished. Her expression changed. “What exactly did you mean back there? You used this old lady as a shield on purpose to disgust that girl, didn't you?”

It was not that she was unwilling to help Niu Youdao out of a troublesome situation. What bothered her was his attitude. Did he think her reputation was filthy already, making her perfectly suited to serve as this kind of shield?

“Of course not.” Niu Youdao refused to admit it.

Refusing did him no good. Guan Fangyi launched into a merciless stream of abuse. Old Second Wu, controlling the flying mount, could only shake his head as he listened.

...

“Master, why did you see him?”

After returning from seeing the guests out, Yi Shu could not resist asking Long Xiu, who stood at the railing with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing into the distance.

Long Xiu naturally could not tell her the truth. Instead he asked, “Shu'er, what do you think of Niu Youdao?”

Yi Shu immediately threw out a verdict. “Nothing worth praising.”

Long Xiu turned in surprise. He had not expected his disciple to reject Niu Youdao so directly. “He seems perfectly good to me. Why is there nothing worth praising?”

“He's arrogant and conceited, with no respect for anyone above him!”

Long Xiu frowned. “Where did you see arrogance, conceit, and disrespect? Has he ever been rude to you?”

“He wouldn't dare! Master, don't be fooled by how respectful he acts in front of you. Who knows what he truly thinks of Xiaoyao Palace? He has always had no respect for his superiors. Back at Shangqing Sect, he dared lay hands on his elders. And you know perfectly well that in the Qi capital he even injured disciples of Tianhuo Sect. Do you truly think he regards Xiaoyao Palace any more highly than Tianhuo Sect?”

“I've looked into all of that. In each case, he was forced into a corner and only struck back when he had no other road. Was he wrong? If he were some useless thing who let anyone slaughter him at will, do you think he would even be qualified to stand here and meet me?”

“Master, forget everything else. Just look at the affair between him and that Hongniang from the Qi capital. Is that something a man of upright character would do?”

That point gave Long Xiu a headache as well.

He had heard that Niu Youdao and Hongniang had already lived together for a long time at Fufang Garden in the Qi capital, and now the two were practically inseparable, always appearing as a pair.

His own disciple, by contrast, was still pure and untouched. Asking her to marry a man who had already been divorced once was humiliating enough.

Even that could be excused. The affair with Tang Yi could be blamed on circumstances beyond his control. But what explanation was there for Hongniang?

Did Hongniang's reputation even need explaining?

Long Xiu found it baffling that a young man like Niu Youdao cared so little for his own feathers. Was he not destroying his own future?

That was precisely why Long Xiu had a headache over the matter. There were some things he could not even bring himself to discuss with others inside Xiaoyao Palace. Niu Youdao was such a disreputable mess, yet the dignified Palace Master of Xiaoyao Palace, simply to recruit him, was willing to marry off his own final disciple. Would that not be shameless?

Forget what outsiders might think. What would the people inside Xiaoyao Palace think?

That was why he had hoped Niu Youdao would take the initiative.

After a moment of silence, Long Xiu slowly said, “Perhaps it has something to do with what he has lived through. His master died early, and he never had anyone close by to discipline him, so he became somewhat unrestrained. He is young. Certain behavior can be understood.”

Yi Shu looked surprised and suspicious. “Master, why do I feel like you're speaking for him?”

“Am I?” Long Xiu denied it, but then earnestly continued, “Your master was foolish when he was young as well. Everyone has done absurd things in youth. When judging a person, you cannot look only at the present. You must look farther ahead. What I mean is that Niu Youdao still has merits worth recognizing. Otherwise, why would Yucang let his own nephew bow to him as teacher? You cannot look only at another person's faults; you must also see his strengths. That is what I hope you will learn from him.”

Yi Shu pointed at herself in disbelief. “Master wants me to learn from him?”

Long Xiu's face abruptly changed. He pointed at her and rebuked her angrily. “I said learn from his strengths! Do you think being a disciple of Xiaoyao Palace makes you capable of everything? This attitude of yours must change. Listen carefully. When you have nothing else to do, go to Qingshan Commandery more often and spend time interacting with him. Do you understand?”

Seeing him lose his temper, Yi Shu could only lower her head. “Yes!”

Her obedience existed purely on the surface. Inwardly, she remained completely unconvinced.

...

Two Black Jade Eagles circled over a vast mountain range before descending onto a summit. Duan Hu, Lei Zongkang, and Wu Sanliang jumped down.

A man darted out of the forest. He was one of the Wuliang Mountain men stationed around Myriad Beasts Sect.

Duan Hu and the others did not know him well, though they had seen him before. The man, however, recognized all three and knew they belonged to Niu Youdao's side.

After the two sides exchanged greetings, Duan Hu asked, “Are all the men assembled?”

“They were gathered in advance.”

“Good. Move immediately!” Duan Hu nodded and waved a hand.

Around noon, the Wuliang Mountain disciple appeared outside the gates of Myriad Beasts Sect. He introduced himself to the gate disciples as Hei Wu, said he was a friend of Chao Shenghuai, and asked them to pass word inside.

Before long, Chao Shenghuai came flying out of the sect.

The moment he heard the name “Hei Wu,” his heart had begun pounding. Calling it a guilty conscience would not have been an exaggeration, and he had hurried over at once.

He did not recognize the man waiting outside the gate, but still led him aside and asked, “Do we know each other?”

“Someone from Myriad Forms City has come to make good on Master Dao's promise to you.”

Chao Shenghuai did not immediately follow him. He was afraid Niu Youdao might be planning to silence him permanently. After asking where they were to meet in the city, he sent the disciple ahead and said he would go later.

Once back inside Myriad Beasts Sect, he immediately gathered a group of fellow disciples and took them down the mountain for drinks at Tianyun Inn in Myriad Forms City.

While eating and drinking with the others, he found an excuse to go upstairs and knocked on the door of a guest room.

Someone was waiting inside.

It was Duan Hu.

Once the two had confirmed each other's identities, Chao Shenghuai gave a subtle indication that his own people were all around nearby.

Duan Hu merely smiled, invited him to sit, then took out a stack of gold notes and pushed them across the table.

“One million. Master Dao asked me to tell you that there were some recent clashes involving Beizhou and the expenses were considerable. His funds are a little tight at the moment. The remaining three million owed to Brother Chao will not be short by a single coin. He asks you to allow us a little more time.”

Receiving anything at all was already better than Chao Shenghuai had expected. He had long prepared himself for the possibility that Niu Youdao might never pay him another coin.

He took the gold notes, counted them, and tucked them into his robe.

Duan Hu then said, “Master Dao also told me to bring some men. He said Brother Chao had work you wanted us to handle.”

At the mention of that affair, anger rose in Chao Shenghuai.

Niu Youdao had simply left after saying he would handle it, yet never finished what he had promised. The four fellow disciples who had taken part in the affair left Chao Shenghuai uneasy every single day.

The problem was that those four had stopped treating him as an outsider. Whenever anything happened, they came looking for him.

They thought far too highly of his abilities.

If Chao Shenghuai truly possessed that kind of power, would he ever have needed to risk everything in the first place?

He feared trouble would emerge sooner or later.

He had considered acting against them himself, but the four had grown close to him, and many people inside the sect knew it. If they disappeared, he would need to be able to prove he had not been with them.

He had also considered hiring outsiders, but did not dare.

Hiring outsiders for something like this would be the same as voluntarily placing leverage against himself into another man's hands. He would never know peace again.

Chao Shenghuai glanced around, motioned for Duan Hu to lean closer, and whispered several sentences into his ear.

Duan Hu nodded to show he understood.

As their heads separated, Chao Shenghuai gritted his teeth. “Tomorrow morning, I want to see their heads.”

“Don't worry. No problem. Tomorrow morning, they'll be buried beneath the old tree outside the eastern city gate.”

...

That night, Chao Shenghuai found a suitable excuse to take a duty shift. He spent the entire night among his fellow disciples, laughing and chatting as though perfectly at ease while his heart remained anything but calm.

He had already tricked the four targets down the mountain. The excuse was that they were to meet someone and collect something.

What worried him most was that Niu Youdao's people might fail.

If even one of the four escaped and returned, that man would immediately know he had been tricked.

Then Chao Shenghuai would be finished.

He kept reassuring himself that this was no small matter. Niu Youdao understood perfectly well what would happen if word leaked out and should have arranged things properly.

He finally endured until dawn.

Soon rumors began spreading inside the sect that the four men had stayed out all night without permission. People were dispatched to find them.

The sect's supervisors came to Chao Shenghuai immediately and asked whether he knew where the four had gone.

Naturally, he claimed complete ignorance.

Afterward, because everyone knew he was on good terms with the missing men, he volunteered to go down the mountain and help search.

He found the old tree outside the city gate.

The marks on the ground were completely untouched.

There was no sign that anything had ever been buried there.

He widened the search and checked the surrounding area as well.

Still nothing.

With no other choice, he hurried back into Myriad Forms City and went to Tianyun Inn to find Duan Hu.

Duan Hu was long gone.

The inn staff said the guest had checked out and left the previous night.

When Chao Shenghuai emerged from the inn, his heart pounded wildly.

He had no idea what Duan Hu's side meant by this.

Had they failed?

Or had they succeeded and simply forgotten what they had promised?

How could anyone forget something like that?

At that moment, Chao Shenghuai wished he could sprout wings and fly straight to Nanzhou to demand an explanation from Niu Youdao...

[End of Chapter 557]