Chapter 717: I Only Want to Befriend Elder Chao

Old Second Wu tucked the letter into his robes and left.

Niu Youdao likewise turned away, leaning on his sword as he walked. Guan Fangyi picked Chao Shenghuai up from the ground and followed.

...

After disguising himself, Old Second Wu delivered the letter to the Myriad Beasts Sect disciples guarding the mountain gate. He specified who the letter was for, then left.

As for who had sent it, there was no need to say more.

A letter addressed to Elder Chao Jing was not something the junior disciples dared delay. Someone was immediately dispatched to place it in Chao Jing's hands.

When the letter arrived, Chao Jing was discussing matters with several disciples. Taking it, he casually asked, "Who delivered this?"

The messenger disciple replied respectfully, "This disciple does not know. The courier said an old friend of Elder Chao asked him to bring it. He did not reveal who, only said Elder Chao would understand once you read the letter."

An old friend? Suspicion flickered through Chao Jing's mind. He waved the disciple away, then opened the letter and began reading. The farther he read, the more uncertain alarm appeared in his eyes.

The letter mentioned an old affair. Inside the Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm, his grandson had triggered a Rakshasa Tide and gotten a group of Myriad Beasts Sect disciples killed. To avoid responsibility, Chao Jing had secretly suppressed the matter, leaving a large number of disciples to die without ever receiving a proper accounting.

The writer said Chao Shenghuai had told him everything, and that Chao Shenghuai was currently in his hands.

Then the writer asked Chao Jing a question: how much was this matter worth?

A place had been designated for a private meeting. Chao Jing was told to come alone and bring no one with him.

Chao Jing sneered inwardly. Some reckless fool from who knew where actually dared play this kind of blackmail game with him.

Slowly folding the letter shut, Chao Jing instructed one of his disciples, "Go bring Chao Shenghuai here."

"Yes!" The disciple immediately accepted the order and left.

Chao Jing stood in the courtyard with his hands clasped behind his back, thinking as he waited. Before long, the disciple returned and reported, "Master, Chao Shenghuai isn't here. They said he went to Myriad Forms City to buy something. I've already told the disciples with him to send him over the moment he returns."

Not here? Chao Jing's brows rose slightly. It seemed his grandson truly might have fallen into someone else's hands. He immediately beckoned over his chief disciple, Xu Huo, gave him a series of secret instructions, and told him to prepare men in the shadows.

The writer wanted him to come alone? Only a fool would truly do that. He had to make preparations in secret. He wanted to see who was stirring up trouble behind the scenes.

Xu Huo left for a time. Only after all the arrangements had been completed and he returned to report did Chao Jing leave the Myriad Beasts Sect alone and descend the mountain.

The appointed meeting place was some distance from the sect, in a deep mountain gorge.

After arriving, Chao Jing looked around but saw no one. Then he suddenly raised his head. A large flying mount swept overhead, and a figure drifted down from it, descending slowly until he landed in front of Chao Jing. He stood there at ease, leaning on his sword and smiling at him.

Chao Jing frowned. "Niu Youdao! You were the one who asked this old man here?"

He was not familiar with Niu Youdao, but neither was the man a stranger to him. Niu Youdao had stayed at the Myriad Beasts Sect for quite some time, after all, and Chao Jing had seen him before.

Niu Youdao smiled and nodded. "Forgive the uninvited disturbance, Elder Chao."

Chao Jing's gaze turned strange. Thoughts wheeled rapidly through his mind. From Niu Youdao's identity and background, he immediately thought of the present war between Song and Yan and formed a rough guess as to why the man had come. Narrowing his eyes, he asked, "What do you want?"

Niu Youdao said, "Those who ride the jianghu travel its roads and make its friends. I only want to befriend Elder Chao."

The tension in Chao Jing's expression suddenly broke into loud laughter. "Anyone admitted to the guest courtyard of the Myriad Beasts Sect is already a friend. Wouldn't you agree?"

Niu Youdao laughed as well. "Exactly so. Elder Chao speaks with reason."

Chao Jing said, "Since we are friends, shouldn't you return that unworthy grandson of mine?"

"No hurry," Niu Youdao replied. "Once I confirm that Elder Chao truly wishes to be friends, your grandson will naturally be returned to you without so much as a scratch."

Chao Jing said, "If you came because of the war between Song and Yan, then my apologies. This old man is powerless to help."

Niu Youdao said, "I came to help Elder Chao. I came to solve a problem for you. You must have read what I wrote in the letter. I sincerely wish to erase this trouble for Elder Chao. Surely you don't mean to offer no thanks at all?"

Chao Jing scoffed. "What a joke. Something without evidence or proof cannot be used to threaten this old man at will."

"What if your grandson comes forward to testify?" Niu Youdao asked.

"He merely fell into someone's hands and was coerced."

Niu Youdao smiled. "When your grandson helped trigger the Rakshasa Tide inside the Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm, there were two others with him: He Youjian and He Youchang. They are both Myriad Beasts Sect disciples and blood brothers. After the incident, your grandson tried to silence them permanently. As it happened, I saved the two of them."

Chao Jing's face twitched sharply. He was about to argue when Niu Youdao raised a hand to stop him. "No hurry. Let me finish. Of course, Elder Chao can also say those two were coerced into giving false testimony. But I wonder whether Elder Chao knows four fellow disciples named Chen Ping, Gao Lan, Liu Ding'an, and Qiu Wenxian?"

Chao Jing's gaze flickered. How could he not know of those four? All four were Myriad Beasts Sect disciples. Their sudden disappearance without a trace had once caused no small disturbance inside the sect. He did not know why Niu Youdao had suddenly mentioned them. Slowly, he asked, "What are you trying to say?"

Niu Youdao said, "When the Myriad Beasts Sect's flying mounts suffered that plague, twenty or thirty large flying mounts suddenly died. According to those four, however, it was no plague at all. There was something else behind it. Someone inside the Myriad Beasts Sect wanted to make a fortune, secretly tampered with the birds, then used the plague as cover to steal five large flying mounts! Heh. Five large flying mounts are worth no small sum, and those four fellow disciples just happened to take part in the affair. Afterward, someone tried to silence them permanently. Unfortunately for that person, I saved them too."

Alarm and uncertainty churned inside Chao Jing. Back then, he had already thought the plague had come rather suddenly. Could there truly have been something suspicious behind it? His voice sank. "I don't understand what you're implying."

Niu Youdao asked, "Wasn't Elder Chao the one pulling the strings behind it?"

Chao Jing flew into a rage. "Bastard! You think this old man will let you frame me however you please? Every flying mount that died during the plague was accounted for. What stolen mounts are you talking about?"

"Is that so?" Mockery appeared on Niu Youdao's face. He looked up and gave a hand signal toward the sky.

The large flying mount circling overhead suddenly dived. As it swept across the gorge, another human figure was dropped from above.

Niu Youdao raised a hand and used spiritual power to slow the man's fall. Then he caught him by the neck, set him upright, and pushed him forward. "Qiu Wenxian. Elder Chao, do you recognize this disciple?"

Chao Jing scrutinized the man. Truthfully, there were too many junior disciples below him for him to know them all. But the face looked familiar, enough for him to confirm that the man was indeed a Myriad Beasts Sect disciple.

Qiu Wenxian, however, certainly recognized Chao Jing. The instant he saw the Elder, terror overwhelmed him.

He had been taken suddenly from the place where he was confined and never imagined they were bringing him here to meet this particular Elder.

"Qiu Wenxian," Niu Youdao said, "during the plague at the Myriad Beasts Sect, what did you people do while everyone was distracted? Elder Chao is right in front of you. Why haven't you confessed truthfully?" He shoved the man toward Chao Jing and spread his hands, showing that he was exerting no threat at all. Chao Jing could rescue the man whenever he wished.

Yet after stumbling a few steps, Qiu Wenxian's knees went weak and he collapsed onto the ground. He looked up at Chao Jing in sheer terror.

A vast shadow had hung over his heart all these years. Back then, when danger came for him, how could he not have known that Chao Shenghuai intended to kill him and silence him forever? Whether Chao Jing himself had ordered it, Qiu Wenxian could not be sure. But throughout the affair, Chao Shenghuai had repeatedly invoked Chao Jing's name, saying that once the job was done, they would all be his own people and that he could help them establish themselves within the Myriad Beasts Sect.

After being abducted, Qiu Wenxian had never wanted to return to the Myriad Beasts Sect. But a chess piece that had fallen into another man's hand had no right to choose for itself.

The one who controlled his fate was the player moving pieces from behind the board. Qiu Wenxian's life no longer belonged to him.

Chao Jing's sinister gaze settled on his face. Chao Jing had no desire to remain muddled about the matter either. Since the opportunity had presented itself, he also wanted to understand exactly what had happened during that plague. His voice sank. "You are Qiu Wenxian?"

Qiu Wenxian tremblingly scrambled up and dropped to his knees. He kowtowed in terror. "Disciple Qiu Wenxian pays respects to Elder Chao!"

Chao Jing spoke one word at a time. "During the plague, more than twenty large flying mounts died. Do you know anything about what was really behind it?"

Qiu Wenxian's thoughts were in chaos. Chao Shenghuai had tried to kill him to silence him, and Chao Shenghuai was Chao Jing's own grandson. How was he supposed to speak?

Chao Jing said, "Tell me the whole truth from beginning to end. Speak!" The final word burst from him like a thunderclap.

Qiu Wenxian shuddered in fright and prostrated himself. "Chao Shenghuai ordered this disciple to do it. When the trouble began at Spirit Transformation Valley..." In panic, he recounted in detail how Chao Shenghuai had issued the instructions and how several of them had concealed their actions while stealing the carcasses of flying mounts that were supposed to be destroyed.

The muscles in Chao Jing's face twitched without stopping as he listened. His mind connected this with what had later happened at the eagle nests on Spirit-Gathering Mountain, and he immediately guessed the purpose: the stolen carcasses had been used to pull off a substitution right under everyone's eyes.

After finishing that part of the story, Qiu Wenxian raised his head with a sob. "At first, this disciple truly did not know what Chao Shenghuai intended. Later, Chao Shenghuai tricked us into leaving the mountain and tried to kill us to silence us. Only after this disciple ended up in trouble together with Chen Ping, Gao Lan, and Liu Ding'an did we compare what each of us knew. Only then did we discover that Chao Shenghuai had assigned each of us a different step in the plan to steal the flying mounts..." He then pieced together the complete theft from what the others had told him.

As for what role Niu Youdao had played in the affair, Qiu Wenxian knew nothing at all. Chao Shenghuai had never told them and never would have. If he had admitted outsiders were involved, none of them would have dared help him do such a thing in the first place.

The only connection Qiu Wenxian knew to Niu Youdao was that, in the end, the four of them had fallen into Niu Youdao's hands.

Chao Jing looked as though five thunderbolts had struck him at once. His face had gone black as the bottom of a pot.

This was no longer merely a matter of five stolen flying mounts. More than twenty large flying mounts had been lost, their value astronomical. Because of that disaster, the Elders responsible for Spirit Transformation Valley and Spirit-Gathering Mountain had both been removed from their posts. Two Elders had already paid the price for the affair. And now Chao Jing had learned that his own grandson had been the one manipulating everything from behind the scenes.

"Tsk, tsk!" Niu Youdao shook his head. "Impressive. Truly impressive! One Chao Shenghuai dared turn clouds and rain inside the Myriad Beasts Sect, commit a case this shocking, and arrange everything with such precision. If you told people there was no powerful figure behind him giving orders and backing him, that a mere junior disciple dared do all this by himself... I'm afraid no one would believe it. Elder Chao, wouldn't you agree?"

Chao Jing's cheeks twitched. "You mean to threaten me with this? Useless! This matter has nothing to do with me. The Myriad Beasts Sect will naturally investigate and establish the truth!"

[End of Chapter 717]