Chapter 746: The Pavilion Master of Xiaoyue Pavilion

Yucang's face darkened. "As if you've done so few things that betray your conscience."

Niu Youdao looked surprised. "Have I?"

Yucang did not believe for a moment that Niu Youdao had reached his present position without ever doing anything black-hearted, but there was no point arguing over such a question. "Brother Niu, when Shang Jianxiong wanted to kill you, Xiaoyue Pavilion sacrificed a great many people to block him for you twice. When you wanted the Song envoy removed, we helped you do that too. And as for the flying mounts that fell into your hands, we never pursued the matter."

"We did things for you and let you take the benefits. Nothing in this world is given for no reason. Xiaoyue Pavilion cultivated good relations with you precisely while waiting for today. Do you truly have no intention of repaying even a little?"

Niu Youdao said, "There's no point dragging all of that out. If we're settling old accounts, then how do we calculate the people you sent to hunt me down? And what about the Shang Mirror? How much was that worth, and who gave it to you?"

"Whatever the circumstances were at the time, those old dealings were all entered into willingly by both sides. The accounts can never be calculated cleanly. Better to keep one matter separate from another."

Yucang said, "This matter brings you no harm at all. It helps us while also removing the threat Zhao poses to you. Everyone benefits. What is there to posture about? Unless you're trying to bargain for more benefits? Fine. If that's what you want, name your conditions and we can discuss them."

"Do I look like someone greedy beyond measure? Of course, there are plenty of things I want. Small things aren't worth opening my mouth for, while the things I truly want are beyond your ability to provide. In the end, whether I agree depends on whether I'm willing."

Yucang's voice became grave. "A once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity has appeared before Xiaoyue Pavilion. If we miss it, it will never return. Xiaoyue Pavilion has waited too many years. Generation after generation failed to live long enough to see this day. Now it has finally arrived, and for this we are willing to pay any price."

"This time, anyone who dares block Xiaoyue Pavilion's path becomes Xiaoyue Pavilion's mortal enemy. Does Brother Niu truly intend to cut off our hope? Do you really want to endure Xiaoyue Pavilion's full retaliation?"

Niu Youdao's heart sank. His expression chilled as well. "Mr. Yucang, are you threatening me?"

"I'm not threatening you. To help you, many brothers of Xiaoyue Pavilion have died. Everyone above and below accepted that because it was the price we had to pay to move forward. To obtain your support, we were willing to pay that price. But we will never accept being toyed with after paying it."

"There are no free benefits in this world. Since I came here today, you have no choice."

Niu Youdao tapped his fingers against the sword hilt. "Taking you down right now would be effortless. Is threatening me at a time like this really appropriate?"

Yucang pointed toward his own restricted body. "Since I willingly accepted this treatment, I never intended to leave alive if things went wrong. Either kill me and go to all-out war with Xiaoyue Pavilion, or agree. There is no third road. Xiaoyue Pavilion has accumulated this confidence over many years!"

Niu Youdao arched a brow. "What if I hide in somewhere like the Inviting Moon Inn in Star-Plucking City, or the Rainbow Inn at the Ice and Snow Pavilion? What can Xiaoyue Pavilion do to me then?"

"Ridiculous!" Yucang shot back. "Are those places meant to be refuges? Even if you go, how long can you hide there? Are you abandoning everything you've built in Nanzhou?"

Niu Youdao was only talking when he mentioned hiding.

Places like the Inviting Moon Inn truly were not established as shelters. They had their own rules.

Of course, they could serve as refuges, but no one could bear the cost for long.

A short stay did not cost much. At ten gold coins a day, plenty of cultivators could afford a room. But if someone stayed long-term, the first month cost ten gold coins per day, the next month became one hundred per day, and the price kept climbing month after month. No matter how wealthy someone was, sooner or later they would be drained dry.

That was the price.

Borrowing the authority of the nine supreme experts to preserve one's safety was possible, but it was not cheap.

Even so, desperate people with nowhere else to go still entered such places. Surviving one more day was one more day.

Niu Youdao abruptly changed direction. "What if I were someone from Misty Pavilion? Would Xiaoyue Pavilion still possess this confidence?"

"..."

Yucang was left speechless. After a long moment, his expression twitched. "You're someone from Misty Pavilion? No. Impossible!"

Niu Youdao said, "Why jump around in shock? Whether I'm from Misty Pavilion isn't important. What matters is that Xiaoyue Pavilion isn't omnipotent. If we truly fight this through to the end, you can stake everything and so can I. In the end, you still may not be able to do anything to me."

"So if you want my help, stop trying to frighten me. The simplest way is still to show me sincerity."

Yucang asked, "What sincerity do you want?"

"I'll ask for the second time. Who is the Pavilion Master of Xiaoyue Pavilion?"

"Once the matter succeeds, whoever steps forward will naturally be the one. You'll know then." In other words, nothing had succeeded yet, so there was no need for him to ask so much.

Niu Youdao said, "I will not blindly help someone with something this serious when I don't even know who that person is. If you insist on brushing me off like this, fine. Threats don't work on me. Whatever Xiaoyue Pavilion wants to play, I'll accompany you to the end."

Yucang said, "Is that your only condition? If I tell you who it is, you'll agree?"

"If Yan's army keeps fighting, men will die. Many men. Who pays the pensions and all the other military expenses?"

Yucang badly wanted to say: if you continue fighting Zhao like this, don't you still have to pay those military costs? If we rise earlier and relieve the pressure on you, aren't we saving you a great deal of money?

But there was no point arguing.

Niu Youdao was plainly finding an excuse to demand benefits.

So Yucang asked, "How much do you want?"

Niu Youdao raised five fingers. "Not much. Fifty million!"

Yucang answered immediately, his tone heavy. "Too much! Once the uprising begins, Xiaoyue Pavilion will face enormous expenses of its own."

"Fine! On account of our friendship, I won't waste time bargaining. Let's both be straightforward. Cut it in half—thirty million!"

"Half of fifty million is thirty million? Why not say twenty million?"

"Fine, we'll do it your way. Twenty million it is! Now tell me. Who is the Pavilion Master?"

"Xia Lingpei!"

"..."

Niu Youdao stared at him wordlessly for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Yucang enunciated each word. "The Pavilion Master of Xiaoyue Pavilion is Xia Lingpei."

Niu Youdao could hardly believe it. "Are you joking? That bookworm can command Xiaoyue Pavilion as its Pavilion Master?"

"His grandfather was. His father was too. You'll see the result soon enough. I have no reason to fool you."

This time Niu Youdao was the one left dumbfounded.

The Pavilion Master of Xiaoyue Pavilion, whose identity he had puzzled over for so long, was actually that cheap student of his.

The boy had even lived at Maolu Villa for all that time.

Far beyond the horizon, yet right beneath his eyes.

It was baffling, and yet something began to click.

Judging from certain signs of how seriously Xiaoyue Pavilion had always treated Xia Lingpei, it truly was possible. The claim that he was merely Mr. Yucang's nephew had only been a layer of camouflage.

"What is Zhuang Hong's true status? Is she the one who actually controls things behind him?"

"She has no special status. She is simply the Pavilion Master's mother. She does not participate in any affairs of Xiaoyue Pavilion."

"In other words, the person who truly speaks for Xiaoyue Pavilion is actually you, Mr. Yucang."

"I'm only one of several such people, similar to an Elder in an ordinary sect. Even if you seize me, you cannot use me to threaten Xiaoyue Pavilion."

Niu Youdao chuckled. "The Pavilion Master of Xiaoyue Pavilion is actually my student. Once your uprising succeeds and Xia Lingpei steps into the open, I truly won't be able to distance myself from Xiaoyue Pavilion even if I want to."

"Who was it that insisted on taking him away in the first place? You tried every possible trick back then. I couldn't stop you even when I wanted to! Besides, your concern is unnecessary. Once Xiaoyue Pavilion comes fully into the open, does it still matter whether you can distance yourself from us?"

Everything that needed to be said had been said, and even things that should not have been said had been said.

Once the matter was settled, Yucang left.

Naturally, he did not carry that much money with him. They agreed on arrangements for someone to deliver it the following day.

After Yucang departed, Guan Fangyi flashed back over. Seeing Niu Youdao still sitting on the rock with a baffled expression, she could not resist asking, "What did he want to discuss with you?"

Niu Youdao sighed. "Xia Lingpei is the Pavilion Master of Xiaoyue Pavilion. Do you believe that?"

"Ah!" Guan Fangyi was shocked, almost wondering whether she had heard him correctly.

"Xiaoyue Pavilion has been planning this for a very long time..." Without waiting for her to ask, Niu Youdao told her Yucang's purpose himself.

Guan Fangyi was shaken by what she heard.

Thinking of Black Peony, who had died at Xiaoyue Pavilion's hands, she tried asking, "You agreed to him?"

"There are no free benefits. If they dare give something away, they can always take it back with principal and interest. I couldn't refuse." Niu Youdao pushed himself upright with his sword. A faint, cold smile appeared as he snorted. "A net like this is the real trouble only while it remains hidden in the dark. Once it surfaces, dealing with it becomes much easier."

The following day, Guan Fangyi was in high spirits again.

Another twenty million gold coins had gone straight into her pocket.

...

Misty Pavilion stood at the highest point on the continent of the Seven States, atop a place known as Tiandu Peak.

The Tiandu Secret Realm, soon to open, lay not far away.

Most of Tiandu Peak was barren and bitterly cold. Yet inside the valley at its summit, it remained spring all year round. Hot springs flowed there, rare flowers and exotic plants were cultivated everywhere, and birds and beasts wandered at leisure.

Pavilions, towers, halls, and residences stretched across the valley, their architecture vast and imposing enough to pierce the heavens.

At night, this place seemed closer to Heaven than anywhere else. The stars shone painfully clear, almost close enough to pluck by hand. Looking up made one feel as though one stood suspended inside the boundless sea of stars.

Near-Heaven Palace was where the great powers beneath Heaven gathered for deliberation.

Every faction that possessed a seat here ranked among the foremost cultivation sects in all the world.

Outside, stars filled the sky.

Inside Near-Heaven Palace, lamps blazed brilliantly. Night Pearls of every size were embedded in the beams and walls, shining with soft radiance.

Thirty long tables stood in two orderly rows.

Behind them sat thirty men upright and solemn—the leaders of major factions from across the lands and overseas. Gong Lince and the others were among them. None knew why they had been summoned today.

As everyone waited in silence, several people entered through the doors.

Leading them was a thin man with a cool, detached face, someone who seemed to stand apart from all worldly affairs.

The instant he entered, all thirty men in the hall rose to welcome him and watched respectfully as he walked past at an unhurried pace.

A man capable of commanding such respect from this gathering could hardly be ordinary.

He was Sha Rulai, disciple of Luo Qiu, one of the nine supreme experts, and also Luo Qiu's son-in-law. He was the father of Sha Huanli, City Master of Star-Plucking City.

Misty Pavilion was the institution through which the nine supreme experts jointly handled affairs beneath Heaven. They took turns appointing someone to oversee it.

For the present term, the person in charge was Sha Rulai.

His attendants divided to either side of the steps.

Sha Rulai ascended to the principal seat, turned, swept his gaze across the gathering, and said calmly, "Everyone is here. Sit."

The others sat.

Sha Rulai took his own seat behind the table and studied the gathering once more. "There is no other reason I called everyone here. The Tiandu Secret Realm will soon open. We will follow the same rules as before. The name lists are submitted by all of you; this side will not force your choices."

"I have seen the lists you submitted. Something is obviously wrong with them. I would like to ask what happened and hope all of you can give me an explanation."

[End of Chapter 746]