Chapter 1008: Turbulent Undercurrents

In Myriad Forms City, several disciples of Myriad Beasts Sect were eating and drinking inside a long-established inn. Chao Shenghuai was among them.

An attendant came over and bent close to murmur something in Chao Shenghuai's ear. Chao Shenghuai's brows lifted. Delight flashed through his eyes. He set down his wine cup, rose, and said cheerfully to the others, "I'm going to relieve myself for a moment." Then he turned and left.

He followed the attendant into the inn's rear courtyard, glanced around, and asked, "Where's your proprietor?"

The attendant gave an ingratiating smile. "You can't very well expect my proprietor to stand there and watch something like this with his own eyes, can you? She's waiting for you in the room." He pointed toward one of the chambers.

Chao Shenghuai followed his gesture, joy showing in his eyes. He patted the attendant on the shoulder. "Tell your proprietor I won't forget his reward." Then he strode toward the room.

At the door, he straightened his clothes before pushing his way inside. A woman sat before the dressing table. "Chunxiang!" he called, shutting the door behind him with his other hand.

The woman's graceful back remained perfectly still. Chao Shenghuai walked up behind her. Looking at the blank-eyed face reflected in the mirror, he raised both hands and slowly placed them on her shoulders. "Chunxiang..."

Before he could finish, he abruptly sensed that something was wrong. It was already too late. Something struck him from behind and numbness spread through his body. He had just opened his mouth when someone appearing behind him clamped a hand over it. The assailant had emerged from behind a hanging curtain. He struck again in rapid succession, jabbing several points on Chao Shenghuai's body and completely immobilizing him.

The woman seated before the dressing table, disturbed by the movement, seemed no longer able to remain upright. Her body tilted sideways.

The man restraining Chao Shenghuai reacted at once, catching her before she fell. With a gentle push, he laid her facedown across the dressing table without making a sound.

Chao Shenghuai's eyes darted wildly. He had never imagined anyone would be bold enough to do something like this right beneath Myriad Beasts Sect's nose. He could only blame himself for letting lust cloud his judgment. Otherwise, how could he have given the other side such a silent opportunity, leaving him unable even to cry for help? Regret flooded him.

The woman before him was the inn proprietor's daughter. She was reasonably attractive, but under ordinary circumstances Chao Shenghuai would not have looked twice at her.

Ever since the trouble involving Niu Youdao, however, Chao Jing had kept a tight rein on him. These days, the farthest he could roam was the area around Myriad Beasts Sect. He could no longer go out carousing as freely as before, and he could hardly fool around casually with female disciples of his own sect. With all those inconveniences piled together, he had set his sights on the inn proprietor's daughter and decided she would have to do.

The proprietor had always refused him. The people living in Myriad Forms City were not ordinary outsiders. Most had backgrounds tied to Myriad Beasts Sect, and many were descendants of Myriad Beasts Sect disciples who had inherited no aptitude for cultivation and had therefore settled in the city. Naturally, the city was governed by Myriad Beasts Sect's own rules.

That made it inconvenient for Chao Shenghuai to simply use force. Instead, he had kept threatening and tempting the proprietor, only for the man to refuse again and again. He had never expected the proprietor to suddenly see reason today. Chao Shenghuai had hurried over in high spirits, eager for pleasure, only to meet this end.

At that moment, another man crawled out from beneath the couch, shaking open a burlap sack.

The man holding Chao Shenghuai suddenly moved. He seized Chao Shenghuai by the neck and twisted. There was a crisp crack. Without the slightest hesitation, he snapped Chao Shenghuai's neck.

Chao Shenghuai's eyes bulged wide. No one knew what went through his mind in that last instant. His head sagged to one side. Even in death, he never learned why he had been killed.

The man holding the sack spread its mouth wide and dropped it straight over Chao Shenghuai's head, bagging the corpse on the spot before hoisting it onto his back.

The killer went out first to check the courtyard. Seeing nothing unusual, he waved the others forward.

The two men swiftly crossed the rear courtyard. Three more figures sprang from the surrounding corners and joined them. The group slipped out through the back gate and tossed the sack into a carriage waiting outside.

They climbed aboard and departed at once. From beginning to end, the operation had made almost no sound.

The carriage raced out of the city and traveled along the main road for some distance. When it passed through a stretch of mountain wilderness, the men inside began leaping out one after another, carrying the sack with them as they flew deep into the mountains.

Crack! The driver lashed the horses hard, then sprang away from the carriage seat himself. The empty carriage continued down the main road behind the horses. No one knew where it would eventually stop.

Deep in the mountains, the men regrouped. They stuffed stones into the sack and sank it, corpse and all, into a deep lake.

Then they vanished into the mountains once more. Before long, two large flying mounts rose into the sky.

Only after they had traveled far from the area at high altitude did the six people riding the mounts tear away the false masks covering their faces. One of them was Wu Zhaoxing, the very man who had struck Chao Shenghuai with lightning speed.

Duan Hu was there as well. The other four were disciples of Wuliang Mountain.

Why had Niu Youdao ordered Chao Shenghuai killed? Wu Zhaoxing did not know. But he did know that an ordinary matter could have been entrusted to ordinary men. If someone of his level had been required to personally take action, then Chao Shenghuai clearly touched on something of great importance. Niu Youdao had been determined that the man must die.

Duan Hu believed he knew the reason Master Dao wanted Chao Shenghuai dead. The secret dealings between Master Dao and the Chao grandfather and grandson could not conveniently be exposed.

In truth, Duan Hu's assumption was mistaken. That was not what had forced Niu Youdao to order the killing.

The true reason was that Chao Shenghuai had personally witnessed Yuan Gang commanding Butterfly Rakshasas inside Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm. Sacred Realm and Misty Pavilion could never be allowed to learn of that.

Niu Youdao had not moved against Chao Shenghuai earlier because the stakes in the struggle had still been limited. Chao Shenghuai himself had not dared reveal the secret. If he exposed everything, he would implicate himself along with Niu Youdao, and Myriad Beasts Sect would never spare him.

But now Sacred Realm and Misty Pavilion were involved. From the moment Ding Wei made everyone write down those statements that could be used against them, Niu Youdao had known there would be trouble. He had also known that old Chao Jing could no longer be relied upon. If Chao Jing revealed this particular secret to Sacred Realm, the situation would pass beyond Niu Youdao's ability to control.

In fact, as soon as the Elders of the various sects finished writing those statements, Niu Youdao had already developed the intention of killing Chao Jing. He had secretly sent word to Shen Yidu of Xiaoyue Pavilion, telling him to find an opportunity to dispose of Chao Jing. His reason for choosing Shen Yidu was simple. The murder of the envoy from the State of Song had in fact been Xiaoyue Pavilion's doing. The affair involved conflict between states, and the State of Qin had only recently been established. Shen Yidu would know to leave himself a road of retreat.

What happened afterward exceeded Niu Youdao's expectations. Luo Fangfei suddenly appeared and ordered him out of Sacred Realm.

Niu Youdao had not wanted to leave before Chao Jing was dealt with, but Luo Fangfei insisted on forcing him out. He had no choice. There had been no time to make detailed arrangements before leaving. All he could do was give Shen Yidu a look, signaling that the matter absolutely had to be completed. Shen Yidu had understood and answered with a slight nod.

Once Niu Youdao left Sacred Realm, his haste to return to Zijin Cave was partly because of this very problem. If Chao Jing met with an accident during the tempering inside Sacred Realm, there was a danger that attention would turn toward Chao Shenghuai, the other man who knew the secret.

After returning to Zijin Cave and settling the disputes awaiting him there, Niu Youdao immediately began arranging this operation. The sooner it was done, the better. Chao Shenghuai had to be eliminated before some new complication arose.

Niu Youdao had actually been keeping watch on Chao Shenghuai for a long time. He had intended to use Chao Shenghuai as bait and wait for Shao Pingbo to make a move. Yet Shao Pingbo had remained hidden and inactive. In the end, before Shao Pingbo ever took the bait, Niu Youdao himself was the one who struck first and killed Chao Shenghuai.

As far as Niu Youdao was concerned, so long as the fact that Yuan Gang could command Butterfly Rakshasas remained hidden, everything else was secondary. He knew there were certain matters Sacred Realm and Misty Pavilion simply would not care about. That was why he had dared use Wuliang Mountain's people for the killing.

He had bypassed Gongsun Bu, sending Duan Hu directly to Myriad Forms City to issue orders to Wuliang Mountain's spies there. Even so, he knew there was no way to keep the matter from Gongsun Bu forever.

Using Wuliang Mountain's people had also been unavoidable. Killing Chao Shenghuai directly beneath Myriad Beasts Sect's nose was no simple matter. They needed people familiar with the local circumstances to cooperate, and they absolutely could not allow Myriad Beasts Sect to obtain evidence proving Niu Youdao had been behind it.

Gongsun Bu was certain to learn what had happened afterward. Niu Youdao had no intention of silencing him. To a certain extent, he had deliberately left open a channel through which the matter could leak to Misty Pavilion.

After making those arrangements, Niu Youdao had not been especially worried about whether Chao Shenghuai could be dealt with. His true concern lay with Chao Jing. Would Shen Yidu be able to eliminate him smoothly?

Then events once again departed from Niu Youdao's calculations. Huang Ban suddenly arrived and took him back into Sacred Realm.

That was also why, after Taishu Shancheng exposed Chao Jing, Chao Jing had worried that his grandson might fail to withstand pressure and let something slip, while Niu Youdao himself had not been worried in the slightest. Niu Youdao had seized the available opening and acted decisively. His plan for Chao Shenghuai was already one step ahead.

When Chao Shenghuai failed to return for a long time, the other Myriad Beasts Sect disciples at the inn finally noticed something was wrong. They searched everywhere, only to discover that Chao Shenghuai had somehow vanished.

Naturally, they dragged over the attendant who had delivered the message. Under intimidation, the man confessed what he knew.

The group stormed into the woman's room and found her still slumped across the dressing table, long since immobilized by acupoint strikes. After they woke her, she was terrified and utterly confused, with no idea what had happened.

They went to look for the proprietor next. Eventually, they found him beneath the couch in his own room. He too had been immobilized. Once awakened and questioned, he was just as bewildered.

Suspicion naturally fell most heavily on the attendant. The attendant insisted that the proprietor had instructed him from inside his room to deliver the message. The proprietor swore he had said no such thing.

After repeated questioning on both sides, they finally identified the crucial point: when the supposed instruction had been given, the proprietor had been inside his room with the door closed. The attendant had never actually seen him face-to-face.

In the end, everyone involved was taken back to Myriad Beasts Sect. The only certain conclusion was that Chao Shenghuai had truly disappeared.

Chao Shenghuai had some background, but in the greater scheme of things he was still a minor figure. Capturing him would not be enough to threaten Myriad Beasts Sect. Who would go to such trouble to move against him?

Elder Chao was inside Sacred Realm risking himself on behalf of the sect, yet back home his grandson had vanished under their watch. Naturally, Myriad Beasts Sect mobilized in force to search for him.

Night fell, and the sect was still searching. Yet one of Myriad Beasts Sect's deacon disciples, Tu Yuanpei, appeared alone in a secluded stretch of deep mountain. Under the moonlight, he stood looking around.

A gust of wind swept through. A man wrapped entirely in a black cloak flashed out from a crevice in the cliff face and rode the wind down to land before Tu Yuanpei.

Once Tu Yuanpei saw his face clearly, he cupped his hands in salute. "Greetings, Emissary Wang."

"Mm. The Pavilion has something for you to handle..." What Emissary Wang then brought up was, unexpectedly, the dispute between Taishu Shanyue and Chao Jing. He ordered Tu Yuanpei to find Chao Shenghuai and determine whether Chao Jing and his grandson truly had secret dealings with Niu Youdao. If they did, Tu Yuanpei was to uncover the full story behind that collusion. His final instruction was blunt: "Once you've found out the truth, silence Chao Shenghuai immediately."

Tu Yuanpei was stunned. Once he recovered, he said, "Emissary, I'm afraid you've come one step too late. Chao Shenghuai has disappeared. Myriad Beasts Sect is searching for him everywhere right now."

"Disappeared? At a time like this?" Emissary Wang sounded genuinely surprised. "Was it done by people from the Pavilion?"

"I don't know. No one from the Pavilion contacted me about it."

"Someone got ahead of us?" Emissary Wang murmured. Then cold light flashed in his hand. A concealed sleeve blade plunged straight into Tu Yuanpei's heart.

Tu Yuanpei's eyes flew wide.

At dawn, three people dressed in Misty Pavilion attire stood waiting beneath the trees in a mountain forest. A figure suddenly flew in from deeper among the peaks and reported, "Emissary Lu, we've lost contact with Tu Yuanpei. We temporarily activated another of our inside sources within Myriad Beasts Sect, but even they can't find any trace of him. And there's something else. Chao Shenghuai, the man Mr. Ding ordered us to find, has disappeared!"

[End of Chapter 1008]