Chapter 1559: Do I Know You?

Nantian Wufang? Left Envoy of the Demonic Sect? Guan Fangyi happened to overhear the name.

In truth, whenever she saw Yuan Gang whispering secretly with Niu Youdao, she could hardly resist pressing her ear right up against them to listen.

This time they happened to be standing close together on the waterside platform. How could she possibly resist eavesdropping?

Once Niu Youdao learned the man had arrived, his gaze also slid toward Guan Fangyi.

Guan Fangyi immediately pretended she had heard nothing. She casually took Shang Shuqing's hand and leaned close to whisper something in her ear. Whatever she said left Shang Shuqing thoroughly embarrassed.

Niu Youdao fell silent for a moment, then tilted his head in a signal. Yuan Gang turned and left without a word.

"What are you two talking about?" Niu Youdao asked with a smile.

Guan Fangyi said disdainfully, "Women's business. Why should a grown man like you worry about it?"

Shyness hid in Shang Shuqing's eyes.

Niu Youdao smiled and said nothing. He rested both hands atop the sword planted before him and swept his gaze across the reed beds stirring in the wind. Then, in a voice neither loud nor soft, he said, "Hongniang, there's something I want to tell you, but I don't know whether I should."

Guan Fangyi gave an exaggerated little cry. "Listen to you. Say it if you want. If you don't, there's nothing I can do about it."

That was what she said, but her habitual curiosity could not be changed. Niu Youdao rarely spoke this way, which only made her more curious. She could not help asking, "What is it? Go on."

Niu Youdao said, "There are things I don't know whether I did right or wrong, but I did them anyway. None of us can guarantee how what we're about to face will end. If something happens, I don't want you left with regrets, so I went ahead and did this."

"You've followed me for so many years. Consider it an accounting I owe you."

Guan Fangyi looked suspicious. "Why are you suddenly talking in riddles? What are you up to? Regrets? What regrets could I have?"

Shang Shuqing was curious too. She had no idea what Master Dao was about to say.

Niu Youdao said, "If that heartless man... if the man who led you onto the path of cultivation... if the man who caused you to fall into the red dust... if that man could still be found, would you want to see him?"

Guan Fangyi froze where she stood.

She stared at him in stunned silence, almost in fear.

The round fan went still in her hand, while that hand itself began trembling faintly.

A false face covered her expression, but beneath it her complexion had already gone deathly pale.

Shang Shuqing was baffled. She only half understood Niu Youdao's words and had no idea what story lay behind them, but she could feel Guan Fangyi's hand trembling around hers. Guan Fangyi's entire body had begun trembling involuntarily, and her breathing had quickened.

Niu Youdao slowly turned his head toward her and said word by word, "I found that man for you. He's already here, outside the warehouse. Whether you see him is your decision."

Guan Fangyi opened her mouth, then stopped.

Scenes from the past flashed through her mind one after another.

Without realizing it, she let go of Shang Shuqing's hand.

At last, her voice trembling, she said, "Nantian... Nantian Wufang? Is it him?"

Niu Youdao nodded. "His status within the Demonic Sect stands on equal footing with Wu Chang's. In one sense, his standing in the sect is even slightly higher than Wu Chang's. Left Envoy of the Demonic Sect, Nantian Wufang. It is him."

Guan Fangyi abruptly denied it. "Impossible! How could it be him? Absolutely impossible!"

Niu Youdao said calmly, "Your original name was Guan Honghua. He was the one who changed your name to Guan Fangyi."

"..."

Guan Fangyi's eyes went wide.

She staggered back one step as though struck by lightning, her chest rising and falling violently.

The surprise in Shang Shuqing's eyes was obvious too. She had no idea what sort of past was buried inside this conversation, but Guan Fangyi's loss of composure made it clear that this was no simple matter to her.

Niu Youdao said, "He's outside. If you want to see him, I'll have him brought in. If you don't, then you don't. I'll make him leave and ensure he never appears before you again."

"If you want him dead, that can be arranged too. I'll handle it."

Crack!

The handle of Guan Fangyi's round fan snapped in her grip. The fan fell to the ground.

She clenched both fists and rasped, "Tell him to get lost. Tell him to go die!"

"Fine."

Niu Youdao turned and walked away.

But just as he reached the doorway, Guan Fangyi suddenly shouted, "Stop! I want to see whether it's really him."

Niu Youdao gave a small acknowledgment and walked into the warehouse. He beckoned to Yuan Gang, who had been waiting for instructions.

Yuan Gang hurried over, bringing Zhao Xiongge with him. Nantian Wufang had been brought here by Zhao Xiongge.

Niu Youdao said, "Bring him in."

Yuan Gang nodded and strode outside.

Zhao Xiongge glanced toward the rear of the warehouse and asked, "With her present cultivation, Nantian Wufang is no match for her. Nothing's going to happen, is it?"

Niu Youdao said, "So what if something does?"

Zhao Xiongge glared. "I'm telling you, if something happens to him, I won't be able to explain it to the Demonic Sect."

Niu Youdao said, "This has nothing to do with the Demonic Sect. It's a private matter between the two of them. Sooner or later it has to be settled. Whatever the result, we won't interfere. Let them resolve it themselves."

"Besides, if Hongniang truly wants to harm him, how many times do you think you can stop her? Can you tie Nantian Wufang to your belt for the rest of his life?"

"Leave it alone. Life and death follow fate; right and wrong belong to the people involved."

Zhao Xiongge glared. "Then why didn't you do this earlier? You waited until she had the strength to avenge herself before arranging this? Aren't you obviously taking her side?"

Niu Youdao could not be bothered answering.

Of course he was taking her side.

Now the initiative over how Nantian Wufang would be dealt with rested entirely in Hongniang's hands.

So what?

Niu Youdao had never considered himself some upright gentleman.

On the waterside platform, Shang Shuqing hesitated again and again before finally stepping forward and taking Guan Fangyi's hand.

Outside the warehouse, Yuan Gang walked up to Nantian Wufang. He looked around, then said quietly, "Go inside. Follow me."

He turned.

Nantian Wufang suddenly called after him, "Brother, she... how did she react?"

Yuan Gang stopped and looked back. "How do you want her to react?"

"I..."

Nantian Wufang fell speechless.

"I don't know how she reacted. You've already come this far. You can't hide from it now. Let's go."

Yuan Gang beckoned him onward.

Nantian Wufang's feet felt impossibly heavy. He could barely move them.

The tension in his heart could not be described. His mind had already lost the ability to think normally.

Yuan Gang helped him along by simply grabbing his arm and dragging him away.

Once Nantian Wufang was pulled into the warehouse, his gaze immediately swept around in panic.

He did not see the person he wanted to see.

Niu Youdao tilted his head in a signal.

Yuan Gang dragged Nantian Wufang straight to the warehouse's rear door and gave him a casual shove, sending him out onto the waterside platform.

Guan Fangyi heard the footsteps and knew he had arrived, but she did not dare turn around. Her lips were pressed tightly together as she stared at the river.

Nantian Wufang's gaze paused briefly on Shang Shuqing before finally settling on Guan Fangyi.

He had found his target.

A look of unbearable pain gradually entered his eyes.

"Commandery Princess, come inside for a moment."

Niu Youdao's voice came from within the warehouse.

Shang Shuqing looked at the newcomer twice and understood that she was being asked to give them privacy. She gave Nantian Wufang a slight nod, then quickly returned inside and stood beside Niu Youdao, waiting with the others to hear what would happen outside.

The waterside platform was very quiet.

River waves rippled.

Reeds rose and fell in the wind.

In the end, Nantian Wufang was the one who broke the silence.

His voice was bitter.

"Fangyi..."

Guan Fangyi whipped around and cut him off without the slightest courtesy.

"Who are you?"

Nantian Wufang choked into silence.

His hand seemed to weigh a thousand catties as he slowly raised it, caught the edge of his false face, and peeled it away.

His true appearance was revealed.

At the sight of that face, older and more weathered but unquestionably the one in her memories, Guan Fangyi felt as though her heart had split apart.

She took two steps forward and slapped him across the face.

Smack!

Nantian Wufang's body swayed slightly.

Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth where his head had snapped aside.

He turned back toward her and forced a smile at the figure before him, whose chest was heaving violently.

"Fangyi..."

Smack!

Before he could finish, Guan Fangyi backhanded him across the face again.

"What kind of thing are you? Who gave you the right to call my name?"

Smack!

Another slap.

"Do I know you?"

Her blows grew heavier.

Her emotions slipped farther and farther beyond control.

Guan Fangyi struck him again and again.

Nantian Wufang did not resist in the slightest.

Finally, with a boom, Guan Fangyi lost control and used real force.

Nantian Wufang was blasted away and crashed into the reed beds.

Guan Fangyi flashed after him, rushed into the reeds, hauled him back out, and continued beating him savagely.

Inside the warehouse, Zhao Xiongge finally could not endure watching any longer and moved to intervene.

The instant he shifted, Yuan Gang reached out and caught his arm.

Zhao Xiongge snapped his head around and used spiritual power to wrench himself free, only to discover that Yuan Gang's raw strength was so tremendous he could not break loose.

This was a man who could match strength with the Holy Rakshasa. Competing with Yuan Gang in sheer force was naturally no simple matter.

"Let go!" Zhao Xiongge roared.

Shing!

Yuan Gang drew his saber.

The blade of the Three-Roars Saber settled across Zhao Xiongge's neck.

"You can try."

"You..."

Zhao Xiongge was almost angered into laughter.

He looked back at Niu Youdao. "You asked me to bring the man here, and this is what you do? What the hell is this supposed to be?"

Receiving no answer, he turned toward the rear door and shouted outside, "Hongniang, you have no idea what he's been through all these years! If you want to kill him, shouldn't you at least hear his explanation first?"

"If you won't even give him a chance to speak, you'll regret it!"

Guan Fangyi had already stopped.

Using spiritual power, she stood upon the river surface and stared down at the blood spreading beneath her feet.

She watched that motionless face slowly sink below the water, disappearing little by little from sight.

Niu Youdao tilted his head toward Yuan Gang.

Yuan Gang removed the saber from Zhao Xiongge's neck and released him.

Zhao Xiongge immediately shot through the rear doorway.

Nantian Wufang was nowhere in sight.

He flashed to Guan Fangyi's side, saw the blood beneath her feet, and turned pale with shock.

He plunged beneath the water.

Splash!

He burst out again almost immediately, carrying the unconscious Nantian Wufang in his arms.

Zhao Xiongge flashed back into the warehouse, found a place to lay the man flat, fed him a Heavenly Succor Pill, and urgently circulated his power to save him.

Niu Youdao looked back.

Judging from Zhao Xiongge's frantic manner, Nantian Wufang was probably gravely injured even if he was not dead.

Shang Chaozong and Meng Shanming had witnessed the entire affair from inside the warehouse, but neither had any idea what was actually happening.

Guan Fangyi returned to the platform looking as though her soul had been lost.

Suddenly she collapsed to the floor.

Memories came flooding back.

She remembered everything from the past.

She remembered all she had endured in Qi Capital.

Tears escaped her despite herself.

Gradually she began sobbing.

At last she collapsed sideways across the platform and wailed aloud, weeping so violently it seemed her heart and lungs were tearing apart.

Shang Shuqing wanted to go out and comfort her.

Niu Youdao raised a hand to stop her and shook his head.

Shang Shuqing could only remain where she was.

Yuan Gang turned and walked away.

[End of Chapter 1559]