Chapter 284: Reason

A battle that might have shaken the jianghu for years to come a story tavern storytellers could have lived on ten years later, a peerless display that future generations of young swordsmen might have dreamed about after hearing it a clash whose ripples could have blown all the way into the halls of court was actually brought to a halt by a single roar from the Blind Man.

Everything seemed to have been forcibly frozen in place.

The reversal came so quickly that even the people involved were caught off guard. Several Silver-Armored Guard experts felt their chests heave as the qi and blood they had already mobilized were abruptly suppressed again, leaving them with internal injuries.

“Cough... cough...”

Even the Sword Saint swayed slightly.

Not because he was hurt.

The Blind Man’s maneuver had simply thrown him completely off balance.

You motherfucker.

You’re a Yan man!

What kind of damned situation was this?

Could anything under Heaven be this absurd?

A man of Jin and a group of Qian people were preparing to fight to the death over a child only for a Yan man to put a dagger to that child’s throat!

And yet, the battle that had been on the verge of erupting really did stop.

Frost seemed to spread across Baili Xianglan’s beautiful face.

Clearly, her frustration was several times worse than the Sword Saint’s.

She had come here to rob the road.

Everything had been going perfectly well.

How had her side somehow become the one being threatened?

This time, Baili Xianglan finally looked seriously at the Blind Man.

Then, she recognized him.

“You’re from Yan!”

Back when Li Fusheng’s army was stationed outside Shangjing, Zheng Fan had gone to the State of Qian as an envoy. The Blind Man and A’Ming had accompanied him.

They had been sent away before Zheng Fan entered the palace, but on the way out of the capital afterward, Zheng Fan’s party had been ambushed by Chu’s covert agents and nearly surrounded and annihilated by Qian troops under Zu Dongling.

Baili Xianglan had appeared then, broken the deadlock, and allowed Zheng Fan and the others to leave the city.

At the time, however, the Blind Man had merely stood behind Zheng Fan and attracted little notice. He had not left much of an impression on Baili Xianglan.

Their second encounter had been outside Shangjing, but the timely arrival of the Zhenbei Army had forced the Baili siblings to retreat into the city before any real exchange took place.

Even so, once the “spotlight” fell upon the Blind Man, Baili Xianglan quickly recognized who he was.

“Yes. I am a Yan man,” the Blind Man replied as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Baili Xianglan’s expression rapidly calmed.

She might not compare with her elder brother, but she was certainly no ordinary expert. Otherwise, the Emperor of Qian would never have chosen her as one of his personal guards.

Her ability to steady her state of mind was excellent.

Unfortunately, the person standing opposite her was one of the most shameless old schemers among the Demon Kings.

“Interesting. You are a Yan man, yet you are using the child of another Yan man to threaten me.”

“What of it?” the Blind Man asked. “Am I not allowed?”

“You can try.”

“You’re provoking me?” the Blind Man said with a smile.

“What? You don’t dare?”

Baili Xianglan’s voice was cold.

“I truly don’t dare.

“This child is precious.

“He is the Marquis’s son.

“One day, he will almost certainly inherit his father’s noble title.

“When he grows up, aside from the Crown Prince, how many people beneath Heaven will possess a status more exalted than his?

“But there is no helping it.

“Since he is the Marquis’s son, he must bear the responsibilities that come with it.”

The Blind Man’s tone abruptly became righteous and forceful, like a speaker delivering a report at a grand assembly.

“As the son of the Marquis, inheriting the glory of the Marquis of Jingnan’s line, how could he allow himself to be seized by an enemy state, to live under another’s roof as a hostage to be manipulated and used for threats?”

The Sword Saint frowned.

Baili Xianglan suddenly felt that matters were beginning to slide beyond her control.

The Blind Man continued roaring, “You think I don’t dare kill him?

“I can tell you responsibly right now—if I kill him today, then even if you people let me return alive and do not kill me yourselves, the Marquis will not execute me for it.

“On the contrary, he will promote me, ennoble me, and petition the court to reward my merit!

“The Marquis was willing to exterminate his own entire clan for Great Yan.

“How could he possibly be unwilling to sacrifice a single son?

“How could he possibly sit and watch while this child is carried away by your State of Qian’s Silver-Armored Guard and raised at the side of your imperial house, only to be used as a hostage and a threat?

“If I kill him, then no matter how much the Marquis hates me in his heart, no matter how much he despises me—he will still reward me.

“I’ll live very well!”

The Sword Saint could not refute those words.

Because he felt the Blind Man was right.

Baili Xianglan could not refute them either.

Because Tian Wujing truly was the sort of man capable of doing exactly that.

This was the power of reputation.

In the entire world, aside from the Marquis of Zhenbei and the Emperor of Yan, the person who probably understood Tian Wujing best was General Zheng Fan.

Everyone else looking at Tian Wujing was really looking at something more like a cold, emotionless weapon.

The Blind Man deliberately licked his lips in an exaggerated manner.

Then he forcibly twisted his face into the vicious grin of a villain.

“Go on.

“Ask me again.

“See whether I dare kill him.”

Baili Xianglan’s gaze narrowed slightly.

The surrounding Silver-Armored Guard experts still did not dare move recklessly.

The Blind Man continued shouting, “If I kill him, I earn rank and wealth.

“But what about you?

“What about your State of Qian?

“Hahahahahahaha...!

“If he dies, the Marquis’s son dies.

“The son of the Marquis of Jingnan dies.

“The young heir of the Jingnan Army is gone.

“And then your State of Qian will face the fury of the entire Jingnan Army!

“The war between Yan and Qian will erupt again immediately!

“You.

“You.

“You over there.

“And you, and you, and you...

“Can any of you make that decision on behalf of your Emperor?

“When you return home and report that you successfully reignited the flames of war, how do you think your Emperor will reward such magnificent merit?

“Will he grant your wives and children titles and honors?”

The Sword Saint clicked his tongue several times.

Beautiful.

Those words were truly beautiful.

The Silver-Armored Guard experts exchanged glances.

As senior members of an intelligence organization, they naturally understood the movements of the Qian court.

The northern half of Qian was currently suffering from grain shortages.

Grain from Jiangnan was being transferred north without pause.

At the same time, expansion of the new armies had only just begun.

His Majesty was working tirelessly to prepare for the next war.

The next war.

Not a war right now.

If his son died, would Tian Wujing fly into a rage and launch a war between states on his own authority?

The answer was quite possibly.

Because that fit Tian Wujing’s reputation.

It fit the Emperor of Yan’s reputation.

And, for that matter, it fit the reputation of the entire State of Yan.

The Blind Man laid the child across his thighs.

His right hand kept the dagger pressed there.

His left hand waved invitingly.

“Come on!

“Come on!

“What are you waiting for?

“If this child lives, I have accomplished a great merit for my state.

“If this child dies by my hand, I still gain wealth and honor for half a lifetime!

“Even if you kill Lord Sword Saint here, then take my head after I kill this child—my family will still be rewarded handsomely!

“No matter how I calculate it, I do not lose!”

Baili Xianglan said in a low voice, “What if you die here without anyone ever knowing?”

“Hahahaha...!”

The Blind Man burst out laughing again.

He laughed so hard tears nearly came to his eyes.

Then he said, “This is why people say women have long hair and short sight.

“Fine.

“You managed to slip several dozen men in here without anyone noticing.

“But don’t flatter yourselves into believing you can leave absolutely no trace afterward.

“And let us take another ten thousand steps back.

“Suppose you really do clean up every loose end perfectly.

“Suppose you leave no evidence at all.

“If my Marquis wants to be angry, if Great Yan wants somewhere to pour out its fury—and we do not attack Qian, who else are we supposed to attack?

“Do we need a reason to attack your State of Qian?

“If there is no reason, we can simply invent one.

“No matter what, blaming this child’s death on Qian would be the most profitable and most appropriate choice.

“The court would believe it.

“The jianghu would believe it.

“Even ordinary commoners would believe it.

“And finally—you really think you people can clean this up without leaving anything behind?

“Heh.

“What a joke.”

The Blind Man dragged out the final word.

The Sword Saint felt that he had truly learned bad habits.

Ever since losing to Tian Wujing, he had genuinely felt himself degenerating.

Because now, he had actually understood the Blind Man’s implication.

Still, the Sword Saint did not hesitate for long.

He raised the fingertips that had been dripping blood earlier to his mouth and began sucking on them.

Then he waved a hand and said, “I’m done fighting.

“Done fighting.

“A child of Yan, fought over by people of Qian—what does that have to do with a remnant of the Three Jin like me?

“Throwing my life away here for nothing would hardly be worth it.

“No more fighting.

“No more fighting.

“If you people want to fight, if you want to kill—then please, continue.”

The sword in Baili Xianglan’s hand trembled.

If the Sword Saint was absolutely determined to protect the child, then even if half of the experts present died, they could probably bury the Sword Saint here today.

But if the Sword Saint devoted himself entirely to escaping who could stop him?

As long as the Sword Saint survived, then today’s events would inevitably have a living witness.

And that witness was a man of such status that no one could simply silence him afterward.

“Heh.”

Baili Xianglan laughed.

The Blind Man immediately said, “Laugh a few more times.

“It’ll help cover your disappointment and embarrassment.”

“Heh-heh-heh.

“When Sir accompanied Zheng Fan into Shangjing back then, I actually overlooked you.

“May I ask Sir’s honorable name?”

The Blind Man answered with complete ease, “My surname is Fan.

“My given name is Li.

“Fan Li.”

“I’ll remember it.”

“Please do.”

Baili Xianglan turned toward the Sword Saint.

“My lord, the Jin lands are in chaos.

“If you do not object, perhaps you might someday visit my Baili Clan.

“My elder brother often speaks of you.”

“I will visit in the future,” the Sword Saint replied.

Both sides were giving one another a way down.

Baili Xianglan continued, “This affair was not our doing.”

“What affair?”

The Sword Saint looked genuinely puzzled.

“The matter with the child.

“We received word that the person in question might have been exposed.

“That was why we hurried here to receive her.”

“Why tell me any of that?” the Sword Saint asked.

The Blind Man, however, nodded.

“I understand.”

Baili Xianglan waved a hand.

The several dozen Silver-Armored Guard experts began withdrawing.

Then

Baili Xianglan herself drifted away, turning into a pale-yellow silhouette that swiftly vanished into the distance.

The Blind Man lowered the dagger in his hand.

Then he released a long breath.

The Sword Saint, meanwhile, sat down rather dejectedly.

He tilted his head back and stared at the sky.

The Blind Man asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

“I watched you use the strength of a state to crush people.

“I’m envious.”

The Blind Man smiled bitterly.

“Here we go again.”

“I persuaded my younger brother to rebel against the Emperor of Jin.

“In the end, even the old imperial heartland was lost.

“I helped Situ Lei kill his father.

“And now the savages are rampaging across the Situ Clan’s territory.

“Everything I touch turns to shit.

“It looks as though I have done a great many things, yet every last one of them ends in a complete mess.

“Truthfully, I really wanted to fight to my heart’s content just now.

“First, I could use the blood of the Silver-Armored Guard to give this swordsman of a fallen state one final story for later generations to talk about.

“And second—dying here would not have been such a bad release.

“Sometimes, when I think about it carefully, Tian Wujing really was not wrong.

“The jianghu... in the end, is simply not something fit to stand on the great stage.”

“The savages may defeat the Situ Clan and come pouring west.”

“I know.”

“I know a place where you can kill savages.”

“Heh.

“Interesting.

“My younger brother died at your hands, and now you still have the nerve to trick me into selling my life for you?

“To become a genuine Yan hound?

“Never mind whether I am willing.

“Are you even worthy of ordering me?

“Is that place called Shengle City worthy of it?”

His state was gone.

But he still had his sword.

And he was still the Sword Saint.

The Blind Man smiled.

“If you work for the Marquis of Jingnan, then naturally the world will say you went to become a dog for Yan.”

“And if I go to Shengle?”

“How is that any different?”

“That City Defender of Shengle is a lowly, doglike thing.

“How could someone like him possibly be worthy of commanding you?

“The world will only think that you, the Sword Saint, chose on your own initiative to kill savages for the surviving people of Great Xia.

“The Yan people inside Shengle City would naturally be expected to follow your lead.

“The way the story is told would be completely different.

“That way, your sword gains somewhere worthy to be used.

“You preserve both face and substance.

“Kill some savages.

“Think about life for a while.

“Once the savages are driven back—or once you have thought things through—if you want to leave, or if you grow tired of it, you simply leave.

“The sword of the Sword Saint is forever free.

“Any rope that tries to bind such a sword will snap on its own.”

The Sword Saint thought for a moment.

Then he said, “What you’re saying... does seem to make a little sense.”

——————

[End of Chapter 284]