Chapter 928: In This World, Only I Am the True Fan Li!

At first, the commoners gathered along the riverbank were genuinely dumbfounded.

How had a perfectly normal sacrificial rite suddenly turned into this?

A large ship had rammed over a smaller one.

Many of the men dressed as sailors aboard the larger vessel had drawn bows and crossbows and begun shooting the Qi Refiners struggling in the river.

These “Qi Refiners” really did little more than hang a sect’s name over themselves.

In truth, even their sect itself survived by hanging Qian’s Back Mountain over its own signboard.

Immortals who could summon clouds and ride mist naturally did not exist among them.

Even disciples with a little genuine cultivation were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

So there was no spectacular scene of “immortals battling.”

Quite a few of them could not even swim.

They could only thrash helplessly in the river.

The yamen runners on both banks originally intended to intervene.

The wars across Jin had ended only a few years ago, and many of these runners had once earned their meals in military camps. Their skills were respectable.

But just as they prepared to act... they saw cavalry in brocade robes galloping toward them.

Prince Pingxi Residence.

Brocade-Clad personal guards!

Ordinary commoners could not recognize a formal princely order.

Even if one slapped the Prince’s seal directly against their faces, most would have no idea what they were looking at.

But Brocade-Clad personal guards... those they knew.

Over the past two years, “community operas” from eastern Jin had spread constantly through the wider Jin lands.

Whenever the Prince appeared, agile martial performers dressed as Brocade-Clad personal guards inevitably stood beside him as protection.

It had practically become part of the standard staging.

And in teahouse storytellers’ mouths, whenever a great battle reached its climax, the Brocade-Clad personal guards would inevitably defend the Prince with their lives.

Only after the guards could no longer hold would the Prince draw Wuya, step forward with one saber... and casually cut off the enemy commander’s head.

As for why the Prince did not simply attack earlier and instead insisted on letting a batch of his personal guards die first... the audiences had not yet noticed that problem.

Since nobody asked, the storytellers naturally had no need to invent an explanation.

Whatever the case... the instant the Brocade-Clad personal guards appeared, everyone present—commoners and government men alike—understood that the matter before them no longer had anything to do with them.

Prince Pingxi’s fief lay in eastern Jin.

But eastern Jin... was still part of Jin.

If the Emperor wanted to gather Yan troops and send them over, that took time.

The Prince’s army merely had to cross a river.

Here...

Prince Pingxi was the Heaven of Jin.

So the same commoners who had been enthusiastically cheering the ritual only moments before all fell silent.

As for the handsome men and beautiful women struggling in the water... they now suffered merciless shooting from both ship and shore.

A dwarf.

And a huge man.

Those two killed with the greatest enthusiasm.

Once the slaughter ended... the large ship came alongside the bank.

Zheng Fan stepped ashore.

That winter years ago, he had been assassinated upon the frozen Wang River.

Qi Refiners from Yingdu’s Directorate of Astronomy had participated.

The greatest killing move, however, had come when Li Xundao of Qian’s Back Mountain directly uttered one sentence: inviting him up the mountain for tea.

The incident had never been publicized widely.

For one thing, Zheng Fan himself could not be bothered.

For another, Back Mountain had suffered a tremendous loss.

Not only had the last White Lotus left behind by Master Cang been destroyed, Li Xundao’s own cultivation had been damaged as well.

They had lost both wife and soldiers, so to speak.

Why would the Qian people advertise their own humiliation?

Thus, although Yingdu’s Directorate of Astronomy had afterward undergone a purge, the matter had largely remained confined to the upper levels and had not spread into a broad suppression beneath them.

After all, a state-wide decision involving religious or cultivation affiliations was something only a handful of people in any country possessed the authority to make.

By coincidence... the present Prince Pingxi was now one of those people.

“Pass the order down. From this day forward, any Qi Refiner connected to Back Mountain who dares cross the Wang River... kill without pardon.”

“This subordinate understands,” the Blind Man immediately said. “Once we return, I’ll send formal notices in every direction. I imagine once our notice goes out, Yanjing will probably issue one as well. They simply may not go quite as far as we do.”

Given the relationship between the Emperor and Prince Pingxi... whatever Prince Pingxi did, the Emperor would usually help support the stage.

From this day onward, Qi Refiners of Back Mountain and forces associated with them would probably lose most of their room to exist throughout northern All Xia.

The corpses on the river were already being recovered.

The blood that had dyed the water crimson was rapidly thinning away.

Siniang had given the order.

But one only needed to look at the fact that Siniang had advanced to understand clearly:

Master had not believed she had done anything wrong.

On the contrary... he had believed with absolute certainty that she had done well.

These corpses were innocent.

But far more innocent things happened every moment beneath Heaven.

That night in the laborer camp in the desert... had already taught Zheng Fan to understand that.

As for whether announcing the suppression of Qian’s Back Mountain through blood and formal decrees would provoke Qian’s Qi Refiners—or even the entire Qi Refiner class—into common outrage... heh.

The Prince truly was not worried in the slightest.

Over the past several years, he had dealt with more than enough Qi Refiners.

His understanding of the group had become deeper and deeper.

Summed up in one sentence:

All Qi Refiners are paper tigers!

...

The Prince and the Demon Kings returned to Fengxin City.

All those who had remained behind, carrying anxiety for so long, finally relaxed.

The pillars holding up the household had returned.

Running the place by themselves had not been especially enjoyable.

Mostly, it had meant night after night of lying awake, exhausting every scrap of energy worrying about one thing after another.

This “team-building excursion” had nevertheless produced excellent results.

Not only had the Blind Man, Xue San, and Fan Li recovered another level...

Siniang’s later breakthrough had finally illuminated the direction.

Xue San and Fan Li might not have grasped it clearly.

But the Blind Man at least understood.

So after returning to Fengxin City, aside from handling the official work in his hands, the Blind Man devoted himself constantly to one other affair.

Mysteriously.

Late one night...

Xue San, Fan Li, and A’Ming arrived outside the Blind Man’s home.

None concealed their identities.

Nor did they intend to spy.

With the Blind Man’s abilities, trying to eavesdrop on him here would be extremely difficult.

Xue San stepped forward and knocked.

Yuexin opened the door.

“My husband said in advance that the three of you would come tonight, so he asked me to prepare extra food.”

None of them stood on ceremony.

They walked straight inside.

The Blind Man sat in the courtyard, cooling himself with a paper fan.

Several cold dishes stood on the table.

Bowls and chopsticks had already been set out.

But aside from...

Fan Li... nobody had really come here for dinner.

Fan Li sat down, picked up his chopsticks, and immediately launched an assault upon the century-egg tofu, smashed cucumber, and peanuts.

Apparently, the household had anticipated him.

All three cold dishes had been served in small basins rather than plates.

Xue San got straight to the point.

“Blind Man, we came to learn the scripture.”

The Blind Man nodded.

“I know.”

“And?” Third Master prompted.

“Once I finish my own attempt, I’ll tell all of you. And I’ll even tell you the direc... tion.”

“Good,” Fan Li immediately approved.

Xue San and A’Ming saw nothing wrong with the arrangement either.

Every time a new round of advancement arrived, things always worked this way.

It was not selfish hoarding.

Everyone simply wanted to be among the first to advance.

Everyone wanted to recover more strength one step earlier.

If nothing else, after A’Ming and Siniang advanced first during the previous round, they enjoyed more than a full year of advantage over everyone else.

Advance first, enjoy first.

Advance first, swagger first.

Nobody wanted to be the tail-end loser.

Naturally, nobody would truly conceal the method.

But the premise was that you succeeded first.

Afterward, you shared every scrap of experience without reservation.

The reason people did not explain tentative methods in advance was that the earlier attempts enjoyed the greatest benefit.

Later ones... were like drinking too much chicken soup in one sitting.

Eventually you got sick of it.

The effect dropped sharply.

And naturally, the difficulty rose.

“So are you ready?” Xue San asked.

The Blind Man nodded.

“Yes. I’ll go see Master shortly.”

At that moment, Yuexin began bringing out hot dishes.

Her cooking was decent.

She could not prepare grand banquet food, but she was very capable with homestyle dishes.

To some extent, both the Blind Man and Master had unusually high standards regarding the small details of everyday life.

A’Ming noticed that one basin of maoxuewang had also appeared on the table.

Given that he had come here asking to learn the method...

A’Ming pretended not to see it.

The Blind Man picked up one slice of blood curd with his chopsticks and put it into his mouth.

While eating, he said:

“Actually, this round is very simple. No licking required. No blocking sabers or arrows either.”

A’Ming took a drink from his wineskin.

Then calmly said:

“I think blocking sabers and arrows is simpler.”

“Exactly, exactly,” Fan Li immediately agreed through a mouthful of food.

At worst, one got hurt.

Master became moved.

As long as Master willingly placed himself near danger and the overall risk remained controllable, the process was actually very straightforward.

After all...

Fan Li had thick skin.

A’Ming had a thick health bar.

If every advancement could be exchanged for one severe injury... the two of them would gladly accept it.

The Blind Man laughed.

“This time, all you need to do is use your brain. So it’s simple.”

Fan Li raised his head.

He looked at the Blind Man in confusion.

“You call that simple?”

“Fine, fine. Eat first. Once we’re done, all of you come with me to see Master.”

...

When Zheng Fan learned the Blind Man wanted to see him, he was lying in bed.

Siniang had only just finished treating his wounds.

They were healing very well.

Once she finished, Siniang rested Master’s head on her thighs and began massaging him.

“Guess what he wants?” Zheng Fan asked.

“What else could it be?” Siniang smiled.

“True.”

Zheng Fan sat up.

He had originally intended to go to bed early tonight.

“Master, this servant will fetch some water and wipe your face.”

“Good.”

Zheng Fan did not refuse.

When it came to helping the Demon Kings advance... they were not the only ones who became exhausted.

After washing his face and dressing, Zheng Fan left the room and walked into the courtyard.

The Blind Man and the others were already waiting.

And... three tables had been arranged in the courtyard.

Every one was piled high with booklets.

“What performance is this?”

“Master, these are the detailed plans this subordinate prepared for the next four years. Everything is recorded in detail. None of the projections are groundless. Four years from now, Master will be able to mobilize the army. This subordinate has always known that Master carries the ambition of unifying All Xia. This subordinate has never dared slacken and is willing to help Master complete this lifelong aspiration!”

After saying that... the Blind Man knelt.

Xue San’s eyes lit up.

Even A’Ming’s expression became unusually solemn.

The two knelt as well.

Perhaps they could piggyback on the Blind Man’s momentum?

Only Fan Li, standing at the very back, frowned.

He felt the matter should not be this simple.

Still...

Fan Li knelt too.

Zheng Fan stood there and drew a deep breath.

Slowly... he raised both hands.

As Master.

As Prince.

He was trying.

Trying to make his own heart swell with enough heroic ambition to match this grand undertaking.

In short... it was somewhat forced.

A little dry.

A little stiff.

There had been no buildup.

He could only add dramatic music inside his own head.

Then... roughly five minutes passed.

Not only did the others trying to piggyback experience nothing... even the Blind Man himself showed no fluctuation of aura whatsoever.

Uh...

Failure?

The Blind Man raised his head.

Disappointment appeared on his face.

Xue San blinked repeatedly at him.

Third Master had prepared nothing himself, so failing to ride someone else’s wave meant nothing.

But the Blind Man had prepared all this and still failed.

Third Master naturally delighted in his misfortune.

A’Ming shook his head faintly.

Earlier, while they were eating at the Blind Man’s home, the man had sounded so confident that A’Ming had even forced himself to eat two extra mouthfuls of maoxuewang for the sake of “remembering bitterness and savoring sweetness.”

Who would have guessed... the Blind Man would wipe out this badly?

Fan Li scratched his head.

Zheng Fan said apologetically:

“Sorry. I already tried my best to get into it.”

When it came to helping the Demon Kings advance...

Zheng Fan genuinely had never been perfunctory.

“Master need not worry. This subordinate simply was not prepared well enough. It was too deliberate and lost the warmth. This subordinate thought the matter too simply.”

The Blind Man stood and brushed the dust from his knees.

“Mm. Once you think of a better method, come find me immediately.”

“Yes. This subordinate understands.”

“What about the rest of you?” Zheng Fan asked.

Xue San, A’Ming, and Fan Li all shook their heads to indicate they were not ready.

“There’s no rush. We can take our time. Siniang already succeeded. If Siniang can do it, all of you definitely can too.”

“Yes. We understand.”

“Then I’m going back.”

“We respectfully see Master off.”

“We respectfully see Master off.”

After Zheng Fan left...

Xue San curled his lip.

“There are plenty of things Siniang can do that none of us can.”

Demon Child was Master’s biological son.

Siniang was Master’s wife.

Among the Seven Demon Kings, those two held special identities.

The remaining five really did stand one layer farther away.

That was not resentment.

It was simply fact.

“What a pity Master doesn’t favor the male wind,” Xue San sighed. “Otherwise, A’Ming, you’d have a chance.”

A’Ming looked at Xue San.

“Want to fight?”

“Ha! This grandpa is the same level as you now. You still think it’s last year, when you could bully me? Fight, then. Who’s afraid of who?”

“Then let’s fight.”

“You’re not allowed to bring your blood bag!”

“Fine.”

Xue San and A’Ming left first.

The Blind Man looked toward Fan Li.

Seeing that Fan Li had not gone, he asked:

“Something else?”

Fan Li shook his head.

“No.”

“Then I’m going home.”

“I’m going too.”

...

One failed attempt at advancement caused no further waves.

The Blind Man stopped behaving mysteriously and became openly relaxed instead.

During the following period, he invited the other Demon Kings to his house several more times for continued meetings.

He even invited Siniang twice to share her experience and deliver “success speeches.”

The Demon Kings were all busy.

But nobody skipped these meetings.

Well... except Liang Cheng, who was still outside commanding troops.

He was still one entire level behind anyway.

So his absence did not matter much.

As the permanent last-place student in the class... his performance was extremely stable.

But after meeting again and again... no matter how they discussed it... they still failed to develop another concrete, usable method.

Even the Blind Man had to admit that his earlier understanding of Siniang’s successful advancement had been far too shallow.

Still... at the end of every meeting, the Blind Man delivered a concluding speech.

The theme was generally the same:

Nothing in this world is difficult for one who has determination.

Grind an iron pestle long enough, and it becomes a needle!

Tonight... another meeting ended without much result.

As Xue San walked out of the Blind Man’s home, he could not help sighing:

“Fuck. This is starting to feel like an MLM rally. Invite a successful example to give a speech, sit around discussing the secret to success, then finish by shouting slogans at one another to pump ourselves up.”

A’Ming ignored Xue San’s muttering.

He waved and returned to the wine cellar.

A fresh shipment of authentic grape wine had recently arrived from the west.

He was eager to taste it.

Half an hour later... a carriage stopped outside the Blind Man’s home.

The Blind Man opened the door and climbed aboard.

The man inside immediately saluted him with great respect.

“At last, I meet you again.”

“I too am very glad to see you again.”

“May I ask what has happened? Why did you require us to separate from the caravan along the way and deliberately conceal our tracks before entering the city?”

“I will explain that matter later. For now, I am taking you to meet our King.”

“King... If I had known back in Beifeng Commandery that all of you could reach where you are today, I would never have gone back to fight for the position of heir. I wasted years struggling over it and nearly lost my life.”

“It is still not too late. Believe me. Here, you will find a new beginning for your life’s work.”

“Thank you, my lord. You truly are my benefactor.”

“And you are mine.”

At that moment... a furry tail swayed over.

The Blind Man reached out and scratched it.

The husky crouched inside the carriage and gave the Blind Man an ingratiating, almost human smile.

Several obvious gaps and scars marred the dog’s coat.

Clearly... it had been injured more than once.

Wente reached out and rubbed the husky’s head.

“If not for it protecting me several times, I would never have returned alive.”

The Blind Man smiled.

“I’ll introduce you to a friend later.”

The husky could speak.

It understood human language as well.

Immediately, it asked ingratiatingly:

“My lord, what sort of friend are you planning to introduce me to?”

“I remember that years ago, you and Third Master—the dwarf—discussed whether you or a Pixiu would be in front and who would be behind. The Residence happens to keep a very pure-blooded Pixiu.”

“...” the husky.

The carriage continued forward.

Before long... it entered Prince Pingxi Residence.

That so-called four-year plan from last time had been nothing more than a perfunctory move by the Blind Man.

His real card... was this western merchant with whom they had once crossed paths in Tuman City.

Shared purpose.

Of course the Blind Man understood what Master truly desired.

Unifying All Xia was a necessary process.

Unification was needed to fulfill the promise.

Once the promise had been completed, given Master’s personality... he would probably want to travel around and see the world.

And then... go searching for that person.

The Blind Man had always been responsible for external intelligence and contacts.

That allowed him to reconnect with Wente’s merchant caravan earlier than the other Demon Kings could.

To avoid alerting anyone, the Blind Man had ordered them to separate from their caravan in advance and travel silently.

This dish... could only have its proper effect if he personally carried it to Master.

And it would certainly have an effect.

The carriage stopped inside the Residence.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll go inform the King.”

“We will await the King’s summons.”

“Woof.”

The Blind Man left the carriage first.

As he headed toward the rear residence, he happened to see the Sword Maid hurrying in the same direction.

“What happened?” the Blind Man asked.

“Something seems wrong with His Highness the Heir Prince. The Princess Consort of Prince Fu sent me to find the Prince, Mr. Bei.”

Zheng Lin was the treasure of every Demon King’s heart.

For the Blind Man in particular, the boy represented the vessel carrying his future dream.

A person living in this world would always possess a handful of things he genuinely treasured.

“You go notify Master. I’ll take a look first.”

“Yes, Mr. Bei.”

The Blind Man changed direction and headed toward another courtyard.

At that same moment... the curtain of the carriage parked quietly inside the Residence was suddenly lifted from outside.

Fan Li leaned his huge body sideways.

He looked at the man and dog inside.

Waved.

Then said:

“The Blind Man told me to take you to see the King. Come with me.”

[End of Chapter 928]