Chapter 418: The Hem of the Western Heaven (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 418: The Hem of the Western Heaven (3)
The eyes of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Deputy Commandant widened.
At this moment, only two things reflected in his gaze: the leather shoes of the young man standing atop a reed, and the hem of his trousers, flowing downward like liquid ebony.
The Deputy Commandant was looking up from directly beneath the massive bulk of the Human-Faced Spider. Just a moment ago, he had been on the verge of death, mere inches from being impaled by the spirit beast’s monstrous legs.
Even so, he instantly recognized his savior. Using the imperial family's secret eye technique, he had clearly discerned the intruder's form.
The Commander of the Demonlight Wing of the Desolate Fortress. Right now, he didn't look like a blade of the imperial court. He looked like a transcendent immortal descending from the deep mountains of the Nine Great Sects. His bearing was just that profound.
'Sword Kinesis, Qi-Filled Sword, Internal Heavy Hand Technique, Void Treading, Grass-Gliding...!'
The Lotus Nezha had unleashed all these techniques in a single, seamless flow as he charged the Human-Faced Spider.
To the Deputy Commandant—a man born of the Brightfolk, a lineage fairly common in Beijing, and a master of the imperial eye technique—every trace of that movement was visible. It was a feast of peerless arts, poured out by the Lotus Nezha in one breath.
Using Sword Control, he had launched a reed infused with tyrannical True Qi directly into the Human-Faced Spider's eye. In the exact same instant, he unleashed the Internal Heavy Hand Technique, sending a devastating shockwave crashing straight into the spirit beast's skull.
The way he then alighted upon that very reed, supported by a peerless Body Protection Scripture, evoked the legend of Zen Master Bodhidharma's Crossing the River on a Reed.
He stood immovable, pinning the reed in place so the Human-Faced Spider couldn't thrash it free.
It was a flawless sequence that only the greatest immortals of the Nine Sects—those who used martial arts to cultivate the Dao—could display. Without profound orthodox internal energy, no one could perform such wonders with a fragile reed.
Even then, the subtlety of his control had to be at the absolute peak. Internal energy refined with a violent or unrefined mental image would have instantly shattered the reed instead of reinforcing it.
'How can anyone speak of treason when referring to such a man?' the Deputy Commandant thought in bewilderment.
Beijing, the city he guarded, was a place where the influence of Taoist sects like Wudang and Mount Hua far eclipsed that of the Desolate Fortress. While the capital's security did not strictly rely on the Divine Sword Corps, countless nobles in Beijing had become deeply infatuated with Taoism, following the reverence shown by Emperor Taizu of Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang.
Though the majority studied Confucianism as the foundation of the state, they cultivated their minds using Taoist heart cultivation arts. Naturally, they couldn't help but admire those who had achieved profound mastery over orthodox martial arts.
The immortals of the Nine Sects, who were said to fly on swords like the legendary Sword Immortal Lü Dongbin, were prime examples. The divine might of the Lotus Nezha, Flash Art, commanded that same reverence.
At least, that was how it appeared to the Deputy Commandant. It was why he was currently staring up at Jeong Yeon-shin in an absolute daze.
"Why are you just standing there? Evacuate the citizens."
The Commander of the Demonlight Wing's voice cut through the silence.
Above him, the Human-Faced Spider was visibly trembling. Not just its two front legs raised toward the sky, but all six legs planted firmly on the ground shook violently. Its leg hairs, each as thick as the pillars of a grand pavilion, shimmered like a mirage in the heat.
It was impossible to tell if this was the final shudder before death or if the beast was gathering its strength to run wild one last time.
The Deputy Commandant immediately turned around to follow orders.
Then, he froze.
Countless people were lined up along the ruined alleyway. The families and servants of Beijing's powerful clans, and even the high-ranking officials themselves, had stopped mid-flight. They had turned back, staring upward with blank expressions.
They took in the Commander of the Demonlight Wing and the Human-Faced Spider in a single, awe-struck glance. The haughty, extraordinary temperament unique to the people of Beijing had completely vanished from their faces.
"What are you all doing?!" the Deputy Commandant bellowed at his subordinates. The Embroidered Uniform Guard officers were acting no differently from the commoners.
Did they think the fight was already over? No matter how powerful the Lotus Nezha of Jiangbei was, his opponent was a monster of bizarre, violent, and supernatural power—a creature that had just plunged Beijing into incomprehensible terror.
It was then.
Rumble—!
A violent tremor shook the ground.
It came from behind. When the Deputy Commandant whipped his head back around, the Human-Faced Spider lay sprawled on the earth, its massive face twisted to the side.
Its head was tilted at a grotesque angle, its maw hanging open in death. In front of the beast, the Commander of the Demonlight Wing stood on the ground, casually plucking his reed from the carcass.
The Human-Faced Spider’s life had been utterly snuffed out. It was shockingly anticlimactic.
'My worries were completely unfounded. They say the current Commander of the Demonlight Wing is a grandmaster of short battles...!'
Beijing was a place where rumors traveled fast. He knew this young man had defeated opponents of a higher cultivation realm multiple times. If his lethality was that absolute in a one-on-one life-and-death duel, what need was there to question the effectiveness of his surprise attack?
The Deputy Commandant slowly raised his hands and clasped them together. Even as a high-ranking government official, he was offering a formal martial arts salute to a man of the Jianghu.
"Thank you. This could have easily turned into a bloody catastrophe... The Embroidered Uniform Guard owes you a debt we can hardly repay."
"Is there only one?"
The change in the Commander of the Demonlight Wing's expression was extremely subtle, but he seemed slightly taken aback. The corners of the Deputy Commandant's mouth twitched upward in a faint, bitter smile.
"You have witnessed Beijing's shame. Embarrassingly, yes. There was only one."
"That is a relief." The Commander of the Demonlight Wing's reply was simple. His next words were just as brief. "Then I suppose I may do this."
Splat—!
With a single, casual swing of his reed, the pitch-black abdomen of the Human-Faced Spider split wide open.
As foul white slime poured from the rupture, four massive cocoons tightly bound in white spider silk tumbled out. Only then did an intangible wave of internal power ripple through the air. It was all originating from within those cocoons.
It seemed that individuals possessing profound internal energy had been trapped in the webbing. The wicked spirit beast hadn't swallowed the experts whole; instead, it had cocooned them to slowly dissolve and consume their energy, treating them like living spirit elixirs.
"This energy... the Great Commander?! Even the Minister of War...!"
As soon as the Deputy Commandant shouted, the Embroidered Uniform Guard officers sprang into action. They scrambled onto the massive torso of the Human-Faced Spider, offering quick, reverent nods to the Commander of the Demonlight Wing as they passed.
In an instant, they reached the cocoons and began tearing at the thick webbing with both hands. The energy of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's hand arts emitted a low, humming vibration as they worked. While directing his men, the Deputy Commandant repeatedly stole glances at the young commander.
He knew perfectly well that Beijing had not been kind to this young man. Yet, a man who had been resting deep inside the Forbidden City had flown all the way here in a single breath just to slay the Human-Faced Spider.
And afterward, he showed no particular emotion. It was as if he had simply carried out a routine, everyday chore.
'The Divine Sword Corps...'
It was no exaggeration to say that Flash Art Jeong Yeon-shin now represented their very soul. If that were true, then the martial artists of the Desolate Fortress were likely racing across the world with the same stoic expression and righteous conduct as the Commander of the Demonlight Wing.
In that case, they could truly be called a band of righteous heroes. Had Beijing been taking their blood and sweat for granted all this time?
"Deputy Commandant! The Great Commander is breathing!"
Glancing at the middle-aged man whose pale, chafed face was just visible through the torn webbing—the Great Commander—the Deputy Commandant stood in silence, bathed in the pouring moonlight.
*
The incident was quickly brought to a close.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard officers took the lead in stripping away the spider silk. The high-ranking officials trapped inside promptly fainted a second time upon hearing that their savior was none other than the Commander of the Demonlight Wing.
Fortunately, all of them were merely drained of their internal energy; none had suffered fatal injuries. Meanwhile, the guard officers expertly extracted the inner core of the Human-Faced Spider and presented it to Jeong Yeon-shin. They were highly experienced in handling the spoils of such beasts.
"Is it over?"
"The Commander of the Demonlight Wing killed the Human-Faced Spider with a single reed!"
"Don't push!"
The citizens began to crowd around the Commander of the Demonlight Wing. They looked as if they had just witnessed a divine spectacle, their faces painted with a complex mixture of shame and awe.
But Jeong Yeon-shin was looking elsewhere.
Toward the left edge of the crowd. There was a figure half-hidden around the corner of a ruined wall where the alley turned, quietly watching him.
The figure possessed an incredibly piercing gaze. However, rather than harboring direct hostility toward Jeong Yeon-shin, it felt more as though she had simply spent her entire life refining a razor-sharp aura.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly parted his lips. "What are you looking at?"
"...I wasn't trying to pick a fight," the small figure replied.
Then, she slowly stepped out from the shadows of the wall.
It was as if she had been deliberately suppressing her aura like an assassin and only now chose to release it. Feeling the sudden, oppressive pressure, the surrounding commoners belatedly gasped in fright and scrambled back.
She was a woman carrying three sabers. One was slung at the waist of an orange sash wrapped tightly around her abdomen, while the other two were crossed and bound securely to her back. Her hair, braided into twin tails, whipped in the strong night wind, repeatedly brushing against the hilts of the two great sabers on her back.
She appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Her eyes, slanting sharply upward like drawn blades, were particularly striking.
"I am of the Peng Clan. My courtesy name is Linglü, and my given name is Ya."
Peng Ya. The night of the Pengs.
Jeong Yeon-shin had heard of her. She was quite famous, even among the Eight Great Families. That much was obvious from the fact that more than a few people in the crowd were already whispering her name. She was best known by her alias: the Blade Marquis of the Peng Family.
Recently, she had been grouped alongside Jeong Yeon-shin, the Heaven-Smiling Invincible, and the Seventh Apostle as one of the "Five Bright Vessels." It was a title signifying that she possessed exceptionally outstanding martial arts for her young age.
'She doesn't seem as skilled as her, though.'
Jeong Yeon-shin reflexively thought of the Seventh Apostle, before quickly brushing the thought aside. If he let go of the reins on his thoughts, there was no telling how far they would wander.
Irritated by the memory of those red eyes casting a shadow over his mind for the first time in a while, he simply spoke the first words that came to him.
"An odd name."
"Yours is odder," Peng Ya retorted nonchalantly. Meanwhile, her sharp eyes slowly swept over Jeong Yeon-shin's entire body, evaluating him. It was a gaze Jeong Yeon-shin was well accustomed to.
"You know who I am. Have you come as an enemy?"
"No. Be reasonable. Why would I cross blades with a monster who killed Elder Jegal and Elder Moyong? I'm no fool."
"Then why are you here?"
"Just to take a look."
"...?"
"Our clan is participating in the Mount Hua Agreement as well. You could call it a favor granted by the Nine Sects. If things go well, our clan leader will face you... and I thought taking a look at your condition beforehand might be of some help to him."
"Isn't the Peng Clan Leader your father?"
"I was never raised as his child. Though his position as clan leader is quite precarious right now anyway," Peng Ya muttered bitterly.
But that was none of Jeong Yeon-shin's concern. Wasn't the Peng Clan the very faction that had stabbed the Commander of the Divine Sword Corps in the back, helping to form the Net of Heaven and Earth?
Although he had not yet heard the full story of that incident from Yong Hee-myung, he certainly wasn't going to treat them with goodwill. Jeong Yeon-shin recalled the request of the Wudang Ancient Sword, who had told him to spill blood at the martial arts tournament if he must.
"...I will let you leave with your life for now. But at the tournament, your head will roll by my sword."
"By yours? Why? I will probably be facing a Black Rank," Peng Ya said, tilting her head in confusion.
Jeong Yeon-shin did not answer. He merely stared at her in dead silence, letting the hem of his black robe—the uniform that was once his pride—blend into the shadows of the summer night.
A brief silence ensued.
"Hmm?"
"..."
"Wait, it can't be, right?"
There was nothing to discuss with an enemy. Jeong Yeon-shin remained silent to the very end. Slowly, realization dawned, and the face of the Blade Marquis of the Peng Family turned deathly pale.
*
The Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City.
Sunlight poured down through the ceiling, which had been pierced in a perfectly straight line. Because the jagged edges of the broken roof bizarrely formed a void as sharp as a sword blade, the sunlight falling into the grand hall felt strangely sharp as well.
Just like the tense air filling the Hall of Supreme Harmony at this very moment.
"We acknowledge the merit of the Commander of the Demonlight Wing! Indeed, we must!"
"Then what is the issue?"
"Look over there, look at that! He destroyed the ceiling of the Hall of Supreme Harmony right in front of His Highness the Crown Prince! How can we trust someone so insolent and grant him the Purple Robe? It is as if the inherent danger of the Divine Sword Corps' Black Ranks—who recently mobilized without any proper report—has been laid bare right here in the Forbidden City!"
"What absolute nonsense. You fail to grasp the Crown Prince's intentions entirely. Had the Commander of the Demonlight Wing not rushed out of here, that would have been true proof of his unworthiness for the Purple Rank. He prioritized the lives of the people over his own personal advancement. He is fully worthy of wearing the robe of the Western Heaven."
"He is a mere seventeen years of age! How can we recklessly hand over such immense authority when we do not know how he will wield it?"
"Has he not completed every single mission as a Black Rank without a single failure? In terms of skill and merit, he is already far beyond the Black Rank."
The civil and military officials were fiercely divided into two opposing factions. But the dynamic was different from before.
Standing closest to the seats of honor, the Great Commander and Deputy Commandant of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, along with the Head Eunuch, staunchly defended the Commander of the Demonlight Wing.
On the opposing side stood the gaunt scholars of the Hanlin Academy and high-ranking officials from conservative, powerful families. The fierce debate showed no signs of ending.
In matters of state, if the ministers' opinions did not reach a unanimous consensus, the Emperor would not even entertain the proposal. Even if many acknowledged the Commander of the Demonlight Wing's achievements, his promotion to the Purple Rank could still be stalled indefinitely.
"How unsightly."
The Crown Prince, leaning back lazily in his metallic red throne, stared blankly at the armrest.
The memorials submitted to the Emperor lay stacked on the tea table in the form of scrolls. Suddenly, he reached out and unfurled one of them. Just as he did when his occasional bouts of madness drove him to hurl abuse at the ministers, the Crown Prince boldly dared to covet what belonged to his father, the Emperor.
There was no particular reason for it. It was simply because the Commander of the Demonlight Wing had flawlessly fulfilled his duty, while the Crown Prince himself remained trapped in a position where there was little he could do on his own.
Flutter—
"Your Highness!"
"Even if you are acting as regent, His Majesty will soon return...!"
"Be quiet," the Crown Prince commanded.
Then, he completely unrolled the scroll marked, 'To His Imperial Majesty, from the Acting Sect Leader of the Wudang Sect.'
〈 A humble Taoist of Mount Wudang addresses His Imperial Majesty.
I shall omit formal inquiries about your health, for Your Majesty is surely in better spirits than this poor Taoist. I merely wish to offer a single piece of advice, which I hope you will take deeply to heart.
The Tao Te Ching states: 'Do not exalt the worthy, so that the people shall not contend.'
It means that if the virtue of wisdom is not placed on a pedestal, the people will not fight among themselves. It is enough for the ruler to be wise.
Such is the case with the deeds of the Commander of the Demonlight Wing, who has recently illuminated the Jianghu.
As a Taoist who has renounced the secular world, I can only make a humble contribution to the peaceful reign that Your Majesty desires. The world now stands in need of a new Purple sword.
Jeong Yeon-shin of Henan.
From what this unworthy Taoist has observed, his character is gentle yet decisive, and above all, his martial arts, which reach the pinnacle of the world... 〉
The Crown Prince suddenly turned his gaze back to the tea table. The names written on the outside of the other scrolls caught his eye once more.
[Yul-ha of the Mount Hua Sect], [Un-hwang of the Tang Clan], [Abbot of Shaolin], [Baekyak of Emei], [Cheongsu of Qingcheng]...
And there was [Peng Mun-geuk]. The Great Severing Tyrant Blade, Peng Mun-geuk. None other than the Peng Clan Leader himself.
"He has built up quite a mountain of virtue. He has surpassed even the Hegemon Hero."
The Crown Prince, publicly known as the scoundrel of the Forbidden City, openly expressed admiration—a rare occurrence for him over the past several years. He had no choice but to do so.
For if the names inscribed upon these memorials were to unite, they would form a force in the Jianghu that even the imperial court could not afford to ignore.
"Listen," he slowly continued. "You had all better shut your mouths."