Chapter Thirty-Three: The Archrival Withdraws His Gaze

After a night of rain, opening the window revealed wonderfully fresh air. Watermark advertisement test. Watermark advertisement test.

In an elegantly decorated room, a young man in white held a scroll and had been reading aloud for quite some time.

“The plans for a year are laid in spring, and the plans for a day are laid at dawn. A man who does not study is no better than an animal; one must never neglect one’s books. Heh heh.” The young man gently closed the book. “You have worked hard as well, Uncle Chen.”

“It is this old servant’s good fortune to hear Young Master read. How could it be hard work?” A gray-robed old man smiled. “The construction of Black Curtain City has settled into proper operation. Aside from the Fierce Tiger Gang, the reorganization of the other gangs is nearly complete.”

The young man nodded. “A city needs a few gray forces. For now, our main task is to keep that little beggar occupied. Find her something to do, and by no means let her have any free time. We must wait until the people from the Sky Tower arrive. I intend to claim this favor.”

The old man nodded in agreement. The young man rose, reached his hand outside the window, and casually caught a drifting leaf. He carefully tucked it between the pages of his book as he said, “Tell me what happened last night.”

“Last night, the leader of the Fierce Tiger Gang and his wife hosted Wu Yue at Splendid Pavilion. But sometime in the latter half of the night, Wu Yue seems to have left his body in spirit form and charged straight into White Tiger District. He killed seven members of the Fierce Tiger Gang in all—six Core Formation cultivators and one Soul Formation cultivator. Lu Xinying and Hu Wushuang did nothing. There is likely something strange about the matter.”

“There was also an inn in Mukui District. Wu Yue attacked Hou Baiyu, whose life or death is still unknown. A year ago, Hou Baiyu summoned Lin Ya, the Fourth-Rank Leader of Blackcloud Stronghold, and caused Wu Yue to suffer severe injuries.”

“Finally, Wu Yue stood at the southern city station until dawn. This old servant suspects that last night’s thunderclap was connected to him.”

The young man in white maintained his smile throughout the account of Wu Yue’s actions. Only after the gray-robed old man had finished did he speak slowly.

“I said that no one else was to interfere in Wu Yue’s affairs. Whoever sent those men last night, arrest them and hand them over to the Black Curtain City Court. Since rules have been established, they will begin with me, the First Elder.”

The gray-robed old man grew even more deferential, lowering his head further.

The young man murmured to himself, “Since I have been given a second life, I should do something interesting. Senior Brother, I hope you can tell me who the true protagonist is.”

Early in the morning, most people ate light food. At such an hour, even the Western Hu people, who loved meat above all else, would choose to drink tea—though in their case, it was butter tea.

Wu Yue drank soybean milk in great gulps. This was a breakfast for one. Li Wenzhang had said that he could only sleep properly during the day, while Yu Fu and Zhao Qingzhi had eaten breakfast early and had already run off elsewhere to play.

As for the two of them, Wu Yue was not especially worried about their safety. For one thing, Yu Fu was an old hand at life on the road.

For another, Wu Yue looked outside. The people coming and going all held their backs straight. Even those dressed in rags seemed filled with a remarkably vigorous and optimistic spirit. To describe Black Curtain City as having undergone a complete transformation, as being entirely renewed, would not be the slightest exaggeration.

As for public security, it was astonishingly good—almost to the point where lost valuables would remain untouched in the street. The former thugs and ruffians still existed, but they were generally active in South City, and even that activity was restricted. They could never again behave with the lawlessness of the past.

Even so, Black Curtain City’s social environment had advanced by leaps and bounds. In the old days, crime had been the norm, and all justice had rested in the hands of the city’s major gangs. Now, everyone behaved with civility, and the Elders’ Council stood above all.

The feeling was very familiar, much like a modern city on Earth—and in certain respects, even better.

After hearing Lu Xinying’s development plan for Black Curtain City the previous night, Wu Yue could only describe his reaction as utter astonishment. The city had been divided into six districts, while its government had been separated into three branches: the Elders’ Council, the court, and the police.

All Wu Yue could say was that he was thoroughly impressed. At the same time, he had grown increasingly interested in that mysterious First Elder.

Perhaps they were even the same kind of person. Yet his interest went no further than that. After all, the universe was vast, filled with too many living beings. Who knew what existed within it, or whom one might encounter?

Breathing the fresh morning air, Wu Yue drank several large bowls of soybean milk. The shopkeeper grew reluctant to refill his bowl. Although breakfast was provided, surely no one could drink quite that much?

Wu Yue remained completely unembarrassed. Those many bowls of soybean milk finally dispelled some of his exhaustion.

He knew everything that had happened the previous night, yet he also felt that the person who had done those things had not been himself. More than anything, it all seemed bizarre. How had the enormous Black Curtain City allowed him to run wild like that?

Though he still felt a lingering fear, he did not regret it. There had been other consequences, of course. The three hundred ghosts had become listless, but they also seemed much more nimble than before, making Wu Yue feel that controlling them had become far more natural.

Chang’an, at least, had suffered no trouble whatsoever. The Hall of Mount Tai had once again transformed into an insignia imprinted on his arm, so he no longer needed to carry it around. However, he could not summon it anymore.

At least it was now much more convenient to chat with Qingyuzi. Unfortunately, Qingyuzi had recently become rather unwilling to speak.

Qingyuzi was working hard to ponder the few words Wu Yue had tossed out to fob him off. They were all classics from his previous life—the Tendon Transformation Classic, the Scripture of Virtue, the teachings of Laozi, the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, the writings of Guiguzi, and the like. Wu Yue had simply strung together a few phrases without even knowing their exact sources.

He had casually flaunted his spiritual wealth, and Qingyuzi had treated the words as a priceless treasure. Since then, he had ignored everyone.

Wu Yue vaguely felt that he had been too extreme the previous night, as though he had fallen into demonic possession. Yet after waking that morning, he found that beneath his weariness lay several threads of exhilaration.

Hou Baiyu had taken a long detour. He had already decided to leave this city that had made him weep. He had fled the ruins at top speed, his clothes hanging from him in tatters.

Though he was deeply reluctant to go, Hou Baiyu had grown very fond of the city’s atmosphere. After wandering for so long, it was one of the most extraordinary cities he had ever encountered. He had originally thought he could remain there until he finally tired of it.

But that man!

Again and again, he had harmed him. When forced to weigh his life against his way of living, Hou Baiyu had still chosen life.

Of course, at this final moment, Hou Baiyu decided to eat something to calm his nerves. After all, once he finished this breakfast, he would have to wander the world for a long time. When he imagined the hardships waiting outside, he could not bear to leave.

But what choice did he have? He could only enjoy one good meal, then depart.

Yes—depart just like that.

Enemies were bound to cross paths sooner or later. After thinking it over carefully, Hou Baiyu knew he had to take precautions.

He ultimately chose South City. The atmosphere there was depressed, the surroundings poor, and there were no particularly notable delicacies. People of any standing generally disliked coming there.

So Hou Baiyu thought: The world is a small place—but surely it could not be so small as all that?