The Affairs of the Martial World - Vol 1: Chapter 6

Not far from leaving Willow Tree Alley, Zhu Que felt someone following him. Pretending not to notice, he continued walking forward.

At this moment, there were few pedestrians on the street, and the bright moon was overhead. The moonlight shone like water, casting Zhu Que’s shadow on the ground, short and chubby—it was quite comical.

But suddenly, his shadow accelerated at the street corner, turned into the side alley, and disappeared.

The person following closely behind hurriedly chased after him, just catching up at the corner, only to find Zhu Que waiting for him there. 

It was too late to escape now. The person tracking Zhu Que had a sinister appearance, a slender figure, and seemed skilled in light-footed techniques.

Zhu Que held a folding fan in his right hand, lightly tapping his left palm. With a smile, he asked, “May I ask what brings you here with me?”

The sleazy man said hesitantly, “I, uh, let’s not beat around the bush. I’m from the White Lotus Sect. You have something that belongs to my sect, and I hope you can return it.”

Zhu Que sneered, “You sneakily followed me, and you call yourself straightforward? The White Lotus Sect is a cult. Since you claim to be from the White Lotus Sect, you’re already a rebel. I’m letting you off easy by not taking you to the yamen. Yet, you shamelessly want to ask me for something?”

Upon hearing Zhu Que’s threatening words, the man did not panic. Instead, he grinned and said, “I believe Young Master Zhu is not that kind of person. How could a disciple of Master Beidou betray a friend?”

Zhu Que’s heart skipped a beat. It was not surprising that the other party knew his name, but it surprised him that this person knew his origins. His background had always been a big secret, and since befriending the Second Young Master of the Wang family, it was the first time someone had exposed his past. Unable to grasp this person’s intentions, thoughts of silencing him arose in Zhu Que’s mind.

The man lowered his voice and said, “This is not the place to talk. Let’s find somewhere else to continue. Rest assured, I am not the Young Master’s enemy. I will explain the cause and effect of this matter to you in detail.”

Zhu Que brought him to his residence and said, “This is the place arranged for me by the Wang’s Second Young Master. There is only an old servant here, who is already asleep. There is no one else here now. You can now explain things clearly for me.”

The man said, “I am Gongsun Bai, the hall master of the White Lotus Sect’s Flying Pigeon Hall.”

The Flying Pigeon Hall was a branch of the White Lotus Sect responsible for gathering information and contacting various branches. It was said that everyone in the hall was skilled in lightness skills. As the hall master, Gongsun Bai naturally excels in lightness skills.

Zhu Que’s heart stirred, and said, “So, were you intentionally following me today for me to find out?”

Gongsun Bai blushed and said, “Hey, let’s start from the beginning. A crucial roster I taught was taken by Duanmu Yingyang. Afraid he might report to the authorities, the hall master of the Falconry Hall personally went to deal with him, only to find out the roster wasn’t on him. A few days ago, I searched Duanmu Yingyang’s residence but found nothing. These days, I’ve been observing near his place, hoping to find some clues. Tonight, I saw you entering the residence to search and unexpectedly found it with your help. Initially, I couldn’t tell who entered Duanmu Yingyang’s place until you displayed your lightness skill and left his residence. Seeing your movements, I knew who you were, but didn’t want to rashly approach and cause a misunderstanding, so…”

Zhuque asked, “How could such an important roster of your sect be taken by Duanmu Yingyang?” But in his heart, he thought, “Duanmu Yingyang was indeed killed by the White Lotus Sect. The Falconry Hall, as indicated by its name, specializes in capturing and killing, and the hall master must have exceptional martial arts skills.”

What’s remarkable was how discreetly this was done, using a minor incident involving the beating of a medicine shop owner to sow confusion and shift suspicion toward the Wang Residence. Quite impressive, indeed.

Gongsun Bai saw the admiration on Zhu Que’s face, smiled faintly, indicating that it was nothing much, and continued, “The roster was originally temporarily stored at the home of Zhou Weiyong in Hubei due to certain circumstances. Unexpectedly, the Zhou family got implicated in the prince’s rebellion. Later, Duanmu Yingyang participated in the raid on the house, and he secretly hid the roster. No one else knew about it. It was only after investigating for a long time with Flying Pigeon Hall that I discovered this. Fortunately, Duanmu Yingyang hadn’t handed over the roster during that time. As for how the roster ended up at the Zhou family’s house, it’s related to my sect leader’s daughter, Zhang Yudie. It’s considered a disgraceful matter of my sect, not something to be shared with outsiders. However, to clear Young Master’s suspicion, I will tell you.’

The mastermind behind the Zhou family rebellion case was Zhou Weiyong, the head of the Zhou family.

Over a decade ago, Zhou Weiyong amassed a substantial fortune through business dealings. Despite his wealth, he lacked power and influence and feared for the stability of his family’s assets. Thus, he entertained the idea of entering officialdom. He first donated two hundred dan (1) of grain to sponsor a student at the National Academy, and shortly after, he spent several hundred taels of silver to purchase an official position, truly combining the role of official and merchant.

Thanks to the convenience brought by his position as a magistrate, he earned even more silver, allowing him to ascend to higher ranks. This created a mutually beneficial cycle that eventually spiraled out of control.

Zhou Weiyong had three sons and two daughters. His third son, Zhou Shuyao, was not as interested in business and officialdom as his father. He often traveled far around for leisure.

Zhou Weiyong dotes on his youngest son, showering him with money, so Zhou Shuyao often carries a lot of silver with him when he is out. Once, while playing at West Lake in Hangzhou, he was targeted by a group of thieves who planned to rob and kill him in a remote area. Two of Zhou Shuyao’s followers were killed, and just as they were about to kill him, Zhang Yudie happened to come across them and rescue him.

Little did they know that this encounter would sow the seeds of a doomed relationship.

When Zhou Shuyao returned home, he brought Zhang Yudie with him, and although their relationship was not officially recognized, the Zhou family mostly accepted this union. However, they never knew that Zhang Yudie was the daughter of the leader of the White Lotus Sect.

This roster was carried by Zhang Yudie. Due to matters in the Sect, she had to leave the Zhou family for over a month, and the roster was left at the Zhou family’s house.

However, when Zhang Yudie returned to the Zhou family, the entire family had been wiped out, and the roster had disappeared along with the ransacking of the residence. 

Losing the roster posed a huge threat to the White Lotus Sect. According to the Sect’s rules, she should have been sentenced to death. However, due to her identity as the daughter of the sect leader, she was given a lighter punishment and only expelled from the Sect while efforts were made to retrieve the roster.

But Zhang Yudie went crazy following Zhou Shuyao’s death, and the responsibility of finding the roster was handed over to Gongsun Bai.

Zhu Que remembered the midnight singing in the Wang Residence, which was sung by Zhang Yudie, who longed for her deceased husband.

The Second Young Master had once told him that he heard the sound of “shu yao” in the singing, but he didn’t understand its meaning. Now, he realized it was referred to Zhou Shuyao. He didn’t tell Li Mizong about this because he feared he would know too much, which wouldn’t benefit him personally.

He once suspected that there were surviving members of the Zhou family during the massacre, but it turned out to be not from the Zhou family but the daughter of the leader of the White Lotus Sect.

Thinking of this, he suddenly realized that Zhang Yudie was probably not crazy. She knew that the Second Young Master was upright and hated evil. If he found out that the Zhou family was wrongly accused, he would definitely seek justice for them. Due to her identity as the daughter of the leader of the White Lotus Sect, she couldn’t directly contact the nobility. Therefore, she used this method of pretending to be a ghost to make the Second Young Master take the initiative to uncover the truth. Now that he was also involved, it was the best proof.

“Ah…” Zhu Que sighed in his heart, “This woman is truly too clever, yet too unfortunate.”

That was pretty much the whole story. Zhu Que asked again, “How did you figure out that I learned my skills from Master Beidou based on my movements?”

Gongsun Bai explained, “Many years ago, I was on a mission for the Sect and got ambushed by enemies, my whereabouts exposed. Master Beidou happened to pass by and helped me out of the situation. I then served by his side for a few days, and he taught me some techniques in lightness skills. So when I saw your figure leaping over the wall, I knew you had a deep connection with Master Beidou.”

With that, Zhu Que no longer doubted and took out the roster, handing it to Gongsun Bai. He said, “This roster is useless to me, so take it with you.”

Gongsun Bai took the roster and was about to leave, but suddenly turned back and handed a bronze token to Zhu Que.

Zhu Que took a look at it. One side of the bronze token was engraved with a lotus flower in seal script, and the other side was inscribed with two lines of poetry: “Mud originates from chaos, a white lotus appears in a flourishing era.”

Listening to Gongsun Bai said, “This is a sacred item of our sect, the Sacred Lotus Order. When the Young Master encounters followers of our sect, holds it, and instructing them with this token will make things easier to handle.”

Zhu Que declined and said, “This is a sacred item of your sect. How can I accept it…”

Gongsun Bai said, “Returning the roster to me is a favor to my sect. You are a benefactor of the Sect. Keep this token, it might come in handy someday.”

Zhu Que’s heart stirred, thinking of the matter of Zhang Yudie, and no longer insisted.

Gongsun Bai suddenly remembered something and said, “The two juniors in my sect had offended Master Zhu with their words. Please don’t mind.”

Zhu Que immediately pictured the stunning face of the white-clad woman and couldn’t help but ask, “Who are these two people in your sect?”

Gongsun Bai revealed the identities of Yi Xue and Murong Jiao, and Zhu Que silently repeated Yi Xue’s name in his heart.

Gongsun Bai saw that he was no longer speaking, so he bid farewell to him, saying, “Until we meet again!”

As soon as the words fell, the man was already outside the door, displaying remarkable lightness skills, and in a moment, disappeared into the night.

(1) dan — unit measurement for grains, 1 unit roughly equivalent to 133 pounds