The Affairs of the Martial World - Vol 4: Chapter 11

Riding the fine horse gifted by the Four Immortals of Penglai, Zhu Que traveled daily and rested at night, soon returning to Qingshui County. Reflecting on the past month’s experiences, it felt like a lifetime had passed.

Zhu Que arrived at Zhuang Yuxie’s house first. He hadn’t expected Zhuang Yuxie to be home, but to his surprise, he saw him.

The Zhuang family’s servant arranged for the newcomer to go in and report it, and after a moment, Zhuang Yuxie hurriedly came out.

Zhuang Yuxie looked much more spirited. His disheveled appearance had changed, and he now wore exquisite and elegant clothing.

In a moment of daze, Zhu Que seemed to see the companion he once roamed the martial world with, but deep down, he knew that everything had truly changed after all that had happened.

When Zhuang Yuxie saw Zhu Que, he was both surprised and delighted. Zhu Que looked around, confirming that his joy was genuine. Seeing Zhuang Yuxie like this, he was also pleased and couldn’t help but ask, “Is Tang Yingying back too?”

Zhuang Yuxie nodded slightly, a look of satisfaction on his face. He grabbed Zhu Que’s hand and walked into the room, asking as they walked, “How did you escape the clutches of the Seven Elders of Heaven Heart that day? I saw you being ambushed from behind and fainting, and then I was taken away. Since you escaped, why haven’t you come to see me this past month?”

Zhu Que pondered, unaware of Zhuang Yuxie’s current identity and unable to explain the matter of the Four Immortals of Penglai, could only respond perfunctorily, “I have other important matters to attend to, and I couldn’t spare the time. As soon as I had a moment, I came here right away.”

Zhuang Yuxie hummed in response, not suspecting anything, and went to the hall. Zhuang Yuxie shouted loudly, “Yingying, Yingying, Third Brother Zhu Que is here. Come quickly, hurry up.”

As soon as the two were seated, Tang Yingying, who they hadn’t seen in a long time, approached them.

Zhu Que stood up and looked at Tang Yingying, who was the same as before, showing no signs of change. Tang Yingying greeted Zhu Que with a deep bow and sat beside Zhuang Yuxie. Zhu Que couldn’t help but ask, “Yingying, where have you been these days? Do you know that Yuxie…”

Zhuang Yuxie interrupted him and told Tang Yingying, “Go and have someone prepare some food and drinks. I want to have a good drink with my brother.”

Tang Yingying knew the two had something to discuss, so she left alone. Zhu Que had countless questions and honestly didn’t know where to start. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Did you and Yingying join the Fragrance Cult?”

Zhuang Yuxie said, “It’s somewhat true, but also somewhat not. Hey, don’t be anxious; let me explain it to you.”

That day, after Zhu Que went to Guanyin Temple, a follower of the Fragrance Cult came to the Zhuang family and told Zhuang Yuxie that he knew Tang Yingying’s whereabouts at that moment. Upon hearing this, Zhuang Yuxie immediately wanted to go, but thinking that Zhu Que would not be able to find him when he returned, he hurriedly left a note saying he had left to look for Tang Yingying.

The two arrived at a residence, and Zhuang Yuxie saw Tang Yingying, but she was lying on the bed, unconscious. Seeing that Tang Yingying was not dead, Zhuang Yuxie became so excited that his actions were irrational; he cried and laughed, unsure what to do.

It wasn’t until a woman appeared and slapped him twice that he finally came to his senses. As he looked around, he couldn’t help but be shocked; the woman who had hit him looked exactly like Tang Yingying. For a moment, he was confused, unsure whether the Tang Yingying lying unconscious in bed was the real one or if the woman in front of him was Tang Yingying.

He immediately recalled something: the two women who looked like Tang Yingying had flat abdomens. What about the child that Tang Yingying was carrying?

Zhuang Yuxie couldn’t help but ask the woman who had slapped him twice.

The woman herself said that her name was Su Xiaoyue, and she was the twin sister of Tang Yingying. The reason Tang Yingying was in a coma was due to her strange illness, which was caused by excessive emotional fluctuations that had harmed her spirit.

On that day, Tang Yingying, overwhelmed by pain, had indeed decided to take her own life but was saved by a master from the Fragrance Cult. However, the child in her womb could not be saved. This master used his internal energy to help her enter a state of suspended animation, waiting for the sect’s skilled healer to arrive from afar to treat her.

Zhuang Yuxie was filled with mixed emotions of joy and sorrow. The joyful part was that Yingying was safe, but the sorrowful part was that the child was gone. However, since Yingying was still alive, there was always a bit more joy. He couldn’t do anything but wait there for Yingying to be cured.

However, the grace of the Fragrance Cult came with conditions. During this period, he must help the Fragrance Cult with a few tasks before they would do their utmost to save her. To get them to heal Tang Yingying, Zhuang Yuxie thought he could agree to any conditions.

The Fragrance Cult asked him to do three things: first, to donate one hundred thousand taels of silver to the Fragrance Cult as funds for the sect; second, that Zhuang Yuxie must not oppose the Fragrance Cult from now on. The first two were not a big deal; the Zhuang family was wealthy, and he could afford the silver. Not opposing the Fragrance Cult was also manageable. Only the last point, which was to help the Fragrance Cult recruit Zhu Que, posed a challenge.

In the end, he struggled internally with this point, but considering that others could never sway Zhu Que, he decided to agree for Yingying’s sake and would explain things clearly to Zhu Que later.

Hearing this, Zhu Que found it even harder to reveal his near-fatal experience; otherwise, he would be burdened with guilt and would only live in self-blame from then on. Zhuang Yuxie complied with their conditions, but in the underground lair, he couldn’t help but subtly imply to Zhu Que that what he said was false.

Little did they know that the Fragrance Cult realized they could not make Zhu Que join the sect, so they had no choice but to kill him. Alternatively, fearing public outrage, they merely maimed Zhu Que, ensuring he could not oppose them.

Zhuang Yuxie said, “For Tang Yingying, I would agree to anything. If it means exchanging my life for Yingying’s, I would willingly do so. I’ve already prepared one hundred thousand taels of silver to give them and helped them recruit you. As for whether it will succeed, that’s no longer my responsibility. Moreover, I cannot go against the Fragrance Cult. Now that I’ve found Tang Yingying, I don’t want to get involved in any more conflicts and grievances of the martial world. The Fragrance Cult has seen that I’ve accomplished a few things, so they have been earnest in curing and healing her. After that, Yingying and I returned home. Zhu Que’er, I don’t want to stir up any more of the martial world’s entanglements and disputes. I just hope you won’t say that I prioritize romance over friendship in this matter.”

Zhu Que shook his head, secretly deciding that he would never tell him about everything the Fragrance Cult had done to him, allowing him to detach from this matter.

Zhu Que still inquired about Tang Yingying, and the details were roughly similar to what the fake abbot of the Guanyin Temple had said. Zhu Que found it hard to discern the truth from the falsehood, but considering that Zhuang Yuxie had returned to a peaceful life, he feared that asking too many questions might raise his suspicions.

At this moment, Tang Yingying called the two for dinner. Zhu Que was as drunk as he had been when they first got married, chatting with Zhuang Yuxie about all the strange and wonderful tales from the martial world, completely ignoring the heroic deeds of the hot-blooded Jinaghu. 

The following day, Zhu Que left a note for the two, wishing them to soar together like a pair of phoenixes and grow old together, and then quietly departed.

After leaving the Zhuang’s house, Zhu Que went to the Guanyin Temple. Upon seeing the abbot, he looked closely and confirmed it was indeed the real abbot without a doubt, but he did not approach to speak and simply left again.

Then Zhu Que went to the graveyard Su Xiaoyue had taken him to that night. Perhaps because it was daytime, everything looked normal. Zhu Que looked around but did not find the entrance to the tunnel, so he decided to come back at night.

After having dinner, he waited until midnight, and Zhu Que returned to the graveyard. It was still the same as during the day, with no unusual sounds.

That night, the bright moon hung high in the sky, and the moonlight flowed like water, covering the entire ground.

Zhu Que hid in a nearby locust tree, quietly waiting. He was confident he could wait for the people of the Fragrance Cult to appear. Since this place had been built with considerable effort by the Cult, and they were unaware that he had died and came back to life, they would never easily abandon this place since it was still useful to them. The unusual occurrences in the graveyard during the day were too alarming, so they would surely come out at night.

After over an hour, Zhu Que felt drowsy from waiting but finally saw the tunnel exit open. Noticing someone coming out, Zhu Que perked up. In the moonlight, he saw a shadow looking around for a moment before heading towards the town.

Zhu Que’s lightness skill was exceptional, effortlessly tracking this person back into the city. In the dead of night, the streets were devoid of pedestrians. Zhu Que followed from a distance and saw this person knock on the door of a house. The door opened, and the person slipped inside, with the door closing behind them.

Zhu Que stepped forward and saw the plaque that read “Zhao Residence.” Not knowing who the owner of this Zhao Residence was or what kind of family it belonged to, it seemed that if one wanted to find out, they could only go in and investigate.

Zhu Que could not find the main entrance, so he went to the back of the house, gently climbed over the courtyard wall, and entered the yard. Looking around, it seemed to be the back garden of the Zhao residence; judging by its scale and grandeur, it was unlike an ordinary household.

Zhu Que passed through the back garden and arrived at the front yard. In the large courtyard, only one room still had its light on. Zhu Que deduced that once the person entered the yard, they could only go to this room. He quietly approached the back of the room and peered through the gap in the window. Sure enough, the person he had been following was there, but they were in a place where the light did not reach, their face shrouded in darkness, making it impossible to see what they looked like. At that moment, they spoke to another person inside the room, “According to Honglian, this matter is not easy to handle.”

The person inside said, “There are only a few days left until the main army arrives. Time is short. If Wei Zhi of the Iron Fist Sect remains stubborn and refuses to join the holy teaching, we should eliminate him to prevent him from leaking our secrets.”

“Since the previous leader, Wei Chu, died in the desert, the Iron Fist Sect has lacked outstanding masters. Killing Wei Zhi to silence him is just a small matter, but being unable to gain his assistance is still unfortunate.”

“This is natural. The Iron Fist Sect has been in business for generations, accumulating vast wealth. With this sum of money, they can purchase a large batch of weapons, making it even easier for your sect to rise. The difficulty lies in how to make him willingly contribute.”

“Why not let that seductive fox, Su Meimei, lure him in? After seducing him and having something on him, we won’t have to worry about him not listening to advice.”

“No, first of all, Su Meimei is not here, and if we act now, it might be too late. Secondly, with someone like him, how could he give up his family business for a woman? I think we should use medicine instead. No matter what else we compare it to, life is always the most important. I’ve heard that Honglian is the best at using medicine; it’s most suitable for him to handle this matter.”

The man said nothing more, seemingly agreeing to the suggestion. The two discussed many details of their plan, all involving ruthless and underhanded tactics.

Zhu Que, outside the window, felt a bit confused. With tens of thousands of followers, the Fragrance Cultt could be considered the largest evil cult in the Central Plains. Why would they go to such great lengths to plot against the assets of the Iron Fist Sect? What do they mean by starting a rebellion? Are they really planning to raise an army and revolt?

Since the establishment of the Fragrance Cult by Wang Haoxian, over the past hundred years, there have been intentions to rebel. Wang Haoxian’s grandson once raised an army to revolt but was quickly suppressed by the imperial court, which nipped the rebellion in the bud.

Has it been all these years, and the Fragrance Cult is once again stirring restlessly?