TM CH55

Chapter 55 The Night Before the Grand Ceremony

Xu Yan’s explanation was flawless. If Rong Qi had never been to Xixin Prison, he would have never detected any flaw.

But Fang Yuanqing was already dead.

Then who was the person imprisoned in Lihuo Palace?

What kind of person could fool Zou Yuchuan?

Rong Qi lowered his gaze to his former subordinates, a cruel glint flashing in his eyes. No matter what the answer was, these people had to be silenced first.

He took out a porcelain white medicine bottle from his sleeve and said casually, “Distribute these.”

The others carefully raised their heads, and once they saw what was inside, their faces immediately turned deathly pale.

When they made no move, Rong Qi tapped the table lightly with his finger. “Hmm? Unwilling?”

The man who had spoken first snapped out of his daze, hurriedly knelt forward and tremblingly took the bottle.

Rong Qi watched him leisurely.

The man opened the bottle, tipping a dark pill into his palm, but he hesitated, making no further move. He glanced at the poison in his hand, then at the calm figure of Rong Qi, a cold light flashing in his eyes.

He tossed the bottle aside and drew a short sword from his sleeve, thrusting it directly at Rong Qi.

“Die!”

Too slow.

Rong Qi tilted his head slightly, easily dodging the blade. With a swift motion, he seized the weapon and sliced it across the man’s throat.

The man held his sword up for a moment, blood gushing from his throat as he collapsed, dying in disbelief.

“Has this venerable one been gone so long that you’ve forgotten the rules?”

Blood trickled down from his brow, but he carelessly wiped it away with the back of his hand. He didn’t spare a glance for the lifeless body lying nearby. Instead, he lowered his eyes to the shattered bottle scattered across the floor.

“Filthy.” The black pills rolled onto the ground, covered in dust. Rong Qi’s voice turned cold. “Fortunately, it doesn’t matter.”

As these words left his mouth, no one dared to resist. One by one, they took the pills and swallowed them.

Rong Qi: “How does it taste?”

His subordinates trembled, too afraid to speak.

Rong Qi smiled faintly. “Didn’t you all enjoy taking Xu Yan’s poison?”

Finally, one of them lifted their head. “Right… Right Protector knew all along?”

What was so hard to guess? Rong Qi sneered. “That’s all the petty tricks he has.”

Controlling subordinates with poison, so that once they harbor thoughts of betrayal, they would die from its effects.

His subordinates were all competitive and aggressive individuals. If it hadn’t been for his temporary downfall, these people would never have submitted to Xu Yan. He had thought that, even if they sought new alliances, they would flock to Shen Qi’s side. But to his surprise, Shen Qi lost to Xu Yan in the battle for the Tianyuan Manual.

“A few pills of poison, and you’ve let yourselves be completely controlled?”

That person froze.

Rong Qi bent down, picking up one of the pills near his feet. “Unlike him, this venerable one doesn’t have so many poisons to waste on you all. Just a few sugar pills. No matter how many you take, it won’t make a difference.”

The others stared at him in shock.

Rong Qi’s expression hardened. “I don’t care what you’ve done before. On the ninth of the third month, this venerable one will bring Xu Yan down in the main hall. Afterward, someone from the Medicine Hall will prepare the antidote for you.”

When Rong Qi was in power, the Medicine Hall had been led by him. Medicine Hall Master Xue Yu, who was skilled in both medicine and poison, had always been Rong Qi’s right-hand man.

The men exchanged glances, their eyes filled with barely contained excitement. If… they could really be freed from the poison, they wouldn’t have to be controlled anymore.

“These subordinates are willing to go through fire and water for the Right Protector!”

Rong Qi was well aware of what these men were thinking.

How many in Lihuo Palace could truly bear to tie their lives to someone else’s? Once they saw a chance to cure the poison, they would not hesitate to seize it.

It was ironic. Xu Yan hated betrayal the most, yet he was the someone who could never keep people’s loyalty.

“Before that, the news of this venerable one’s return must not be leaked,” Rong Qi paused. “But if you can’t keep your mouths shut… then you’ll never need to speak again.”

Within three days, Rong Qi had contacted most of his old subordinates, killing off those who disobeyed. He also sent people to investigate the movements of Lihuo Palace and the jianghu at large. He hadn’t softened his approach, still causing quite a stir. Although Xu Yan might have spies in his old camp, Rong Qi didn’t particularly care.

After all, there were few in this world who knew of his experience on the deserted island.

Xu Yan could never have imagined that ‘Fang Yuanqing,’ who had sent him to a high position in Lihuo Palace, could also be the one to crush him to pieces, never allowing him a chance to rise again.

The blood quickly stirred up memories of the past. In just a few days, Rong Qi had once again become the bloodthirsty and ruthless demon he once was. Even without showing himself, his presence cast an invisible shadow over Lihuo Palace.

On the afternoon of the third day, Rong Qi was resting when someone knocked at the door of his temporary quarters.

Xue Yu had arrived, looking weary from travel.

As Rong Qi’s former confidant, Medicine Hall Master immediately locked eyes with the man who had been missing for over half a year. He openly appraised him from head to toe, confirming that it was indeed Rong Qi and not someone impersonating him. Unable to hold back, he exclaimed, “When I received the messenger pigeon, I thought that damned Xu Yan was deliberately trying to trick me into returning. I never expected that the Right Protector was actually still alive! This is truly a calamity… no, I mean, good people are always blessed by heaven!”

Rong Qi met his gaze. “Xue Yu.”

Xue Yu shut his mouth.

Rong Qi: “Sit.”

Xue Yu sat down.

Rong Qi: “You really came back from Jizhou?”

“I didn’t go all the way to Jizhou,” Xue Yu said with a sigh, “I was hiding in a small town not far from Shengzhou. Now, the Lihuo Palace is completely under Xu Yan’s control. Unfortunately for me, that paranoid bastard couldn’t stand the sight of me! Even though I swallowed all his poisons in front of him, he still didn’t trust me. So I had to hide…”

Rong Qi raised an eyebrow. “Swallowed all the poisons? You defected to him?”

“How could I?” Xue Yu’s eyes widened. “I’m the ancestor of poison! How could I let him control me with those little pills? Absolute nonsense!”

Rong Qi looked at him with a neutral expression.

Xue Yu swallowed hard. “Didn’t I just eat them all for fun, deliberately trying to provoke him?”

Rong Qi was too lazy to listen to his rambling. “In these days, have you gathered any useful information?”

Xue Yu: “Nothing unusual inside Lihuo Palace. The only strange thing is that Shen Qi is still alive.”

Rong Qi froze for a moment.

Xue Yu: “After Xu Yan brought Fang Yuanqing back, the Palace Master ordered Shen Qi to drop all his duties and focus entirely on guarding Fang Yuanqing. Since then, he’s hardly appeared in public.”

Rong Qi: “……”

Shen Qi was still alive. For a moment, a complex wave of emotions surged inside Rong Qi, but he couldn’t quite put his feelings into words. During the battle for the Tianyuan Manual, he had always thought the outcome would be life or death, but now…

Xue Yan: “On the ninth of the third month, during the seal-conferring, Zou Yuchuan will kill Fang Yuanqing, using his death to disgrace the Wulin Alliance. Shen Qi might be there as well.”

The ninth of the third month. That day would certainly not be peaceful.

Rong Qi: “What’s the situation on the Wulin Alliance?”

Xue Yu smiled. “Now that’s interesting. Not long ago, Fang Lian returned to the Wulin Alliance. The new leader, Sun Zhiyi, is using his seniority and age to cling to the position, refusing to step down. He even made Fang Lian the deputy alliance leader.”

“He really can endure,” Rong Qi mused, recalling Fang Lian’s gentle temperament from their time on the island. “Just how will he react when he hears about Fang Yuanqing.”

Xue Yu: “It’s been spreading in the jianghu that Fang Lian will definitely head to Shengzhou to investigate. But even without him, Sun Zhiyi and his people will make a move. After all, Fang Yuanqing was once part of the Wulin Alliance. Naturally, they won’t allow Lihuo Palace to kill him.”

That was true, but Fang Lian had already seen Fang Yuanqing’s remains, so this matter was far from certain.

Rong Qi: “Besides Fang Lian… what about the others around him? Any movements?”

Xue Yu was puzzled. “Are you referring to the Fang family?”

Rong Qi hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided not to say the name that was on the tip of his tongue.

“Never mind, no need to say more.”

Suddenly, Xue Yu became serious. “Right Protector, although I’m just a poison doctor, I can tell something’s not right. But if you want me to explain, I can’t. All I can say is that Lihuo Palace has become a place of great turmoil. It’s better for us to observe quietly. Being outside the storm might give us a clearer view.”

Rong Qi understood what he meant, but he had long since been a player in the game.

“If Xu Yan’s Tianyuan Manual and Fang Yuanqing are all fake, what do you think Zou Yuchuan would do?” Rong Qi asked, looking at him.

“In that case… he’d die a miserable death,” Xue Yu blinked. “Right Protector, you can’t just make up such a lie. The Palace Master personally verified both the cultivation method and the person. How could they possibly be fake?”

Rong Qi gave him an unreadable smile. “Do you think I spent the past six months doing nothing?”

Xue Yu was taken aback, but no matter how curious he was and how many times he tried to ask, Rong Qi didn’t say another word.

The eighth of the third month, the eve of the grand ceremony.

Rong Qi donned his hood and went to a tavern alone, ordering a pot of wine. He sat on the second floor, looking out through the half-open window, where he could see the deep red evening glow on the horizon. Under the blood-red sun, the clouds seemed to be dyed in eerie shades of red and purple.

For some reason, his heart began to beat a little faster.

Tomorrow, whether it was his confrontation with Zou Yuchuan or the dispute over the Tianyuan Manual, everything would come to an end.

He poured himself a glass of wine. The taste was bitter and astringent, far more unpleasant than the dried wild fruits on the island.

Perhaps that person was already on his way back to Lincang City.

If he were still around, he might have urged Rong Qi to reconsider, to make a different choice.

Rong Qi sneered. He had already made his choice back when he was on the island, and tomorrow, he would walk down an irreversible path.

He tilted his head back and drank another glass of wine, but suddenly his expression changed. He turned and shouted, “Who’s out there?”

The footsteps outside came to an abrupt stop.

Rong Qi gripped his wine cup tightly, his gaze fixed on the door. Then, with a creak, the door slowly opened. When he saw who it was, he was momentarily stunned, dropping the wine cup and standing up. “You… how…”

After so many days apart, Rong Qi never expected to run into Gu Yunxing here.

Gu Yunxing walked straight in, sat beside Rong Qi, and completed the question he had left hanging.

“How did I find you?”

Rong Qi stared at him in a daze. “Gu Yunxing?”

“It’s me.” Gu Yunxing picked up the wine cup that Rong Qi had dropped, refilled it, and drank it in one go.

“It’s been a long time since we last met. Before I came here, I was worried that Right Protector Rong might pretend not to know this humble Gu.”