TM CH57

Chapter 57 The Day Before the Grand Ceremony (3)

Ninth day of the third lunar month.

The Lihuo Palace was nestled deep within the mountains of Shengzhou, surrounded by lush greenery and shrouded in mist. A winding forest path led to a checkpoint halfway up the mountain, and from there, one could go directly to the palace gates.

Rong Qi sat inside the carriage, accompanied by Xue Yu.

“Today’s seal-conferring ceremony has drawn not only over a dozen hall masters from various regions, but also envoys from the factions that have pledged allegiance,” Xue Yu said, idly toying with a small jade bottle in his hand. “I heard from my spies that members of the Wulin Alliance gathered in the nearby town last night. Fang Lian is among them.”

Rong Qi: “No need to pay them any attention.”

Xue Yu said with disapproval, “They clearly intend to cause trouble at the ceremony. If anything goes wrong…”

Rong Qi: “Since Zou Yuchuan dared to make the announcement to the jianghu, he must have anticipated the current situation. He and Xu Yan are the ones who should be worried.”

Xue Yu was convinced. “That’s true.”

His gaze shifted to a spot above Rong Qi’s head. “Right Protector, it’s been half a year since we last met. You’re not quite the same as before.”

Rong Qi looked at him. “How so?”

Xue Yu pointed. “I’ve never seen you wear a hairpin before. That wooden hairpin is… quite something.”

Rong Qi’s expression didn’t change. “I made it myself. What do you think?”

Xue Yu was caught off guard. “It’s… actually not bad.”

Rong Qi gave an ambiguous hum of amusement and didn’t bother with him. After a while, he took off the wooden hairpin and tucked it into his belt.

“It’s a bit ugly.”

Xue Yu: “……”

As they talked, their carriage arrived at the checkpoint halfway up the mountain. The men stationed there were all Rong Qi’s subordinates. Xue Yu lifted the curtain just slightly, and the guards let them through without question.

When they were about to get out of the carriage, Xue Yu took out a human skin mask.

“Don’t worry, I modeled it after Zhang Song’s face. It’ll pass without a problem.”

Zhang Song had once served under Rong Qi. After defecting to Xu Yan and refusing to return, Rong Qi had killed him a few days ago with a sword through the throat.

Rong Qi put on the mask with practiced ease. In the blink of an eye, his face transformed into that of a middle-aged man with thick brows and large eyes. He deliberately lowered his voice and asked, “How is it?”

Xue Yu gave him a thumbs-up. “Looks real.”

The two stepped down from the carriage. Xue Yu straightened his outer robe. Relying on his status as the Medicine Hall Master, he swaggered ahead of Rong Qi.

Inside the main hall of Lihuo Palace, the atmosphere was already lively.

The hall was simply decorated, with just enough embellishments to suit the occasion. Zou Yuchuan had yet to appear, and the gathered guests were making idle conversation. Scattered among the crowd were a few unfamiliar faces. They were likely representatives of the sects that had pledged allegiance over the past six months. Closer to the front, several hall masters sat in separate seats. At the highest position sat Xu Yan.

He had a lean, refined face and a scholarly air between his brows. He looked more like a learned gentleman than a fearsome deputy master of Lihuo Palace. As if sensing something, he looked past the crowd in Rong Qi’s direction.

Rong Qi lowered his head.

Xue Yu had been watching Xu Yan the whole time. When he saw him glance over, he raised his hands and offered a salute from afar, even grinning broadly at him.

Xu Yan’s expression remained calm. He quickly looked away.

Xue Yu: “Still as irritating as ever.”

Rong Qi said quietly, “I’ll be back in half an hour.”

Xue Yu’s face turned serious. “Be careful.”

After exchanging a few words, Rong Qi quietly slipped away while the ceremony had yet to begin. Wearing Zhang Song’s face, he used the excuse of delivering a congratulatory gift to get past the guards near the main hall.

With Zou Yuchuan and the top masters all gathered at the ceremony, it was the perfect time to gather information.

He needed to uncover the truth about ‘Fang Yuanqing.’

After circling around the main hall, he found that the surrounding areas were also guarded by hidden sentries.

But as the Right Protector of Lihuo Palace, Rong Qi knew the layout intimately. With a burst of lightness skill, he moved through the checkpoints with ease and soon reached the restricted area behind the mountain.

The back mountain didn’t refer to a specific peak, but rather to a section of land built against the natural terrain behind the palace. It had once served as Zou Yuchuan’s secluded training grounds. Now, it was where the Wulin Alliance’s Fang Yuanqing was being held.

Rong Qi had been here several times before, so the route was familiar to him.

He made his way deep into the rear grounds and entered a secluded courtyard. Strangely, there wasn’t a single guard in sight.

Had they already moved him?

After a moment’s thought, Rong Qi continued forward. He stopped in front of a large wooden door, gathered inner force in his palms, and struck—

The doors burst open, revealing a massive iron cage in the center of the room.

Inside, a man was bound to a metal frame, hair hanging loose, body wrapped in chains. His head hung low, and most of his white inner robes were soaked through with blood. At a glance, it was hard to tell if he was even alive.

Rong Qi approached cautiously, every sense on high alert.

“Fang Yuanqing?” he called out, testing.

The bloodied figure seemed to sense something and slowly lifted his head. “Wuwu!”

He was mute.

Rong Qi narrowed his eyes, studying him carefully. Although he had never met Fang Yuanqing in person, Zou Yuchuan had given them a portrait before he went to the East Sea. Apart from the bloodstains on his face, the person in front of him actually looked exactly like the one in the portrait!

But how could that be possible?

Rong Qi pulled out the cilin and sliced through the lock outside the cage. He stepped in quickly, grabbed the man’s chin, and examined him closely.

The resemblance was uncanny.

Not only did he match the portrait, but his eyes and eyebrows also resembled Fang Lian and his sister.

Still suspicious, Rong Qi pinched the man’s face, fingertips brushing slowly over his skin. A moment later, a faint smile curved his lips, and realization flickered in his eyes.

So that’s it.

“Bang—”

The doors behind him slammed shut with a heavy thud.

Rong Qi spun around and saw several white silks suddenly hanging down outside the cage, with the graceful figures of women descending along each one.

He quickly covered his nose and mouth, holding his breath and steadying his mind.

The next moment, the women flicked their white-sleeved robes, scattering a fine dust of powdered drugs into the air.

“Quick reflexes,” came a low male voice from the shadows.

Rong Qi didn’t need to look. He already knew who it was. “Shen Qi.”

Shen Qi stepped into view, wearing his usual easy smile, idly twirling a paper fan edged with gold-threaded silk.

Only this time, his face was hidden behind a silver mask.

Before Rong Qi could think further, Shen Qi spoke again. “Let me guess… someone who can slip past all the sentries of Lihuo Palace without a sound, managing to find this place undetected, is definitely a no ordinary nobody.”

Through the bars of the cage, Shen Qi studied him openly, the half of his face that was visible full of interest.

“Could you be the Sifang Sword, Fang Lian?”

Rong Qi: “……”

Shen Qi: “Nice figure. Shame I can’t say the same for your face.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the paper fan flew from his hand, slicing through the air and darting through the gaps in the iron cage, straight toward Rong Qi.

Rong Qi nimbly dodged, the fan’s wind brushing past his shoulder and slicing the white silk behind him in two. He sneered, drew his long sword, and placed its tip against the ‘Fang Yuanqing’ figure’s neck.

“Shen Qi, are you making such a spectacle just to protect a fake?”

Shen Qi’s hand holding the fan froze, and the smile on his face faded. “You’re not Fang Lian.”

Rong Qi replied coldly, “You’re supposed to be the Left Protector of Lihuo Palace, yet you can’t even see through this trick. The person in the hall will soon use this imposter to claim the position of palace master. And here you are, wasting time with me?”

Shen Qi stared at him, silent for a long moment before speaking. “My master personally examined him. Everyone in the palace knows that the person Xu Yan brought back from the East Sea is Fang Yuanqing.”

Rong Qi: “Fool, didn’t you doubt it at all?”

Shen Qi: “Doubt? Doubt that my master made a mistake, or doubt that the Tianyuan Manual is fake?”

Rong Qi silently studied him. After a moment, he twisted his wrist, gently removing the human-skin mask from the face of the imposter. Beneath it was an entirely different face.

“So what?” Shen Qi smiled. “He is still Fang Yuanqing.”

Rong Qi: “……”

Shen Qi stepped into the iron cage, bent down, and picked up the discarded mask. He blew away the dust, then carefully began to put it back on the man’s face.

Rong Qi pressed his sword against Shen Qi’s neck.

Shen Qi glanced down at the blade, but continued adjusting the mask as if nothing had happened.

“You shouldn’t have come back.”

Rong Qi knew that Shen Qi had recognized him.

With a wave of his hand, Shen Qi dismissed the female disciples in the room.

“Previously, when I heard that Fang Lian had returned from the East Sea, I even felt a bit sorry for you,” Shen Qi said, his words tinged with mockery. “But seeing you alive and well now… I suppose I’m a little disappointed.”

Rong Qi had no patience for his roundabout manner of speaking. “This venerable one doesn’t have time for your games. Did Xu Yan really retrieve the Tianyuan Manual?”

Shen Qi: “Maybe.”

Rong Qi: “What do you mean?”

Shen Qi: “If I told you that before your sword touched my throat, I wasn’t even sure whether this ‘Fang Yuanqing’ was real or fake, would you believe me?”

Rong Qi: “I don’t believe you never suspected it.”

Shen Qi: “I did suspect it. But there was nothing I could do.”

Rong Qi looked at his former adversary, who had become so unfamiliar, and said with disdain, “How did you end up like this?”

Shen Qi said nothing as he carefully pressed the human-skin mask back onto the prisoner’s face.

“What happened to your face?” Rong Qi asked.

Shen Qi gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Without ceremony, Rong Qi flicked his sword, and the silver mask fell away with ease.

Rong Qi: “……”

Shen Qi: “Satisfied?”

Rong Qi: “Your eye…”

Shen Qi let out a long sigh. “Said the wrong thing. Got punished for it.”

The right side of his face remained untouched. But the left was marred by a savage scar, and the socket where his left eye had been was now a gaping, grotesque void.

Rong Qi stared at that face, stunned into silence.

Shen Qi didn’t bother picking up the mask at his feet. With his remaining right eye, he looked straight at Rong Qi and asked, “The world believes you died beneath the sea. Why come back at all?”

Rong Qi: “I’m not like you, who can’t even handle someone like Xu Yan, and ended up turning into… this. Not quite man, not quite ghost.”

Shen Qi touched the scar on his face. “Is it that ugly?”

Rong Qi: “What do you think?”

Shen Qi: “If even someone like Right Protector Rong, who has always regarded appearance as nothing, thinks it’s hideous, then I suppose it really must be unbearable.”

Rong Qi remembered how Shen Qi had once cared deeply about appearances, dressed fastidiously, and was obsessed with flashy extravagance that served no purpose, always putting on airs. Back then, Rong Qi had found it all ridiculous. But now, faced with this version of Shen Qi, a few indescribable emotions arose in his heart.

He didn’t want to look any longer. Sheathing his sword, he turned to leave.

“Rong Qi.” Shen Qi’s voice stopped him. “Although you and I can’t stand each other, we were fellow disciples after all. Take my advice, whatever you want, you won’t be able to get it here.”

Rong Qi turned back. “What did you say that earned you such a punishment?”

Shen Qi lowered his head. After a long silence, he answered, “I told him that Fang Yuanqing is dead.”