CH 68

Su Xiaopei’s condition improved slightly during the latter part of the night; there was more strength to her breathing and her body didn’t feel as hot. She would on occasion open her eyes long enough to express thirst and Ran Feize would feed her water before she sank into sleep again in a daze. The Jiuling Taoist observed her, finding it hard to perceive this strange woman as one who could wash him of injustice. Was there another in this world who was as unfortunate and distressed as her? Look at that short hair, the clothes she wore. That dirty attire was clearly made last minute in a hurry. 

Ran Feize was a little displeased with his gaze. His maiden’s clothing was disheveled so what was he doing, looking at her so intently? He adjusted Su Xiaopei in his arms so only a little of the shoulder and back were seen.

The Jiuling Taoist, who seemed to sense Ran Feize’s thoughts, lightly cleared his throat and turned his face away only to notice the dozing Ji Jiawen holding the large sword case in his arms. The Jiuling Taoist’s lips curved upward in amusement at the young lad’s silly appearance. He suddenly said to Ran Feize, “Once we leave the barrier, I will offer the young lady a divination.”

The Jiuling Taoist was commended as simply the god of divination; to have him offer a divination was something all within Jianghu would desperately seek yet fail to get. But Ran Feize suddenly felt insecure as he thought back on the joke Su Xiaopei told him, saying that she was a demoness. He didn’t believe she was one but the Jiuling Toaist did mention before that a divination board had split apart once, when he had tried divining for Su Xiaopei. Hm, a storyteller* had once shared a tale from folk legends where Taoists had the means of driving out demons and evil spirits….

Ran Feize felt a little uneasy. What hidden intention did he have to offer a divination? “It is unclear whether she is willing or not, but I offer my thanks in her stead for Sir Taoist’s well-meaning.”

The Jiuling Taoist’s brows creased but he remained silent.

No one spoke afterwards as each closed their eyes to rest. When dawn arrived, the morning light pierced and spilled in through the fog. Ran Feize and the others noticed then that the fog had greatly diminished. Although Su Xiaopei was still weakened, she looked evidently better, enough to open her eyes and tell him she felt cold.

Ran Feize rubbed her arms, comforting her that it would get better once the sun rises. Ji Jiawen took out an outer garment from his baggage, saying it was clean. As these were special circumstances, Ran Feize didn’t bother scorning it for being another man’s clothing and busied himself wrapping it around Su Xiaopei. But Su Xiaopei still felt cold.

“Let’s leave a little quicker. Exiting Linglong Mountain still takes some time and the young lady’s condition depends on seeing a physician.”

Ran Feize knew this of course. He lifted up Su Xiaopei and in briefly discussing with the Jiuling Taoist and Ji Jiawen the route and method of navigation, everyone immediately set out. 

The fog was thinner compared to yesterday. In addition, Ji Jiawen had traversed this path three times already while the Jiuling Taoist himself was a veteran of the Jianghu. With two other people beside him for additional support, Ran Feize felt more at ease to sink into his thoughts. And so, the three smoothly crossed through a large portion of the terrain. There were the occasional activated arrow-laced traps, but with Ji Jiawen using the large sword case in his hands as a shield and the Jiuling Taoist using his Jiuling Cleaver, they were able to keep Su Xiaopei protected. 

Just like this, they crossed the barrier with only a few startling moments but without danger, and then, finally heard the faint calling of the others from a distance. Ji Jiawen shouted twice in that direction but no one responded. The Jiuling Taoist shook the Jiuling Cleaver and it’s ringing penetrated the fog to give the others a warning. Ran Feize carefully scanned their surroundings and suddenly cautioned, “Be careful, the fog seems to have thickened.”

The Jiuling Taoist frowned, “Can it be possible that someone reactivated the barrier?”

“Huh?” Ji Jiawen straightened himself nervously. Ran Feize had also mentioned yesterday that someone had deliberately toppled that tree. Was it possible that a nefarious person was concealing himself within their surroundings?

“Someone is certainly causing trouble secretly.” Ran Feize was furious. Were this the past, he would have been willing to keep company and join the fun in causing trouble, and he wouldn’t kill the other party either. But now, Su Xiaopei was being helplessly involved in experiencing dangers and this made him fume with rage. Even utterly killing the other person wouldn’t ease the blaze of his anger. “Better not let me find out who this filthy person is.”

“We are coming very close to the road that leads out of the formation, don’t be anxious, no need for impatience.” Both of his seniors swept him a look; it was only then that Ji Jiawen realized his own words sounded like a nervous child’s.

The Jiuling Taoist put away the Jiuling Cleaver and didn’t move. The weapon settled down. “What are your observations?”, he asked Ran Feize.

“His goal is me and Miss Su.”

“Now that Grandmaster Jiang and the others are here, as long as we converge with them, it will be difficult for that person to cause more trouble.”

Ran Feize pursed his lips. He already had someone he suspected in mind but he had yet to figure out why the person was doing this. The Jiuling Taoist looked around him as this portion of the road was the most crucial. With the thickening fog, the risks they faced would increase. 

“This plan may be best- I will scout ahead with the Jiuling Cleaver as an advantage. If you hear the ringing is normal, then all is well. Should the ringing turn rapid and sharp, then it is the sound of me repelling hidden weapons. With this, you will know of the danger beforehand. As the young lad Ji has a shield and sword in hand, he can protect you. We should be able to get through this short distance.”

Ji Jiawen and Ran Feize nodded their heads in response, and so the Jiuling Taoist forged ahead while Ji Jiawen opened the sword case to guard them from behind, leaving Ran Feize to listen carefully for the changes in sounds to guide the way.  

The Jiuling Taoist accidentally struck upon two trap mechanisms but they fortunately managed to emerge safely out of danger. During the last stretch of the road, they finally encountered the others who had been looking for them up ahead. Everyone greeted each other and settled down at last to report their situations to each other. Many were injured and thus placed outside of the formation to be treated while Jiang Weiying, Xiao Qi and the others chose a few who could fight well to enter the formation in search of people. Words were kept short as they hurried to form teams and exited the array.

The fog continued to thin until at last, the wide, open space before their eyes became clear. Ran Feize released a sigh of relief in his heart and lowered his gaze to Su Xiaopei. She was wrapped within the garments and appearing smaller than ever; her face was ghastly pale and exceedingly frail looking.

“Still cold?”

She nodded faintly. Ran Feize’s heart ached as he drew her even closer. The sun had already risen high in the sky and the rest of them were drenched in sweat from running. Yet, she was still feeling cold even under three layers of clothing.

“Endure a little longer, I will go find medicine.”

Su Xiaopei nodded. What else could she do but endure? An ill patient must take things as they come. Only she felt recalcitrant; just why was she so unlucky?

Ran Feize followed the group to a camp established right outside the array and saw from afar that many had sat down to rest. Xiao Qi pointed to two areas and strictly bid, “Do not go near those areas, only the middle here is safe.” Ran Feize gave his acknowledgement and went to find Fang Ping and Fu Yan first. Both were present with a few injuries on their bodies but nothing serious.

Ran Feize only glanced at them briefly before leaving to find Jiang Weiying and ask for medicine. Jiang Weiying helped take a look at Su Xiaopei and concluded that the poison wasn’t a serious problem; the issue laid in the fact the poisoning had weakened her body only to then suffer overnight in the cold forest. She still needed treatment from a physician even after removing the poison. 

Ran Feize dipped his head, acknowledging that he knew, but the poison should at least be removed for now. Jiang Weiying handed the medicine to him and Ran Feize, after carefully looking at and smelling it first, gave it to Su Xiaopei to take.

Su Xiaopei tried to stay alert and asked, “Within just one night, you managed to stuff me with medicine three times, is that even reliable?” Even though she said this, she still obediently took the medicine.

“What?” Ran Feize watched her drink the whole medicine before he finally felt relief. “Did you want to say ‘safe’?

Su Xiaopei didn’t have any strength. “My brain isn’t functioning so don’t you try to correct my wording.”

“Seems safe enough. See, you have enough energy to talk back.”

She really wanted to roll her eyes at him but she closed her eyes and tried going back to sleep. Ran Feize briefly touched her cheeks and neck once more to finally see that her condition had indeed stabilized. Only then did he turn his focus over to the current situation. Upon doing so, he immediately noticed the Jiuling Taoist’s absence. When he carefully listened to his surroundings, he found that the Jiuling Cleaver’s ringing was drifting in and out from quite a distance away.

Ran Feize turned to Jiang Weiying, “Whereabout is the Jiuling Taoist?”

Jiang Weiying looked around him. Now that everyone was together once more, each had formed their own group to talk leisurely and rest, but the Jiuling Taoist couldn’t be found anywhere. “I just saw him not long ago.” 

When Ran Feize listened again, the sound of the Jiuling Cleaver was no longer audible, meaning that the Jiuling Taoist had stopped and was no longer moving about. Jiang Weiying asked the others to look amongst themselves to make sure no one was left behind again as well as to search for the Jiuling Taoist. Everyone went and it wasn’t long before someone shouted from the area near the forest, “Someone come! We found him!”

Ran Feize was able to discern that the voice belonged to Luo Han from Riyue Mountain Sect. Everyone rushed over upon hearing the news only to find a robed figure lying prone on the ground.

It was the Jiuling Taoist.

The people were greatly alarmed. Xiao Qi ran over and lifted the Jiuling Taoist to discover that he had been shot by four short arrows in the back. He presumed that they were from an activated hidden trap as one of the arrows hit right at the center of his back. He no longer had breath. 

This incident left the group dumbfounded. He had clearly been well and fine just a moment ago. Could it be that he had wanted to scout ahead first, accidentally activated a trap, and met his end?

Ran Feize held onto Su Xiaopei as he looked at the body of the Jiuling Taoist with a heavy heart. He set her down on the side before he carefully inspected the corpse. Jiang Weiying and the others also examined it with a grave expression and sighed.

Jiang Weiying instructed for the Jiuling Taoist’s body to be safely taken out after that,  and so some of the stronger men set to work tying a stretcher out of strips of rattan before placing the Jiuling Taoist’s dead body on it. And then, in a manner similar to an injured person carrying his burden, they gingerly made their way back out of the barrier. Fortunately, no more traps were triggered and within a day, they returned to the suspension bridge entrance of the Linglong formation.

A crowd of people had gathered to wait on the other end of the suspension bridge. Many were from the Shensuan Sect with Grandmaster Gu Kang leading them and their faces brightened on seeing the group’s approach. But when they looked closer at the group and noticed that the Jiuling Taoist wasn’t among the familiar faces, and then, saw the appearance of a stretcher instead, their expression immediately changed.

They waited for the group to cross the bridge, then, they came to the front. Gu Kang and his group approached the stretcher, saw that the one lying on the stretcher was indeed the Jiuling Taoist, and immediately howled their lament as their faces collapsed into grief. 

Ran Feize watched all of this unfold with knitted brows. Su Xiaopei tried hard to remain alert, wanting to be attentive to the situation, but her whole body felt unbearably uncomfortable and lacking in strength. She could barely keep her eyes fully open.

Gu Kang restrained his emotions as he turned to look at the JiulingTaoist’s dead body. When he saw that he had been shot with several trigger-operated arrows, he closed his eyes. “How did this happen?” Who should be investigated, and who should the blame fall on?

Cao Hedong explained the situation as it occurred at the time: they had just exited the formation and no one had anticipated that an arrow-laced trap would be triggered. This incident truly caused much heartbreak.

Gu Kang gritted his teeth and couldn’t help but seek to find someone to fault. “Were it not for you self-proclaimed, ‘righteous and fair’ Sects preventing us Shensuan Sect disciples from accompanying our Martial Uncle into the formation- it’s because our Martial Uncle had no one to support him that this tragedy happened.”

“Things shouldn’t be worded this way.” Cao Hedong wasn’t willing to be thrown such an accusation. “This situation was truly an accident. The Jiuling Taoist has impressive martial arts skills so who could have imagined this would happen? Just go ask, who wouldn’t have said the same?”

“Me.”

Someone within the crowd suddenly disagreed. Cao Hedong’s expression sank, feeling mightily displeased.

Ran Feize.

Did that person love to pick fights and oppose others or something? Cao Hedong turned his head and asked with a cold voice, “Then please do speak, Great Swordsman Ran, what was the situation like at the time?” 

With so many eyewitnesses, he definitely doubted the man could conceivably change any information and stir trouble.

Ran Feize was very calm. “The situation was, without a doubt, as Cao Hedong explained; the scene truly seemed like an accident upon a glance. But the wounds on the Jiuling Taoist tell me that his death is far from accidental.”

As soon as he made this remark, those from the Shensuan Sect immediately became guarded and anxious. “What do you mean by those words?”

Ran Feize glanced over at Jiang Weiying and spoke, “Sir Taoist’s fatal injury is the arrow to the center of his back. The scene of the incident is quite a distance from the fog-enshrouded formation and those arrow-laced traps are not that powerful. If Sir Taoist were to be shot by them, they would not be fatal. Yet, that one arrow to the back of his heart is pierced quite accurately and deeply.”

Gu Kang and his group hurried to turn the body over to look and noticed then that the depth of which the arrow was embedded into his back was indeed different from the other three.

Ran Feize glanced over at Jiang Weiying yet again, saw him covertly nod his head, and continued, “Grandmaster Jiang also noticed the strangeness so he kept his composure and did not make this known, only instructing for the body to be carefully brought out to ensure the schemer would not have an advantage. Now that we have safely left the Linglong formation, now that every Jianghu Senior, Sect, and Faction are present, these observations can finally be explained clearly.”

Gu Kang pinned his eyes intently on those who ventured into the formation upon hearing this. “So the killer is among you people?”

Everyone looked at each other but no one showed any suspicious expression. Gu Kang scrutinized the group for a while but he too, couldn’t make any conclusions. He wanted to say that it was the treacherous hand of the Qisha Stronghold who took this opportunity. But he had neither witness nor evidence and he didn’t dare make false claims. Furthermore, it was unclear if that group of people were the only ones who entered the Linglong formation, and the possibility of someone sneaking in there to cause harm couldn’t be confidently ruled out either. Gu Kang was filled with resentment and hatred. He opened his mouth, yet the words would not come.

“Sir Taoist put himself in danger for the sake of saving me and thusly suffered a terrible end. I, Ran Feize, vow to find the true culprit and console Sir Taoist’s risen soul*.”

[TL/N: 在天之灵 refers to the spirit/soul of the dead, literally translating to ‘spirit in the heavens’.]

“Ran Feize.” One of the Shensuan Sect disciples stood up and upon looking, he was Jiuling Taoist’s close disciple named Luo Qi. “Master Taoist divined that a great catastrophe would befall him should he enter the barrier, but said that he lived forthrightly and righteously all his life, and though having foes aplenty and many seek his downfall, he was dignified and upright. He did not kill Qisha Stronghold’s Master for he was framed. Master Toiast believed you are able to wash him of this injustice so he was most insistent on entering the barrier and searching for you all, no matter the cost. Now he has suffered this ill-fate all for your sake. You must live up to your word not only to find the culprit who murdered Master Taoist but you must also catch the one who truly killed the Stronghold Master and finally return Master Taoist his innocence. Master Taoist asked for nothing more than this.”

His speech caused everyone to be visibly moved. He had asked for nothing more. It was unfortunate that his life was already lost to the netherworld. 

“I, Ran Feize, always live up to my word.”