Chapter 159: 159 Chapter 158: The next move

"Let Master Zhao Shi know that you're now in my Great Nature's Heart shop," Wu Tuo told Tang Qi Hong, who nodded and took out her smartphone. She dialed Elder Zhao's number, held it up to her ear and spoke a few words.

"Elder Zhao? Where are you now?" she paused. "Yeah, we're fine. We actually captured a prisoner for you. Well, Fei Wu did, actually. I'll leave the interrogation to you." she listened for a few seconds again. "About that…right now we're in the Great Nature's Heart shop in the shopping district. Master Wu Tuo arrived to help us, and offered to protect us until you arrive." She stopped again, and nodded in delight. "I understand! We'll wait here then!"

"When will Elder Zhao be here?" I asked when Tang Qi Hong hung up.

"About fifteen minutes. They're on their way." She shrugged helplessly. "He had to assemble a team and wait for the members to gather, which was why they took so long. Otherwise they would have been here twenty minutes ago."

Remembering how fast the Phoenix Express was, I was pretty sure the Blood Blades would have access to faster and more maneuverable transports. Of course, since this was a spontaneous event that happened without warning, I couldn't expect the Blood Blades to teleport to the headquarters, and then teleport to the Free Trade Street.

The mechanics of this world might border on magical, but there were things that were impossible even for this world.

"That's good." Wu Tuo smiled as he offered his assurances. "Don't worry, we'll make sure to protect you until then."

"Thank you," I said automatically. He merely waved my thanks away, and then studied the both of us keenly.

"Are you sure you're both fine?" he hesitated for a moment. "I mean, I'm glad you're both fine, but it's a miracle that you both emerged unhurt from that exchange."

"Fei Wu protected me," Tang Qi Hong replied, somewhat proudly. "It's thanks to him that I escaped unscathed."

"The both of them were pretty strong," I admitted. "Especially that second guy. If Qi Hong wasn't supporting me with her Spirit Armaments and Nine-Tailed Fox Fire Formula, then I probably would have gotten severe injuries."

"You give yourself far too little credit," Tang Qi Hong told me, crossed. Wu Tuo laughed at that.

"In any case, I'm glad that both of you are unhurt." He then turned serious. "I have some of my guys looking into the guys who attacked you right now. But do you have any idea who they could be, and why?"

"Liang Shao Yang?" Wu Tuo asked, astonished. "Isn't he that new rising star in your sect? The one who triggered a response in the Spirit Engraved Pillars and became an inner sect disciple last year? Are you sure he's the one behind this?"

"We can't be sure," I confessed as I scratched my head. "If he's competent enough, he would have covered his tracks. It'll probably be very difficult to find any evidence leading back to him. And it's only a suspicion. It's also possible that the culprits were hired by someone else. I mean, a demonic sect could be aiming for us, and what better way to cripple the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect than to assassinate one of their most promising inner sect disciples?"

Tang Qi Hong was not modest at all when she nodded. "If they take me, one of the pillars that will support the future of the sect, out, then they will really deal the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect a huge blow. But if that's the case, they should be aiming for Liang Shao Yang as well…"

"Any news regarding that front?" I asked as I consulted my smartphone. If Liang Shao Yang was attacked, I was pretty sure that it would show up online, or on social media.

"Nope," Tang Qi Hong replied as she consulted her own smartphone. As I expected, news of the assassination attempt on Tang Qi Hong was all over social media, already drawing thousands of views in less than an hour after it happened, with many sympathetic and outraged responses, and several snark and mean comments. However, there was completely nothing on Liang Shao Yang, though to be fair, the bastard didn't have any Facebook or Twitter account. I didn't have a Twitter account either, so perhaps I wasn't privy to any information there, but Tang Qi Hong confirmed there was none shortly after.

Wu Tuo shook his head in disbelief. "I did hear that this Liang Shao Yang is from the Divine Shadow Sect, which is notorious for assassination and sabotage, so it is not completely far-fetched that he would infiltrate the sect to eliminate you. But why now?"

"I don't know," I muttered. "Though I suspect it has something to do with Qi Hong becoming the owner of sseveral battle-automata, and the Great Elders changing their attitudes and favoring her over Liang Shao Yang recently."

"That happened?" Wu Tuo was taken aback, but he nodded understandingly. "Perhaps he panicked when he saw that things weren't going his way. That does make sense."

"Even then, I really didn't think that he would be this rash!" Tang Qi Hong gritted her teeth, infuriated. "I mean, it's normal for inner sect disciples to have arguments and squabble among themselves – that happens all the time. But for him to actually commit murder over such a small matter? It makes no sense at all!"

"I'm afraid the position of the future sect leader is no small matter," Wu Tuo corrected. "Begging your pardon, but if what you say is true, and the Great Elders favor you over him, this Liang Shao Yang must have felt that his position is threatened. If so, he reacted the way any disciple of the Divine Shadow Sect would…that is, through assassinations and sabotage."

"Oh yeah…now that you mentioned it, didn't he try and kill me with Venomous Scarabs last year over the most stupid reason?" I couldn't even remember why he set the Venomous Scarabs on me, but it had to be over something as dumb as me being too close to Tang Qi Hong.

That time, I had abided by the rules, and didn't bother with the bastard. As much as I wanted to kill him, I knew that doing so would bring the wrath of the Blood Blades down on me. The sect would definitely not let me off. So I endured.

For a time, it seemed like my patience paid off and Liang Shao Yang moved his attentions away from me. It wasn't as if the guy hated my guts or held a grudge against me. He deemed me as insignificant, and so didn't try to kill me again. As long as he didn't make a move against me, there was no reason for me to bring up that murder attempt and try to kill him. Moreover, he was just acting out of the principles drilled into him by his Divine Shadow Sect, so I couldn't really blame him. That said, if he had tried to assassinate me again, I wouldn't hold back and I would kill him in self-defense, to hell with the sect.

This time, my glasses had a recording function, so I could use the video as evidence. Even the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect couldn't deny that!

Unfortunately, while Liang Shao Yang no longer had any intention to kill me, he had shifted his attention to Tang Qi Hong and tried to assassinate her. If I hadn't been by her side, he might even have succeeded.

This guy…it was too dangerous to let him live, but I couldn't simply walk up to his apartment and murder him. For one thing, he was too powerful and I didn't have the confidence that I could kill him 100% before other people showed up and intervened. And it wasn't worth breaking the rules and getting the death penalty (or spending a lifetime on the run, escaping from the authorities' relentless persecution) to kill him. The whole point was to end a threat to my life (or Tang Qi Hong's life in this matter), not to replace that threat with an even bigger one.

No, if I wanted to eliminate Liang Shao Yang, I had to do it in a smart way. Right now, the difference between our statuses was far too vast. Even if I was a Blood Blade, Liang Shao Yang was one of the two candidates vying for the position of future sect leader. The Great Elders and authorities of the sect would no doubt side with him over me.

They would literally let him get away with murder if necessary.

"Wouldn't it be dangerous for the two of you to return to the sect if that's the case?" Wu Tuo asked, concerned.

"It will be fine," I assured him. "Liang Shao Yang will definitely not dare to attack Qi Hong in the sect, not using these same methods. She's still one of the two candidates to be the successor to the Sect Leader, and a prodigy recognized by both Sect Leader and Elder Hai Mo. As long as she stays within the main sect grounds, he will not dare to attack her directly."

I was very confident that what I said was right.

Liang Shao Yang was definitely aiming for Tang Qi Hong, but he chose to attack her the moment she stepped out of the main sect grounds, not inside. If we hadn't gone on the shopping trip today and remained inside sect territory the whole day, those two people wouldn't be bold enough to trespass into the sect territory and try to assassinate her right under the Blood Blades' noses. Furthermore, they chose to strike in a relatively lawless area pretty far away from the main sect grounds, which further proved that they were cautious enough to avoid making a move in Nine-Tailed Fox Sect territory.

Furthermore, now that Blood Blades knew of this attempt, they would definitely assign high-level masters to protect Tang Qi Hong in future. Much like how Da Ge and Zhao Shi followed Zi Xiao Ji around wherever she went.

"What about you?" Tang Qi Hong looked at me worriedly, noticing that I didn't say anything about myself.

She was just as aware as I was that if Liang Shao Yang wanted to eliminate me, he wouldn't need such a roundabout method of hiring assassins to kill me outside the sect. in fact, he would have no hesitation murdering me in the open inside the sect.

He was a future sect leader candidate who triggered a response from the Spirit Engraved Pillars and a prodigy recognized by the Sect Leader and six Great Elders, who personally taught him. Even if he "accidentally" killed a normal Blood Blade or inner sect disciple, nobody would bat an eyelash or judge him.

Well, they might do something for show, like lock him up for a few months to "reflect" or a slap in the wrist, but obviously they wouldn't try to achieve justice and would let him out eventually. It wouldn't do to leave such a promising disciple rotting inside prison for so long, and even more of a waste to sentence him to death.

Even though the normal punishment was a life for a life, not all lives are equal. Some are worth more than others. Thus the law did not apply as much to Liang Shao Yang as it did to me. Particularly the Great Elders would appraise Liang Shao Yang as several times more valuable than mine. Even if he killed me, it would not affect his position in their hearts at all.

…that is, if we go by normal xianxia logic. However…

"Don't worry. He's not stupid enough to try and kill me in the sect either," I informed Tang Qi Hong coolly. She frowned.

"Why not? Your statuses are too different. And the Great Elders are biased toward him…they will definitely side with him over you!"

"That is true, but think about it." I sighed as I scratched my head. "Right now several of the Great Elders already expressed their preference for you, and are considering supporting you over Liang Shao Yang. Moreover, even if he has such an eminent position in the sect, the law is the law. He can't just blatantly flout the law in the sect – never mind me, all the disciples in the sect will protest and leave because they can't trust the sect to protect them if Liang Shao Yang decides to bully or kill them if he's in a bad mood. That's not healthy for morale or for an organization. An organization cannot survive if it revolves around a single individual."

"That's true," Wu Tuo agreed with a smile as he stroked his flabby chin.

"And let's be serious. Many of the great elders are already changing their minds and favoring you. If he pulls a stunt as stupid as murdering another disciple on sect grounds, what do you think they will do? More of them will lean toward you. Only an idiot would support the idea of placing a blatant murderer on the throne. They should know how self-destructive it is to place a psychotic tyrant as the sect leader – he will ruin the sect and run it to the ground. Talent is not everything – even if you're the most talented blacksmith, that doesn't mean you're capable of leading. Sect Leader knows this. And besides, they have you. It is completely illogical to support a murdering psychopath as sect leader over another genius whose talent surpasses the other, just because she's a girl."

"Not unless they're patriarchal, misogynistic bastards," Wu Tuo muttered under his breath darkly. I glanced at him in surprise, but he nodded. "What you say makes sense, but you should still be careful. Logic doesn't always apply to psychopaths."

"Well, hence my last reason. He has no fucking reason to kill me." I shrugged. "I'm insignificant. He's only trying to kill you, Qi Hong, because you pose a threat to his position. What am I? Just a normal Blood Blade. Why would he care and invest the time and effort to get rid of me? It's a totally unnecessary risk and wasted effort. I am nothing to him. I pose no threat. The only reason why I was attacked today was because I just happened to be beside you when the assassins struck, and I got in their way. Otherwise they wouldn't even care about my existence." I thought for a moment. "Here's an example. Let's say there's this ambitious noble who wants to assassinate the Emperor. Even if the assassins failed because of the royal bodyguards, the rival politician wouldn't scheme to kill the imperial bodyguards. They just happened to be in the way and were only doing their job. The noble's next move would to find another opportunity to assassinate the emperor, not to waste time holding a grudge against the imperial bodyguards and trying to kill them for doing their jobs." Then I suddenly remembered something. "Besides, this is all just speculation. We haven't actually confirmed that Liang Shao Yang is the real culprit behind all this. If it turns out to be someone else, such as a demonic sect, we would actually be safer inside the main sect grounds."

"Very true!" Wu Tuo agreed and turned to Tang Qi Hong. "You're the primary target. So you should be careful."

"Yeah, we'll let Elder Zhao know, and he'll assign you bodyguards."

Tang Qi Hong snorted. "What are you talking about? You're already my bodyguard. You just proved yourself today, didn't you?"

"Uh, well…" I scratched my head, a little embarrassed. "I would prefer to have some help in this. I don't think I can manage the job on my own."

"Ha ha ha, the young man is right. It's always better to have more!" Wu Tuo laughed.

Tang Qi Hong turned to him, and then bowed respectfully. "Master Wu Tuo, thank you very much for escorting us here and protecting us. The Nine-Tailed Fox Sect will definitely remember this debt."

"You're being too polite," Wu Tuo chided gently. "The friendship between Cloud Sky Mountain and the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect has always been firm and unshakeable. Whatever happens to the disciples of your sect, we will definitely help in whatever way possible."

"Same here." Tang Qi Hong maintained her respectful stance.

Wu Tuo sighed heavily and shook his head. "If I knew that you would be attacked on your way back to the sect, I would have personally escorted you myself. I really did not imagine that there would be people audacious enough to attack the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect inner sect disciples within Tushan City itself. How utterly outrageous!"

"Nine-Tailed Fox Sect will definitely get to the bottom of this," Tang Qi Hong vowed.

A silence fell over us for a moment, and then Wu Tuo smiled awkwardly.

"Um…if I may be so bold, I actually have a request."

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Tang Qi Hong brightened up, most likely because she had a chance to repay him. "Sure! What is it? We'll do everything we can to help!"

Wu Tuo coughed embarrassedly. "Well, actually…when you return to your sect, you could let Pang Feng and Pang Yun know that I've come to Tushan City, and that I hope they can visit this shop. As you know, your sect dislikes it a lot when I attempt to contact the both of them, so it isn't easy for me to meet them…"

Pang Feng was a genius among Cloud Sky Mountain's younger generation, and he had gone against the Cloud Sky Mountain Sect Leader's advice to accompany his sister to Nine-Tailed Fox Sect without any hesitation.

Consequently, Cloud Sky Mountain had sent people to Nine-Tailed Fox Sect many times before, trying to meet Pang Feng and persuade him to return to the mountain. Naturally, Pang Feng rejected them each and every time, but they were persistent to the point where even the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect got sick of their visits.

Furthermore, Nine-Tailed Fox Sect valued Pang Feng a lot, so eventually they ended up blocking any communication from Cloud Sky Mountain who requested to meet with Pang Feng and Pang Yun. It wasn't that they were worried that Pang Feng would be eventually persuaded to leave Nine-Tailed Fox Sect with Pang Yun, but because of more practical reasons – that the mass emails and phone calls from Cloud Sky Mountain were quite simply, becoming spam. To the point that they could actually sue Cloud Sky Mountain for harassment.

Naturally, I knew about all this because Pang Feng told me. I was good friends with him, and I did happen to witness a couple of times over the past year a small group of Cloud Sky Mountain masters trying to look for him. Pang Feng had directed me and Tong Xue to inform them that he was not available, that he was outside the sect for a mission and other…well, lies.

"Um, about this…" Even Tang Qi Hong was taken aback by this request. "It's not that I don't want to help you, but I'm not sure I will be able to. The sect is sick of Cloud Sky Mountain's numerous attempts to persuade Pang Feng and Junior Yun. And even Pang Feng and Junior Yun themselves have complained about Cloud Sky Mountain…well, harassing them. I'm afraid they won't listen to me."

"No, I'm not going to try to convince them to return to Cloud Sky Mountain. I'm here to notify them of something else. A very important matter." Wu Tuo shook his head frantically to placate her. "You can rest assure, Miss Tang. I swear upon my reputation in the Cloud Sky Mountain that I have not come to persuade the both of them to return home. Additionally, Pang Feng should have become a member of Blood Blades by now, so it will be even more difficult to persuade him."

"You got that right. He is currently a member of the Blood Blades." I offered my confirmation, and Wu Tuo smiled sadly.

"All right." Tang Qi Hong thought for a moment, her expression seriously, before she finally nodded. "I trust you."

"I can tell Pang Feng," I offered. "We're both in the Blood Blades, so I'm more likely to see him in the near future. I'll definitely pass on the message."

Wu Tuo was unable to mask his delight. "Thank you, Miss Tang, Mr. Fei. I will be counting on you then."

"Yeah. Leave it to me." I nodded, and made a mental note.

Before we could say anything else, one of the staff came in.

"The Blood Blades are here!" he called out, trying to keep the awe and panic out of his voice.

"Ah, then let's go meet them!" Wu Tuo hurriedly rose to his feet. Tang Qi Hong and I exchanged a glance, and then followed him out of the reception room. Outside, Elder Zhao and a bunch of Blood Blades were milling inside the shop.

"Hey, Wu!" Tong Xue waved at me. I grinned and waved back, but was a little disappointed when I didn't see Pang Feng. I guess notifying him would have to wait, though…if he did arrive here, then I wouldn't need to pass him the message in the first place.

"Qi Hong! Are you all right?" Elder Zhao rushed to her, and she nodded, trying to keep him at arm's length before he crushed her in a hug.

"I'm fine. Fei Wu protected me."
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Elder Zhao turned to me with a relieved smile. "Great job, Fei Wu. I knew I could rely on you." he then cocked his head. "I heard you even captured one of the assassins?"

"Yeah. He should be in there." I turned toward the storeroom. At a nod from Wu Tuo, one of the staff led us there, opening the door to reveal the waiting sentry who continued to guard over the semi-conscious Gray Shadow.

Gray Shadow glanced up, his eyes glinting faintly when he recognized Elder Zhao, but he said nothing and merely set his jaw firmly.

"Bring him back to the sect," Elder Zhao ordered the Blood Blades subordinates he brought along. "We'll interrogate him."

"You won't get anything out of me," Gray Shadow hissed. Elder Zhao merely glared at him coldly.

"We'll see about that."

Another Cloud Sky Mountain staff hurried into the storeroom and whispered something to Wu Tuo, who widened his eyes.

"Oh! My disciples have found out some information about the assassins that might be relevant. We'll email you the details later."

"We can't thank you enough." Elder Zhao bowed gratefully to Wu Tuo. "Thank you for protecting our sect's disciples, and for helping them through this crisis, and also for sheltering them until we arrive. We will definitely repay you."

"What are friends for?" Wu Tuo waved dismissively. "Anyway, we've confirmed the identities of the two assassins. This man we have here is Gray Shadow."

Gray Shadow twitched, but otherwise didn't react. He continued to stare at the floor sullenly, refusing to meet the gaze of his captors.

"The other man who tried to assassinate Miss Tang in Free Trade Street has been confirmed to be Black Shadow."

"What's with those fancy names?" I muttered. A few of the other Blood Blades chuckled, but I found it odd that Tong Xue, who would normally be amused by my jokes, remained stoic. He was staring at Gray Shadow with an unreadable expression.

I frowned at that, and was about to ask him about it, but Tong Xue snapped out of it and grinned at me.

"Yeah, pretty dumb names, right?" he laughed unconvincingly. My brow furrowed deeper, but before I could ask him, Wu Tuo continued reading off the details from his smartphone.

"Gray Shadow and Black Shadow are two of the Divine Shadow's Three Great Shadow Guards. I'm surprised they were sent here. If this intelligence is not mistaken, Gray Shadow and Black Shadow are here in Tushan City under Liang Shao Yang's instructions. He is their sect leader's son, after all. I suspect that they were acting today under Liang Shao Yang's orders."

"So it was him, after all!" Tang Qi Hong growled furiously. Elder Zhao clenched his fists angrily until his kunckles whitened.

"That brat! If he's really behind this, then I don't care what Sect Leader or the Great Elders say. I will definitely…!"

"Calm down." Wu Tuo held up a hand. "This is just speculation. I have no concrete proof. You should know how Divine Shadow Sect operates. They conceal plenty of information even from their own subordinates. Even though many outsiders are aware of Divine Shadow Sect's notorious reputation for raising assassins and killers, it is extremely difficult to get any accurate information regarding the actual circumstances inside Divine Shadow Sect. for all we know, there might be inner strife and multiple factions within Divine Shadow Sect, and one of those factions might be aiming to kill Liang Shao Yang because of inner sect rivalry, so that they can oust his father from his position of sect leader. Or perhaps they want to frame Liang Shao Yang so that they can discredit his father. We have no way of confirming the truth."

"Even so, our intelligence can confirm that Gray Shadow and Black Shadow are direct subordinates of Liang Shao Yang…or at least direct subordinates of his father."

This time it was Tong Xue who spoke up, and everyone turned to him. We knew that his primary sect was the Smart Shadow Sect, so his information was pretty reliable.

"In other words, it's a ninety percent possibility that Liang Shao Yang is the one behind the assassinations," Elder Zhao grated out.

"Perhaps even higher." Wu Tuo nodded. "But unless you have solid evidence that he was the one who personally ordered Gray Shadow and Black Shadow to act, I'm afraid you won't be able to make a move against him."

Yeah, sometimes the legal system was its own worst enemy. On the other hand, if it turned out that this happened to be the other ten percent (or lower) that Liang Shao Yang was not responsible for this, then we would end up framing an innocent man and killing him unjustly. The legal system existed for a reason.

Elder Zhao glared at Gray Shadow in disgust, and then turned back to Wu Tuo. Apparently he was interested in what he said earlier.

"Master Wu Tuo…you mentioned something about Gray Shadow and Black Shadow being three of the Great Shadow Guards? Who's the third one? And is he under the direct command of Liang Shao Yang as well?"

Wu Tuo thought for a while, and then he shook his head.

"I don't know."

"It's Blood Shadow."

Again, Tong Xue surprised everyone by speaking out. Everyone turned to stare at him, and he shrugged.

"Blood Shadow is the last and most powerful of the Three Great Shadow Guards." He glanced at the bound Gray Shadow with that same unreadable expression. "He's on a completely different level from Gray Shadow and Black Shadow, whose combat capaibilities are only average." He then turned to Tang Qi Hong and me. "You two were lucky. If the one attacking had been Blood Shadow, it would be near impossible for both of you to escape with your lives."

"I'm glad we were lucky then," I commented dryly. "Even though we almost got assassinated."

"They were no match for the two of us," Tang Qi Hong said proudly, her hands on her wide hips. I snorted.

"Only because they were stupid enough to attack us one person at a time, and we both ganged up on each of them. If they were smart enough to team up and fight us two against two, I'm afraid we wouldn't be standing here and talking in such a carefree manner."

Gray Shadow glanced up at me sharply, but remained silent. There was some respect in those gray eyes now, though.

Come to think of it, I couldn't blame them for their tactics. The two of them showing up together and trying to attack us at the same time would have drawn a lot of attention. Like I said, Gray Shadow's strategy was actually sound. If I wasn't the one accompanying Tang Qi Hong, he would actually have succeeded. Under normal circumstances, there was no real need for the two of them to team up to attack Tang Qi Hong.

Sometimes Fate could be a real bitch. I was just glad I wasn't her target this time.

"Is this Blood Shadow under Liang Shao Yang's command too? What are the chances he has come to Tushan City along with the other two Great Shadow Guards?"

Elder Zhao was questioning Tong Xue now, but he shook his head.

"I'm afraid I don't know the details. I just know he's extremely powerful, but my sect and I have no idea what techniques he uses, or exactly what stage or realm he's at right now. I do know that he's a direct subordinate of the Divine Shadow Sect leader. He is usually always at the sect leader's side, mostly as his bodyguard. I can't guarantee that he's not here, though…from what I heard, the Blood Shadow is usually dispatched to take care of the most difficult assassination assignments…and his success rate is hundred percent."

That sent a chill down everyone's spines. Especially mine. I noticed Gray Shadow cracking a small, subtle smile, which flickered his face for a brief second before vanishing underneath that stiff, emotionless façade.

I swear, that was classic foreshadowing. Given how these were the Great Shadow Guards, I guess foreshadowing was an apt word to use for this case.

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