“Tell me the truth: what were you two doing?” Right butt cheek facing the ceiling of Liu Shan Men’s office, Xin Buyi kept shooting glares at Ming Feizhen and Hua Qing. “First you’re all buddy-buddy with League of Assassins, and now you’re buddy-buddy with Demon Cult. I never knew you two were VIPs of unorthodox factions.”
Finally losing it with Xin Buyi, Hua Qing questioned, “If you’re going to interrogate us, go ahead, but why must you adopt that posture?”
“You picking a fight?! If you didn’t stab me, would I be suffering, like this?! I’d be out in the field if it wasn’t because of you!”
“I spoke without thinking that time. It was act-”
“Ol’ Xin, where’s the mister?” Ming Feizhen cut in.
“Don’t call me Ol’ Xin. I’m not your buddy. Who do you think he is? He has important jobs to take care of. He’s off to apprehend those demon cretins. You two are young and don’t look like mean people, so stop hanging around their kind. Else, you’ll be behind bars sooner or later.”
Owing to what Shen Wuzheng told him, Xin Buyi treated Ming Feizhen and Hua Qing more akin as his juniors rather than suspects or criminals.
“Ol’ Xin, are they really bad people?” Hua Qing only saw a hero in Wen Wudao – from the way he spoke to the way he carried himself.
“Don’t call me Ol’ Xin. Of course they’re bad people. Look how unbridled they are. They literally ran around butt naked. They’re a bad influence on culture, customs and people.”
Ming Feizhen voiced, “A group of butt-naked people running around in broad daylight must stand out, yet you still haven’t caught them? You guys suck.”
“Oh, you think it’s easy to catch butt-naked people? One of their three Great Guardians, Zhuxing Wuchang, is in the group. Not only is he strong, but he also loves seeking opponents for fights. In fact, he’s already pummelled disciples from most orthodox sects. He’s a cold-blooded murderer in the Western Regions; we’re just lucky he hasn’t had the chance to start a massacre in the Central Plains yet. Sir Shen rushed over precisely because of him.
“We didn’t expect even Dark Moon Faction’s leader, Bai Tianbin, to be here. The leaders of Dark Moon and Bright God factions may not be strong, but Bai Tianbin possesses martial prowess on par with Great Guardians on top of military strategy knowledge, which is why his specialty is training troops. He has a hundred and forty thousand followers under his faction, making him a threat to the imperial court and country. Had it not been for Sir Shen’s astuteness, we wouldn’t have realised he was here.”
Ming Feizhen and Hua Fei gave each other a shrug, not buying Xin Buyi’s story.
Xin Buyi scratched his head as he whinged, “I wonder how they got the balls to come out in droves recently. If even Valley of Villains and Sky Palace come out, it’s going to be one hell of a debacle.”
Ming Feizhen opined, “Big deal. Doesn’t the imperial court have three law enforcement offices? Even if one is incompetent, there are two left.”
“It’s more complicated than you think. The Qilin Guards are praying for our downfall so that they can take over. As soon as there’s trouble in the martial world, they’ll pull out as fast as if their hand was in a fire. Wang Muren is skilled, yes, but he’s unbearably haughty, so he’s constantly bickering with our Captain Yan.
“Emperor’s Entourage only cares for whoever is ruling. You see Qilin Guards and Liu Shan Men constables out and about, right? When have you ever seen a few Emperor’s Entourage agents around? That’s why it’s on us to solve any major issues in the martial world.
“Anyhow, since I won’t get anything out of you, you two should bugger off.”
“We can go now?”
“I couldn’t just let you go when there were so many witnesses. If you know how serious the situation is, stay at home for a few years, thanks.”
Ming Feizhen flashed a corner of his white pearls. “Ol’ Xin, Mister Shen asked you to take care of us, didn’t he?”
“Uh… Man, you…”
“Ol’ Xin, you should follow orders.”
“Yeah, exactly, Ol’ Xin. My brother and your superior are friends. Come on, buddy.”
“Don’t call me Ol’ Xin!” Xin Buyi slammed his table. “You going to leave, or do I have to make you?”
Ming Feizhen faked an exaggerated flinch. “Ooh, so scary. My legs are so weak that I won’t be able to leave the house for a few years.”
Hua Qing: “Oh, no! We could just be excessively concerned, but leg weakness could turn out to be a major problem. There should be eighteen doctors available in the city, right? Let’s ask all healthy men from the capital to Luoyang to search. Surely we can find eighteen doctors if we use the imperial court’s resources. Ol’ Xin, Liu Shan Men better report the medical costs.”
Xin Buyi took three deep breaths to curb his anger. “If there is anything I can do for you two, please let me know.”
“You’re finally enlightened.” Counting off his fingers, Ming Feizhen demanded, “I’d like Liu Shan Men to escort us to the neighbouring city in a horse carriage. The coach needs to be familiar with the roads and how to avoid tailers. We need two sets of clean clothes, a big chest of dry rations, uh… and three thousand silver taels.”
***
Hours later, Ming Feizhen and Hua Qing had successfully sneaked into the neighbouring city.
“Ol’ Xin sure is a miser. Nothing I said could make him budge on his final offer of two thousand and eight hundred silver taels.”
“Bro, you literally managed to take three thousand off him in the end, though,” responded Hua Qing. “By the way, I have a question.”
“Fire away.”
“Well… what are we doing here again?”
“Digging for information on Miguo Branch. Oh, and letting you experience the magic of the pugilistic world.”
“Putting aside the experience, Miguo Branch is a faction of monks, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Right, right… Aren’t we in the wrong place, then?”
“No.” Ming Feizhen looked as though Hua Qing asked the stupidest question known to man. “Did the men at the bathhouse scare your nuts off? There are always exceptions to things. Relax.”
From the pillars, the artwork, the statues, to the decoration, the place felt so welcoming that it was easy to relax.
“No, I’m pretty sure we’re in the wrong place. This doesn’t seem right no matter how I look at it.”
“How? It looks perfectly right to me.”
Immediately following Ming Feizhen’s response, a woman notified, “Gentlemen in Heaven room, your girls are coming.”
Glossary
Bai Tianbin – You’ve probably forgotten him since he’s only been mentioned in passing. In volume 6 chapter 57, we learnt he’s Ximen Chuideng’s teacher. Kong Duan blackmailed Long Cheng into doing his bidding using Bai Tianbin’s tablet, which infuriated Ming Feizhen enough to threaten he’d harm the imperial court if they ever defiled his grave.
When Ming Feizhen and Ming Suwen conversed, subsequent to Ming Feizhen’s rampage on Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary in Hangzhou (vol. 7.5 ch. 20), she mentioned that he was still beating himself up for failing to save Bai Tianbin. Bai Tianbin’s wife and child are separated, and we don’t know their fate at the moment.
Valley of Villains – For Gu Long readers, yes, it is the same name as the valley in his “Handsome Siblings” (literally translation) series.
