The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

” Making up her mind? Meng Qi was puzzled. He did not understand what decision would make Jiang Zhiwei so melancholic. But Meng Qi knew that she would speak frankly about it later on, and there was no need to be too inquisitive. Besides, he was afraid that if he pushed her too much, she would become moody, thus limiting her ability to display the full range of her might, leaving them all dead. She was the best fighter after all.

“All right then. If you meet any trouble, we’ll do whatever we can to help you.” Meng Qi nodded and returned Left Governor’s Mansion with Jiang Zhiwei. As he was in charge of patrolling the outer perimeter, nobody would notice his brief disappearance. People would probably think he had gone to inspect somewhere else.

The next evening, Meng Qi led Ruan Yushu on patrol to familiarize her with the layout of the mansion.

Zuo Hanfeng’s mansion was indeed quite big, full of winding corridors, lotus ponds and rockeries. Even as they walked through it, they had the feeling of wandering amidst beautiful landscapes.

The cool breeze caressed their faces. Meng Qi looked at Ruan Yushu, who was dressed like a comman girl. Her cheeks were puffed out, as if she was chewing something.

“Have you noticed that Zhiwei has had something on her mind lately?” As far as he knew, the two were almost best friends after their journey on River East.

Ruan Yushu stopped chewing and swallowed. “She hasn’t mentioned anything, and I haven’t asked her.”

She was always respectful of others’ boundaries. Best friends as they were, she didn’t want to pry. If Zhiwei was ready to speak, she would automatically tell her.

“She said she would tell us after this mission, so it’s probably nothing too important.” Meng Qi consoled himself. “She is almost reaching the Oneness of Heaven and Men realm. Is she worried about choosing which martial art road?”

“Or it’s something inside the Sword Washing Pavilion? Is it about having to give up certain rights to focus on practicing her swordsmanship?”

Without saying a single word, Ruan Yushu turned around to face Meng Qi. Even though her facial features were plain, her eyes were dark and bright, a depthless pool to drown in.

She was silent until Meng Qi felt uncomfortable, “Both are possible.”

“In any case, groundless speculation won’t help.” Knowing her meaning, Meng Qi took two deep breaths to calm himself down.

Right at the moment, they heard the sound of a zither, deep and sorrowful.

Meng Qi followed the sound and saw a three-story house with an inner yard. Surrounded by Chinese parasols, it seemed like a young miss lived there.

“Haha, Miss Zuo seems to have a lot on her mind.” Meng Qi did not want to casually suggest that she was in heat right in front of Ruan Yushu.

Ruan Yushu stopped walking and listened for a while. She said, “The zither sound is rather heart-wrenching. It sounds sincere and not a copy or imitation.”

“Oh? Does she have a lover?” Meng Qi asked casually. To his surprise, Ruan Yushu, the zither expert, agreed with him.

Ruan Yushu stared at the lotus pond that reflected the bright moon. While contemplating she replied, “Her zither music is sweet but sad, full of hesitation and struggle. She probably likes a person whom she should have loathed…”

“You can hear even that?” exclaimed Meng Qi in astonishment.

“Her words might be deceiving, but her zither playing reflects her true feelings,” said Ruan Yushu indifferently.

“I see…” He chose not to raise the matter any further, but silently wondered to himself what sound her own zither made when she was alone.

He let his imagination run wild and began inventing stories about Zuo Yiqian. “Perhaps she loves a poor scholar or a common soldier, but her father rejects it? Or she wants to elope with him, but she is afraid of the wild world outside.”

…

“Maybe, she has fallen for an enemy?”

The soap operas he watched only gave him an endless litany of dramatic plotlines to think about. Even as he was speaking, Ruan Yushu couldn’t help rolling her eyes.

“An enemy…” Meng Qi mused. Then is eyes widened as realisation dawned on him. He looked at Ruan Yushu, a face of surprise.

“Is her lover Du Huaishang?” Meng Qi had unconsciously lowered his voice.

Hm , Ruan Yushu thought it could be a possibility.

“Feng City is under lockdown and so are the Turf Lords. It should be easier to locate the badly wounded Du Huaishang who has been affected by Voodoo as well. After all, where we think is the most dangerous is usually the safest place, what if he is staying in the mansion too…” Meng Qi felt that he was drawing nearer to the truth.

“But, he killed her father…” Ruan Yushu felt a little dazed. As the legitimate daughter of an aristocratic family, the 18-year-old Yushu could not understand why.

Meng Qi thoughtfully said, “Perhaps, when she was under his spell, she didn’t know his identity. What more, when her father attacked the Red Coat army, Du Huaishang wasn’t there. Technically, her father didn’t die at his hands… ”

“I’ll have look into her.” Meng Qi was a man of action, and he had wanted get into her room ever since she had aroused his suspicions.

Ruan Yushu nodded, “I’ll wait outside for you.”

Having been acquainted with the layout of the mansion, Meng Qi ascertained where he was. Silent and shadowy, he treaded across the lotuses on the water and jumped over the wall.

“He enters a young miss’ boudoir late at night…” Ruan Yushu murmured, as if reminded of a particular mission.

Following the sound of the zither, Meng Qi quickly arrived, having skirted many guards.

He knew that Zuo Yiqian was accompanied by a Wet Nurse and that making any noise would surely draw Zuo Hanfeng’s attention. He hid himself in a dark corner, and using the corners for support, nimbly climbed up like a gecko.

The building was shrouded in darkness except for a dim light in one room. The zither sound coming from it was mournful and melancholic.

Meng Qi plastered himself to the wall beside the window. As he concentrated, his sense heightened, his heart became a clear, flat mirror, capable of reflecting the scene inside the room.

Zuo Yiqian sat the table absently playing her zither. As Ruan Yushu said, she both sweet and sad.

She had ordered her Wet Nurse to rest in the next room in order not to reveal her feelings and she was presently alone.

Meng Qi didn’t move a muscle. He knew that the precious weapon in her possession was dangerous, and he could not make a stir to attract Zuo Hanfeng and Yin Lenghui’s attention.

He waited patiently to see if Zuo Yiqian would make any unsual actions.

Having played for a long time, she sighed, rose and asked her maids to undress her.

Meng Qi knew it was improper to continue observing her and so he withdrew his senses. After a while, Zuo Yiqian was in bed with her two maids sleeping outside. Since she was no longer unaccompanied, she would not be able to do anything secretive. He climbed down and backtracked.

“Nothing unusual is going on…” He said to Ruan Yushu, frowning.

“How was she feeling?” Ruan Yushu said frankly.

He gave her a detailed description. “…she must have something on her mind. If we keep an eye on her and it turns out that she has nothing to do with Du Huaishang, we’ll be wasting a lot of time.”

“This is our only lead,” said Ruan Yushu, coldly.

“You’re right.” Meng Qi nodded softly.

What Ruan Yushu said was true. Their original plan to find a chance to assassinate Zuo Hanfeng. However, he had locked himself in the inner yard only letting Yin Lenghui enter. Even Jiang Shenghong had to report to him outside his room, not to mention Meng Qi and the others who had no reason to visit.

The next day, when Meng Qi and Zhao Heng were patrolling the outer yard, they saw Jiang Shenghong hurriedly pass by. His face was stony anger.

“Commander, what’s happening?” Meng Qi walked forward, feigning concern.

Jiang Shenghong exhaled slowly and said, “Yin Lenghui has ushered his sect master into our mansion. His Excellency was very pleased to meet him and welcome him with open arms.”

His status in the mansion was being threatened, for his Left Governor had increasing respect for Dissimilated Men.

“His Eminence?” Meng Qi pretended to be surprised.

Had the closed-eyed sect master been ushered into the mansion?

Not to mention that there might be some hidden conspiracies, there were more masters than before, making it harder for them to find a chance to assassinate Zuo Hanfeng.

As a powerful master in the Half-step Exterior Scenery realm, Yin Lenghui would best Jiang Zhiwei in a one-to-one battle, but he was not as strong as the Matriarch of the West. Plus, being able to perform Voodoo, he would at least pin down two of them. The closed-eyed Eminence was as powerful as Meng Qi, so it would not easy to subdue him. Besides, as a Samsara traveler, he would surely possess some precious weapons. In a conclusion, Meng Qi’s team would find it difficult to subdue them and Lan Die, let alone to kill Zuo Hanfeng of the Exterior realm.

Even if they adopted a diversion strategy, they could only mislead one enemy at a time.

“Yes. To think, the mysterious and furtive master is in Daning, too,” said Jiang Shenghong furiously.

Meng Qi had not bandaged his face with the white cloth, revealing a scarred face. “Such a cult must have ulterior motives. We have to figure out their intentions in order to protect His Excellency.” He said.

“Yes.” Jiang Shenghong nodded in agreement. In other words, he had agreed to let Meng Qi conduct a clandestine investigation of Yin Lenghui and the others.

After Jiang Shenghong left, Meng Qi paced with his hands behind his back. With his Secret Voice-sending voice, he said, “We can’t wait any longer. If we continue waiting for a perfect opportunity, we don’t know what will happen to Zuo Hanfeng.”

“Two of us work as bait to distract them, while the other three assassinate Zuo Hanfeng?” Zhao Heng was quite composed, making him look ever more like a ruler.

“We should push Zuo Yiqian to look for Du Huaishang. He is an Exterior master. As long as we find a way to heal him, everything will run smoothly.” Meng Qi refused to panic.

“What is your plan?” asked Zhao Heng, perplexed.

Meng Qi muttered uncertainly, “When Zuo Yiqian is out of the mansion…”

The next day, Zuo Yiqian went out, accompanied by her Wet Nurse and maids.

Meng Qi told Qi Zhengyan beside him, “Senior Brother Qi, while no one is here, hide in her boudoir. You can look for possible hidden passages and when Zuo Yiqian comes back, you can observe her actions.”

“All right.” Qi Zhengyan accepted this arrangement.

Meng Qi looked at his stoic face and cracked a joke. “A miss’s boudoir is full of things to catch your fancy. You”ll have to control yourself.”

The corner of Qi Zhengyan’s eyes twitched, and he turned and left.

Grinning, Meng Qi turned around and walked over to his hideaway before leaving the mansion. He had changed his outfit and disguised himself by applying the ointment to his scarred face.

Zuo Yiqian strolled aimlessly down the most boisterous street in Daning. From time to time, she would pick up one ornament, then put it down. Her maids and Wet Nurse knew that she was moody, so no one dared to disturb her, but simply followed her closely.

Out of the blue, she saw a middle-aged man appear in front of her with a bandages around his face. He held a bamboo pole strung with a white cloth. The words on both sides read,

“Except for myself, I can augur for everything, and my auguries have proved correct.”

“Except for the hearts, I divine marriages, and my divinations are verified to be true.”

Zuo Yiqian was about to ask her Wet Nurse to drive the charlatan away when he looked at her and shook his head repeatedly, saying, “What a poor miss! What a poor miss! Smart as you are, you’ve fallen for a wrong guy.”

She felt like she had been struck by lightning. Just as she had gathered herself, she saw him leaving.

“Sir, please wait.” Those words spilled from her lips.