The White Lotus of Wisdom has five petals. Fang Jie, who had personally witnessed its supreme defensive power, immediately thought of the old monk Wisdom when he saw three petals blooming within the ugly-faced man's body. The events after his capture that day were still vivid in his mind.
Zhuo Buyi, the proprietress, the Crane Cry Daoist…
With the combined attack of six experts, the White Lotus shattered, but the old monk Wisdom used the opportunity to escape. There was a crucial point Fang Jie couldn't understand. If the White Lotus was a supreme defense condensed from Wisdom's cultivation power, then why did Wisdom disappear after the defense collapsed?
Where did he escape from?
Fang Jie still hadn't found the answer to this question, and not only him, but he knew that even Zhuo Buyi and the others hadn't found it. The people of the Great Sui Dynasty knew too little about Buddhism; they were completely unaware of their cultivation methods. In the more than one hundred years since the founding of the Great Sui Dynasty, almost all those who had truly fought against Buddhism were dead. The fierce battle between cultivators in Fan Gu twelve years ago was undoubtedly the most direct conflict between two powerful imperial sects.
But that battle left little behind; only a handful survived, and their whereabouts remain unknown. In Chang'an, only Li Nan participated in the fighting, but he was a deserter. Later, the landlady arrived in Chang'an, but her cultivation level wasn't among the strongest, and being a woman, she was responsible for support, rescue, and ambushes. She had little direct combat experience with the Buddhist sect and her understanding of them was superficial.
Tonight, in General Guide's mansion, Fang Jie saw the lotus again, a lotus that appeared holy and pure.
The lotus of wisdom has five petals, while the lotus of this ugly-faced man only has three. This difference in cultivation level is obvious to everyone.
But it's certain that there must be some close connection between this ugly-faced man and wisdom. Fang Jie is more inclined to believe that this guy might be a disciple of the old monk Wisdom. Thinking of this, he involuntarily thought of Chen Ya again. The man before him was handsome and refined, a picture of elegance and sophistication. He and Chen Ya seemed like two extremes: one breathtakingly beautiful, the other utterly hideous.
But this man's relationship with Wisdom was undoubtedly closer than Chen Ya's. Fang Jie had personally sent Chen Ya to his doom, yet Chen Ya hadn't used the White Lotus Defense in his final moments. He couldn't; Wisdom hadn't taught him that skill.
In that brief moment, Fang Jie thought deeply, using this brief respite to recover his strength. The ugly man's counterattack had been incredibly powerful and heavy. Fang Jie had withstood it with his strong physique, though unharmed, his chest and abdomen churned, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Just then, Shen Qingshan displayed astonishing power.
The greatsword, though not yet fully formed, was overwhelmingly domineering and sharp. While its outline was indistinct and even somewhat rough, the power of this strike was undeniable. The maids and guards with the lowest cultivation levels in the courtyard were powerless to resist, unable even to open their eyes. The two old stewards, however, were bleeding from their eyes. As the giant sword fell, more and more people bled from their eyes.
Chen Qingshan brought her arms together in front of her, her hands snapping shut.
Then, the giant sword fell from the sky.
The extremely domineering sword intent, like a galaxy falling to earth, slammed into the ugly-faced man's shattered white lotus. With a deafening roar, the entire courtyard seemed to sink. The white lotus shattered, turning into a shower of fragmented light, like scattered butterflies, swirling and gradually dimming.
At that very moment, Fang Jie moved.
He hadn't forgotten that the old monk Zhihui had mysteriously disappeared after using the white lotus twice. So, the instant the white lotus shattered, his body shot out like a cannonball, gathering his muscle power once more in his right arm, and slammed down with a powerful punch.
Bang! A cloud of dust erupted from the punch, leaving a deep crater where the ugly-faced man had stood. It was as if a bomb had exploded in the yard; the punch had unleashed incredible power. A violent wind swept outwards, whipping clothes wildly.
As the dust settled, Fang Jie, standing beside the crater, slowly withdrew his right arm. Shen Qingshan and he stood on either side of the crater, warily watching the depths below.
"It doesn't make sense."
Fang Jie stared at the empty crater, his brow furrowed.
"Nothing in this world is without reason."
Shen Qingshan smoothed a stray strand of hair from her forehead, then reached out and pulled something up from the crater. She examined her palm and found it was a disgusting piece of facial skin. Fang Jie picked up the half-face skin and examined it closely, then suddenly froze.
"I couldn't tell when it was on his face, but after it fell off, I had a vague impression."
He murmured to himself, then recalled the ugly-faced man's hysterical roar.
He's dead!
Fang Jie had initially thought the ugly-faced man's shouts of "he's dead" referred to his enemy. Now, Fang Jie finally understood why his roar had been so piercing. He was dead, the dead person… must be the old monk Zhihui. And the half-face in Fang Jie's hand was Zhihui's face.
Because Zhihui was a withered old man, his face would be stretched taut on the ugly-faced man's face. The wrinkles would be straightened, making the face look exceptionally strange. Thinking of this, Fang Jie slowly sighed and said, "I think… I know who he is."
He looked down at the half-face, thinking of the Sui man he had only seen once on Half-Moon Mountain. That Sui man had lost his soul and become Zhihui's servant. It was that Sui man who lured Liu Shuang and his group up the mountain, and then Chen Ya went on a killing spree. Now, many things have become clear, because after the old monk Zhihui escaped, he was left alone.
...
...
When Zhuo Buyi arrived, Fang Jie and Shen Qingshan were already preparing to leave. The distance of four streets took Zhuo Buyi a while, so he was somewhat annoyed. Looking at the half-face skin Fang Jie offered, he pondered for a moment before expressing his opinion.
"It might not be that Sui man named Fang Henshui."
He carefully examined the half-face, comparing it to the wise face he remembered: "While my understanding of Buddhism isn't very deep, I've never heard of a method in Buddhism that can make someone a great cultivator within six months. The Great Wheel King's lineage is mysterious, but those Buddhist disciples were already very powerful before receiving the inheritance. After years of painstaking training by Buddhism, even without inheriting the Great Wheel King's cultivation, they are still considered experts."
"That constable from a small county named Fang Henshui doesn't have the physique for cultivation. His family is considered..." His family was moderately wealthy. His father had once consulted a cultivator in hopes of his son's advancement, but the conclusion was that Fang Henshui was simply incapable of cultivation. His martial arts skills weren't particularly good either; they might be adequate against ordinary thieves, but a well-trained soldier could easily defeat him. How could someone like that become someone with strength comparable to a ninth-rank cultivator within six months?"
Fang Jie asked, "Then what do you mean?"
Zhuo Buyi shook his head and said, "I'm more inclined to believe that this person was originally a member of the Buddhist sect. His ability to use the White Lotus shows that he is a disciple of the Wise One. And he carries…" "Wisdom's shamelessness in committing murder... perhaps it's to more genuinely avenge his master?"
"That doesn't make sense!"
Fang Jie refuted, "Those students on Upper Half-Moon Mountain have no direct connection to Wisdom. If he wanted revenge, why didn't he come to you, or to Crane Cry Daoist?"
"Because he couldn't beat him."
Fang Jie asserted, "Because he knew he wasn't your match. If that's the case, why did he kill people in Chang'an? Why would someone without absolute power do that? He wasn't seeking revenge; he was trying to silence witnesses and conceal something."
Zhuo Buyi His eyes lit up: "You mean, that constable named Fang Henshui somehow gained the power of wisdom, but he doesn't want to go to the Buddhist sect, so he returned to Chang'an… and he doesn't want to be recognized, doesn't want to live in fear. He wants to return to the Sui Dynasty and use his newfound power to rise above others, so he must kill everyone who saw him."
Fang Jie nodded: "That's roughly the idea."
"Then catching him won't be difficult."
This wasn't said by Zhuo Buyi, but by Luo Weiran, who had appeared in the courtyard at some point. He walked over to Zhuo Buyi, took the face, examined it, and said, "If he really is that constable named Fang Henshui, then he has a weakness exposed to us."
No one asked what this weakness was, because everyone knew perfectly well.
Fang Henshui still had parents in that small fishing village in Jiangnan.
"This is none of my business."
Fang Jie shrugged, seemingly unaccustomed to this topic. He glanced at Shen Qingshan and said softly, "Let's go back."
Shen Qingshan nodded, not looking at anyone else throughout. Luo Weiran didn't stop them from leaving, but instead sent people to clean up the scene. Watching the couple leave side by side, he suddenly smiled and said, "Fang Jie is truly a lucky fellow."
Zhuo Buyi also smiled: "Having such a powerful woman by your side isn't necessarily all happiness. At the very least… Fang Jie can't beat her."
Luo Weiran said, "Regardless, it's something to be happy about. Not only has this murderer finally revealed his true colors, but more importantly… the Great Sui Dynasty has gained another expert who has advanced to the ninth rank. Did you see her sword intent?"
"No."
Zhuo Buyi shook his head: "But I could sense that her sword seemed even more terrifying than Li Nan's. Li Nan advanced to the ninth rank in his old age, his sword intent filled with more vicissitude than sharpness. But she's so young, her sword intent hasn't even fully formed… In a few years, who knows how terrifying she'll become?"
Luo Weiran hummed in agreement, lost in thought. ...
...
East 18th Street.
In the dilapidated courtyard, a figure plummeted from mid-air. Unable to steady himself, he landed with a gushing cough of blood. He clung to the wall to avoid collapsing, his eyes filled with hatred. He hated that his cultivation was not strong enough. He hated that his opponent was far more illustrious than himself. He hated that life was so full of hardship.
He slid into the ruined house, leaning against the wall, and slowly slid down to sit.
He raised his hand and ripped off the remaining half of his face, the hatred in his eyes intensifying.
"It's all your fault!"
He hissed softly, completely ignoring the blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"I was just an ordinary person, why did you change my life? Why didn't you kill me...? Why? If I were dead, I wouldn't be like this now, a wandering ghost, looked down upon and unable to see the light of day. You can't go back... haha... I can't go back either!"
"We can't go back..."
He leaned against the wall, covering his face and weeping, but dared not make a sound. Tears and blood flowed through his fingers, dripping onto the ground.
"I will be a superior man!"
He suddenly raised his head and looked out the window. His mind was filled with the man named Fang Jie, who seemed successful and powerful. He was a genius rarely seen in the Sui Dynasty in a hundred years, destined for a bright and prosperous future. And himself... he lived like a stray dog.
"I will surpass all of you!"
He clenched his fists, his eyes fierce.
Just then, he suddenly became alert and stood up abruptly.
A person stood in the dilapidated courtyard, dressed in brocade robes, holding a folding fan in the cold night. His features were obscured in the darkness, but his hostility was palpable.
"I've been following you," the man in the courtyard said gently and kindly.
"Don't worry, I mean you any harm."
"Who are you!"
He asked.
The man in the courtyard smiled and said, "My surname is Qin, and my name is Qin Liuqi. Perhaps you find my name strange; I'll explain later. If you don't mind, you can come with me to a place; someone wants to see you."