Chapter 410 (1/2)
Chapter 410: Borrowing the Sword (Part 1)
Qi Four had been waiting outside Chao's house . When he saw Ning Que, he heaved a sigh of relief and brought him into the house while he informed Ning Que of the recent happenings in a low whisper .
It was late at night, but the lights in the main hall of Chao's house were bright . There were many sitting there quietly and the atmosphere was tense . They would smile warmly when they looked at the old man sitting at the front, but the smiles always seemed forced .
Qi Four brought Ning Que to the hall . Everyone stood up, wrapped a hand around their fist and bowed before introducing themselves .
”Chang III, Chang Siwei”
”Liu V, Liu Si . ”
”Fei VI, Fei Jingwei . ”
”Chen VII . ”
The people gathered in Chao's house were all past leaders of the Fish-dragon Gang . After the case of the Spring Breeze Pavilion, their ident.i.ties had been revealed, so they could only leave the Fish-dragon Gang and return to the imperial court . Today, they held important positions in the Valiant Cavalry Battalion and Bodyguard office . Everyone had gathered here for that matter .
Before Chao Xiaoshu left Chang'an, he had specially brought these men to Lin 47th Street to meet Ning Que . Ning Que knew these people, and if he considered his own position as a secret guard, these were all his colleagues, and their appearance at Chao's house came as no surprise .
Chang III and the others looked at Ning Que oddly .
Before Chao Xiaoshu left, he had vaguely left the Fish-dragon Gang and them to Ning Que . But Ning Que had not accepted it, and they could not understand why . They did not understand why Chao Xiaoshu had trusted Ning Que so much . However, two years had pa.s.sed, and Ning Que had long become a famous person in Chang'an . That was when they realized that Second Brother Chao had seen something special in this person .
”This is Old Master Chao . ” Qi IV introduced .
Ning Que looked at the silver-haired old man whose face was filled with worry . He felt annoyed for some reason and frowned, ”One should not travel far if their parents are around . He has traveled happily and freely indeed . ”
Old Master Chao sighed and defended his son, ”He had wanted to take the imperial examinations and get a position as an officer . He slogged for half his life
before he finally had a chance to escape all of that . So I just let him go . ”
Ning Que was slightly surprised, he had never expected the old man to be so open-minded . He thought of how Chao Xiaoshu had been the emperor of Chang'an's underworld for so many years, but the old man, who had come from a scholar's family, had been indifferent to it . He must be a smart opinionated man who didn't have many ideas .
After he thought through this, he found that he did not need to avoid the old man . He looked to the people beside him and said, ”The Sword Master from South Jin Kingdom had been interrogated . Second Brother Chao must have fought with Liu Bai . ”
Surprised gasps sounded in the hall . Chang Siwei's face was filled with worry . They had gone through life and death with Chao Xiaoshu and their confidence in him neared stupidity . However, when they heard that the person Chao Xiaoshu had fought with was the Sage of Sword, Liu Bai, they could not help but be shocked and be at a loss .
The Sage of Sword, Liu Bai was the strongest powerhouse in the world . Even if Chao Xiaoshu's State had increased after leaving Chang'an, he was no match for Liu Bai . They just didn't know how that battle had ended .
Ning Que said, ”Liu Yiqing does not know the results of the battle . Chao Xiaoshu's official sword was taken from him, so he must have been badly injured . We don't know where he is now . ”
Qi IV scratched his head and said vexedly, ”According to Second Brother Chao's temperament, he would not do something so stupid like dying just because he lost that sword . What we need to verify now is how badly injured he is . Did he hide in some mountain village, or had the people from South Jin Kingdom imprisoned him?”
”He is not at the Sword Garret . ”
Ning Que looked at everyone and said, ”Liu Yiqing does not dare to lie about this . The Academy will keep him locked up before we find Chao Xiaoshu . Furthermore, the Academy had also written to the Sword Garret to ask Liu Bai about it . ”
Although those present were all well-known in the Chang'an underworld and were important figures in the imperial court now, they did not understand much about the cultivation world . They did not know where to start . And so, when they heard what Ning Que had said and found that the Academy was handling the matter personally, they breathed slightly easier .
Chang Three added, ”His Majesty knows of this matter too and will write a formal letter to the king of South Jin Kingdom asking them to hand over Chao Xiaoshu . I believe that they will consider it . ”
Chen Seven had been quietly standing in the corner behind everyone . It felt as if he was not used to being seen by a lot of people . He suddenly said, ”I feel that there is something off in this matter . ”
Everyone including Ning Que looked at him .
Ning Que noticed that everyone had mentioned their names when they introduced themselves . Only Chen VII had not . Then, he remembered that the Jianghu world in Chang'an described these people from the Fish-dragon Gang as so: Chang III was cold, Qi IV was vicious, Liu V was savage, Fei VI was fierce while Chen VII was sinister .
How sinister was Chen VII?
”Sage of Sword, Liu Bai might have attacked Second Brother Chao because he saw a prey that he liked, or he wanted to deal the Tang Empire with a blow, or perhaps Second Brother Chao had eaten a maize from the lands of the Sword Garret . ”
Chen VII seemed as if he could not bear the weight of the eyes looking at him . He lowered his head and continued slowly . Even though his choice of words seemed funny, his voice was guarded and it sounded like a mouse in the shadow .
”These are not important . ”
”What is important is, why did Liu Yiqing challenge the Academy? Why did he use Second Brother Chao's sword . Why did he let everyone know about this incident?”