Chapter 410: Borrowing The Sword (Part 1) (1/2)
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?”