396 He Jiu of the Eastsea Sword Village (1/2)
The veins on Meng Qi's forehead throbbed with rage. Feeling a strong urge to give the demoness a good thrashing, he repeatedly reminded himself that he shouldn't take offense at the words of a mental patient. ”Senior Brother Qi is still in her hands!”
Finally managing to calm his turbulent emotions, he paid no heed to her jab about the child. In a deep voice, he asked, ”Miss Xiaosang, where's Senior Brother Qi? Why would he encounter danger?”
Gu Xiaosang feigned a tearful hurt look. Pouting, she said, ”Husband, the way you're calling me makes us look like strangers. Don't you usually call me your darling wife?”
”That's hardly the point! No, you're not just schizophrenic, you're also delusional!” Meng Qi thought, feeling exasperated and helpless.
Just as he was about to question her again, her expression turned solemn. She tilted her head to look at him, appearing mischievous and adorable. ”It's not safe to talk now. Let's find another opportunity to meet in the next few days. When it came to some things, you wouldn't trust my—your wife's—word for it. But if it's your Senior Brother Qi, you wouldn't doubt it anymore.”
Her expression took on a hint of sadness as she spoke.
”What do you mean 'your Senior Brother Qi'...” mumbled Meng Qi in response, his mouth twitching. His voice trailed off without ending his question as he decided to drop the matter.
Displaying a sudden aptitude for acting and stagecraft, Gu Xiaosang wore a solemn expression as she approached him. In a hushed tone she advised, ”You'd better stay indoors a few days. However you can't stay here anymore. Head to Happycloud Heights as soon as possible.”
She brushed past him at her final syllable, pushed through the door and left, leaving only a faint and seemingly perpetual fragrance in her wake.
Meng Qi remained in a daze, mesmerized by the silhouette of the retreating Gu Xiaosang. When he woke up, all traces of her former presence were already gone.
It suddenly dawned on him that he had barely grasped the true strength of Gu Xiaosang. As ordinary and common as she appeared, her actions and movements were no different to that of any skillful warriors of the Nine Apertured Master. She simply didn't have the natural grace and rhythm that harmonized the teachings of the Dharma and Logos of the Heaven and Earth, only finesse that hardly resembled that of Wang Siyuan and his peers. And yet this was precisely the reason she was so terrifying.
She had unsealed her Eight Apertures when he was barely a sapling in the disciplines of the martial arts world. Though he had developed smoothly through fortuitous encounters in his journey later on, she had not dawdled without improvements of her own either. In the series of the Celestial Court tasks, she had hunted and killed the Successors of the Mystic Fairy. Her encounters and gains at the remnants of the Ninth Heaven would barely be less fruitful than his. For as long has he attained the level of the Eighth Acupore through his remarkable talents, resources, toil and labor; surely she had not remained a mere practitioner of the martial art skills of a Nine Apertures. It would be nothing less of inconceivable should she not have exceeded the expectations of attaining the levels of the Heaven-Man Connection, the Oneness of Heaven and Men, or even the heights of one who had achieved the Half-Step before the Exterior.
It was bewildering as she had yet to display any shred of improvement of her levels. One might wonder if she had mastered the ability to mask her aura of Oneness of Heaven and Men?
He projected his spiritual senses to trace the trail of Gu Xiaosang, but it seemed that the trail had gone cold.
Just then, her silver-bells-like laughter rang next to his ears. ”My husband, I'm very happy that you continued to dress this way. I've decided to forgive you for not being honest about what's in your heart.”
Her voice came drifting through the air, shocking him. She had not gone far, and yet he had not detected the slightest trace of her!
When the meaning behind her words hit him, he glanced down at the black clothes he had been wearing as the significance finally sank in. He mumbled quietly, his face twitching, ”You presume too much...”
Gu Xiaosang had been the one to design the dashing, warrior-like outfit for him.
Setting aside his emotions, he pondered over her last warning with a dreadful foreboding. ”Senior Brother Qi is in danger. The ominous caution of staying indoors and make haste for Happycloud Heights... Could it be that someone is targeting me?”
”Or is it just a ruse or ploy by this devilish woman?”
”Well, I'll have to go to Happycloud Heights anyway. There would be hardly any difference if I go now or later, especially without any discernible signs of evil intent...”
Meng Qi wouldn't be prejudiced against a person's opinion or thought just because of his or her character. He wouldn't subjectively believe the warning to be a lie just because it came from Gu Xiaosang. He would carefully analyze the statement and decide the truth of it after weighing the pros and cons.
He pondered a moment before packing his belongings and his trusty blade, Heaven Inflicted Pain. He left a few taels of silver on the table of his room before he swiftly left the inn, heading towards the banks of Lake Yue.
Despite the word ”Heights” in the nomenclature of Happycloud Heights, the manor of the Eastsea Sword Village was not on the outskirts of the city. It sat close to Lake Yue and Misty Rain Mountain at the North-West corner of Ying City. Unlike most cities, Lake Yue the Misty Rain Mountain were enclosed within the boundaries of Ying City, adding to the remarkably enormous length and breadth of the city. Word from the Six Fan School was the landscape was included within the confines of the city walls for the purpose of their natural energies and properties which would bolster the protection barrier of the city.
Happycloud Heights was surrounded by mountains on one side and water on the other. It was also heavily guarded. Compared to ordinary gardens or parks, it appeared somewhat boorish.
Ignoring the fact that it was late into the night, Meng Qi pulled on the knocker to knock on the door.
In just a short while, he heard the small door next to the main entrance creak open. An old servant dressed in a dark blue robe popped his head through the door. ”Young master, is there something urgent that you're visiting our Happycloud Heights at this hour?”
Taking in Meng Qi's extraordinary temperament, he didn't dare to raise his voice and made a polite question instead.
”I'm Su Meng. I was invited here.” Meng Qi took out the invitation.
The old servant took a look at the invitation and a wide smile instantly lit up his face. ”So it's you, Young Master Su. I'll report your arrival to the Heightslord immediately.”
He led Meng Qi into the reception hall and quickly stepped inside to make his report. He returned shortly with a bright smile. ”Young Master Su, it so happens that our Young Master isn't practicing his Kung Fu. He invites you to join him in the Sky-surging Sword Qi Hall.”
”He Jiu is quite polite...” Meng Qi nodded and followed the old servant out of the building and through a rock garden with a pool, all the way to a hall seemingly cast out of black iron.
He felt Sword Qi assaulting his senses the second he entered the hall. It was as if this place stored tens of thousands of swords but when he took a closer look, there was nothing here. There were only pillars and walls made out of steel, as well as ordinary tables and chairs.