Chapter 1055: Who got the secret letters? (1/2)

Long Feiye ran out of the cave as soon as he heard the noises, but didn’t see anyone around. Han Yunxi and the rest soon followed him, but he motioned for them to stay quiet. He cautiously took step after step into the grass, guarded against the person he knew was there. But despite drawing close, the hidden figure didn’t stir. Very soon, Long Feiye caught the scent of blood and grew even more guarded.

He stopped to unsheathe his sword.

In response, the person cried, “Master! Master! It’s me...master, it’s me!”

Long Feiye was shocked, while Han Yunxi and the rest were left stunned. They all recognized the voice as Chu Xifeng’s!

“Chief!” Xu Donglin was the first to dash out and tumble into the tall grass in his excitement. Half crawling, half running, he ended up sprawling by Chu Xifeng’s side.[1]

Long Feiye came closer as well and knitted his brows at the sight of Chu Xifeng. By the time Han Yunxi and the rest caught up, they were gaping as well. “What’s...what’s going on?”

Chu Xifeng was in a sorry state, his hair dishevelled and face dirty. His clothes had been reduced to tatters and his body was covered in bruises and swollen red cuts. Han Yunxi’s eyes swept over his legs and knew at a glance that his bones were broken. Moreover, they were old injuries.

Chu Xifeng was moved by the sight of Long Feiye, but he didn’t dare to meet Han Yunxi’s eyes and looked away, flustered.

“Chief… Chief, you...what’s happened to you?” Xu Donglin choked, eyes brimming with tears.

Seeing this, Chu Xifeng scolded, “Crying at your age? Aren’t you ashamed!?”

Xu Donglin turned away to wipe away his tears. He looked both stifled and sad without turning back. Chu Xifeng ignored him and quickly told Long Feiye, “Master, this subordinate has finally awaited your return. Disaster’s broken out at Celestial Mountain’s peak!”

Long Feiye finally crouched down. “What’s going on?”

“The Abstinence Hall and Sword and Scripture Depositories have all turned traitor. They colluded with members of Heretical Sword Sect to act from inside during an outside attack and took over the peak months ago. Then they locked up Duanmu Yao and Master Jianxin[2] into the dungeons,” Chu Xifeng replied quickly.

Although everyone had been suspecting as much after getting no reply to their letter, hearing the truth from Chu Xifeng’s lips still gave them a shock.

“What about the three Honored Elders?” Long Feiye asked next.

“The leader of Heretical Sword Sect personally scaled the peak to confront them, but none of the three Honored Elders were his match. He wanted the three to help him subdue the Ganjiang sword’s spirit, but the Honored Elders refused. Even now, they’re hung up at the mountain peak,” Chu Xifeng replied.

Heretical Sword Sect had always been very mysterious and never shown its face. But it was impossible for any of their sword skills to overwhelm Celestial Mountain’s three Honored Elders!

How could he fight one against three and still win?

Everyone exchanged looks and thought of one possible candidate with exquisite sword skills: Bai Yanqing, the man who had once disguised himself as Long Feiye to kill Gu Beiyue. If it was that undying old fox doing the fighting, then there was nothing more to be said.

“So Bai Yanqing was the leader of Heretical Sword Sect!” Han Yunxi said coldly.

Before, Long Feiye had only found out from He Yilian’s[3] dying words that Bai Yanqing had agents planted in Celestial Mountain. He Yilian was Cang Qiuzi’s eldest disciple and had helped his master maintain communications with Heretical Sword Sect in secret. He also knew that Long Feiye cultivated Lustbite energy. Thus, Long Feiye and Han Yunxi had already begun to suspect Bai Yanqing of having ties with Heretical Sword Sect. They never expected him to have taken over the sect entirely.

“After Bai Shanqing[4] left his position as leader, Bai Yanqing assumed the post?” Long Feiye asked doubtfully. That means Bai Yanqing’s been controlling Heretical Sword Sect for a while. In other words, he’s been hiding in Celestial Mountain Range for ages!

But why would he want the Ganjiang sword?

“When did they attack the mountain peak?” Gu Qishao suddenly asked in alarm.

“The tenth lunar month, last year,” Chu Xifeng replied.

“Do you know the exact times? Which day, do you remember that?” Han Yunxi was now nervous as well.

Chu Xifeng thought it over and couldn’t pin down the date, but said, “It was within the first ten days of the month, but definitely before the 15th.”

Long Feiye stiffened, while Han Yunxi and Gu Qishao were left shellshocked. They had trouble recovering from the blow. While they were at the Medicine Requesting Cave, their letters about the Phoenix energy had been sent to Celestial Mountain between the last ten days of the tenth month to the first ten days of the 11th month. But the sword sect master had already been locked up since the first half of the tenth month.

In short, their letters had ended up in Bai Yanqing’s hands! The one replying them was Bai Yanqing copying the sword sect master’s handwriting!