Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 162: Martial Aptitude

Ding Songyan looked toward Liang Qian, his expression earnest.

"Elder Liang, we have two reasons for this unannounced visit. First, to warn you: we recently discovered that He Luo was connected to the Accumulated Evil Way. You need to be on guard against their retaliation. If you encounter anyone with ties to the Accumulated Evil Way, keep your distance and report it immediately."

As he spoke these words, the thought rising in Ding Songyan’s sea of consciousness was quite different.

Let me use the Accumulated Evil Way to test Fu Yangquan and see how he reacts.

To make these thoughts feel sufficiently genuine, Ding Songyan deliberately glanced at Fu Yangquan from the corner of his eye.

As he did, he carefully sensed how the faint wisps of ghostly black miasma spreading from Fu Yangquan were using the flow of heaven-earth qi to cross the gap of less than 3.85 meters and silently extend toward him.

So this is how a "true" Two-Faced slowly contaminates others? Ding Songyan tried gradually dissolving the small portion of the black miasma creeping toward his senior sister, returning it to primordial unity.

Zheng Zhuxi was standing farther from Fu Yangquan, so the miasma dispersed in the air before reaching her. It was an understandable result, and one that shouldn’t alert Fu Yangquan for the time being.

The reason why Ding Songyan still wanted to spout nonsense was not to test Fu Yangquan at all by having a superficial side, an inner side, and a side deep in the sea of consciousness. He wanted to directly experience how a Two-Faced converted an ordinary person, in order to accumulate data for future comparison with the Demon Seed, and from there eventually work out a universally applicable method to counter them.

He wasn’t sure whether he was a martial genius, or whether he possessed a gift of this kind. Yet he still felt a degree of confidence in the endeavor. After all, he did possess Manifesting the Way and its Virtue.

At the mention of the Accumulated Evil Way, Fu Yangquan’s amiable, full face showed no change of expression, and the ghostly black miasma silently and invisibly eating toward Ding Songyan maintained its original pace.

"Many thanks for the warning, Young Hero Ding," Liang Qian replied gratefully.

He understood that Ding Songyan’s inner voice had been deliberately leaked for both him and his senior brother to hear. This was a different kind of test.

The fence chief moved closer toward Fu Yangquan, intending to close the distance to within 3.85 meters. Even at the risk of having his own thoughts heard, he was determined to find out what his senior brother was actually thinking.

But the moment he took a single step, he saw Fu Yangquan retreat one step back into the westwing—clearly on guard against him.

By then, Zheng Zhuxi had already slipped without a trace to the entrance of the main room, her gaze fixed on the window of the westwing, ready to prevent Fu Yangquan from making a desperate break for it.

Within her sea of consciousness, the Candle Heart had ignited. Its warm, slightly golden light illuminated that inner world, driving away or dissolving all darkness and blocking what remained on the outside.

Ding Songyan spoke again, addressing Liang Qian, "Elder Liang, the second purpose of our visit is to have a word with Elder Fu.

"We’ve looked into the matter and found that he once served as the head of a Gan Kingdom prefecture. His sudden return to Dingjiang Prefecture raises concern that he may have other intentions."

At this, Ding Songyan turned his head to look at Fu Yangquan in the doorway of the westwing.

"Elder Fu, this isn’t personal suspicion. Risks of this nature all need to be investigated. Would you please accompany us to the county yamen?"

Within Ding Songyan’s sea of consciousness, new thoughts seeped out through the crack in the darkness.

Get him to the yamen and we have nothing to fear. The court has so many remarkable individuals and extraordinary techniques, I refuse to believe they can’t uncover what’s hidden in that face!

The thought had barely settled when Fu Yangquan gave a self-deprecating smile.

"I served in the Gan Kingdom for one term of office only, all for the benefit of the people. I never did anything to harm Great Zhao. That said, I understand that my past identity will naturally invite suspicion. I will accompany you to the yamen to clear my name."

As he spoke, Fu Yangquan picked up the dragon-headed staff leaning against the wall of the westwing and walked toward the main room entrance, the very picture of a man with nothing to hide.

The instant he crossed the threshold, his figure suddenly accelerated. He made a dash for the courtyard door, intent on finding somewhere else to hide.

At that very moment, a blade of light like flowing autumn water flared up and blocked his path.

Zheng Zhuxi had long anticipated he would seize the opportunity to flee!

Ding!

Her sword struck the dragon-headed staff but did not cleave through it. The weapon, lacquered black, was not wood at all. Instead, it was tempered steel.

The Mirror Lake Divine Reflection heir, whose style favored agility and nimbleness, was wielding an iron staff of exceptional weight.

Seeing this, Ding Songyan quietly activated the Chaos Realm around himself, dispersing all the ghostly black miasma creeping toward him, and stopped his observation of it.

He took two steps into the courtyard but did not intervene in Zheng Zhuxi’s fight with Fu Yangquan, only kept the Chaos Realm covertly spread across the area to prevent his senior sister from being affected by the Two-Faced’s contamination.

With the Chaos Realm and the Celestial Heart’s perception working in concert, Ding Songyan made a surprising discovery: under the influence of the Candlelight Sword Intent, the ghostly black miasma naturally emanating from Fu Yangquan’s body could not approach Zheng Zhuxi at all. They were like the shadowy apparitions and beasts lurking in the dark that dare not charge headlong into a bonfire.

Not only can the Candle-Star Pupils directly detect the Two-Faced’s second face, but the Candlelight Sword Intent can also suppress their contamination... No wonder the Demon Sovereign had gone to such lengths in the destruction of the Brightnight Sect. In their position, if there were an opportunity, I’d certainly want to eliminate a natural counter too, unless they can no longer counter me... Ding Songyan grew increasingly at ease and turned to enjoy the spectacle of his senior sister making short work of the elderly.

After a flurry of clashing and clanging, Fu Yangquan’s tempered steel staff was marred with deep sword marks.

Realizing that the watchtower must have spotted the commotion and that skilled fighters would soon arrive, the Two-Faced dared wait no longer. He burned his primordial essence and sent the staff sweeping outward with ferocious force.

Zheng Zhuxi touched her sword tip to the force, used it to launch herself upward, and performed a harrier’s roll in midair.

In an instant, brilliant sword light blazed, like a dazzling star trailing a fiery tail as it plummeted straight down.

Stars Falling Through the Night!

Fu Yangquan gritted his teeth and swung the staff upward, summoning a violent surge of force.

Autumnwater touched the side of the dragon-headed staff, and the ferocious momentum stopped at once, as if every ounce of the opponent’s force had been stolen away.

Stars Falling Through the Night was a feint; the real technique hidden within it is Stars Turn, Constellations Shift... Senior Sister, have you learned to blend truth and deception? Good. A person can be upright and magnanimous, but sword art must have its lures, its deceptions, its misdirections. Engage in an orthodox manner, win via unorthodox methods... Ding Songyan blinked in surprise, his mood becoming quite cheerful.

It was the pleasure that came from patient teaching and receiving positive results.

Autumnwater suddenly shook, sword light blazing, crossing paths with the dragon-headed staff before shooting downward at an even faster and sharper angle than before.

Flying Star Piercing Dawn!

With a thud, Autumnwater pierced Fu Yangquan’s left shoulder, tearing through his true qi. The keen sword intent rampaged through the Two-Faced’s body.

So she hadn’t simply redirected the "borrowed" force straight back; she had absorbed it into her own technique and used it to drive Flying Star Piercing Dawn... Masterful. Senior Sister really does have natural martial talent... With the Chaos Realm and the Celestial Heart both active, Ding Songyan could sense the variations of each move with exceptional clarity.

He felt that right now Zheng Zhuxi could genuinely challenge for a place on the Orchid Fresh List.

As the Candlelight Sword Intent suppressed the Two-Faced’s shadowed nature, and this sword strike had also damaged his actual lungs, Fu Yangquan’s body went limp. He was almost unable to hold the heavy steel staff any longer.

The girl landed lightly while launching two rapid sword strikes in quick succession, both targeting the enemy’s wrists.

Clang!

Fu Yangquan’s tempered steel staff crashed heavily onto the courtyard’s rammed-earth.

That Flying Star Piercing Dawn could easily have pierced straight through Fu Yangquan’s skull and killed him on the spot. But Zheng Zhuxi felt that doing so would be relying too heavily on her junior brother’s spirit channeling. If he were not around in the future, she would still need to take targets alive for interrogation. So she had angled the sword tip slightly and aimed for the left shoulder instead.

When reserves ran low, fighting to the death was the only option. With reserves to spare, taking a prisoner was worth considering.

Seeing his senior brother’s weapon on the ground, blood streaming from his wrists, the wound at his left shoulder so horrific that the lung was dimly visible through it, no more than 30% of his power likely remaining, Liang Qian’s eyes darted, and he lunged forward from the main room entrance, intending to apply a grappling technique and dislocate Fu Yangquan’s arms and legs at the joints.

He was trying to earn merit by atoning for his fault!

Sheltering a former Gan Kingdom official could be treated as a serious matter or a trivial one, depending entirely on how the yamen saw fit. He had to give the people willing to help him some suitable justification!

Seeing this, Zheng Zhuxi stepped back a few paces and pointed her sword downward.

Blood dripped from the reddened Autumnwater.

"You’re the one who brought these two here!"

"You treacherous thief, you’ve actually been plotting against me this whole time! And to think I took you in!"

Both able to hear each other’s inner voices, Fu Yangquan and Liang Qian couldn’t help trading insults mid-fight. One was furious that his senior brother had harbored ill intent all along and genuinely wanted him dead, the other was convinced that his junior brother was vicious and despicable, having hired people to slay him when he hadn’t even done anything yet.

Ding Songyan observed how Fu Yangquan’s ghostly black miasma was eroding Liang Qian, and found that for a Two-Faced to contaminate an ordinary person through normal means was an extremely slow process. What Fu Yangquan had been doing before, and was doing now, was nothing more than the last thrashing of a dying creature.

If it were a Demon Seed, once planted, the conversion would probably happen very quickly... With a single thought, Ding Songyan dissolved all the ghostly black miasma eroding toward Liang Qian, lest the fence chief be left as a lingering threat.

Fu Yangquan was, after all, severely wounded, his wrists nearly without strength. He was overcome in short order, dislocated at all four limbs by his junior brother, and collapsed on the ground gasping.

"Elder Liang, keep your distance from him. He may be a Two-Faced," Zheng Zhuxi said in warning.

Liang Qian jumped with fright and retreated several steps back to the main room entrance.

Only now did he understand why Young Hero Ding had mentioned his senior brother’s blurred face and brought up He Luo and the Accumulated Evil Way.

Not only was he bluffing my senior brother, he was also warning me... I didn’t pick up on it at the time. The Two-Faced really are too rare a thing to encounter... Liang Qian felt a wave of retroactive fear.

Looking at Fu Yangquan moaning and struggling on the ground, Ding Songyan turned his head and smiled at Zheng Zhuxi.

"Senior Sister, you deliberately left him alive. Why aren’t you interrogating him?"

Zheng Zhuxi gave her junior brother a glance, perfectly calm.

"I don’t know any interrogation techniques. We’ll have to wait for the yamen people to arrive."

Interrogation techniques... Fu Yangquan’s already-pained expression shifted, and he cried out at once, "Heroine, Heroine. I’ll confess! Ask me anything, quickly!"

"..." Zheng Zhuxi was momentarily dumbstruck.

I wasn’t threatening you!

I was speaking the truth!

"The truth cuts sharpest," Ding Songyan teased his senior sister.

He walked over to Fu Yangquan, extended the sheathed Frostshade still in its scabbard, and gave him a firm tap on the head, knocking him unconscious.

How could you trust a Two-Faced’s voluntary confession?

Better to take a trip through his dreams!