Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 235: The Death of the "Bookkeeper"

He Jianyun?

Ding Songyan studied the human face that had been peeled off and nailed to the wall, recognizing its owner from the birthmark and other features.

This was He Jianyun, the owner of the Hidden Recluse Bathhouse and the Ghost Yu Way member they had been seeking out!

Wasn’t he coming to Huaiyuan Street to confirm the lead on the renegade? How did he end up like this? No, with nothing left but this? Could it be... Ding Songyan suddenly had a guess.

The so-called lead was planted by the renegade himself. If a powerhouse came, he would hide. If only someone like He Jianyun came to Huaiyuan Street to confirm the lead, he would assassinate them, strike back a little, and try to provoke the Ghost Yu Way into searching even more frantically. That would make it easier for the Chengtian Prefecture and the Martial Prohibition Bureau to notice the anomaly, triggering a clash between the orthodox and the heretical.

That Ghost Yu Way renegade is ruthless and bold... Other heretical renegades only think of hiding and seldom consider striking back, and those who dare use official power to slay their pursuers are extremely rare... Ding Songyan silently praised.

"He Jianyun was killed?" Xie Fengchao had also seen the peeled-off face, and he could not hide his shock.

A member of the Ghost Yu Way, famed for assassinating others, had been assassinated?

And with no warning at all!

Jiang Lanting and Bai Qilin exchanged glances, equally surprised by this turn of events.

They had thought it most likely that He Jianyun, warned in time, would flee Huaiyuan Street and vanish into the crowds without a trace. Their hope of digging up part of the Ghost Yu Way’s strength in the Flame Capital through the owner of the Hidden Recluse Bathhouse had never been great.

Several Chengtian Prefecture constables approached, dispersed the onlookers, and skillfully began searching for traces.

After watching for a while, Ding Songyan said to Xie Fengchao and the others, "My Brightnight Sect has a secret art, Northern Dipper Wayfinding. Let me see if I can help the authorities find He Jianyun’s corpse."

The Ghost Yu Way renegade probably did not possess a secret art or weapon that annihilated souls, which meant that finding He Jianyun’s body would allow spirit channeling.

"I can emulate a similar secret art." Jiang Lanting had already wiped away his urgent expression.

The bewilderment, anger, and panic of having been targeted for assassination had also dissipated without a trace.

Fifth Xie’s praise for his carefree nature is well earned... Ding Songyan’s opinion of Jiang Lanting rose a notch.

Bai Qilin touched the bump between his brows and said in a low voice, "The Tianyu Sect also has methods for tracking."

Seeing this, Xie Fengchao walked toward the Chengtian Prefecture chief constable, who was examining the face. He stopped about seven meters away and saluted with cupped hands.

"Greetings Constable Hong, I’m Xie Fengchao of the Xie clan. A few of my companions have secret arts for tracking traces. Might they be of help?"

The Chengtian Prefecture chief constable was a scion of the Hong clan, whom Xie Fengchao knew.

Constable Hong, whose exposed skin was largely covered in obvious animal fur, turned to look the four over and said with an evident smile, "Fifth Young Master Xie! And this must be Young Master Brightstream in person?"

The constable’s eyes burned as he looked at Jiang Lanting.

Though he had no taste for men, who could see Young Master Brightstream as a man without taking off his clothes?

Jiang Lanting rolled his eyes discreetly, stepped forward, and exchanged pleasantries with Constable Hong.

The dispersed onlookers slowly gathered again, this time mostly to look at Young Master Brightstream.

The busy constables also stole glances at Jiang Lanting now and then.

"Fifth Xie, Constable Hong addresses Jiang Lanting as Young Master Brightstream but doesn’t use your nickname. Tsk tsk..." Ding Songyan teased Xie Fengchao offhandedly. "By the way, what is your nickname?"

"Haven’t you seen the latest Orchid Fresh List?" Xie Fengchao glanced at Second Ding.

Ding Songyan chuckled softly.

"The Orchid Fresh List changes too fast. How would I know how recent you mean?"

After a moment of silence, Xie Fengchao said glumly, "Thousand-Petal Night-Blooming Cereus."

"Night-blooming cereus? Is that mockery, saying you only flower for a moment?" Ding Songyan asked deliberately.

Xie Fengchao exhaled slowly.

"A cereus blooms but once, and all who see it die.

"The nickname comes from my signature hidden weapon, Instantaneous Blossom."

Were there not so many people around, he would have responded to Second Ding in the Flame Capital’s most colorful dialect.

Bai Qilin, standing beside them, glanced at the two and inexplicably felt they were performing a comic routine.

Just then, Constable Hong learned the victim’s identity from Jiang Lanting and, following the latter’s hint, again ordered the constables to keep the onlookers far away.

"Constable Hong, He Jianyun was also a Ghost Yu Way ’bookkeeper,’ responsible for gathering all sorts of information in the Flame Capital, arranging assassins’ hiding spots, and cleaning up traces after assassinations. They had just failed to assassinate me..." Drawing on what the Yin-Yang Order knew about the Ghost Yu Way, Jiang Lanting gave a brief account.

In the Ghost Yu Way, "shopkeepers" accepted commissions and arranged assassins, while "bookkeepers" gathered information and cleaned up loose ends. Both answered to the "owner." One "shopkeeper" was paired with several "bookkeepers," each corresponding to a different prefectural city, and a bustling place like the Flame Capital very likely had more than one "bookkeeper."

Constable Hong’s expression grew grave, yet tinged with excitement and eagerness.

If they could find He Jianyun’s corpse and have the Martial Prohibition Bureau send someone to spirit channel, the merit would be considerable.

With this in mind, he agreed at once when Jiang Lanting offered help.

Ding Songyan took a little blood from He Jianyun’s face and smeared it on the tip of his right index finger.

Points of illusory starlight immediately appeared around him.

The starlight kept shifting position and never settled, as if pointing to many places at once.

"Wh..." It was Ding Songyan’s first time seeing Northern Dipper Wayfinding behave like this.

After brief thought, he said as if to himself, "He’s been dismembered?"

Every piece was He Jianyun, so Northern Dipper Wayfinding could not determine where He Jianyun was.

Jiang Lanting and Bai Qilin reached similar conclusions, but they went a step further and pointed out roughly where the pieces were scattered.

"Thank you, four young heroes." Constable Hong cupped his hands with delight. "We’ll work with the Martial Prohibition Bureau to find He Jianyun’s remains, and the Bureau will handle the rest. We’ll keep you informed."

Jiang Lanting glanced at Ding Songyan, regretting that he had not created an opportunity for Second Ding to spirit channel He Jianyun.

As a young martial artist who lived for grudges and joys, he naturally wanted to root out and kill everyone in the Ghost Yu Way who gathered intelligence and assisted assassinations, using his own strength and his companions’. But now that the authorities had taken over, he couldn’t forcefully intervene. Besides, the Ghost Yu Way had Grandmasters hidden in the Flame Capital too. In fact, they had more than one. The last thing he needed was to run into more than he bargained for."

Though Ding Songyan regretted it too, he felt no great emotional swing. In the Ghost Yu Way, the "bookkeeper" line and the "shopkeeper" line were separate, so He Jianyun’s ghost would not have offered much useful intelligence. It could only be used to cripple the Ghost Yu Way’s information network in the Flame Capital.

The officials would do the latter for him, which was enough. Anyway, once matters in the Flame Capital were settled, he planned to change his appearance and "visit" Black Third Master.

Moreover, his interest in that Ghost Yu Way renegade had grown even stronger.

Leaving Huaiyuan Street, Xie Fengchao looked around and lowered his voice, "Should we beat the Martial Prohibition Bureau to He Jianyun’s ghost?"

Jiang Lanting was first eager to try, then sighed.

"Forget it. No need to sour things with the Martial Prohibition Bureau and the Chengtian Prefecture.

"It would also take a lot of time. I must return to the Yin-Yang Temple soon and discuss with the elders how to handle the Ghost Yu Way’s second assassination attempt."

Yin-Yang Temples existed in every province and prefecture as places where the Yin-Yang Order gathered disciples and believers. The one in the Flame Capital was grand enough to rival the headquarters, with a Supreme Master present year-round.

"We didn’t find the ’field watcher,’ so we must guard against them. But with He Jianyun dead, the Ghost Yu Way’s intelligence gathering is bound to suffer, so a second attempt shouldn’t come that quickly." Bai Qilin nodded.

"Whatever happens, Lanting, don’t let your guard down," Xie Fengchao urged with concern.

Jiang Lanting was lost in thought for several breaths, then his eyes shifted and he smiled charmingly.

"I know."

So he has some trump card capable of giving the Ghost Yu Way a surprise? Ding Songyan glimpsed some possibilities from Jiang Lanting’s tone and expression.

After all, this person’s master was a Supreme Master who had been famous for over a hundred years.

Jiang Lanting stopped smiling and said gravely to Ding Songyan, "Second Ding, I have a favor to ask."

"Please speak, Young Master Jiang," Ding Songyan said, feeling slightly puzzled.

"On my way back to the Yin-Yang Temple I’ll pass Blossoms Mountain. I’d like to ask you to come along. If the Ghost Yu Way assassin’s corpse hasn’t been taken away yet, please spirit channel him and ask about the contents of the Book of Covert Movement and the Seven Methods of Spitting Sand. I’ll thank you generously afterward, separate from the help you gave earlier," Jiang Lanting spoke openly.

The Boundless Forms Art’s traits were known to all, so there was nothing to hide.

What a coincidence! Ding Songyan nodded:

"My spirit channeling harms ghosts, so the assassin can only answer a limited number of questions. Young Master Jiang, please decide beforehand what to ask."

Jiang Lanting was slightly puzzled but did not probe further, and simply smiled.

"Why still call me Young Master Jiang? So distant! Call me Lanting like Fengchao and Qilin do, and I’ll call you Songyan."

I’m afraid of misunderstandings... Ding Songyan smiled.

"Lanting, you can also do as Fifth Xie does. He calls me Second Ding directly."

"Second Ding... Ha, that’s an interesting name," Jiang Lanting laughed. "I’m fourth in my family, so you can call me Fourth Jiang."

See, doesn’t that even things out? So you have a clan... Muttering, Ding Songyan raced to Blossoms Mountain with Jiang Lanting, and Xie Fengchao and Bai Qilin, having nothing else to do, followed along.

At Blossoms Mountain, the Ghost Yu Way assassin’s corpse had already been carried off to the Martial Prohibition Bureau. Jiang Lanting sighed softly, drawing many pitying looks.

He then bid farewell to Xie Fengchao and the others and led his guards and attendants toward the Yin-Yang Temple on the north shore of Golden Pool.

As Ding Songyan went down the mountain with Bai Qilin and Xie Fengchao, he glanced at Bai Qilin and asked, not hiding his curiosity, "Brother Bai, does the Tianyu Scripture have a secret art that can hide your aura, strength, and physical anomalies?"

"Yes," Bai Qilin answered concisely.

This was no secret; every major sect knew it.

"Can the Tianyu Scripture hide thoughts to resist Buddhist mind-reading?" Ding Songyan pressed.

"It can." Bai Qilin nodded.

Seeing Xie Fengchao look over in confusion, Ding Songyan pretended not to notice and asked thoughtfully, "Can it hide certain thoughts and memories, so that even the person in question regards them as nonexistent, only recallable under specific circumstances?"

Bai Qilin fell silent for a moment.

"It can."