Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 150: Detective Changhe

Unlike the conventional sword qi of regular cultivators, the sword qi here was incredibly sinister and bloodthirsty. It was to the point where the bloodthirst was tangible. It was as if merely touching it would cause the bloodthirst to possess one’s body and turn them mad. Sisi was immediately reminded of Lu Shaoxiong, who was bound by iron chains in the Tranquility Hall.

On the ground, one could even see skeletons and corpses lying around. It seemed that they were members of the Lu Clan who had entered and were killed by the sword qi here.

Sisi turned around and looked back. There was no sign of the way they came, only the roaring old man chasing after them, shouting fiercely, “You think you can hide from me by coming in here? Little do you know that once you come in here, you’re trapped here forever! I only have a month left to live, so death is certain for me. But what about you? Haha... Hahaha!”

Whoosh!

Several streams of sword qi struck, and the old man’s laughter ceased as he swung his sword to deflect the sword qi. However, rather than deflecting it at the two of them, the old man deflected the sword qi in a completely different direction.

It was like a bizarre drama that left everyone scratching their heads.

“Is this your idea of getting him into a fierce battle?” Sisi asked in confusion. “If we’re all in this harsh environment, that old man will definitely have an easier time than us. And if he’s fine, then we’ll end up dying first... But why isn’t he chasing after us anymore?”

Zhao Changhe dodged left and right to avoid the sword qi and replied urgently, “If your judgment about his lifespan is correct, then he’ll inevitably weaken after fighting for a period of time. We’re all still mortal. How can a person who is close to death maintain their peak combat strength for an extended period of time? It’s simply impossible, at least until we become immortal cultivators!”

“So, all we need to do is stall and the harsh environment will eventually kill him?”

“Not only that, he must be guarding this place for a reason. He must be waiting for a signal. There has to be something that he has to attend to, and he can’t afford to delay. Once he comes in, he knows that we can’t leave, so he will naturally conserve his strength against the sword qi and go where he needs to. It’s easy to understand.” Zhao Changhe said hurriedly, “You seem to have some know-how when it comes to geomancy. Can you find a relatively safe place for us for the time being... Watch out!”

Dragon Bird swiftly cut through the air behind Sisi, blocking a stream of sword qi.

Sisi did not bother asking about whether or not they could go out for the time being. She quickly ducked to avoid another stream of sword qi and suddenly dashed to the right, heading toward a corridor where the sword qi seemed to be more concentrated. “Follow me.”

Swish, swish, swish!

Countless streams of sword qi pierced through the air. Sisi swiftly rolled on the ground, narrowly avoiding the sword qi that grazed her back and landed behind her.

Meanwhile, loud clinking sounds came from behind her as Zhao Changhe wildly swung Dragon Bird, directly resisting the rampant sword qi.

Clang!

A particularly powerful stream of sword qi shot toward Zhao Changhe. He repositioned himself perfectly to block it with his saber and have himself be sent flying backward toward where Sisi was.

Sisi pulled his waistband from behind and gave a strong tug, flinging him forward. Then, she darted ahead with astonishing speed, passing beneath him as he was still airborne. Her speed far surpassed Zhao Changhe’s even when he was using his movement art.

Zhao Changhe found himself awkwardly fending off several streams of sword qi mid-air, feeling amused and exasperated.

——Heh, it looks like she wants to show off a bit. It seems like she doesn’t want to look like dead weight, perhaps she even wants to come off as the main force! Well, she does understand a bit of geomancy.

“This way!” Sisi reached out to grab his waistband again and forcefully hurled him sideways into the corridor.

Zhao Changhe: “...”

He could only manage to protect his face with Dragon Bird before he was thrown against the wall with a resounding clang.

There was actually another passage behind the wall. It was unknown where it led, but the sword qi seemed significantly weaker here.

The two looked at each other, panting heavily. Sisi, despite her confusion, realized that she did not need to ask any more questions because everything became clear to her in that moment.

The entrance could indeed be considered a one-way passage. Once you entered through it, you could not exit. After pondering over the old man’s words for a short while, Sisi quickly grasped the whole situation.

Due to the collapse of the dimension, the imperial tomb was indeed at the bottom of the sword pond, hidden in a separate space. However, its entrance had ended up in a completely different place.

That was why the Tang Clan could never find anything despite having searched the Tiger Hill Sword Pond for so long. It was because while the imperial tomb was indeed at the bottom of the sword pond, its entrance had never been there at all. Instead, the “teleportation array” was at the Lu Clan in the southern part of the city.

However, this array was a one-way road. Once you entered, you could only wander inside for the rest of your life, trapped inside forever. And even if they somehow managed to make it out of this dimension, the corresponding exit would be the Tiger Hill Sword Pond!

The Lu Clan had found the entrance, but never the exit. They lacked the ability to break out of the dimensional space, so they could neither return to the Lu Clan nor exit through the sword pond.

So, they had no choice but to build stone houses right outside in order to scratch the itch born from their curiosity. They attempted to comprehend the sword intent within the Sword Emperor’s tomb, but unfortunately, their gains were shallow and practically useless. They guarded a treasure mountain in vain, gaining basically nothing.

As time passed, perhaps due to the continuous deaths of the members of the Lu Clan who went in or the slaughter of too many workers outside, or perhaps simply because of the passage of time...in any case, the reason was unclear, but something had definitely happened here. The vicious qi had grown thicker and the sword qi had uncontrollably rushed out. It had begun to break out of the space, no longer confined to merely within the separate dimensional space.

The sword marks on the wall where the old man had stood served as evidence of this.

Zhao Changhe knew that Sisi was actually very smart and should have already guessed the whole story, so he said, “I figured it out earlier than you not because I’m smart, but because I understand Dragon Bird better.”

Sisi nodded and asked, “Can you elaborate?”

“When I met Lu Shaoxiong, Dragon Bird went berserk. I was always puzzled by this because it should not have such a reaction to vicious qi. To Dragon Bird, vicious qi is just a low-level nuisance. After much thought, I came to the conclusion that the only thing in Gusu that could trigger Dragon Bird to move on its own was the legendary Sword Emperor. After all, swords and sabers have always been archenemies. This was the only explanation I could find for Dragon Bird’s excitement”

Dragon Bird shook with joy.

Sisi gritted her teeth. Bullshit! How can you say that Dragon Bird only reacts to something of that caliber when it literally tried to slap me?

Zhao Changhe cleared his throat and said, “So Lu Shaoxiong did not actually get tainted after killing someone with vicious qi. He was probably simply struck by the sword qi from the forbidden area. Although the sword qi carries a strong vicious qi, his spirit was not actually invaded by it. The sword qi simply does not have that effect. His crazed appearance was completely an act. The broken iron chains prove that his parents never actually wanted to lock him up. Those chains were just for show. Why would someone pretending to be crazy behave obediently and let themselves be tied up? This only proves that he has not actually gone mad at all.”

Sisi said, “So Dragon Bird wanted to chop him up, and he did not know where he had gone wrong, so he decided to put on an even more violent appearance to try and cover it all up? As a result, he accidentally revealed the fact that the iron chains were fake?”

“That’s about it.”

“But why would he pretend to be a madman?”

“Since the sword qi here has begun to spread outward, the Lu Clan will be unable to stay here sooner or later. Furthermore, they won’t be able to keep the secret either. Their only option is to shift the blame. Isn’t the Tang Clan’s sword pond the perfect scapegoat? If they can overthrow the Tang Clan through this incident, not only can they take the Tang Clan’s position in Gusu, but they can also occupy the sword pond, accomplishing their century-old goal.”

“So they staged a good show, bribing an ignorant person from the jianghu to pretend to go mad and attack people. Then, Lu Shaoxiong just so happened to pass by and directly killed that person, which then allowed them to make it seem like he had been tainted by vicious qi.” Sisi sighed. “So the first victim did not even know that the young master of the Lu Clan would kill him.”

“Yep. When I examined the corpse, I found no traces of vicious qi on their body. As such, I suspected that the vicious qi on Lu Shaoxiong was acquired first-hand. As for the third young master of the Gu Clan, he was likely tricked to visit Lu Shaoxiong, only to be secretly invaded by his vicious qi. After all, what kind of resistance can these dandy young masters possibly have against such energies? Once they’re tainted by a bit of vicious qi, they quickly fall ill. The Lu Clan then simply used this to create a false impression and guide the major families into looking for trouble with the Tang Clan. However, the illness that befell the third young master of the Gu Clan is actually nothing serious. It would soon dissipate on its own. That is why they had to act quickly and launch their attack in just one or two days.”

Sisi said, “But if they wanted to transmit vicious qi to the Third Young Master Gu and the others to incite a siege on the Tang Clan, they could have started days earlier. Why wait until after you arrive and solve the case?”

“You’re thinking too much. How can they possibly take me seriously? They never planned on taking on the Tang Clan by themselves. They must be colluding with the Maitreya Cult, and they were simply waiting for Maitreya to arrive before launching their attack,” Zhao Changhe said softly. “If that old man wasn’t bluffing just now, then Maitreya should be at the Tang Clan right now. Let’s just hope that the Tang Clan can handle it.”

Sisi sighed with relief, her face filled with the satisfaction of solving the case. The exhilaration from resolving such matters was no less than when winning a fight. It was very satisfying.

Despite the urgency of the situation, her tone became lighter, “So what are we going to do now?”

“The old man knows that he doesn’t have much time left, so he never intended to leave this place once he came in. They have been exploring for a long time, so they must have some way to make the vicious qi in this place overflow into the Tang Clan’s sword pond. Our mission is to stop him. Otherwise, if the vicious qi does surge, Gusu will fall!” Zhao Changhe glanced outside and spoke with urgency. “That old man has been wandering in that area filled with sword qi for quite some time now. He should be on his last breath now. As long as we know where he is, I’m confident in dealing with him.”

Sisi revealed a smile. “That’s easy. I know where he is.”