“What? You’ve already left?”

Within the Tai Xu Illusion Realm, at the Star River Pavilion, Chong Xuan Sheng’s face was a mask of surprise. “Didn’t you want to spend more time with little An An?”

The two had been communicating intermittently through letters for a while, their exchanges few and far between due to their respective busyness. Meeting at the Star River Pavilion was a first for them.

“What is it?” Jiang Wang teased, “Does representing Qi Country mean you don’t welcome me?”

“You, the Marquis of Qing Yang Town, a fourth-rank Green Plaque Constable, a widely-known prodigy of Great Qi! Even if I didn’t want to welcome you, I couldn’t help it, you’re even more representative of Qi Country than I am!” Chong Xuan Sheng squinted his smiling eyes. “However, there’s truly nothing urgent in Lin Zi lately. Qing Yang Town is operating smoothly, your little maidservant has gotten quite the workout, and our Desheng Firm is raking in gold daily… You really could spend more time with An An. She’s still so young, she needs companionship.”

“I wish I could. But staying at the Ling Xiao Pavilion is just causing trouble…” Jiang Wang sighed helplessly, recounting his recent exploits.

Chong Xuan Sheng stared at him with a strange expression. “You took advantage of the war in Zhuang Country, snuck into the Zhuang Capital, and killed their Vice Prime Minister?”

“While your summary sounds a bit awkward, that’s essentially it,” Jiang Wang replied.

*What’s a Vice Prime Minister? I killed the Grand Ancestor!* Of course, he could only suppress these words in his heart, unwilling to voice them.

“Then how did you escape? Isn’t their Country Lord, Zhuang Gao Xian, a True Person of this era? I looked up the West Border intelligence before; didn’t he even kill Han Yin? That means he’s quite formidable, even among True Persons.” This chubby fellow narrowed his eyes. “Did your father-in-law intervene?”

He was far away in the Qi border, living in an overlord nation, and originally had no need to concern himself with these local matters in the West Border. His special effort to research the West Border’s intelligence was naturally because of Jiang Wang. But to speak of it so bluntly, it was difficult to avoid an air of sarcasm.

“What nonsense!” Jiang Wang rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Chong Xuan Sheng was still persistent. “Still pretending with me? I’m not saying it to save you face, do you think I don’t know? And you keep talking about going back to see your sister. I’ve stumbled upon your letters with that young lady from Ling Xiao Pavilion several times!”

Jiang Wang was too lazy to argue with him and directly stated, “Zhuang Gao Xian did indeed take action, but the one who saved me wasn’t Pavilion Master Ye, but Grandmaster Ku Jue. The one I mentioned before, who wanted to take me as a disciple. The little monk you bullied in Qing Yang Town last time is his disciple.”

“Bullied what!” Chong Xuan Sheng was indeed distracted. “That stupid monk’s master, is he that strong? Can he withstand Zhuang Gao Xian?”

Jiang Wang was somewhat speechless. “You cursed him so vehemently back then, didn’t you even investigate a little afterward?”

“Well, that was one thing, and this is another, I just forgot, alright?” Chong Xuan Sheng also felt a little awkward, but quickly brushed it off. “Why did he save you? Do you have that kind of connection now?”

“He came to take me as his disciple…” Jiang Wang said faintly.

“Uh…” Chong Xuan Sheng was momentarily stunned. “Persistent enough, huh.”

He thought for a moment, then immediately became serious again. “You are a man of loyalty, you believe in repaying kindness and vengeance. The old monk saved you again, and you are inevitably grateful. Some words you might not want to hear, but I still have to say them. As the saying goes, ‘Nothing good comes without cause.’ Since he has the strength to intercept Zhuang Gao Xian, and he’s from a foundation like the Suspended Empty Temple, what kind of disciple can he not take? Why is he so fixated on you? Have you considered this matter?”

“I have indeed considered this question, but I have no clue,” Jiang Wang thought for a moment and said, “Perhaps the affairs of the world are not solely entangled with interests. Perhaps… a chance encounter?”

“Naive!”

Chong Xuan Sheng rebuked him and then added, “Of course, there are exceptions, but if you always feel you can meet exceptions, that’s too naive!”

“And I ask you, what do you rely on to make a contemporary True Person favor you so much, so determined to take you as a disciple?” He pressed him. “Are you more talented than others? Is your heart good? Do you have some extraordinary willpower? Have you done something no one else could?”

He stopped there, his tone somewhat helpless. “Alright, though I don’t want to admit it, you do seem quite extraordinary.”

“Analyzing it this way, it seems quite reasonable for that old monk to be clamoring to take you as a disciple…”

“I even want to take you!” he said.

“You better at least reach the True Person realm before you have the nerve to say you’ll take me on, alright?” Jiang Wang naturally understood the reminder hidden in his joke and said seriously, “I’m not stupid. Rest assured, I’ll be careful myself.”

“It’s best if you know what you’re doing.”

Chong Xuan Sheng said, then suddenly asked, “And how are the local conditions in that country?”

“Still alright.” Jiang Wang replied, then asked doubtfully, “What’s with you today?”

“What’s with me?”

“This isn’t like something you’d care about.”

“Haha, really?” Chong Xuan Sheng’s expression was natural. “Just asking casually! Right, are you going to see that old monk at the Suspended Empty Temple later?”

“Brother Sheng,” Jiang Wang looked at him seriously. “Are you hiding something from me?”

“What could I be hiding from you? You know everything about me!” The fatty grinned playfully.

Jiang Wang’s expression turned serious. “It seems you really do have something to hide from me.”

“You understand me so well?” Chong Xuan Sheng was extremely helpless. “Alright, alright, I surrender. Actually, that boy Yan Fu was violently beaten by the Hua Ying Palace Master, and I just happened to see it. He asked me to keep it a secret, so I didn’t tell you! Haha!”

Jiang Wang didn’t laugh. “You’d only tell me something like that with glee, you would never hide it from me. Chong Xuan Sheng, what exactly happened?”

He had already directly called him by name, which was enough to explain Jiang Wang’s attitude.

Chong Xuan Sheng still only said, “If you don’t believe me, go ask Jiang Wu You later! Aren’t you two very familiar? She stood up for her close friend!”

His expression, his words, everything was flawless.

But Jiang Wang understood him too well.

“You can’t tell me.” Jiang Wang immediately stood up. “I’ll return to Qi Country at the fastest speed. Whatever the matter is, I’ll see for myself when I get back.”

Jiang Wang thought it through clearly. If it was just Chong Xuan Sheng’s own affairs, this fatty wouldn’t be so conflicted. So, the matter Chong Xuan Sheng was hiding was definitely related to him, or even his own affairs.

In Qi Country, what kind of matters could he have?

He didn’t know, but he was very uneasy.

Chong Xuan Sheng rubbed his forehead and finally sighed. “It’s not that I wanted to hide anything from you. But I’ve actually been struggling with whether or not I should tell you this matter!”

“If the matter is related to me, I should know. There is no question of whether you should or shouldn’t tell me,” Jiang Wang looked at him very seriously. “Although you and I are close friends, you cannot make decisions for me.”

“Alright!”

Chong Xuan Sheng pondered for a moment, then had to speak. “The matter has to start with Hai Zong Ming. As one of the twenty-four powerful elders of Fishing Sea Tower, Hai Zong Ming’s death naturally had to elicit a reaction from Fishing Sea Tower. But you are the Marquis of Qing Yang Town of our Great Qi, and Hai Zong Ming was the one who came looking for you. Our Great Qi naturally has to protect you. No matter how powerful Fishing Sea Tower is, it’s impossible for them to stir up trouble in Qi Country.”

“Do you still remember how you killed Hai Zong Ming?” he asked.

Jiang Wang was silent for a moment. “Something happened to Zhu Bi Qiong, right?”

“Her intention to leak Hai Zong Ming’s whereabouts was discovered. Fishing Sea Tower has already abolished her cultivation, expelled her from the sect, and set April 4th to press her under the Tian Ya Terrace for sacrifice to the sea!”

“April 4th…”

Jiang Wang silently chewed on this date. The slight fortune in this great misfortune was that there was still time.

“What is Tian Ya Terrace?” he asked.

“Fishing Sea Tower’s most sacred and inviolable place. Legend has it that it’s where their ancestor, the Fish Dragon, ascended. Fishing Sea Tower sacrifices to the sea there every year. Zhu Bi Qiong was just chosen as one of the sacrifices. Along with her, forty-four people will be sacrificed to the sea. These people all have unpardonable crimes.”

“Do you have a way?” Jiang Wang asked.

“I can’t even do everything in Lin Zi, let alone on those near-sea islands where I have no standing.”

Chong Xuan Sheng shook his head helplessly. “If I could solve this matter, I wouldn’t be so troubled, and I wouldn’t need to hide it from you at all!”

“I know.”

Jiang Wang nodded, repeating, “I know.”

PS: The original text “Hen Xin Ren Mo” was mistyped as “Wen Xin”, and has been corrected. Since this is a character who appeared quite a few times, I’m mentioning it. On the Qidian official website, I almost always fix typos and missing words, but pirated versions will definitely not be updated synchronously.