Blade - Unbound

Chapter 170: Chaos in Chang'an

Li Yan remained completely unfazed by Zhao Wanfang's teasing.

"I'm just taking refuge for a while."

After leaving the Li Family's residence, he had given it some thought, and realized he had nowhere suitable to go.

Chang'an was in turmoil. Since Bai Ruoxu had been exposed as a member of the Maitreya Sect, countless others were bound to be implicated. There was also Feng Feiyan's situation. The entire jianghu underworld network would inevitably be thrown into chaos, which meant the well-known inns were no longer safe.

Uncle Heidan's leather workshop and Shen Sanyou's home could both serve as temporary hiding places, but the smell at either location was simply unbearable. Li Yan would rather fight someone than stay there.

A brothel, on the other hand, offered spacious, comfortable beds, good food, fine wine, and, more importantly, excellent intelligence. Any significant news would reach the place almost immediately. Naturally, it was the ideal choice.

He also understood why Zhao Wanfang had been mocking him. She still hadn't given up on seeking revenge. She had sent people to invite him several times, but he had always found excuses to decline, claiming to be too busy.

Seeing that he was willing to engage in conversation, Zhao Wanfang walked over and sat down across from him. Pulling a sheet of paper from her robes, she lowered her voice and said solemnly, "I've been collecting information from every prefecture these past few weeks.

"A few days ago, there were repeated incidents in Ezhou involving ghost bridal sedans appearing in the middle of the night, with a Ghost Bride murdering people. It caused widespread panic. I suspect that Red Maiden could no longer suppress her murderous urges and finally exposed herself."

Li Yan set down his wine cup with a helpless sigh. "Those people are formidable. They're a headache even for the Imperial Court itself. With our strength, we have no hope of dealing with them. I've already given up. Why are you still so obsessed?"

Zhao Wanfang fell silent for a moment before speaking again. "If I don't seek revenge... What else is there for me to do?"

Li Yan spread his hands and raised his eyebrows. "There are plenty of things. Save enough money to buy your freedom. Or find someone to marry and live out the rest of your life peacefully. Wouldn't that be nice?"

"Marry?" A trace of ridicule appeared in Zhao Wanfang's eyes. "There are no free lunches in this world. I grew up in a brothel. I've seen countless concubines sold into wealthy households, and I've seen just as many wives come crying and make scenes at the doorstep. They all depended on men to survive. Compared to that, life in a brothel is far more liberating.

"You see those famous courtesans who spend half a lifetime amassing fortunes, thinking they've finally found the perfect husband. Which one of them ever ends well? Some things have nothing to do with money."

Li Yan fell silent. At last, he understood why Zhao Wanfang clung so stubbornly to revenge.

Revenge?

Having witnessed the fickleness of human nature since childhood, having grown up amid the cruelty of the world, and never once enjoying a happy upbringing, how could she still be obsessing over the death of a mother whose real name she didn't even know?

Whether revenge was truly possible... Perhaps that was no longer what mattered. Revenge itself had simply become the reason she continued living.

There was nothing unusual about that. Not everyone lived for wealth or power. Living recklessly without ambition was one way to live, but dedicating oneself to a passion was another.

A friend from his previous life had once said: Our lives are finite. We come into this world bewildered and uncertain. As long as there's something worth devoting ourselves to until the end of our days, that's enough.

Once he reached that conclusion, Li Yan stopped trying to persuade her. Raising an eyebrow, he took another sip of wine. "If you want revenge, that's fine. But with your current abilities, you're nowhere near strong enough.

"Do you know why Chang'an is so tense right now? It's because a Maitreya Sect Incense Master known as the Tomb Serpent has been captured.

"The Aunt Liu you're after was merely one of the Red Maiden's subordinates. The Red Maiden is someone even more formidable than Grave Serpent, yet she's still only one of Zhao Changsheng's chess pieces. If you truly want revenge, relying solely on martial arts and mystical techniques won't be enough."

After listening quietly for some time, Zhao Wanfang seemed to make up her mind. "Thank you."

There wasn't the slightest trace of discouragement in her eyes. Instead, they burned with determination.

Li Yan took another drink and sighed. "No need."

Zhao Wanfang nodded gently. Eventually, she asked, "What are you planning to do next? Stay here until the Lantern Festival is over?"

Li Yan looked out the window, deep in thought. "First, I need to find out what actually happened."

The difficulty of gathering intelligence depended entirely on who was doing the asking.

Luo Mingzi wasn't around, and Guan Wanche was refusing to say a word. The jianghu of Chang'an had descended into complete chaos. That meant he needed to find an outsider. Someone capable, and with connections in all the right places.

"Yo!" Shen Sanyou called out the moment he stepped through the door. "You brat! You came by during the New Year, and only brought me a pile of junk. I figured that, no matter what, we're drinking buddies. I waited and waited, yet you never once invited me out. So you've been hiding here and enjoying yourself!"

Li Yan shook his head speechlessly. "Senior, I only drank with you and sang a few songs. Yet you've turned me into some kind of regular brothel patron. I haven't even complained about that."

Shen Sanyou glanced around the room and raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Aren't you?"

"Pfft!"

Unable to hold it in any longer, Zhao Wanfang covered her mouth and burst into laughter as Li Yan was left speechless.

Shen Sanyou wasn't about to let him off so easily. Plopping himself onto a chair, he grinned mischievously. "And I'm not the only one saying it. Do you know what you got up to after you got drunk that night?"

An ominous feeling immediately rose in Li Yan's heart. "What did I do?"

Shen Sanyou grew positively animated. "The girls came to entertain you one after another, but you complained that none of them understood romance or had any individuality. You said there should be orchids of spring and chrysanthemums of autumn, each with their own unique charm, and only then could one truly call it a hundred blooming fragrances. You even attracted the usually reclusive proprietor of the Calyx Pavilion, who personally came over to toast you.

"But you told her that the Calyx Pavilion itself was only average and could be completely redesigned. You suggested building a Jiangnan Water Town Pavilion with soft Wu dialect singing, then adding a frontier-themed wing inspired by the Silk Road, full of exotic melancholy...

"In a single day, patrons could tour the entire realm. The Calyx Pavilion would become famous everywhere!"

Li Yan stared at him in shock. After some time, he sputtered, "She actually believed me?"

"Of course she did!" Shen Sanyou laughed. "The proprietress thought your ideas were brilliant. She kept praising your family's profound learning. I heard she's already hired master craftsmen, and construction will begin after the start of spring."

Li Yan gritted his teeth and started complaining, "Then why did she still charge me a thousand taels?"

Shen Sanyou spread his hands and sighed helplessly, "She originally wanted to treat you for free. But you refused, saying the thing you hated most was freeloading."

"Wasn't it you who insisted on emptying my purse?"

"No shit! I have loved freeloading all my life!"

"Hahaha!"

Zhao Wanfang was laughing so hard beside them that she could barely remain upright.

"Enough, enough." Li Yan had never imagined that the first time he truly got drunk in this life, he would embarrass himself so thoroughly. He hurriedly changed the subject. "Senior, I need another favor from you. The winds in Chang'an are blowing fiercely these days. Right now, you're the only one I can rely on."

"No problem!" Although the Night Crier was unreliable by nature, when it came to getting things done, he never disappointed.

By the following day, he had already uncovered the entire sequence of events.

***

After he heard the whole tale, Li Yan found the whole affair almost absurd. "So you're saying it all started because of an internal power struggle within the Military Surveillance Department? Guo Yuhuai, the seal-holding commander, deliberately leaked the information, then attempted to assassinate Feng Feiyan so he could pin everything on Chang Xuan?"

"That's right. His plan was excellent, but he never expected Feng Feiyan to have one last trick up her sleeve. She carried hidden Thunderfire Pellets on her. She killed the assassins sent after her in an explosion and disappeared without a trace.

"Now everyone knows exactly what happened, but that's officialdom for you. If the evidence disappears, then officially... nothing ever happened.

"But Chang Xuan lost the firearm, and has been searching everywhere like a mad dog. Guo Yuhuai has also sent people to hunt down Feng Feiyan. Now it's simply a matter of who finds her first."

Li Yan frowned. "The Maitreya Sect is fighting among themselves as well?"

Shen Sanyou nodded. "Mhm. Bai Ruoxu gathered every Maitreya Sect member from Shanzhou and clashed fiercely with Chang Xuan's men. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. They managed to seize one of the firearms, but almost immediately afterward, Bai Ruoxu poisoned his own companions, took the firearm, and fled. Because of that, the Maitreya Sect's branch here was nearly wiped out.

“Only Fire Ghost survived, but Chang Xuan captured him as well. He's now imprisoned together with Tomb Serpent. Both his cultivation and martial arts have been crippled, and they're preparing to escort them to the capital. Chang Xuan is probably hoping to use them to clear himself of blame.

"In any case, the whole affair has become a complete mess. Both factions have been stirring up trouble for jianghu sects all over Chang'an while searching for Feng Feiyan and Bai Ruoxu. You have ties to both Bai Ruoxu and Feng Feiyan, and you know Guan Wanche as well. If you don't want to get dragged into it, you'd better keep your head down and stay out of sight."

Li Yan took a sip of wine and mumbled helplessly. "I honestly don't even know what to say."

Shen Sanyou laughed heartily. "Hahaha! A lot of things in this world are like that. You can calculate every possibility, but you'll never fully understand the human heart. Right now, it's the three commanders of the Military Surveillance Department who have the real headaches."

Li Yan looked up. "What does the third commander have to do with it?"

Shen Sanyou explained, "He's close to the Li Family. Although the Li Family now controls Shanzhou, that doesn't mean everyone accepts their authority, especially the Regional Military Commission. Tang Yang only rose to power by attaching himself to the Li Family, and there are several people who have never been happy about it.

“Someone went and secretly fanned the flames to drag the third commander into the mess as well. The Li Family has only recently come to power, after all. Their foundations aren't stable yet.

"Once you've secured your qualification during the Lantern Festival, I suggest leaving Chang'an as soon as possible. This chaos is likely to continue for quite some time."

Li Yan caught the hidden meaning in his words and couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you leaving, Senior?"

Shen Sanyou chuckled. "I've lived in Chang'an for many years. I've seen things like this countless times. I'm not even interested in watching the spectacle anymore. No matter how fierce the storm, it will eventually pass. Who lives and who dies is determined by Heaven. It has nothing to do with me."

Shen Sanyou was right. Chang'an truly had descended into chaos. The Broker Guild was being thoroughly purged, with numerous people thrown into prison. Some were undoubtedly innocent, but there had never been any shortage of innocent people. There was simply nothing anyone could do.

Zhao Jiu, the broker who had once guided them to Guodu Town, had been murdered in a dark alley despite disguising himself. The killer had been someone from the jianghu. Some people were simply taking advantage of the turmoil to settle old grudges.

Tie Shigu, the head of the Porter Guild, stepped down from his position. His son, Tie Feng, was arrested and thrown into prison simply because of his close relationship with Bai Ruoxu. It took enormous effort to secure his release. The fortune the father and son had spent years accumulating vanished overnight.

That very night, they fled Chang'an, and no one ever heard from them again.

Li Yan even secretly sought out Red Yaksha. Although she and Feng Feiyan had been as close as sisters, even she had no idea what to do in a situation like this. She herself had only escaped harassment because she had been guarding the Corpse-Suppressing Coffin under the supervision of the Taixuan Orthodox Sect.

With so many children depending on her, all she could do was pray that Feng Feiyan had managed to escape far away.

Li Yan naturally had no intention of inviting trouble upon himself. He knew that, at this point, he himself had become a source of trouble. For that reason, he visited neither the Li Family residence nor Heidan's uncle. Instead, he hid away in Qingyuan Pavilion every day.

Whenever he had free time, he drank wine, ate good food, and listened to music. The rest of his days were spent cultivating his martial arts and tempering his spirit while waiting for the Lantern Festival to arrive.

Sometimes Zhao Wanfang would keep him company. Other times she would mysteriously disappear on her own business.

The lavish private room where he stayed also seemed to have been deliberately ignored by Qingyuan Pavilion itself. Very few guests ever approached it.

Li Yan had his suspicions. Zhao Wanfang had most likely joined one of the Golden Swallow branches, borrowing its influence to gradually acquire the strength she needed for revenge.

Li Yan neither interfered nor asked any questions. People came and went throughout the jianghu. Not everyone wandered its roads simply to earn a living. Having a reason to keep living was enough.

Time seemed to pass both slow and fast. Before he knew it, the Lantern Festival had arrived.

Two days earlier, faced with the growing disorder throughout the city, Provincial Administration Minister Li Siyuan and the Prince of Chang'an had finally reached the limit of their patience. They summoned officials from the Military Surveillance Department and the various government bureaus and gave them a severe dressing-down.

After all, the Drum King Assembly during this year's Lantern Festival had attracted practitioners from the mystic path across the realm. Although they all belonged to the unorthodox schools, if the event turned into a complete disaster, Chang'an's disgrace would spread throughout every prefecture.

Once the two men spoke, peace naturally returned to the city. Soon afterward, new orders arrived from the Imperial Military Surveillance Department in the capital.

Chang Xuan, despite having previously presented the new firearm training methods and been lauded as the one who eradicated the Maitreya Sect in Shanzhou, was nonetheless held responsible for losing a Divine Fire Arquebus. He was sentenced to ten strokes of the rod, and then ordered to continue investigating the missing firearm to atone for his offense through meritorious service.

Seal-holding Commander Guo Yuhuai received an official reprimand, and was stripped of his authority over the office. Although he had successfully distanced himself from direct responsibility, his superiors were hardly fools. Their dissatisfaction with him was already evident.

As for the third commander, he was transferred outright to some godforsaken backwater land. It served as a warning to the Li Family not to extend their influence into the Military Surveillance Department.

Looking at the situation as a whole, it was clear that the higher authorities valued Chang Xuan's abilities highly. His punishment appeared severe on the surface, but in reality it was intended to protect him. To stabilize the Shanzhou garrison, they would also dispatch a new commander directly from the capital to restore order.

This internal struggle had ended without any winners.

Of course, affairs at court were beyond the understanding of ordinary citizens, nor did they particularly care. What truly captured their attention was still the Drum King Assembly.

When the fifteenth day of the first lunar month dawned, the Lantern Festival arrived. Although the greatest festivities would take place that evening, the streets were already bustling before dawn.

Nowhere was this more evident than on Zhuque Avenue. Fortunately, the recent turmoil had not affected the Long Spring Association. As an organization of jianghu performers, their primary responsibilities were welcoming performers from every region, arranging their performance venues for the Lantern Festival, and assigning spaces to sell their goods. Every member of the Long Spring Association had been worked to exhaustion.

Stretching five hundred chi, Zhuque Avenue had been marked out since the previous night by Long Spring Association disciples carrying buckets of white lime. Every performance area had to be assigned, and every merchant's space was carefully divided.

They had to preserve the dignity of visiting performers from other prefectures while also protecting the interests of the local performers. At the same time, they couldn't interfere with the patrol routes of the government soldiers or encroach upon the viewing areas reserved for ordinary spectators. Every detail had to be carefully considered.

The jianghu performers had long awaited this very day. Dressed in their finest and cleanest attire, they entered their assigned spaces with their tools and equipment as soon as the Long Spring Association finished marking the grounds.

The recent turmoil in Chang'an had merely been entertainment for them to watch. The assembly was their true battlefield.

Whether they would spend the coming months feasting on meat and wine or scraping by on bran and coarse vegetables depended entirely on how well they performed that day.

Among the Jin Sect professions were practitioners of Silent Gold, Beggar Gold, Robbing Gold, Bag Gold, and Old Zhou's Trade. Fortune tellers, character diviners, and physiognomists appeared every short distance along the avenue.

The Pi Sect trades included flat-ground performers, bundle pushers, Qingzi Diagram entertainers, wolf-pelt hawkers, tooth pullers, and tooth-worm extractors. No two stretches of road featured the same acts.

As for the Acrobat Guild, there was no need to mention them. Acrobat troupes and masters of traditional stage illusion were all preparing to display their finest skills.

Martial performers, storytellers, and big-drum singers were no different. The entire length of Zhuque Avenue had become a grand carnival.

By the beginning of the hour of the dragon[ref]7-9am[\ref], Zhuque Avenue was already crowded, as though the entire population of Chang'an had poured into the streets.

"My goodness, it's packed today."

"Tsk, tsk. I heard this year's competition is different. Plenty of experts have come from other prefectures, and Shanzhou itself has gathered numerous renowned masters. It's bound to be an incredible contest."

"You can stroll along Zhuque Avenue during the day, and tonight there'll also be the Procession of the Gods to Suppress Evil and Pray for Blessings. The performances will spread throughout the city. If you miss something during the day, you might not get another chance to see it tonight."

"When does it begin?"

"At the hour of the snake."

Amid the crowd, Sha Lifei and Wang Daoxuan were also making their way through the sea of people to enjoy the festivities. With Chang'an temporarily calm once again, Li Yan had notified them to return for the Lantern Festival before leaving the city afterward.

Meanwhile, numerous Divine Tower processions had already gathered outside Mingde Gate.

Every Divine Tower was different and even the accompanying drum troupes varied greatly from one another. Each group deliberately kept its distance from the others while silently sizing up the competition, their eyes filled with scrutiny.

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