Martial King's Retired Life

The question that came out of left field compelled Feng Jiutian to first go silent before losing his composure. His composure was a front built to hide his roused emotions. The extreme panic was also an act to eventually build a lie off. In order to convince the listener that he was honest, he had to create the impression that they successfully forced him into spilling the truth.

Feng Jiutian was weighing the pros and cons of being honest versus hiding the truth, and he concluded that the consequences of telling Ming Feizhen the truth were scarier. In contrast, that put Ming Feizhen’s mind at ease for the reason that Feng Jiutian’s act was a sign that he knew something. Unlike how he frantically cried innocence when Shen Wuzheng’s death was mentioned, it was self-evident that Feng Jiutian knew something this time.

Trying to look and sound apologetic, Feng Jiutian expressed, “You are making it difficult for me, Brother Ming.”

“Go into detail. Your life rides on your answer.”

Feng Jiutian finally started realising he was in a real pinch, but that also reminded him that, if he truly didn’t know, then there was no dilemma. He didn’t know what he didn’t know, even if he was beaten to death; that simplified the situation.

“You can lead me on with lies, and I can leave you with an ugly corpse. It’ll be fair on both of us.” Ming Feizhen was scary without having to pull any faces. “Speak.”

Feng Jiutian felt as if his determination was being dug out from him.

It had been seven years since the battle and Ximen Chuideng vanished off the radar. Combined with time and wisdom from others, Ming Feizhen had stopped being hung up on the conflicts and his own stubbornness from back then. As for the definitions between good and bad, the regret of arriving late, the regrets that couldn’t be made up for, and his past self were left behind in the cottage on the mountain four years ago, leaving behind the current Ming Feizhen. Nevertheless, there was one thing he couldn’t let go of – the reason behind Ximen Chuideng’s defeat.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Even today, Ming Feizhen couldn’t comprehend how it was possible for Ximen Chuideng to have been defeated. At the time, the Seven Champion White Princes and various sects had formed an alliance. The Ultimate Three and Seventeen Hidden Dragons also participated in the skirmish. Hence, there was reasonable ground for Ximen Chuideng to lose; in fact, the fact that they put together that force to challenge Ximen Chuideng was praise for him. It was just that Ming Feizhen couldn’t figure out who defeated Ximen Chuideng. It was Ximen Chuideng, after all. Even if all the greats teamed up against Ximen Chuideng, Ming Feizhen still had to know who defeated Ximen Chuideng.

Shaolin’s Abott and Wudang’s patriarch refused to recount the events of that day, but it was certain that the two of them stopped fighting after the first round. They refused to explain their reason for ceasing, so the wise Ming Feizhen couldn’t pry.

Defeating Ximen Chuideng was the biggest “bang” in the pugilistic world in the last twenty years among all fights. Compared to his defeat, every other fight was about as important as a back-alley brawl.

Ming Feizhen dedicated some time at Night Fortress following the battle in order to protect his brethren from Dark Moon Faction. By the time he had adjusted his own mind and returned to the pugilistic world, many accounts of what happened in the battle had spread worldwide, making it impossible to track the original source. It was self-evident that someone had deliberately edited the important parts and withheld information in the version they wanted to spread. The choice of words used reeked of some conspiracy. Ming Feizhen couldn’t tolerate such brazen mockery, but he couldn’t find the person responsible. There were several suspects who could’ve conspicuously made up the events, the biggest of which was the imperial court. They very well could’ve spiced up their feats to polish their reputation.

The battle at Lawless Cliff had virtually drawn to its end by the time Ming Feizhen arrived. Although he saw Ximen Chuideng fall off the cliff, he didn’t see what led up to that moment. There were no two consistent testimonies among those involved. While he was still hungry for revenge, Ming Feizhen interrogated plenty of involved individuals, only to obtain sparse bits of information. Sword Demon and Blood Demon’s corpses couldn’t even be found. Several guardians fled or perished in battle. Besides those he could verify, everything else was ridiculous nonsense, such as Blade Demon committing suicide on the battlefield.

With the passage of time, the information was deliberately filtered even further to the point that people who were present at the time probably questioned the authenticity of their experiences. The combination of personal experiences, their own imagination, and the distorted information left the majority of them with unreliable accounts. Evidently, the mastermind didn’t want anyone to be able to find any traces of the truth. Ming Feizhen couldn’t get over this.

None of the adepts Ming Feizhen encountered when he arrived at Lawless Cliff were capable of beating Ximen Chuideng. Ming Feizhen was sure that some other adepts joined in since Shaolin’s Abott and Wudang’s patriarch withdrew. The individual had to be strong enough to have a place in the fight and had to be someone he, or even possibly the combatants present, didn’t see. Whoever it was, the imperial court tacitly agreed to and promised to cover for, or their identity couldn’t have been protected so strictly.

Given the trails ended there, drawing conclusions based off that scarce amount of information was legitimately blindly guessing. Nonetheless, a gathering of adepts or a mysterious adept weren’t enough to bring Ximen Chuideng, a man who struck fear into people with his name alone, down. Trying to get to the bottom of the event based on the fabricated evidence would only be playing into the mastermind’s plan. Never was there a better example of impulsiveness being the devil.

There was only one detail that Ming Feizhen couldn’t forget due to how deep of an impression it left on him – an arm that was found on the ground and bathed in its owner’s blood. He recognised who the arm belonged to the moment he saw it. Ximen Chuideng continued fighting to the bitter end after losing one of his arms. Had Dark Moon Faction’s members not been present and needed his aid, Ming Feizhen likely would’ve gone down fighting to the bitter end as Ximen Chuideng did. Even now, Ming Feizhen couldn’t accept that Ximen Chuideng would’ve lost an arm to someone. Perhaps it wasn’t surprising, but it wasn’t something Ming Feizhen could readily accept as being possible.

The weird part was that Ximen Chuideng’s arm went missing afterwards. Of course, some wild animals could’ve carried it off for a meal; however, the fact that so many traces of the battle had been erased after the fact was suspicious. Based on his knowledge of Shaolin’s Abott and Wudang’s patriarch, Ming Feizhen believed they would’ve stopped fighting Ximen Chuideng once Ximen Chuideng lost his arm. Ming Feizhen couldn’t imagine anyone else there being capable of lopping Ximen Chuideng’s arm off in a fair fight if those two didn’t participate. Even if the others teamed up, there should’ve been more casualties, or at least serious prices to pay, in order to have severed an arm. Strangely, there was never any mention of the sort.

There were less than twenty particularly famous individuals who perished in the battle and countless others, but only two were worthy of a second glance. Neither of them would’ve been close to Ximen Chuideng’s level, though. In other words, Ximen Chuideng must’ve lost his arm while fighting Shaolin’s Abott and Wudang’s patriarch, so it could’ve been interpreted that Ximen Chuideng was handicapped during round one. To take it one step further, someone, during the first round, caught Ximen Chuideng off guard, and it couldn’t have been an enemy. The only sort of person who would’ve been able to land a sneak attack on Ximen Chuideng in battle was somebody he trusted.

Ming Feizhen isolated himself in the cottage in the bamboo forest to comb through the information. Whether they were loyal or not, Ming Feizhen suspected the two faction leaders, the three great guardians he was closest to, the four guardians and the mysterious six black lotuses since they were the ones Ximen Chuideng trusted. Be it the thorough leader of Bright Moon Faction, Blood Demon who looked to be rebellious, or the taciturn Blade Demon, everybody was a suspect. Even Zhuxing Wuchang, Wen Wudao, was suspected despite sacrificing himself in battle. Thing was, even if somebody controlled Wen Wudao’s mind, Ximen Chuideng would’ve been able to dodge the attack. He didn’t categorise the four guardians as primary suspects as the four weren’t really qualified to be classified as adepts. The last of the last suspects were the six black lotuses.

Frankly, Ming Feizhen would’ve preferred to not suspect the six black lotuses. Every member of Divine Moon Cult believed that the six were unshakably loyal. They had a pair of eyes, ears, a personality and backstory just as everyone else did, but they were more accurately categorised as weapons passed down in the cult rather than human beings. Instead of being granted a post in the cult, they’d be born at intervals underneath the sunlight. Each time, one of them would awaken their destiny as a black lotus. They were tasked with experiencing human experiences before finally bringing back to the cult all the emotions that “normal” humans went through. Therefore, not every cult leader had the privilege of meeting all six black lotuses in their lifetime; as a matter of fact, it was rare.

The stories of every black lotus were recorded on paper. Because they were regarded as sacred beings even within the cult, people worshipped them. They didn’t offer the cult leader loyalty but everything life offered. As bearers of god-given destinies, they didn’t indulge in the entertainment that cult members did and never communicated with members unless necessary – aside from when they had to listen to confessions. No matter who the cult follower was, the black lotuses were obligated to hear the follower’s confessions, guide the follower in question, and free them of their miseries. If such noble beings were suspects, then the entire human race was absolved of suspicion. Ming Feizhen didn’t believe in destiny, however.

As an orphan, Ming Feizhen could’ve starved to death or been some wild animal’s meal long ago, yet a man called “The Demon King” adopted him, while he himself became Divine Moon Cult’s Lord San Shen. To hell with destiny. How on Earth did six human beings become weapons instead of people? Besides, nobody understood them, so how did they suddenly get categorised?

Although Ximen Chuideng did say that the black lotuses were incomparably loyal, the man had never spoken a negative word about anyone. He called people his sworn brother after a single meal with them, and that was the norm with him. Nobody could’ve predicted the black lotus’ betrayal if they were to turn. Ming Feizhen’s suspicions ended here. The rest had to be up to time to prove.

After a few years went by, and news of others started coming up, Ming Feizhen was able to erase suspicions of numerous people, except for the black lotus envoy. None of them left traces of their activity in the world. Unless they all perished at Lawless Cliff that fateful day, the only explanation was that they went into hiding. If they weren’t hiding from orthodox sects trying to exterminate them… they were hiding from people hunting down traitors. The odds of them meeting their demises in the battle were puny.

Having sparred with one of the black lotus envoys before, Ming Feizhen was surprised at how strong the envoy was. Assuming there were two of them at that level, then their skill combined with Ximen Chuideng’s trust in them were sufficient for them to catch him by surprise.

“I don’t know,” answered Feng Jiutian.

Running into yet another wall blocking him from the truth, Ming Feizhen wanted to take a life.

Detecting danger, Feng Jiutian hastily waved his hands in front of him. “There are things that not even I can get to the bottom of. You know that clans as influential as Feng Clan have more secrets than stars in the sky. If I was privy to everything, I’d be the patriarch, wouldn’t I?”

“You’re not telling the truth.”

“W-wait! Everything related to Ximen Chuideng has become off-limits for us in the last seven years. I have my suspicions, and I can tell you what I know, but… you have to explain why you suspect my clan first.”

“Are you in any position to barter?”

Bang! Feng Jiutian’s head ended up plastered to the table despite Ming Feizhen barely moving a finger.

From the moment the interrogation began, Feng Jiutian never stopped running his brain at maximum capacity. He couldn’t comprehend why Mount Daluo’s disciple, the strongest of his generation, would be interested in the battle Lawless Cliff and manage to correctly guess that the black lotus envoys sneak attacked Ximen Chuideng. By extension, he knew that his chance of survival was hidden in his answer. Seeing as Ming Feizhen brought up the black lotuses, he had to be acquainted with the cult. If he had a grudge, he wouldn’t have cared about their holy maiden so much. If they weren’t enemies, then they were friends.

If there was something Feng Jiutian was undoubtedly proficient at, it was summarising people. He began reflecting and analysing on where he went wrong in his plan right after his defeat. While he noticed plenty of errors on his part, the primary reason for his failure was his lack of knowledge on his foe. At the end of the day, competing against someone one lacked knowledge on was hubristic and impulsive. The mere factors that Ming Feizhen was immune to the phoenix roar and had a friendly relationship with Divine Moon Cult warranted altering the majority of his plan. In saying that, trying to find out more about Ming Feizhen was impossible as the latter would’ve seen through him.

“D-don’t do this, Brother Ming. Demon Sect’s holy maiden is in my hands.”

“Really?”

Feng Jiutian raised his head as soon as he felt the pressure on his neck disappear, but what he saw next left shook him.

“Not anymore.”

Elise, who supposed to be held captive outside of the capital, was looking down at Feng Jiutian with a vengeful smile. Now it made sense why Ming Feizhen fearlessly went to the estate.

“Brother Feng, you know, I love dining with you the most,” Ming Feizhen gave a smirk devoid of any friendliness, “because you want to harm me. I love eating meals knowing that there’s a conspiracy waiting for me afterwards since I don’t have to worry about the bill. Anybody plotting something would never hesitate to invest that much. I love those sorts of free meals. Regrettably…”

“Wait! Wait! I’ll tell the truth!” Even though it was purely a wild guess that Ming Feizhen was going to kill him, Feng Jiutian decided to gamble on the guess. “I do know some things, but it’s only related to your question. If you can tell me why you suspect my clan, I may be able to provide you with more information.”

The improvised idea gave Feng Jiutian a chance.

“I’ve met everyone who participated in the battle at Lawless Cliff.”

Feng Jiutian had no idea Ming Feizhen showed up at Lawless Cliff that day. From what he knew, Mount Daluo sat out on the battle. In other words, either the information he knew was erroneous, or… Ming Feizhen went there as someone else.

“Feng Clan was involved. I don’t have evidence to prove it, or it’d be a miracle for your clan to still exist. I once heard a wise man say that there is no deal without money involved. Money must be transferred in to accomplish a big task. How much money do you need to kill Ximen Chuideng and incite the black lotus envoys to revolt? The richest clans in the world are Gold and Silver Sect, Luoyang’s Feng Clan and Mount Yulong’s Nantai Clan. I’ve investigated Gold and Silver Sect as well as interrogated Nantai Clan’s patriarch. It has nothing to do with them, so it leaves just Feng Clan.”

Feng Jiutian felt a surge of emotions from the short summary.

As Yulong meant “dragon rider”, it might’ve seemed taboo. In reality, Li Dynasty’s progenitor befriended the clan in Yuzhou back then. Yulong actually meant “horse riding” in this scenario, and they were biggest horse merchant business. Due to the necessity of arms and steeds in war, they maintained a friendly relationship with the imperial family.

Li Clan lacked the resources to rebel. Luo Clan then provided them with arms, while Nantai Clan supplied them with as many steeds as they needed. Nantai’s patriarch at the time was a clever man who excelled in business, and he was proven right when Li Clan’s rebellion succeeded. Had Nantai Clan not been unable to give birth to a girl to marry His Majesty, they might’ve been in-laws by this point.

Six years ago, the ruler of the underworld, Hua Feihua, robbed them broke. Their patriarch fell ill for years and loss his vigour, prompting Feng Clan to immediately reap the rewards of their competitor’s circumstances and take control of the north’s business sector. That was how Feng Jiutian gained respect in his clan for reorganising the business sector.

Owing to his involvement, Feng Jiutian instantly knew Ming Feizhen was right.

Simpering, Ming Feizhen said, “Four years ago, I promised two respected individuals to not spill blood over this matter, but you decided to pick a fight with me, so don’t blame me.”

“Wait! I get it. Give me a moment to think… I don’t want to talk about this because, as soon as someone finds out I let the cat out of the bag, my life will be in peril. I’m afraid to die, so I cautiously select who I work with. I believe… you’re the better option.”

“Are you going to answer the question or not?”

Feng Jiutian took a deep inhale. “What I know is… seven years ago, Feng Clan spent an enormous sum.”

“Your point? Isn’t it normal for your clan to spend money like it grows on trees?”

Feng Jiutian shook his head, finally showing no fear. “Brother Ming, you must bear in mind that we invest hundreds of thousands daily. If it was just any ordinary sum, I would’ve forgotten about it already. Also, I’m sure that wasn’t the total. Not even I’m certain what the total sum is. The only people who are in position to ask about are those above me. If they want to cook the books, they wouldn’t leave a mistake for me to see. Put plainly, the sum was too large to cover up.”

“How much was it?”

“… Seven million went missing.”

Without even accounting for the undisclosed amount, that was enough to hire League of Assassins.

“There’s more.”

Feng Jiutian shook his head. “The matter is strictly guarded even in the clan. Just half a day after the matter, the record was erased. I’ve never found any clues no matter what I tried. What’s more…”  Feng Jiutian laughed with an undertone of self-mockery. “Three years later, I felt I was always under surveillance. No matter where I go, who I see, or who I sleep with, I believe there is a pair of eyes on me. Moreover… everyone who got involved with it has either passed away from illness, an accident, or age. Every one of them had a reason they couldn’t speak. Mayhap I’m still alive as I’m the only successor to the clan, or mayhap… I don’t know enough.

“The following is pure conjecture from my part. I don’t expect you to believe me, but it’s an honest theory. Someone wanted to take down Divine Moon Cult’s influence in the Central Plan. Considering how difficult it was, though, their only option was to drag the imperial court in. Since the imperial court wasn’t confident it could succeed, the mastermind proceeded to play dirty. Do you know how much of Divine Moon Cult’s resources fell into my clan’s hands in the years following their downfall? Do you know how come our goods are transported so smoothly? It’s because we chose the right party to align with.

“This goes to prove one point, and that is the conspiracy is one my clan isn’t in any position to get involved in. At most, we were their errand boys. We aren’t even qualified to be part of the main team. You know, I wholeheartedly believe you could exterminate my clan. Thing is, you gain nothing positive out of it even if you did. I can guarantee that not even my dad knows the inside story. He’s puzzled as to how business has gone so smoothly for us in the last seven years. Therefore, it wasn’t him he agreed to the deal and took the risk.”

Ming Feizhen remembered Feng Jiutian’s father as a useless old man unlike Martial Paragon. Even Feng Jiutian was more charismatic than his father.

“It’s been some years since the battle.” Ming Feizhen paused to think before asking, “Haven’t you learnt anything new?”

“Good question.” Feng Jiutian smiled with composure for the first time in a while. “You still remember the elder outside? The old guy you killed? I only took him in because he immediately offered his service to my clan after the bizarre event. I’ve always suspected that he was involved in the conspiracy.”

“Valley of Villains.”

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