Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 227: How About a Bet

Wei Zicai was quite surprised to be asked such a question. “Respected envoy, you don’t even know about this?”

Zhao Changhe pointed at his own mask. “What do you see?”

“A pig.”

“That’s right. What’s strange about me asking such a question then?”

While Wei Zicai was unsure how to react, Vermillion Bird, who was behind him, bent over in laughter. “Pfft...hahahahaha!”

Even Wei Zicai could not help his face from twitching. After a while, he said, “Respected envoy, you truly know how to jest... Well, I take it that you’re new to your position? In fact, it isn’t that complicated. The first and largest reason for things being the way they are is that His Majesty does not want to monopolize all of the ancient secrets. His Majesty lets everyone try their luck—”

Zhao Changhe raised his hand and said, “I do know this. His Majesty is indeed rather open-minded in this regard.”

Vermillion Bird glanced at him, her expression ambiguous.

Most people would indeed conclude that Xia Longyuan had a broad mind in this regard, but she did not think so. She preferred to think of it as Xia Longyuan making use of these locations as testing grounds, where various factions would reveal their true colors for the sake of ancient secrets.

In Vermillion Bird’s eyes, much of the chaos in the world was actually due to Xia Longyuan’s actions and arrangements.

Otherwise, if he had married the White Tiger Saintess and secured the Four Idols Cult, then the cult would have at least not turned against him, and he would have had a valuable ally. However, his actions had absolutely destroyed that possibility, turning a force that could have been an ally into a demonic cult hell-bent on furthering chaos. What angered Vermillion Bird the most was that, even though they knew that this was probably what Xia Longyuan wanted, they still went along with it.

Wei Zicai hesitated for a moment and continued, “Anyway, there are many strong individuals and forces who do not care about anything else and only care about exploring ancient secrets, places such as the Ancient Sword Lake, rumored to hold ancient secrets. These places often have multiple forces permanently stationed nearby, which ends up creating a delicate balance of power. Many years ago, there were several major battles surrounding the Ancient Sword Lake, ones which even some on the Ranking of Heaven participated in.”

Zhao Changhe arrived at a judgment similar to that of Vermillion Bird. He realized that it seemed like Xia Longyuan was making use of these places that held ancient secrets to instigate chaos and wars among various factions. “Then what?”

“They had all been fighting one another in a mess, but at the time, they were not even sure if there was really anything hidden in the Ancient Sword Lake, so they found their actions to be foolish. And so, discussions arose between the various factions, and eventually, they agreed not to personally occupy the area. Instead, they would occasionally carry out some investigations, like the Cui Clan and the Four Idols Cult do, and whoever finds something gets to claim it.

“However, everyone was wary of other factions secretly occupying the area, so they all supported subordinate gangs to observe it, creating a complex network of power. Meanwhile, our Demon Suppression Bureau has inserted a few spies to monitor for any changes that might take place. This is how the unique situation in Sword Lake City was born. In fact, there are many similar cases all around the world, and Sword Lake City is actually one of the typical examples.”

Zhao Changhe scratched his head and realized that there were probably countless “Sword Lake Cities” in the world, places that were outside the conventional rule of the imperial cult and gangs instead held sway.

During normal times, this would not matter much, but during troubled times, these places could evolve into pockets of power, with various “city lords” popping up here and there and becoming local overlords.

Sure enough, Wei Zicai continued, “After many years of development, these forces probably do not actually care about what’s in the lake anymore. Initially, while we knew that the Four Idols Cult had likely taken something away from the lake, local forces seemed to remain unaware, indicating that they had long since deviated from their original intentions of wanting to find the ancient secrets.

“It has become increasingly likely that they have changed their purpose to carving out some territory for themselves and fighting for their own interests, especially now during times of chaos. The struggle between the factions to decide who would rule the city among them has become increasingly apparent. With the absorption of the Xingyi Gang into the Pinghu Association, Yan Lianping’s dominance over the city has begun to take shape. We are now just waiting for a response from the bureau chief to see if we should withdraw our forces from here.”

Zhao Changhe nodded and said, “I’ve got two questions. How strong is Yan Lianping? And which force is backing him?”

“Yan Lianping is at the eighth layer of the Profound Gate...”

“So did he need the help of others when going against Han Wubing?”

“Since Han Wubing is already at the seventh layer of the Profound Gate, with his mastery of the sword being unparalleled, if Yan Lianping were to fight him alone, it was actually unlikely for him to be able to win.”

“Damn, how is that guy even faster than me... Alright, what about my other question? Who’s the force backing Yan Lianping?”

Wei Zicai looked somewhat embarrassed as he replied, “Well... We actually don’t know which force is backing him.”

Zhao Changhe was stunned. “Huh? Isn’t that something that you should have figured out a long time ago?”

Wei Zicai cleared his throat and said, “Theoretically speaking, the Pinghu Association should belong to the Four Idols Cult. However, when the White Tiger Saintess came here previously, it appears that she did not contact them. There are two reasons that would explain that. The first is that the White Tiger Saintess may have sensed that the Pinghu Association was already under our surveillance, and so she did not want to expose their affiliation and avoided contact with them. The second reason is that the Pinghu Association may have already distanced themselves from the Four Idols Cult, and thus the White Tiger Saintess may have no longer trusted them.”

Zhao Changhe glanced at Vermillion Bird, but her pig mask hid her expression.

This whole situation is quite amusing. Everything is tangled up. This is no longer just about Han Wubing, with it now involving Zhao Changhe himself and even the people around him. We came at just the right time.

Zhao Changhe pondered for a moment and asked, “What caused you to reach that second conclusion? What did the Pinghu Association do to make you think that?”

“When Mad Lion He Lei was injured and left Mount Tai, he passed by here and quietly stayed at the Pinghu Association to recuperate. Because of that, we have come to suspect that the Pinghu Association may have connections with the barbarians, but we do not know if the Four Idols Cult knows about this or what their attitude toward the barbarians is. This is what is making it difficult to be certain about their affiliations.”

“I see.” Zhao Changhe felt relieved. He smiled and patted Wei Zicai on the shoulder. “Good job, your information is complete and well-organized. I will discuss this matter with the bureau chief when I return.”

Only then did Wei Zicai show a pleased expression. “Thank you for your support, respected envoy.”

“I have one last question.”

“Please go ahead.”

“Where did Han Wubing hear about the rumors regarding Zhao Changhe?”

“At the Kangle Gambling House. Han Wubing was passing by when he overheard someone spreading the rumor there.”

“Which faction is supporting the Kangle Gambling House?”

Wei Zicai showed a puzzled expression. “I have not found that out yet.”

Zhao Changhe stared at him for a moment, then suddenly smiled. “It’s okay, nobody can know everything. Just make sure to work harder in the future.”

Wei Zicai sighed in relief and said with a smile, “Farewell, respected envoy.”

After leaving Myriad Flowers Tower, Zhao Changhe suddenly stopped and turned to look at the bamboo building, losing himself in thought.

Vermillion Bird asked curiously, “What are you thinking about?”

“According to the theory that each of the factions in the area has subordinates of the Demon Suppression Bureau stationed within them, it would not make sense for none of them to know who’s behind Kangle Gambling House. There isn’t really any point in concealing it, since they shouldn’t have anything to do with Kangle Gambling House in the first place. Furthermore, I was only casually asking, so why hide it from me?”

Vermillion Bird said leisurely, “Kangle Gambling House arrived later and it was not part of the original factions in this area, so it wouldn’t be surprising for them to not know who exactly is backing them. However, it is strange that they do not have any speculations. Our holy cult suspects that it might be under Ying Five.”

Zhao Changhe’s heart skipped a beat. “The one ranked eighth on the Ranking of Heaven!”

“That’s right... But this matter seems unrelated to that person, doesn’t it?”

“What do you think about the Pinghu Association?”

“Yan Lianping is the Moon Swallow of Wei[1] from the Twenty-Eight Mansions. Chichi probably did not contact him back then to avoid revealing that he is associated with us. We did not expect the Demon Suppression Bureau to already know this...” said Vermillion Bird. Then, her tone became colder. “But we also didn’t know that he had connections with the barbarians. The Demon Suppression Bureau has inadvertently helped us.”

Zhao Changhe smiled and said, “Is he a traitor then?”

Vermillion Bird’s tone lightened as well. “Which faction doesn’t have any traitors? It’s good to discover them early. However, we cannot jump to conclusions just because of what the Demon Suppression Bureau says. We still need to investigate the truth ourselves.”

Zhao Changhe asked, “What’s your plan?”

“We’ll split up. I’ll openly visit Yan Lianping, while you can do whatever you want. Tonight, I’ll quietly look for you at the inn.”

Vermillion Bird suddenly smiled. “It’s really peculiar. Initially, I just wanted to get to know you better and protect you from being killed by the Wang Clan. I never would have expected to come across affairs relevant to me. Now, it’s turned into a collaboration between us.”

Zhao Changhe laughed. “Seems like even the heavens don’t want me to be indebted to the Four Idols Cult... Maybe, on the contrary, if this thing goes wrong for you, you’ll even end up owing me a favor.”

“Tch.” Vermillion Bird sneered. “Owe you a favor? And how are you going to do that? You’re just at the sixth layer of the Profound Gate. Or are you considering the leads that the Demon Suppression Bureau has given us as a favor to you?”

Zhao Changhe snorted and said, “Then how about we make a bet? If you end up helping me more after all of this, I’ll call you big sister from now on.”

Vermillion Bird’s eyes gleamed as she lightly laughed. “And if I lose, will I have to call you big brother?”

“If you lose, can you take off your mask in front of me in the future?”

1. The Mansion of Wēi (危) is one of the mansions under the Black Tortoise. ☜