Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 303: Kunlun

Early the next morning, it snowed heavily.

Snow-Treading Crow tread the snow and they left Beimang.

The last time Zhao Changhe left Beimang, he was just beginning his journey in the world of martial arts, setting out to test his saber.

This time, his departure was much anticipated, and he left to seek the path of a master.

Heading south from Beimang, it only took a few days to reach the capital. Zhao Changhe gazed at the massive city looming in the snowy distance but did not approach it.

Word has it that the situation in Jiangnan was deteriorating, and Tang Wanzhuang had left the capital and gone to Gusu. As for the Fire Serpent of Yi, he had no idea if she was still in the palace. Given her nature, she would not be confined to the palace if she did not want to be—she would just leave as she pleased.

Apart from them, there was nothing that could draw Zhao Changhe to the capital.

The city was like a whirlpool. It was the center of politics and the core of the battle between the human emperor and the gods and demons. It was all fine if you were ignorant, but once you were in the know, you would have to avoid it.

If he could bridge the gap between heaven and earth and become a master, he wondered if that would be enough to qualify him to return here again.

How strong would he have to become to avoid leaving in haste like last time?

And how strong would he have to be so that he could confidently tell Xia Longyuan that he disagreed with what he was doing?

Zhao Changhe stared for a long time, then turned his horse away and set off.

The journey to the western frontier was indeed quite long. With no Yue Honling riding alongside him this time, the winter journey felt particularly lonely and desolate, with snow covering his bow and saber.

He even found himself somewhat missing the days when he had to worry about ambushes from the Blood God Cult and the assassins of the Snow-Listening Pavilion. Those days, though filled with danger, were at least not boring.

Actually, where did the assassins from Snow-Listening Pavilion go?

***

Said assassins were at Yanmen Pass.

“Zhao Changhe? He’s long gone,” the men from the jianghu who were still lingering in the commandery told a white-robed swordsman. “What are you doing here so late? The battle ended quite a while back? What are you even here for at this point?”

Ying Shuang asked, “Do you know where he went?”

“How are we supposed to know? He left right after the war. I heard that even Cui Yuanyong couldn’t get him to enjoy a celebratory drink with him.”

If Zhao Changhe heard this, he would have realized how unreliable the idea was that wandering martial artists were always too easy to assassinate. Assassins did not just have to consider their target’s strength. If their target’s movements could be tracked, they could always find a way to ambush them. The real headache came when a target was constantly on the move and could not be located. By the time they received news of their whereabouts and rushed over, their target would already be long gone.

In fact, many evildoers also roamed free for the exact same reason. With the flow of information during ancient times, it was just too difficult to accurately know where certain people were.

At this time, Ying Shuang was not the only one who wanted to kill Zhao Changhe. Wang Daozhong, who had been tasked by the family head with handling the matter, was even more furious. He had previously heard that Zhao Changhe was in the capital. When he rushed there, he was a step too late. When he learned that Zhao Changhe had become famous in Saibei, he planned to have the members of the Wang Clan in Yanmen take action, but by then, Zhao Changhe had already left.

Ying Shuang was in the same boat.

Unable to get any information from bystanders, he had no choice but to head toward a casino in Yanmen Commandery.

Their Snow-Listening Pavilion often cooperated with Ying Five’s organization to exchange information. Everything had always gone smoothly in the past, but this time, for some reason, their reputation for reliability suddenly faltered. Their pavilion master had already gone to negotiate with Ying Five on Ying Shuang’s behalf, and it was said that Sha Seven had been demoted. However, word had it that Sha Seven was the son of one of Ying Five’s old brothers, so Ying Five would likely protect him. A demotion was just a minor punishment, and he would probably be reinstated in another position soon enough.

On second thought, maybe this all happened due to the reckless behavior of a young master like Sha Seven. If a responsible person were in charge, things would not have become such a mess. It seems like it’s still the best option to go ask around at the gambling house.

Opening the door of the gambling house, Ying Shuang was just about to ask for the person in charge when his eyes widened in disbelief.

Sha Seven, with a face full of enthusiasm, was sitting at the dealer’s position, shaking dice. “Place your bets! Place your bets now!”

Seeing his enemy made Ying Shuang’s blood boil. Having wandered around Jiangnan for three months, he was furious. He rushed over, grabbed Sha Seven by the collar, and shouted, “Sha Seven! How dare you be here!”

Sha Qi, even angrier, retorted, “What the fuck are you talking about?! I was transferred from the perfectly fine Sword Lake City to this godforsaken place because of you! And you have the gall to come and scold me?”

Ying Shuang almost laughed in disbelief. “Because of me?”

“Of course!” Sha Qi said, full of righteousness. “Zhao Changhe headed south when he left. You asked me where he went, I told you where he went. I never sent anyone to follow him! Your Snow-Listening Pavilion chased after him in the past, so how did you not figure out that he might take a detour and head elsewhere? You’re the ones targeting him, you should be familiar with his habits! In the end, he set a decoy and slipped away, causing me to be punished by the fifth lord. Am I not being wronged here?!”

Ying Shuang clearly knew that the other party was being plain unreasonable. If Zhao Changhe had really gone south, there would have been clues along the way, not a complete blackout. If he had gone north at the time, he would have easily been able to figure out that Zhao Changhe had gone to the capital. So with that being the case, how could there have been no clue as to where Zhao Changhe had gone?

But Ying Five was obviously protecting the other party, and the Snow-Listening Pavilion did not want to entirely fall out with Ying Five yet. As such, Ying Shuang could only say coldly, “What about this time? Which way did he go?”

Sha Seven was genuinely surprised. “You caused me so much trouble and you still expect me to tell you?”

Sure, sure, I caused you trouble. Ying Shuang maintained a blank expression. “Did I give you all that money for nothing?”

“Oh, that’s true.” Sha Seven sighed. “Well, for the sake of the money you gave me, I won’t argue with you. This time, Zhao Changhe went to Beimang. This information is absolutely certain. However, if you go there and can’t find him, don’t blame me for pointing you in the wrong direction.”

Ying Shuang turned to leave coldly. “If there’s another mistake, the relationship between our two factions is over!”

“Wait.” Sha Seven called him back and handed him a dagger. “Let’s not allow this misunderstanding to sour things between us. Here, take this as a gift and let’s continue being friends.”

Ying Shuang hesitated for a moment, unable to keep up with Sha Seven’s erratic train of thought. In the end, he took the dagger with a resigned sigh. He noticed its fine quality and faint, chilling gleam on the refined edge. He could not help but admire it a bit and asked, “What’s the name of this dagger?”

Sha Qi solemnly replied, “Sha Dagger.”

Ying Shuang did not have the time to ponder the significance of the name and hurried off to Beimang.

Upon arriving at the mountain stronghold at Beimang, he indeed found traces of habitation. In the stronghold master’s hut, there were old clothes discarded by Zhao Changhe, confirming that he had indeed been here recently.

Unfortunately, the entire stronghold was deserted. Not only was Zhao Changhe gone, but even his underlings had vanished, leaving no one for him to interrogate. The stronghold was blanketed in snow and deathly silent.

Ying Shuang trudged through the thick snow, searching for any clues. Suddenly, the ground gave way beneath him and he fell into a pit.

Fortunately, as an assassin on the Ranking of Man, he had his own tricks. Before he fell to the bottom of the pitfall, he managed to change his position mid-air and narrowly avoided an almost frozen urine trap.

“Who the hell digs pits next to a training ground? Zhao Changhe, are you fucking crazy?” Ying Shuang shouted to the sky, “You better not let me find you!”

At this time, Zhao Changhe was already nearing Longyou...[1]

*

Kunlun in Chinese mythology is not the same as the present-day Kunlun Mountains.

But in this world, there were not that many differences. The Kunlun Mountains that spanned the western part of the world were essentially the same as the legendary Kunlun.

Of course, when people mentioned Kunlun, they were not actually referring to the entire vast mountain range, but specifically Yuxu Peak and the surrounding peaks.

There was a city at the foot of the mountain.

As Lady Three had said, this was a chaotic city.

Zhao Changhe led his horse into the city, observing the scenery and reflecting on the fact that he had actually been to quite a few so-called chaotic cities. Sword Lake City was chaotic due to the lack of governmental control, while Huangsha Market was chaotic due to being in the wild lands beyond the borders.

However, the factions of Sword Lake City were relatively weak, making it easier to maintain some semblance of balance. Huangsha Market had Ubalu to keep things in check, not to mention that trading required certain laws in the first place or otherwise it was plain impossible. Thus, both places had limits to their chaos and operated under a set of rules, albeit very loose ones.

As for this place outside Kunlun, which claimed to be a haven for almost all evildoers, where even a random vendor might be a murderer who had escaped from the Central Plains and remained anonymous, Zhao Changhe wondered what kind of rules governed this place.

Zhao Changhe did not believe in a place of complete chaos, especially where there were top-ranked experts such as those on the Ranking of Heaven to enforce order. He believed that even though the place appeared chaotic, it had to have some underlying order.

While he was looking around, a man with a sharp face and monkey-like features ran up to him, smiling from afar. “Hey there, outsider! Need a guide? This city is so big that you’ll get lost without someone to guide you.”

Zhao Changhe asked, “How much?”

“Depends on how long you need my services,” the man said with a sly grin. He moved closer and whispered, “Whatever you’re looking for, this place has it all...”

Zhao Changhe wore an expression that seemed to be smiling but not at the same time.

From an almost ethereal perspective, like the moon reflected in water, Zhao Changhe clearly saw the man’s hand stealthily drawing a dagger as he whispered. The man was silently aiming for Zhao Changhe’s ribs.

This really is a place of chaos. The lawlessness here is beyond anything I experienced before. In those places, no one would try to kill me so directly and with no reason.

Suddenly, Zhao Changhe’s hand shot out, grabbing onto the man’s wrist, and twisting it back.

A blood-curdling scream akin to the screams of pigs being slaughtered resounded through the long street. “Help! He’s attacking me! An outsider is attacking me!”

Immediately, a large crowd of people swarmed around Zhao Changhe. They glared at him menacingly. “Who do you think you are to cause trouble here?! Let him go!”

With a casual smile, Zhao Changhe twisted the man’s arm even further, applying even more force.

Crack!

With a sickening snap, the man’s entire arm now hung limp. It was now barely attached to his shoulder.

The man’s screams reached new heights, his vocal cords seeming like they were about to burst.

The expressions of those surrounding Zhao Changhe changed. They were surprised at the strength and ruthlessness of the outsider.

A burly man stepped forward and asked in a deep voice, “Who are you? Do you dare say your name?”

Zhao Changhe looked around nonchalantly, his face calm as he replied, “Wang Daozhong of Langya. I have come to pay a visit to Kunlun.”

1. Longyou (陇右) County is located toward the northwest of China. It can be found in Quzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. ☜