Chapter 1266: Returning The Favor

The people were still hesitating when more rumors broke out in the

jianghu

.

Some people said that Sunlao Taijun herself testified that Ye Qing had taken severe damage from her Life Extinguishing Divine Palm.

Some people said that he saw Ye Qing looked white-faced and haggard with his own eyes.

Some people said that Ye Qing had made an appearance in White Mountain City and paid the patriarch of the Golden Needle Shen Clan a visit. It was to request a Flawless Golden Pill to treat his injuries.

So on and so forth.

This was just the tip of the iceberg that was the news regarding Ye Qing’s weakness. They all seemed to prove that Ye Qing was grievously injured.

Most of these rumors were baseless and unbelievable, but there was a reason the saying, “There is no smoke without fire” existed. Who could say with absolute certainty that the rumors weren’t real?

If three people banded together and claimed that a tiger lived in the mountains, someone would believe it even if no tigers had been spotted on the mountain for ages. More and more people were beginning to believe that Ye Qing truly was grievously injured.

So, those who coveted the Earthly Sovereign Bell and the enemies of Ye Qing could hold back no longer. They began surging toward Ye Qing’s supposed whereabouts. The information was provided to them by Westwind.

At this moment, those who were laughing and jeering at Westwind Inn had changed their tune. They had no choice but to admit that the old ginger was ultimately spicier than the young[1] that it took Westwind just a “flap of the mouth” to drive Ye Qing into a dead end.

To think that Ye Qing would be cornered once more before he got to enjoy his fame for more than a couple days. Whatever praise and admiration they held toward the young man before, it had all turned into pity and sympathy.

How lamentable! How pitiful! How tragic!

But what could you do? Such was the way of the

jianghu

!

This was not the end of the story, however. Oh no, it was just the beginning. Before the masses could fully brew their sympathy and pity, before those who coveted the Earthly Sovereign Bell could even depart for Ye Qing’s location, the young man himself had returned the slap, hard.

Not long after Westwind announced that he would provide all information regarding Ye Qing for free, Ye Qing had made a sudden, thunderous appearance in Myriad Thunder City by annihilating its two Westwind Inns and thirty six Westwind Restaurants.

It wasn’t just a word either. Forget the people, Ye Qing had slaughtered even the animals in the establishments. He had faithfully executed the saying, “Leaving not even a chicken or dog behind.”

That wasn’t all. Before his feats at Myriad Thunder City could spread, he somehow appeared in Nightless Commandery—a commandery hundreds of kilometers away from Myriad Thunder City—and killed

everyone

except pregnant women and children below the age of nine. That was thirteen thousand, six hundred and eighty nine people in total. He killed them

all

.

It wasn’t until some time after the fact that the people learned that Nightless Commandery was actually one of the biggest killer and assassin training bases in Wei. Everyone in the commandery—from the highest commandery governor to the lowest beggar—was really a killer or an assassin nurtured by Westwind Inn.

Their main responsibility was to kidnap pregnant women, infants, and martially talented people from Yan, Chu, Qi and Wei and imprison them within the commandery. They were fed all sorts of mind controlling drugs and indoctrinated into suicide warriors that were loyal to Westwind Inn and Westwind Inn only.

The killers and assassins Westwind Inn hired to do their dirty work were their contractors at best. These suicide warriors though, they represented Westwind Inn’s true foundation.

This meant that Nightless Commandery was one of Westwind Inn’s most important property and assets. Westwind had invested an untold amount of blood, sweat and tears to build it to its current state.

And Ye Qing had destroyed it all in a single night.

That was not the only consequence Westwind Inn was facing, however. In the

jianghu

, one could theoretically do anything—so long as they weren’t caught, that was.

After the truth of Nightless Commandery was exposed, Westwind suddenly became the target of the entire

jianghu

and the imperial court.

Westwind Inn was a killer and intelligence organization. They were more notorious than famous, and they were viewed by many famous clans or orthodox sects as evil. However, Westwind Inn had always conducted themselves with caution, and they took care not to steal another faction’s profit or test their bottom line if at all possible. That was why they rarely clashed against another faction despite their trade.

But it was different now. It was revealed that Nightless Commandery had been kidnapping pregnant women and infants everywhere, and some of the victims hailed from famous clans and powerful sects too. As it turned out, Westwind Inn hadn’t just crossed the line with the average people, they had been violating the taboo of the powerful and influential right under their nose as well.

Besides that, Westwind Inn had somehow managed to take control of an entire commandery without the imperial court of Wei knowing. Yes, Westwind was powerful, but this could not have happened if someone in the imperial court wasn’t covering for them. This meant that Westwind Inn had somehow stuck their dirty hands into the imperial court, and this was considered to be an absolutely intolerable offense.

Yes, Wei’s government and its

jianghu

were inseparable. It was how the saying, “One half the imperial court, and the other half the

jianghu

” came to be. However, the imperial court wasn’t endlessly big, meaning that it could only tolerate so many

jianghu

factions in its halls.

For every faction that wished to enter the imperial court, another faction must be ousted to make space. If executed poorly, it could even shatter the precarious balance of the imperial court. This was an outcome the factions of the imperial court could never accept, but to find out that the interloper was none other than the notorious killer and intelligence organization? To say that they were furious would be a gross understatement.

Long story short, Westwind Inn landed themselves in huge trouble this time.

This

still

wasn’t everything. After wiping out Nightless Commandery, Ye Qing would announce the locations of the other thirty six Westwind Inns, Westwind Restaurant’s intelligence system, their contact method and more to the public via the Mud Association, Bird Gathering, and other intelligence organizations.

By doing this, Ye Qing hadn’t just stolen Westwind’s underwear, he had hung them in public and saved everyone the trouble of finding them. At this point, it would be unethical

not

to spit on Westwind or slap them in the face at least once or twice!

Without exaggeration, Ye Qing had pushed Westwind to the frontlines; thrown them into the blazing inferno that was public outrage. To say that Westwind was utterly

destroyed

in this exchange would be an understatement.

After all, Ye Qing hadn’t just slapped Westwind in the face, he had struck them at their vital spot. He had trapped them in a quagmire where they were so busy trying to survive they could not spare even a sliver of effort to deal with the culprit who put them in this spot in the first place, be it now or the foreseeable future. That was how bad Westwind Inn’s situation was.

Also, Ye Qing indirectly proved with his actions that no, he was not

injured; yes, the Westwind monkeys were talking out of their asses; and yes, he would absolutely annihilate his would-be robbers if they were stupid enough to come after him.

Forget what happened at Myriad Thunder City, his annihilation of Nightless Commandery alone proved that Ye Qing was fine. As one of the major bases Westwind used to train their killers and suicide warriors, Nightless Commandery was manned by three Great Truemen, thirteen Truemen and Grandmasters, and countless killers and suicide warriors. It was easily stronger than some small or middle-sized sects.

Despite this, Ye Qing had annihilated them all in one night. Not one person save the pregnant women and children below the age of nine had lived to tell the tale. There was no way Ye Qing could have done this if he was as injured or depleted as Westwind claimed.

In summary, Ye Qing’s counterattack had cost Westwind their wife and their army. For a time, the public could not help but mourn for them.

No, it wasn’t a taunt. They were seriously mourning Westwind. It was true that their extraordinary defeat had garnered them some major losses and embarrassment, but it was still nothing they couldn’t recover from. This was different though. Destruction was the expected outcome. Even if Westwind somehow managed to weather this crisis, they would be severely cripple and much, much weaker than they were before. It was a terrible set of circumstances to say the least.

1. Meaning that the old is more experienced and so can triumph over the young despite their age disparity. ☜