Chapter 200 - A Time of Changes

The night was tranquil, with a thick layer of clouds that smothered the wind and suppressed the moon.

Sikong Yan stood in the plaza beneath the Suantian Shrine, surrounded by silence. He looked up at the place he had trapped himself in, the place he had called home for the last ten years.

"Young Master..." Fu Yiran stood behind him, hesitating before finally speaking. "Are we... just leaving like this?"

"Of course." Sikong Yan didn’t turn around. "I’ve stayed here for ten years. Haven’t you had enough?"

"That’s not what I meant," Fu Yiran mumbled, lowering his head slightly. "It’s just... just..." His words faltered.

"Do you feel guilty?" Sikong Yan asked, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Or did you not expect this day to come so soon?"

Fu Yiran remained silent for a moment before gritting his teeth and nodding.

Sikong Yan chuckled softly, his laughter ringing clearly in the still plaza.

He lowered his head and murmured to himself, "But it’s time to leave... Calculating the heavens, calculating others, and calculating oneself. If the world is a chessboard, then it's time for me to personally make a move."

Sikong Yan raised his head, staring at the tower-like structure of the shrine, momentarily lost in thought. Fu Yiran stepped closer and tentatively asked, "Shall we... take the old master’s memorial tablet with us?"

Snapping out of his daze, Sikong Yan shook his head lightly. "No need... Let Teacher remain here. That way, he can witness with his own eyes how the Ruen Dynasty crumbles step by step.

"Ha... a grand empire, with a legacy of nearly a hundred years... Isn’t it ironic? The Ruen Dynasty rose by Teacher’s hand, yet it’s being destroyed by his student’s."

"Young Master..." Fu Yiran muttered.

Sikong Yan knelt slowly, bowing solemnly toward the Suantian Shrine. "Teacher, watch closely. Be it the ungrateful Ruen Dynasty or the Northern Qiang who caused your untimely death...

"I won’t let them know peace. Don’t miss this grand tragedy of suffering and destruction. Your student will ensure these two nations and their people all accompany you to the grave."

With that, Sikong Yan rose, brushed the dust from his knees, and turned to walk down the mountain without looking back.

Fu Yiran hurried after him, hesitating to speak several times as they descended the mountain path.

Sikong Yan glanced at him. "If you have something to say, say it."

"Where exactly did you send Ah San?" Fu Yiran asked immediately, as though he had been holding the question back for a long time.

Sikong Yan’s lips curved into a faint smile. "Oh... I sent Ah San to see Qi Zongbi. He carried my letter and informed Qi Zongbi about the death of Madam Tan."

Fu Yiran thought for a moment and asked, puzzled, "Are you trying to pin this on the court? Make Qi Zongbi rebel?"

"Qi Zongbi isn’t as simple as you think," Sikong Yan said, with a shake of his head, "He won’t rebel."

"Why are you so sure?" Fu Yiran asked.

Sikong Yan frowned slightly, casting an annoyed glance at Fu Yiran.

"Of course, I’m sure. Who knows Qi Zongbi better than I do? Most people only know him as a loyal minister, but few realize his loyalty isn’t to the Emperor but to the nation itself.

"To the very idea of the Ruen Dynasty. He doesn’t care who sits on the throne. He sees himself as part of the nation, and he won’t betray it."

"Then what’s the point of doing this?" Fu Yiran asked, even more perplexed.

Sikong Yan, in a rare good mood, explained, "Of course, it’s meaningful. I don’t want him to defect to Northern Qiang. That would throw all my plans into disarray.

"I am aiming to create distrust between Qi Zongbi and the court, to sow division. If they can’t work together, their efforts will be ineffective."

"That simple?" Fu Yiran sounded skeptical. "You think Madam Tan’s death alone can achieve all that?"

"It is simple, but certainly not in the way you imagine," Sikong Yan replied enigmatically. "I’ve always said Qi Zongbi is intelligent. Once he returns to the capital and investigates, he’ll figure out that Madam Tan’s death had nothing to do with the court.

"And if he thinks carefully, he’ll realize it was me pulling the strings. You could say this is one of the reasons we are leaving the capital. After piecing it all together, Qi Zongbi will no longer have reason to distrust the court on his own.

"But the court? They won’t think the same. After all, Qi Zongbi suffered defeat, and his wife died because of it. How can the court be sure he won’t harbor rebellious thoughts? So, in the end, it’s not that Qi Zongbi distrusts the court. It’s that the court no longer trusts him."

"Are you saying... could it be..." Fu Yiran suddenly raised his head, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "You’re not planning to kill him anymore?"

"

Haha

!" Sikong Yan laughed heartily. "Qi Zongbi won’t die by my hand... it’s his beloved nation that will kill him in the end."

Fu Yiran’s smile froze halfway across his face. Stammering, he said, "I-I thought... you weren’t going to harm him anymore."

"Do you really not want him to die?" Sikong Yan asked impatiently.

"He’s still your senior brother..." Fu Yiran stammered. "I watched you both grow up. I... I don’t want to see this..."

"You should give up hope," Sikong Yan said coolly. "One way or another, he's already dead. The only question is how long he has left to live. At this point, the Ruen Dynasty won’t let him survive either... How ironic. The person most loyal to the Ruen Dynasty is the one it cannot tolerate."

"At this stage, he and I have completely turned against each other," Sikong Yan said, casting a sidelong glance at Fu Yiran. "I’ll let you choose. Will you stay and save him, becoming my enemy, or continue down this path with me?"

Fu Yiran’s face turned ashen, but he quickly replied, "I... I’ll go with you."

Sikong Yan nodded approvingly. "Trust is a limited resource. Qi Zongbi trusted me and my strategy when he failed. He must have suspected that I set him up, but because of his trust in me, he didn’t overthink it.

"Now, with his wife dead, once he investigates and finds out it was me, his trust in me will be completely gone... Thus, I need to reclaim the Ghostbane Association before he figures it all out.

"After all, it was mine to begin with. When our teacher absorbed the Ghostbane Association and handed it over to the Ruen Dynasty, it was temporary. Now it’s only right that I take it back."

Fu Yiran was stunned. "Ten years ago, when you entered the shrine, you ordered me to infiltrate the Ghostbane Association. Did you... did you foresee this day a decade ago?!"

Sikong Yan let out a soft sigh. "Yes, because I’m the student of Li Xun, the Unparalleled Diviner, Sikong Jile..."

Fu Yiran paused, staring at the figure walking ahead of him. After taking a deep breath, he hurried followed in his master's footsteps. "The Eastern Sea headquarters of the Ghostbane Association has received the message. They’re awaiting your arrival, Young Master."

Under the cover of night, the two figures quietly left the city, heading east.