Chapter 316 - Ingenious Craftsmanship

"Is that why the four of you have Ghostbane Tokens that are different from the rest?"

Inside the cave, Rao Shuang sat on the table, swinging her legs idly.

Tang Jinnian sat cross-legged on the ground with a furnace before him. The firelight washed his face a fiery red as he said, "At first, there were more than just the four of us. There were many who refused to change their tokens. Most of them are dead now."

Rao Shuang's eyes widened. "The Ghostbane Association conducted an internal purge?"

"No," Tang Jinnian shook his head. "There was no need for the Ghostbane Association to act. Those who had already changed their tokens wouldn’t let us go. Some were dissatisfied, others felt that their path to being promoted was blocked. There would always be someone who wanted to take our lives."

"What about you?" Rao Shuang asked curiously. "Didn’t anyone come looking for trouble with you?"

Tang Jinnian let out a cold laugh. "Of course... but they are all dead now."

"

All

of them?"

Tang Jinnian tossed a few pieces of charcoal into the furnace. "There were more than ten Heaven-ranker assassins who died by my hand alone. As for the Earth and Profound-rankers, they were too many to keep track of. Once enough of them died, the rest were too scared to come."

Rao Shuang’s eyebrows twitched visibly. Looking at Tang Jinnian’s back, she whispered,"Did they try to force a new title upon you too?"

"Of course." Tang Jinnian’s face held a mocking smile. "At the time, I was told that the Ghostbane Association was reassessing their rankings and that they had added some new poetic titles above heaven-ranker. They said that Forsaken Phoenix would no longer belong to me."

"You killed them?" Rao Shuang blinked.

Tang Jinnian burst out laughing. "Of course not. I told them to scram and tell the Ghostbane Association, if they want me to change, fine. Change it to

Reminiscing Aria on Phoenix Terrace

."[1]

Rao Shuang rolled her eyes. "Dream on."

The two of them had been in Xianlong Port, Jiangbei Prefecture, for over half a month now. Most of that time had been spent in Tang Jinnian’s secret base, which led to Tang Jinnian's mother having a number of objections.

Tang Jinnian spent his days tinkering with things that Rao Shuang didn't understand, so she was starting to feel bored as she followed him every day.

The flames in the furnace gradually diminished and finally went out. Tang Jinnian carefully poured the molten substance from the furnace into a pre-prepared mold.

"What are your plans next?" Rao Shuang asked casually, lowering her head as she cleaned her nails.

"What plans?" Tang Jinnian, deeply engrossed in his work, had little patience for interruptions.

"I’m asking what you plan on doing next!" Rao Shuang stuck her tongue out at Tang Jinnian’s back. "Will you keep taking assassination missions? Or... keep chasing your dream of creating the perfect puppet?"

"If I’m short on money, I’ll take on a few high-paying jobs. As for the puppets..." Tang Jinnian paused before shaking his head. "I can’t make them without the Transcendence Stone."

Rao Shuang bit her lip, unsure what to say.

"In a while, I’ll go west," Tang Jinnian said suddenly.

"The west?" Rao Shuang was taken aback. "Where in the west?"

"Wusi," Tang Jinnian replied without even looking up.

"Wusi?"

"...Mm."

"Hah..." Rao Shuang was stunned, then laughed. "Wusi? Why are you going there? Have you decided to start herding cattle?"

Tang Jinnian ignored the sarcasm in her words and kept his focus on his work. It wasn’t until Rao Shuang finished laughing that he quietly said, "I need to visit the Jialan Temple..."

Rao Shuang’s fingers trembled involuntarily.

"I’m going by myself..." Tang Jinnian walked around to the other side of the table. "Don’t follow me anymore."

Seeing that the molded parts had cooled, Tang Jinnian tipped the mold onto the table, letting the parts clink as they tumbled out.

Rao Shuang jumped down from the table and quickly strode over to Tang Jinnian’s side.

Bang!

She slammed her palm onto the table, causing the intricate parts to bounce and clatter back down.

"Do you even know what kind of place that is?!" Rao Shuang’s almond-shaped eyes widened as she glared at Tang Jinnian. "Forsaken Phoenix! You’re way too confident for your own good!"

"Of course I know. The Jialan Temple... it's the place where the ‘Hundred Thousand Vajras Vanquished Yama,’" Tang Jinnian said as he assembled the parts. "That’s exactly why I’m telling you not to follow me."

Tang Jinnian finished assembling, then finally raised his head to look at Rao Shuang. "I’m afraid you’ll drag me down."

"You!" Rao Shuang’s face flushed red with anger.

Tang Jinnian suddenly tossed something over. "Take it."

Rao Shuang instinctively caught it. When she looked down, she saw it was the folding fan that Tang Jinnian had been keeping for her.

Her heart trembled. Rao Shuang slowly raised her head to look at Tang Jinnian, but she saw that he had already turned his back and was busy working on something again.

"You..." Rao Shuang’s lips trembled. "You’re giving it back to me just like that?"

"The design wasn't that difficult," Tang Jinnian said, his voice muffled. "I made some modifications, added a few mechanisms. Oh, and don’t lose the middle rib of the fan. It’s made of the same material as these." With that, Tang Jinnian opened his palm to show Rao Shuang what he was holding.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Rao Shuang felt curious. She forgot about her earlier grievances and leaned in to take a closer look.

In Tang Jinnian’s palm stood two tiny gray sparrows. They were so small that Rao Shuang had to lean in close to discern the outline of their feathers and their lively, sesame-sized black eyes. Each bird was no more than two inches long, with slender, sharp beaks that gleamed faintly with a cold light and had two stubby little feet.

Rao Shuang suddenly gasped as realization struck her. "These are puppets!?"

Tang Jinnian smirked slyly. "

Heh

, you're smart."

"They're so small!" Rao Shuang exclaimed. "How did you manage that?"

Tang Jinnian gently lifted his hand, and the two small birds flapped their wings, rising into the air and silently hovering in front of them.

Tang Jinnian smiled knowingly and explained, "These are hummingbirds, the smallest of all birds."

Rao Shuang gazed at the hummingbirds with great interest. "But what’s the use of something so small?"

Tang Jinnian shook his head. "If they were made from ordinary materials, they’d be useless. But these two are different."

Rao Shuang suddenly remembered what Tang Jinnian had said earlier and quickly asked, "What material? And my fan rib..."

"

Heh

." Tang Jinnian grinned, baring white teeth that stood out starkly in the cavernous workshop. "After helping Impending Sword with such a big favor, why shouldn't I collect a little interest?"

Rao Shuang suddenly realized what Tang Jinnian had added to her fan. "You’re shameless, you kept a piece of that chain for yourself!"

Tang Jinnian raised an eyebrow, completely unfazed. "Stormqueller was involved in this too. Without his blade, that special metal couldn’t have been cut."

Rao Shuang pouted. "So what can your hummingbirds do?"

"What can they do?" Tang Jinnian sneered. "These are my undetectable weapons for assassination. For this trip to Jialan Temple... I’ll be relying on them."

1. 凤凰台上忆吹箫 is the name of a tune pattern (词牌) used in traditional Chinese ci poetry (词). It is not a poem itself but rather a set structure that poets would follow when composing verses. Tang Jinnian is implying that he is above even the new poetic title tier. ☜