Chapter 24: Third Day Arrives, Exploring the Theater

Chapter 24: The Third Day of the New Year, Visiting the Opera Tower

This man actually recognized him.

Ning Xishi's heart jumped. And with Ming Hanche moving so fast, he didn't have time to react. Ming Hanche found an opening, and at the last second, he pulled back his sleeve sword and grabbed Ning Xishi by the throat instead.

Ning Xishi felt like something heavy was crushing his throat. He couldn't breathe, and the urge to cough got stuck before it could even come out.

Even his disguised face flushed an unnatural red.

"Young Chief, Strategist Qiu is here. Will you tell him yourself, or shall I?"

Ming Hanche's voice was right in his ear. Ning Xishi, starved of air, felt his struggles getting weaker and weaker.

He nodded slowly, then squirmed a little, and finally Ming Hanche loosened his grip.

Ning Xishi spoke: "I... I'll talk."

That way of speaking felt familiar to Xie Jingxing again, but he still couldn't place the guy. He must have trained in voice changing.

Meanwhile, Xie Jingxing had been fighting the guards. Suddenly, he tossed a handful of powder at Ming Hanche. Ming Hanche caught just a whiff of something fragrant, immediately let go, and jumped back. "Seven-Step Powder!"

Ning Xishi wasn't so lucky. He couldn't dodge in time and got a face full of the poison.

Just as he was about to pass out, a lean, wiry arm caught him and, in one motion, carried him crashing through the window. The two of them plunged together into the lake outside.

Seven-Step Powder was lethal. Before they left, Master Healer had insisted Ning Xishi bring it. He never thought he'd use it—not on himself, but to save someone else.

Once in the water, Xie Jingxing shoved the antidote into Ning Xishi's mouth, then swam with him blindly through the dark water toward the shore.

It'd been months since he'd used his legs to swim, so it took some getting used to.

Xie Jingxing swam pretty slowly. By the time Ning Xishi made it to shore, he'd already swallowed who knows how much water.

He doubled over and threw up violently, his stomach still churning.

Xie Jingxing, though, wasn't about to be that merciful and let him waste time. He was about to walk over to Ning Xishi when he suddenly stopped and looked around.

It was still daylight. Besides the distant sounds of Ming family guards searching, there were also people hiding nearby.

Guardian Ye, who'd been following them the whole way, surfaced from the water like a water ghost, staring hard at Xie Jingxing as he got ready to move.

At the same time, several people crawled out of the reeds along the shore, all clearly there to protect Ning Xishi.

Xie Jingxing, who'd already fought the Ming family, used up his powder to save someone, and was exhausted from swimming with another person: "..."

He immediately sized up the situation—outnumbered and in a bad spot for a fight.

He raised both arms a little in a harmless gesture.

Before leaving, he raised an eyebrow and glanced at the young woman in purple, who was still facing away from him.

A complete stranger. He couldn't figure out who might be in disguise.

But judging from Ming Hanche calling him "Young Chief," and looking at how the people around him were dressed, it was easy to figure out he was the Beggar Gang's leader.

Could this Beggar Gang leader be someone he'd met before? Or maybe someone he'd run into briefly at the border?

Either way, this wasn't the time for questions. Xie Jingxing turned and walked off with easy grace, showing no sign of reluctance.

·

Ning Xishi only gradually came to when the Left Protector carried him back to their stronghold outside the city.

Guardian Ye then asked, "Chief, that man who saved you—he's from the imperial court?"

Ning Xishi went "ah" and replied, "Yeah."

An elder asked, "Why'd he save you, Chief?"

Ning Xishi hadn't expected Xie Jingxing to save him at the last second either. He recounted what happened in the private room and said, "At that point, Ming Hanche also ordered his men to kill him. Maybe he figured the enemy of my enemy is my friend?"

Guardian Ye tapped Ning Xishi on the head and said, "People from the imperial court aren't that smart. They've always looked down on the martial arts world. It's probably that Ming Hanche's last words—'Chief, Strategist Qiu is here. Will you tell him yourself, or should I?'—made the imperial court guy suspicious, which is why he gave you a hand."

The other elders chimed in: "Guardian Ye's right."

"If we hadn't shown up in time, that guy would've already stripped off your disguise, Chief."

"By the way, Chief, you're also from the imperial court. That guy earlier was really skilled—who is he? Do you two know each other?" someone asked.

That hit the nail on the head, but Ning Xishi didn't feel like answering.

He had his own doubts—what was up with Xie Jingxing's legs? Had he been faking it the whole time back in the capital?

But that couldn't be. Earlier, when they'd fallen into the water and he'd carried Xie Jingxing out, those legs were limp and lifeless. You can't fake that.

Ning Xishi was confused, but he shook his head at the group without revealing who Xie Jingxing was. He just said he was tired and needed rest.

Guardian Ye still treated him like a kid, coaxing him: "Chief, rest for a bit. We'll have a doctor brought over soon. Ming Hanche was way too harsh—if that wound on your neck isn't treated, it'll be so swollen tomorrow you won't be able to talk."

Ning Xishi nodded, saying he'd sleep in a bit.

Seeing how exhausted he looked, Guardian Ye had everyone else leave, and they went into the small room next door to plan their next move.

"That Ming Hanche's got some nerve—daring to kill an imperial envoy. He must not care about his life."

"It's not that he's brave. It's because assassins had gotten into the Gathering Immortals Tower. As long as everything's blamed on the assassins, when the imperial court sends people to investigate, they'll find nothing and have to close the case."

Someone suddenly realized: "Oh, I get it now. If the Chief had really been captured by them, they could claim the Beggar Gang killed the imperial envoy..."

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath at that.

Their Beggar Gang was big and powerful, but if the imperial court decided to go after them, they'd stand no chance.

"That Ming Hanche is nasty!"

"Good thing that envoy was decent enough—when he got away, he brought our young master out with him."

"Don't thank him. Even without him, Ming Hanche wouldn't have dared to actually kill our Chief. At most, he'd have locked him up and made a deal with us."

"Can't say that. The fact that our Chief is lying here safe and sound is still because of that envoy."

Ning Xishi ignored the noise outside. He was replaying the day's events in his head.

First, his lack of combat experience. Ming Hanche shouldn't have been able to grab his vital point so easily—he'd just been too nervous, and a lot of his moves never came out in time.

This is definitely something he needs to practice.

Given how bad things are on all fronts right now, his identity as the Martial Arts Alliance Leader could get exposed at any moment, so he needed to have a backup plan.

Second, there was the matter of Ming Hanche calling Xie Jingxing 'Qiu Changyu'.

Could Xie Jingxing and Qiu Changyu have swapped identities and come here to secretly investigate?

The more Ning Xishi thought about it, the more he felt Ming Hanche was a snake.

He'd always played the friendly, easygoing guy in public; nobody would've guessed he had Ningzhou locked down so tight.

A senior disciple, himself, and Xie Jingxing—all of them had walked right into the trap and gotten caught like turtles in a jar by Ming Hanche.

Knowing that someone this cunning had figured out who he was, Ning Xishi really couldn't sleep easy anymore.

He opened his mouth, wanting to ask for water, but no words came out.

His throat was starting to hurt now, the pain finally catching up.

Ning Xishi sucked in a sharp breath. Guardian Ye, who'd been keeping a close eye on him, quickly shushed everyone and came over to tend to him.

"Don't worry, the doctor's on his way. He's one of ours, so he'll fix you right up."

Ning Xishi couldn't talk, so he mimed drinking from a cup. Guardian Ye got it and handed him some water.

"Well, well, it's only been a few days and you've turned into a lost little puppy." A bright female voice suddenly rang out from outside the door.

Ning Xishi's eyes lit up. He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a hoarse rasp: "..." Senior Martial Sister Tong.

The newcomer wore an emerald-green patchwork outfit, with a matching belt loaded down with bottles, jars, and sachets. She had on short leather boots and looked playful and sharp.

This was Ning Xishi's junior martial sister, no question.

Tong Kehua stepped up and pressed her fingers against Ning Xishi's neck. After a moment, she said, "The bone's a bit out of place. I'll set it first, then apply some medicine."

Ning Xishi gestured: "Will I be good by tomorrow?"

Tong Kehua huffed: "What, you think I'm some fairy who can heal you with a wish? This isn't a minor injury—you'll need at least two days to recover."

Ning Xishi tried to gesture more, but Tong Kehua cut him off impatiently: "You want treatment or not? The longer you wait, the longer you won't be able to talk."

Ning Xishi immediately froze and waited for treatment.

Tong Kehua was a legit dual practitioner of medicine and poison. With her around, everyone else could breathe easy.

After getting his bone set, taking his medicine, and having a bunch of cool herbal paste slathered on his neck, Ning Xishi woke up early the next morning and sure enough, his throat hurt a lot less.

But Guardian Ye said it still looked pretty gnarly.

Ning Xishi tried to look down and could see the finger marks on his chest had turned a deep purple—pretty damn scary.

Tong Kehua woke up and came to check on Ning Xishi's injury. "You shouldn't feel any pain today," she said. "You'll be able to talk tomorrow, but the mark on your neck will take ten days to two weeks to fade."

Ning Xishi quickly nodded.

Tong Kehua added, "Guardian Ye told me tomorrow's the third, and you still need to go see that Ming Hanche. Don't worry, I'll do your makeup—nobody'll be able to tell."

Guardian Ye felt bad about it. The martial siblings rarely got to see each other, and now that they finally had the chance, Ning Xishi was hurt and couldn't talk. Even their catching up had to be done through hand gestures.

But their gesturing was pretty funny too. Ning Xishi would mime something, Tong Kehua would guess, and when she couldn't figure it out, she'd chase him around the courtyard.

Just like back when the old Gang Leader was still around and the kids would roughhouse in the yard.

Too bad times have changed.

Guardian Ye resolved that no matter what, she wouldn't let Ming Hanche win.

She'd make sure the younger ones stayed safe.

But despite all the playful antics, Tong Kehua dropped a bombshell on Ning Xishi.

—That theater Ming Hanche went to three times a month wasn't just for opera. Hidden in the back was a den where martial world folks came to have fun.

"You martial world men can't keep it in your pants. He's rounded up all kinds of pretty men and women and keeps them there to entertain the big shots he wants to win over. That's why so many people are... willing to follow him."

Tong Kehua said, "When you sneak in tomorrow, be extra careful."

==========Author's Note:==========

Second chapter