Volume 4, Chapter 175 – Concealment

A few hours later, after learning the rough outline of what had happened from Bai Xiang, Bai Shengju left the room with a dark expression, saying he was going to lodge a protest with the Sword Dao Association over the security risks.

“Let him go,” Xiang Xian said with a sigh as she stood with Li Sheng and the others, looking at the empty doorway.

“Brother Bai also knows this won’t do any good, but still…”

With a few “outsiders” still present, she did not finish the thought, but the meaning was easy enough to grasp. This was probably the only thing Bai Shengju could do for Bai Xiang right now.

“Don’t crowd around here any longer,” Xiang Xian said, turning to Li Sheng and Wang Ran. “Especially the two of you. Some of your disciples were injured during the day, weren’t they? Hurry back and look after them. Also tell everyone to keep the access controls in place. No one is to leave this building except for tournament-related travel.”

Abbess Li Sheng’s face was grave. “These people… they really dared to do something like this before the tournament is even over…”

Xiang Xian cut her off. “You should know better than anyone how much nerve they have.”

Abbess Li Sheng fell silent.

It was true. She herself, along with the century-old Shangqing Sword Dao and Qingze University, had all been driven out by those hateful bastards.

They were monsters to begin with, beasts. How could she ever have placed human ethics and moral order onto creatures like that?

Abbess Li Sheng felt she needed to reflect on herself properly.

“I heard something,” Wang Ran said suddenly in a low voice. “Over in West Province… there’s been fresh news lately. It says that in most areas… the entire Dao-city of Xifeng Circuit has already been buried under yellow sand.”

Abbess Li Sheng frowned even more deeply.

At the same time, she thought of something else. There had not been any news from Jinlin Sword Dao for a long time now, and Jinlin Dao Lord Su Jiexi had vanished completely. The last time anyone had seen her was all the way back at the Nine Prefectures Sword Meet the year before.

Could it be that Jinlin Sword Dao was about to become the first to be struck from the Nine Prefectures?

There was still no concrete news at present, but no matter how one looked at it, Jinlin Sword Dao’s prospects seemed bleak.

“In any case, everyone needs to be careful,” Xiang Xian said, still frowning. “The New Law is still not fully established yet. Caught between the struggle of the Yaoyu Sword Dao and the Dao-Void demonfolk, we’re in a very dangerous position. Sometimes the Dao Lord is forced to use ruthless methods to make others fear her, but we must not truly start believing we’re as formidable as the outside world praises us for being.”

Everyone nodded to show they understood, then left the room one after another. In the end, only Bai Xiang, Bai Zhuqing, Zhu Qingluo, who was sitting on the bed watching television, and the tiny white fox lying in Zhu Qingluo’s lap remained.

“I’ll handle Brother Bai’s side.”

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As Xiang Xian was leaving, she called Bai Xiang over to the door and told her not to worry about Bai Shengju. “He needs to notify Dao Lord Chen of Red Dust Dao. If possible, it would be best for all of Red Dust Dao’s disciples to move into Wangyun Tavern as well.”

“Many thanks, Master,” Bai Xiang said with a nod.

Then, before Xiang Xian could say anything else, a storage jade tablet appeared in her hand, and she quietly slipped it into Xiang Xian’s palm.

“This is…” Xiang Xian froze, then suddenly realized. “…Looks like this trip brought back more than just blood debts.”

“I have a bit of a friendship with Meng Qiaosheng of the Silver Sea Merchant Guild,” Bai Xiang said, taking the opportunity to make a suggestion. “Some of the things inside that we have no use for, and even the black crystal our Dao produces in the future, can all be entrusted to that route for sale.”

“Looks like you’ve arranged everything already.” Xiang Xian grinned, looking at Bai Xiang with great satisfaction.

As far as this disciple was concerned, no matter how far Bai Xiang surpassed her in cultivation, Xiang Xian would be content as long as Bai Xiang always conducted herself in this manner, calculating carefully and only acting after planning things through.

Because that was Xiang Xian’s own greatest strength. Only like this did the disciple seem most like her.

They discussed a few more matters afterward, and once Xiang Xian left, the entire room fell silent. Only the background sound from the television remained, along with the tiny yips the little fox occasionally made when it yawned.

Finished talking?

Bai Zhuqing had been waiting at the side the whole time. Seeing this, she immediately stood up from beside the bed and shot Zhu Qingluo a look of disgust.

That awful woman had no sense at all. Being a third wheel here every day was one thing, but she even had the nerve to snatch my little fox!

The little white fox was exceptionally docile and adorable, and it was obviously still very young. Its intelligence had clearly not yet been awakened, making it the perfect age to grow attached to people. Bai Zhuqing had liked it the moment she saw it.

She had been the one holding it the whole time at first, but after Zhu Qingluo arrived and saw the little white fox, her expression had changed dramatically. Without a word, she had snatched it from the girl’s arms, then sat there silently watching television, with no sign of giving it back even now.

Bai Zhuqing felt it was necessary to throw her weight around as the younger sister and have Bai Xiang teach this person a lesson.

It was a gift from her sister to her, after all. You’re an old senior, an outsider, so what are you crowding in here for?

Bah!

Shameless!

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“You cleaned up the scene fairly well,” Zhu Qingluo suddenly said, “but there are still too many traces left behind. It would be easy for them to guess that you had a large-scale clash with the human path.”

Bai Xiang did not refute her, because Zhu Qingluo was right.

Her purpose in silencing witnesses and erasing traces had mainly been to muddy the waters and buy time, so that most of the Void Realm’s human factions would not be able to accurately judge her strength.

As for Zhang Dai and the others being destroyed in body and soul, that was because people of the Venerable ranks tended to think along familiar lines. Even if they were defeated and slain, they did not truly die so easily, so for a while no one would suspect that she possessed a secret method capable of completely killing those of the Venerable ranks.

Even if they determined that Tianfu Mountain and Golden Light Temple had been involved, Ten-Extremes Daoist Zhou Yuan would certainly know, for example, they still would not suspect that every last one of those people had died for good. They would only assume that Zhang Dai’s remnant soul had escaped and was hiding somewhere to recover.

Although the Little Yellow sword being exposed was only a matter of time, all Bai Xiang wanted was to keep that information hidden until the tournament was over.

“A complete God-Slaying Sword Array…”

As Zhu Qingluo stroked the little white fox’s fur, her eyes seemed to look through time itself.

“God-slaying, god-slaying… what it slays is the god of Loss of Order.”

“The ‘god’ here does not mean some specific mighty being. It refers to the soul and the spirit, to the principle of ‘severing chaotic spirits to set Dao-methods right.’ That was the core idea behind the earliest establishment of the human path.”

“I never thought Zhang Yangxiu’s descendants would be so worthless, so shortsighted, all for the sake of a mere slogan…”

Clearly, Zhu Qingluo knew that piece of history.

It might not have been her own lived experience, but she had definitely heard of it, or read about it.

Bai Xiang said nothing.

She was waiting.

Waiting for Zhu Qingluo to continue and ask her.

Because she knew that everything Zhu Qingluo was talking about right now was merely laying the groundwork for the final question.

Bai Xiang was very patient, but Zhu Qingluo clearly was not.

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After waiting a while, Zhu Qingluo could no longer hold back. Cradling the little fox, she turned this way and fixed her eyes on Bai Xiang’s golden pupils.

“This fox…”

“Where did you get it?”

There it was.

Bai Xiang lowered her gaze slightly, then met her eyes without flinching.

“It’s my war trophy.”

“When I found it, it was inside that capsule case.”

Zhu Qingluo half-frowned, looking as though she wanted to say something and stop herself in the same breath.

But in the end, she said nothing. She simply looked down at the little white fox and gently set it on the bed.

“In that case… then… just raise it well.”

“It likes to eat ginseng roots. Remember not to feed it food that’s too rich or meaty.”

Leaving those words behind, Zhu Qingluo quickly departed.

“How strange…”

Bai Zhuqing glared after her for a while, then went over in puzzlement and shut the door.

When she turned back, she saw Bai Xiang standing there with her eyes slightly narrowed. From that tiny shift in expression alone, she instantly judged that Bai Xiang was dissatisfied with Zhu Qingluo’s behavior.

After all, she understood Bai Xiang far too well.

To be able to judge the “changes of entering the Dao” from Bai Xiang’s walking posture, breathing rhythm, and changes in expression, there was probably no one in the world but Bai Zhuqing who could thump her chest and claim she could do it.

“Auntie,” she said, glancing at the little white fox rolling onto its back on the bed and playing with itself, then leaning in to ask Bai Xiang, “does Senior Zhu… have something she’s hiding from us?”

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“Would it be anything new if she did?” Bai Xiang replied with a dry smile.

Then she straightened the girl up and wrapped her in Qi.

Mm!

The girl shivered all at once.

She knew Bai Xiang was checking her physical condition, seeing whether the fights during the day had left any hidden injuries.

Even so, she still felt somewhat dissatisfied.

This kind of sudden attack every time, startling her out of nowhere, was exhausting…

“I’ll be going out again in a little while, to give your beggar uncle his treatment.”

Bai Xiang had not forgotten her agreement with the old beggar.

When she came back, she had checked on purpose. No one had broken into the hotel. The old beggar had watched the place well enough.

“You go take a bath first,” she instructed the girl.

“When I come back, I’ll correct your swordsmanship.”

After leaving the room, Bai Xiang walked down the corridor, but halfway along, her expression gradually turned cold.

Zhu Qingluo was hiding quite a few things.

But one matter in particular stood out.

The Thirty-Three Heavenly Seas, Douyun Sea, the fact that this place was actually under the jurisdiction of Rebirth Hall.

She had had such a good chance to mention it just now, yet she had said nothing.

That made this rather unusual.