Chapter 45: The Death of Long Qi

“Alright,” Mo Xiaobai replied. His gaze shifted to the wall, where a sword hung. The blade was invisible, and black bloodstains remained on the scabbard.

Su Tang noticed Mo Xiaobai’s gaze and shook his head with a smile. “This sword is not for sale. I’ll keep it hanging there to remind myself.”

“Haha, I know. This is what they call inspiration…” Mo Xiaobai smiled as well.

That sword was indeed very special because the blade had been pulled out from Su Tang’s own body!

Su Tang picked up the Martial Formula again. His knowledge was no longer what it used to be. Just by skimming through it, he could tell which grade the Martial Formula belonged to and whether it was useful to him.

In reality, Martial Formulas were mostly personal cultivation experiences. The difference between an ordinary person and a Martial Artist was that an ordinary person’s Spirit Vein was dead, with no Spiritual Qi flowing through it, while a Martial Artist’s Spirit Vein was alive. A Martial Formula explained the way Spiritual Qi flowed within the Spirit Vein.

A Spirit Tool and a Martial Formula were both indispensable. If one had only a Spirit Tool without a Martial Formula, they would not know how to use it and would have to figure it out slowly from scratch. If one had only a Martial Formula without a Spirit Tool, no matter how deep or effective the content of the formula was, it was useless unless they could find the corresponding Spirit Tool.

Every Spirit Tool had different characteristics; in the words of another world, they had their own attributes. When a Martial Artist obtained a Spirit Tool and spent a long time training and adjusting to it, the way they circulated Spiritual Qi became mature. The Martial Formula left behind at that time was a priceless treasure. If the master was willing to pass both the Spirit Tool and the Martial Formula to another youth, as long as the youth’s talent was not too poor, the disciple could finish in two or three years what the master had taken ten years to achieve.

However, if the Spirit Tool and the Martial Formula were separated, the value would certainly be greatly reduced.

This was why some great clans became stronger and stronger, gradually becoming oligarchs. Their core disciples possessed super Spirit Tools as soon as they became Martial Artists, facing a straight, golden path ahead. Furthermore, Spirit Tools needed nourishment from the Martial Artist. The more abundant the Spiritual Qi the Martial Artist possessed, the more powerful the Spirit Tool became. A super Spirit Tool that had been nourished by clan elders for decades or even hundreds of years possessed unimaginable power.

The best Spirit Tools and the most mature Martial Formulas were the foundation of the great clans.

Su Tang flipped through them with little interest and threw them all back to Mo Xiaobai. They were not very useful; he told Mo Xiaobai to sell them for whatever price he could get.

…

In the blink of an eye, night fell. Su Tang, who was practicing on a soft couch in the secret room, was suddenly awakened by a noise. He opened his eyes and listened carefully. What was happening? Had there been a fire?

At that moment, panicked shouts came from outside: “Sir, something terrible happened… Sir has been murdered…” It was indeed Mo Xiaobai, and his voice was filled with terror.

Immediately after, the outer door was slammed open. Mo Xiaobai rushed in stumbling, then burst through the door of the inner room and shouted, “Sir, hurry… Sir has been murdered…”

“What happened?” Su Tang shouted.

“Sir…” Mo Xiaobai’s face was pale, and his body was trembling slightly. He realized his mistake in wording: “It is Mr. Long, Mr. Long has been murdered!”

“Are you crazy? Making this kind of joke?!” Su Tang was furious. He had seen Long Qi today, and he was perfectly fine. Moreover, Long Qi had Shadow protecting him; it was impossible for something to go wrong.

Unlike himself, who had just entered Changshan County as a stranger and become the Pavilion Master of Miaodao Pavilion—meaning there were certainly people who were dissatisfied or disliked him—Long Qi had been active in Changshan County for nearly twenty years and held great prestige. Even the four Practitioner families of Tie, Bai, Cheng, and Mu did their best to avoid unpleasantness with Long Qi. How could Long Qi possibly be murdered?

“Sir, how could I joke about such a thing?!” Mo Xiaobai was almost crying. “Enshrined Expert Xiao is already there. Enshrined Expert Wen and Enshrined Expert Tong are rushing there now. Sir… Sir…”

Su Tang jumped up and rushed outside with large strides, his heart feeling as if it had fallen into an ice cave. Since arriving in Changshan County, his horizons had expanded and he understood more and more, but he discovered that the things he did not understand and were desperate to figure out were also increasing.

Su Tang knew very well that to maintain the current situation, he absolutely could not do without Long Qi’s guidance. If something had really happened to Long Qi, it was as if half the sky of Miaodao Pavilion had collapsed.

Long Qi was indeed dead, but he did not die in his own mansion; instead, he died in his fiancée’s home.

There was more than one dead person. Long Qi sat stiffly in a reclining chair, with anger and despair from before his death still lingering in his eyes. There was a bloody large hole in his left chest, blood staining his collar and dripping down to the floor beneath the chair, forming a small pool of blood.

The little girl died by the bedside. Her body was curled up, and her lively eyes had become stiff and dull. Her two small hands were clenched into fists, and her face was slightly distorted, as if she had experienced unbearable pain.

The little girl’s mother lay prostrate on the ground. Her right hand rested on the edge of the bed. Although she was already dead, her fingertips still pointed straight forward, as if she were trying hard to grab something; her daughter was there.

Shadow was also dead. However, he died in the courtyard. The scene in the courtyard was not very chaotic, proving that the battle ended quickly. The dagger held in his hand was very clean and bright, without any bloodstains, meaning he had failed to kill or injure any enemy.

Wen Xiang, Xiao Buhui, and Tong Fei had all arrived. Their faces were grim, and their gazes were unsteady. For anyone, this was an exceptionally heavy blow.

Su Tang stared blankly at Long Qi. He could not believe his eyes, yet he had to. Images of his interactions with Long Qi over the past few days flashed rapidly through his mind.

Long Qi had been guiding him relentlessly, sharing all his experience and insights. He owed Long Qi far too much.

“Hanging around in this Changshan County, no matter how careful one is, one will offend some people. I am a member of Miaodao Pavilion, so they dare not act rashly. But if I leave Miaodao Pavilion, it would be hard to say. Haha… Mr. Su, you must protect me in the future.”

Long Qi’s joking conversation from that day was still ringing in his ears, but in an instant, everything had changed. Looking at Long Qi, Su Tang suddenly felt a pain in his heart. A thick sense of guilt pressed down on his chest like a mountain, making it hard for him to breathe.

“The killer visited Moyun Ridge recently.” Wen Xiang suddenly picked something up from the ground and said in a cold voice, “Only Moyun Ridge has these red dandelions.”

“There is a woman among the killers.” Tong Fei waved a scrap of cloth he had found and pointed with his chin toward the woman lying on the ground. “There is a special fragrance; it does not belong to them.”

“What an overbearing sword.” Xiao Buhui walked in from outside and said word by word, “A single strike to kill, with no chance to dodge at all. I guess… it should be him.”

“Who?” Tong Fei and Wen Xiang asked in unison.