Vol. 2 - Ch. 21 - The Secret of the Silk Note

"Good!"

Sun Sheng couldn’t help but cheer when he saw Qiong Aohai’s boldness.

He grabbed the wine jar, poured another bowl, and downed it in one gulp.

Then, mimicking Qiong Aohai, he turned the porcelain bowl upside down.

Not a single drop spilled out.

The two men exchanged a glance and burst out laughing.

The Haijing Gang was originally formed by coastal dock workers—people from the lowest rungs of society. After finishing physical labor, they would gather and drink heartily.

As the young leader of the gang, Qiong Aohai had grown up attending such drinking feasts with the adults.

Over time, his tolerance became exceptional, and he grew intimately familiar with all kinds of fine liquor.

Sun Sheng had fallen in love with drinking two years ago, after stealing a jug of wine from Nan Yiyun.

Since becoming a water bandit, he often drank with his comrades, which only further built up his tolerance.

Off to the side, Hua Xiyue’s eyes sparkled. She imitated the two men and took a big gulp.

But she had only swallowed half when the sharp burn of the liquor hit her. She set down the bowl, tongue out, face wrinkled in discomfort.

That wine was awful!

Totally different from how it was described in the storybooks...

The two men ignored Hua Xiyue.

Qiong Aohai lifted and lowered his bowl with practiced ease, downing ten bowls with Sun Sheng in the blink of an eye.

Sun Sheng’s expression didn’t waver—Qiong Aohai drank, he drank; Qiong Aohai refilled, he refilled.

After ten bowls, neither man had outpaced the other.

This only deepened Qiong Aohai’s appreciation for Sun Sheng.

And Sun Sheng, in turn, grew increasingly fond of this fellow disciple “junior nephew”.

Emptying the wine from his bowl, Sun Sheng asked, “Brother Qiong, why would the Six Doors send a first-rank constable after you?”

“Did you really kill the magistrate of Chizhou?”

Qiong Aohai had just drained another bowl. At the question, he set the bowl down and sighed. “It’s related to me, but the truth is more complicated.”

“How so?” Sun Sheng lifted the jar and refilled Qiong Aohai’s bowl.

Qiong Aohai glanced at Hua Xiyue, who was now picking at the side dishes Xiao Liu had just brought over.

There were only three dishes.

A plate of boiled peanuts in brine, a plate of spiced beef, and a plate of shrimp.

Hua Xiyue had a peanut between her chopsticks. She popped it in her mouth, chewed twice, and said with some dissatisfaction, “Hey hey!”

“How come you're just like that pretty boy over there?”

“I just saved your lives, you know. If it weren’t for me, you’d both be sitting in a cell right now!”

Sun Sheng immediately bristled. “Who are you calling a pretty boy?”

Hua Xiyue replied calmly, “Isn’t your face fair?”

Sun Sheng glared at her.

Hua Xiyue glared right back, undaunted.

Sun Sheng recalled how she had scared off Murong Longyuan. He took a deep breath and sneered, “Not worth arguing with you.”

He raised his bowl and took another sip.

Qiong Aohai tried to smooth things over. “It’s a long story.”

He looked at Hua Xiyue and smiled bitterly, “Even if I tell you, Miss Xi, you might not believe it.”

Hua Xiyue picked up another peanut and chewed thoughtfully. “Let’s hear it anyway.”

“You don’t seem like someone who’d kill a government official.”

Qiong Aohai looked between Sun Sheng and Hua Xiyue, as if coming to a decision.

After a brief hesitation, he said to Sun Sheng, “Brother Shun, that silk note I gave you earlier...”

Only then did Sun Sheng remember the embroidered note Qiong Aohai had stuffed into his chest earlier.

He quickly pulled it out and placed it on the table.

Qiong Aohai glanced at both of them and said calmly, “This matter is tied to that note.”

Sun Sheng raised an eyebrow and opened it.

The style was the same as a typical martial world invitation.

The only difference was the blank cover—no words at all.

Unfolded, the note was silk-wrapped and waterproof.

Inside was fine brocade inked with black characters:

[The Demon Sect rises again. They plan to strike against the Haijing Gang. Return at once. Do not go to the Jiuhua Sword Sect!]

After reading, Sun Sheng’s brow furrowed slightly.

Hua Xiyue flicked her jade-like hand, snatching the note before Sun Sheng could even react.

By the time he did, she had already finished reading it.

“So that’s why,” Hua Xiyue said, setting the note down with a knowing tone. “No wonder you said this was more urgent than clearing your name.”

Qiong Aohai gave a bitter smile and nodded. “Exactly.”

Hua Xiyue frowned slightly. “The note told you not to go to Jiuhua Sword Sect. So why did you go anyway?”

Qiong Aohai picked up his bowl, took a sip, and replied, “Because the one who delivered that note claimed to be from the Qilin Pavilion.”

“He said he was an old friend of my father’s and came to warn me.”

Sun Sheng put down his wine bowl. “Unverifiable. Could be fake.”

“True,” Qiong Aohai nodded in agreement and went on, “Besides, the Demon Sect was destroyed over twenty years ago. Back then, Wudang and Shaolin co-hosted a martial conference, rallying dozens of sects to purge evil and uphold justice.”

“The Vice Leader of the Demon Sect—the head of the Black Tortoise Banner—was besieged and slain by four grandmasters.”

“With the tree fallen, the monkeys scattered. Even if remnants of the Demon Sect still exist, they’re nothing but dying embers.”

“So I didn’t pay it any mind and continued on to the Jiuhua Sword Sect.”

“At that time, I had just defeated personal disciples from over ten sects in the southwest. I was full of confidence.”

“I could feel my Surging Wave Palm technique was on the verge of a breakthrough.”

“If I kept challenging others, it wouldn’t take long before I stepped into the First-Rank realm.”

Qiong Aohai picked up the wine jar and refilled their bowls.

“Breaking into First-Rank is a huge temptation for any Second-Rank martial artist.”

“So I went to the Jiuhua Sword Sect anyway.”

He sighed, all the youthful bravado from challenging sect after sect now gone.

Only wistfulness and regret remained.

Hua Xiyue plucked another peanut and asked, “And then?”

Qiong Aohai gave a bitter smile.

“The Jiuhua Sect’s top disciple, Mo Fangping, was killed by a single palm strike from me.”

Sun Sheng frowned. “What level was Mo Fangping?”

“Late Second-Rank,” Qiong Aohai sighed.

Beside him, Hua Xiyue sensed something odd. She put down her chopsticks and gestured with her hand, “One palm?”

“You killed him with just one palm?”

Qiong Aohai nodded. “One palm.”

Sun Sheng’s expression changed. “You killed a late Second-Rank with one hit?”

“Yes. Just one strike,” Qiong Aohai replied solemnly.

Hua Xiyue asked curiously, “Was this Mo Fangping just a useless name, all reputation and no skill?”

Qiong Aohai shook his head. “He was the Jiuhua Sect’s top disciple, set to inherit the sect within ten years.”

“He was injured then?” Sun Sheng asked.

“No.” Qiong Aohai looked at them both and revealed the truth: “He didn’t even try to defend himself. He didn’t activate his internal force.”

“That’s why he died from a single blow.”

Hearing this, both Hua Xiyue and Sun Sheng showed strange expressions.

“You’re saying he used your hand… to commit suicide?” Hua Xiyue asked.

Qiong Aohai nodded. “Yes.”

Hua Xiyue burst out laughing. She smiled sweetly and turned to Sun Sheng.

“Pretty boy, do you believe that?”

Sun Sheng raised his bowl, drained it in one gulp, and replied calmly.

He wasn’t ruffled by the “pretty boy” jab.

“I believe him,” Sun Sheng said flatly. He glanced at Hua Xiyue. “Don’t you?”

The smile vanished from Hua Xiyue’s face. She nodded, just as calm.

“I believe him too.”

Qiong Aohai’s eyes lit up.

“You two… really believe me?”

Sun Sheng and Hua Xiyue both nodded.

“If you had really done something like that, you wouldn’t be sitting here drinking with the two of us.”

Sun Sheng’s gaze was deep as he looked at Qiong Aohai.

Hua Xiyue added coolly, “Skilled in martial arts, young and famous, falsely accused… That’s textbook protagonist material.”

“People like that are always wronged.”

At that, both Sun Sheng and Qiong Aohai looked at her with new eyes.

Sensing their stares, Hua Xiyue immediately broke character. Her calm face crumbled.

She pouted. “What’s with those looks?”

“Why do I feel like you’re looking at me like I’m an idiot?”

The two men answered in perfect unison:

“We’re not. You’re overthinking it.”

Hua Xiyue: “???”

This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.

Notes

Yuyu: QAH, I can only say that you're more of a protagonist than even the protagonist of this book. 🙃

Bonus chapter. Happy reading, guys

Vol. 2 - Ch. 21 - The Secret of the Silk Note

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