Nightwatcher

# 268. Number Five's Message

Chu Yuanzhen's eyes brightened. Instead of getting angry, he smiled expectantly and said, "Our sparring earlier was rather dull. If you have any ultimate skills, feel free to use them."

Xu Qi'an nodded and added, "I’ll only use one move. After that, our sparring will be over."

This was to prevent Chu Yuanzhen from retaliating after taking a strike and turning Xu into a human pincushion. Otherwise: *Xu Qi’an, deceased, twenty years of age.*

Chu Yuanzhen pondered for a moment and asked, "After you use this move, will you enter a weakened state?"

*As smart as expected of a zhuangyuan, quick-witted...* Xu Qi'an sighed inwardly and nodded, "Yes."

"What move is it?"

Emperor Yuanjing, who overheard the conversation, looked towards Luo Yuheng beside him.

Luo Yuheng shook her head. She actually knew, but didn’t want to waste her breath explaining to Emperor Yuanjing.

Her calm and indifferent demeanour made Emperor Yuanjing secretly frown. As the ruler of a vast empire, with the power of life and death over his subjects, he felt powerless in front of this woman. He had long desired to dual cultivate with the National Teacher to achieve immortality, but every time he brought it up, Luo Yuheng would either ignore or evade the topic.

Before this Daoist leader, he felt like a poor young man with little to offer, which deeply frustrated him.

_Clang!_

In the garden, Xu Qi'an sheathed his black-gold sabre.

He then stepped forward, his knees slightly bent, and placed his right hand on the hilt, preparing for a drawing technique.

His breath steady, his emotions calmed, he was like the coastline before a tsunami, pulling in all his energy.

Chu Yuanzhen's expression grew solemn. With a flick of his fingers, he summoned a branch and held it as a sword.

_Clang!_

At the moment Xu Qi'an's thumb flicked his black-gold sabre, he visualised a roaring golden lion in his mind. With a thunderous roar, the blade flashed out.

Chu Yuanzhen’s ears rang as if a lightning bolt had exploded overhead. In that instant, a thin line of saber energy flashed by.

At the critical moment, the zhuangyuan leisurely extended his branch.

_Boom!_

The moment the branch touched the sabre energy, a violent shockwave swept through the entire garden. The rockery under Chu Yuanzhen's feet exploded first, followed by the pavilion behind him, its four pillars snapping and its roof flying into the sky.

The once calm pool erupted in waves, ready to collapse the meditation room behind them. Luo Yuheng parted her red lips and softly uttered, "Halt!"

The violent shockwave instantly froze and then disappeared.

In the garden, Xu Qi'an sat cross-legged, his saber resting across his knees, looking exhausted.

Chu Yuanzhen's sleeve was shredded, revealing his muscular forearm. He clenched and unclenched his fist several times to ease the pain, then sighed, "Impressive, truly impressive... If you were at the fifth rank, this strike would have severely injured me."

*Damn it, I gave it my all, and all I managed to do was cut through air...* Xu Qi'an silently complained, raising his head and imitating Xu Erlang's indifferent expression, saying, "It's no wonder you're capable of duelling with Li Miaozhen. I admit defeat."

*Xu Qi'an was also a proud man, no less so than the scholars of Cloud Deer Academy...* Chu Yuanzhen smiled and nodded.

Emperor Yuanjing glanced at the garden and then turned to Luo Yuheng. The stunningly beautiful National Teacher was gazing steadily at Xu Qi'an.

Seeing this, Emperor Yuanjing smiled broadly, saying, "Chu Yuanzhen is indeed a remarkable disciple of the Human Sect. His cultivation is impressive. Xu Qi'an still has a long way to go, but after all, he's just a Silver Gong. There’s room for improvement."

Though it seemed like he was praising Chu Yuanzhen and belittling Xu Qi'an, it was actually the opposite. A mere Silver Gong had shredded Chu Yuanzhen's sleeve, and there were many such Silver Gongs in the Nightwatcher’s Office.

Luo Yuheng forced a smile.

Emperor Yuanjing’s mood lifted even more. He chuckled, "I still have matters to attend to in the palace. National Teacher, please see me off."

Luo Yuheng gestured for him to proceed.

At this moment, Xu Qi'an suddenly called out, "Your servant bids farewell to Your Majesty."

Chu Yuanzhen also bowed but said nothing.

Emperor Yuanjing and Luo Yuheng had no choice but to stop. The former gave Xu Qi'an a rare approving nod and said, "An impressive duel. Xu Qi'an, your talent is commendable. Do not disappoint the court's expectations."

Xu Qi'an responded smoothly, "Thank you for Your Majesty’s guidance. Your servant shall serve with utmost loyalty until my last breath."

Emperor Yuanjing nodded in satisfaction and left with Luo Yuheng.

*Empty praises with no real reward...* Xu Qi'an watched their departing figures and pouted.

Once they were out of sight, Chu Yuanzhen said, "Wait a moment, Brother Xu. I'll go change clothes."

He then turned and entered the meditation room.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and Chu Yuanzhen called out, "Brother Xu, come in for some tea."

Xu Qi'an stepped over the threshold to see Chu Yuanzhen seated at the table, now wearing a light-coloured robe. The tattered azure one was nowhere to be seen.

"Hmm, where did you get those clothes? What happened to the azure one?" Xu Qi'an pretended to look around.

"I have a storage artefact," Chu Yuanzhen explained warmly as he poured tea.

*...uhh... I was about to say: Wow, Brother Chu, is this the legendary Sleeve Universe technique? Who's this honest, huh? You’re even more straightforward than Li Miaozhen!* Xu Qi'an grumbled inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged as he asked, "Can I take a look?"

Chu Yuanzhen shook his head, "The elder who gifted it to me instructed that I must not show it to others."

Even his rejection was frank and aboveboard.

"No problem, no problem," Xu Qi'an said regretfully.

Similarly, Daoist Jinlian had warned him not to show his treasures lightly, especially to guard against Daoists of the Earth Sect. Although the sect had splintered long ago, its foundation was still formidable.

One mustn’t be careless.

"Brother Chu, you're not a student of Cloud Deer Academy, are you?" Xu Qi'an asked.

"I studied there once but later moved to the Imperial College." Chu Yuanzhen didn’t hide anything, exhaling, "In my youth, I was full of ambition, brimming with talent, and wanted to serve the empire. Knowing that scholars from Cloud Deer Academy weren’t valued in the court, I left for the Imperial College."

"Why did you resign from your position later?"

"Because a scholar's talents are of little use. Literature can't save the Great Feng, so I resigned and wandered the world with my sword," Chu Yuanzhen sighed.

*I know a guy who thought studying medicine couldn’t save the country, so he switched to writing instead...* Xu Qi'an slapped the table in admiration, "How carefree!"

*No wonder Chu Yuanzhen had merely bowed politely when he saw Emperor Yuanjing without saying a word...* He had noticed this detail earlier. Linking it together now, it seemed that what truly disillusioned Chu Yuanzhen was this very Emperor obsessed with cultivation.

As they sipped tea and chatted, it was mostly Chu Yuanzhen talking, sharing stories of his travels over the years.

“Though the Northern Barbarians only number a million, and one of our provinces alone holds tens of millions of people, for centuries they have remained a persistent thorn in our side. Do you know why?

"It's because the Northern Barbarians carry the bloodline of ancient gods and demons."

"Ancient gods and demons?" Xu Qi'an asked, confused.

“It is said that when the world was first created, a group of gods and demons with the power to move mountains, fill seas, pluck stars, and snatch the moon were born. Later, they mysteriously went extinct. The Northern Barbarians being called descendants of gods and demons isn’t baseless. They are naturally endowed with strong physiques and immense strength. Occasionally, their tribes give birth to children displaying ancestral traits: scales on their skin, a single horn on their foreheads, massive serpentine tails, standing two metres tall by the age of three… These strange phenomena all serve to support this claim.

“The historians of the Great Feng have used these signs to speculate that during the dark ages, there must have been an era where gods and demons roamed freely. In that era, humans were as insignificant as ants, only able to survive by clinging to these deities, which is how the Northern Barbarians came to be.

"And we are the humans who rose to power later."

*Hold on... don't deities and humans have reproductive isolation?* Xu Qi'an silently grumbled in his mind but asked, "I suspect they might be hybrids of humans and *yaoguai*, rather than gods and demons. After all, the Northern Barbarians and the Northern Yao Tribes are allies."

Chu Yuanzhen pondered for a long moment before replying, "As for whether gods and demons truly exist, I once heard a theory that the Gu God, which slumbers in the Abyss of the Southern Marches, is a surviving ancient deity, and possibly the last of its kind."

*The Gu God is an ancient deity? This might be something I can ask Five about...* Xu Qi'an suddenly had a thought. "Hence during the battle of Shanhai Pass, the Southern and Northern Barbarians were allied?"

"That’s a solid line of reasoning. We’ve always thought that the Northern and Southern Barbarians maintained a relatively friendly relationship simply because they were separated by the Great Feng, with both sides eyeing this great land like a coveted pie, making them natural allies. But it could also be that their shared heritage has kept them on good terms."

Chu Yuanzhen nodded, clearly excited. "If the historians knew of this theory, they'd be ecstatic."

The conversation continued.

"Beyond the Northern Barbarian lands, further north lies the northern extreme, where the cold is so severe it can freeze a person from the inside out. Yet, there are still signs of life. I once encountered a strange race with human heads and fish bodies. They possess intelligence but cannot speak human languages; they communicate through hand gestures.

“In their tribes, females outnumber males, and one male is often assigned multiple females for reproduction. Outside of mating, the males have no other duties, as the females handle hunting."

*I am so jealous right now…* Xu Qi’an thought.

"But due to overwork, the males often don't live past twenty years, and their offspring are mostly female."

*This is why boys should preserve themselves, protect their virtue, and not let women lust after their bodies...* Xu Qi'an thought.

"Every sixty years, their tribe faces the threat of extinction because all the males die off, leaving no one to impregnate the females... And coincidentally, I visited the far north during one such year."

Xu Qi'an was shocked. "And then you managed to get the females pregnant?"

"Pfft..." Chu Yuanzhen spat out his tea, spraying Xu Qi'an in the face.

"Why would you think that?" Chu Yuanzhen asked, passing him a handkerchief, still in shock.

"Uh... please continue," Xu Qi'an waved off the question, refusing to answer.

“That year, it was the males' extinction cycle. To ensure the survival of their race, some of the females transformed into males, courageously shouldering the burden of reproduction.

"Their queen was the first to undergo the transformation. It was her duty to do so. Once she became the king, she gathered her daughters into her harem."

Xu Qi'an was left speechless, his mind swirling with disbelief, sighing: "The wonders of creation truly leave one in awe."

After another fifteen minutes of conversation, Chu Yuanzhen laughed. "Enough about me. Brother Xu, you're quite the celebrity in the capital now. Your illustrious deeds are surely the talk of the town, eagerly discussed in teahouses and taverns alike."

He leaned in with interest. "Why don’t you share some of those cases with me?"

"This is going to be a long story..." Xu Qi'an adjusted his posture. “Let me start with the case of the stolen tax silver. When my second uncle was implicated in the missing silver, he knew his days were numbered, and that he had dragged down others with him. Upon learning this, I told him, 'Second Uncle, fear not, this case is riddled with flaws. In my eyes, it’s nothing more than a minor trick. I’ll solve it within a single incense stick's worth of time.'

"However, I must admit, I was too young and arrogant at the time, underestimating the heroes of the world."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Chu Yuanzhen asked, intrigued.

"It actually took me two incense sticks of time to solve the tax silver case."

…

Xu Qi'an then recounted the series of cases, from the tax silver to the Imperial Consort's affair. Chu Yuanzhen sat with his teacup, not drinking a drop, listening intently, engrossed in the tale.

Whenever he encountered something puzzling, his brow furrowed in confusion, only to smile in realisation when Xu Qi'an explained the details.

"Brother Xu, you are truly a master of solving cases. I am impressed."

At that moment, Chu Yuanzhen recalled Xu Qi'an's younger cousin, the third of the family. He had previously speculated that Xu's cousin might be connected to the soaring clear qi of the Lesser Saint Hall and believed Daoist Jinlian had given him a fragment of the Earth Book because of this uniqueness.

Having now witnessed Xu Qi'an’s own remarkable abilities, Chu Yuanzhen grew even more convinced of this theory.

*Daoist Jinlian is indeed a man of great foresight.*

Suddenly, Chu Yuanzhen felt a strange sensation, realising a message had come from one of the Heavenly Book fragment holders. He promptly excused himself, saying, "I need to use the restroom."

Simultaneously, Xu Qi'an stood up as well, saying, "I also need to use the restroom."

They paused, staring at each other for a moment before Xu Qi'an, without a change in expression, gestured for Chu Yuanzhen to go first.

Chu Yuanzhen nodded and left the quiet room. He estimated that the communication among the members of the Heaven and Earth Society would take some time, and it would be awkward if Xu Qi'an returned and caught him in the act.

Once Chu Yuanzhen's footsteps faded away, Xu Qi'an took out his small jade mirror to check the message.

【FIVE: I’ve been scammed out of my silver. What should I do?】

*This... is both completely expected and entirely within reason...* Xu Qi'an's mouth twitched. Given that he was supposed to be dead, he refrained from responding right away.

After a few seconds, Chu Yuanzhen replied:

【FOUR: What happened? How did your silver get scammed?】

【SIX: Five, where are you now? How far are you from the capital? How much silver did you lose? If you don’t have anywhere to eat, see if there’s a temple nearby and beg for alms.】

Xu Qi'an almost burst out laughing, covering his mouth. Only monks beg for alms, but if Five goes to a temple to beg, how would the monks feel?

【TWO: Losing silver is one thing, but make sure you don’t lose yourself… Seriously, how could your tribe send a young girl all the way to the Great Feng without an elder to accompany you?】

【ONE: Just remember not to do anything that violates the Great Feng’s laws.】

【NINE: Oh, Five, if you’re still near the Southern Marches, you should just go back. The road is dangerous, and the world is full of treachery.】

*Everyone seems genuinely worried about Five...* Xu Qi'an’s fingers hovered over the mirror, itching to join the conversation but resisting the urge to speak.

…