Hidden Shadow – CH 104

Chapter One-Hundred-Four: Chaos

All the attackers had retreated from Mei Mansion. The fire was still burning, and the air was thick with acrid smoke. The houses were ruined. Mo Sigui made his way to the stables, only to find the ground littered with horse carcasses. He had no choice but to pursue them on foot.

Reaching the valley entrance, in the dim light of night, Mo Sigui saw a large fire burning at the entrance and a pile of black things blocking the road. He cautiously approached through the withered bushes, and only when he was about ten paces away did he realize it was a pile of corpses.

Directly opposite the pile of corpses stood a tall figure leaning on a sword. His black hair was disheveled, and his clothes were soaked in blood, their original color unrecognizable. The flames were about to engulf his figure.

“Master Mo!” Mo Sigui recognized his sword and rushed into the fire without hesitation.

There was no response. Mo Sigui grasped his pulse, his fingers touching warm skin, but there was no pulse. With the fire around, the temperature was naturally very high. He might have just died, or he might have been dead for a long time!

Mo Sigui’s heart sank. He let go and began frantically searching through the pile of corpses.

An Jiu was traveling with Master Mo! He had to find her alive or dead.

“Fourteenth Young Lady! Mei Jiu! An Jiu!” Mo Sigui muttered incoherently, then paused, suddenly remembering that he had placed a tracking incense on An Jiu when they parted.

He reached for the small gourd hanging from his waist and released a dozen butterflies.

This was a common tracking method in the martial arts world. The butterflies used were fed a poisonous incense, allowing them to survive the winter and fly purposefully. However, they were relatively slow, with an effective tracking range of only ten li.

The butterflies circled the valley entrance once; eight or nine were burned to ashes, while the rest began to fly away. Mo Sigui was overjoyed and, clutching his medicine box, followed.

After a few steps, he turned back and bowed to Master Mo. “I am sorry!”

Mo Sigui only had a deep bond with Elder Qi at Mei Mansion, so even though he was worried about An Jiu, he would only leave after burying him properly, but for him, finding An Jiu was more important right now, as she might still be alive.

He bowed and hurriedly chased after the butterfly.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, a person approached from the road, and the butterfly stopped flying.

Mo Sigui recognized it as Mei Ruyan and rushed forward. Both of them felt a pang of sadness upon seeing each other.

“Where’s Fourteen?”

“Have you seen Master Mo?”

The butterfly fluttered around Mei Ruyan, who was grabbing Mo Sigui and pressing him for answers.

“Did you see Master Mo when you came out of the valley?”

“Yes.” Mo Sigui paused, then said softly, “He’s dead.”

“You…you say it again?” Mei Ruyan asked, tears streaming down her face.

“Take it easy. His body is still at the valley entrance. If you hurry, you can see him one last time.” Seeing this, Mo Sigui thought it was a sign of their deep teacher-student bond, but now he could only offer a few perfunctory words of comfort.

Mo Sigui was deeply concerned for An Jiu’s safety. He could not help but ask, “Where’s Fourteenth Young Lady?”

“She was taken away by Chu Dingjiang,” Mei Ruyan said, staggering towards the plum blossoms.

The butterfly followed her for about two zhang before returning.

“Who is Chu Dingjiang? Where did he go?” Mo Sigui called out.

Mei Ruyan ignored Mo Sigui, who could only watch her retreating figure. After a moment’s hesitation, he followed the butterfly.

Although he had not used the tracking butterfly many times, he did not doubt his abilities.

In the vast wilderness, several butterflies, scarred by the fire, fluttered and fell in the wind. Mo Sigui pressed on tirelessly, oblivious to the scabbing and reopening of his wounds, his only concern fixed on the last butterfly.

The sky was beginning to lighten, as if stained with blood, a faint red hue.

On a hillside, a house stood, a lamp in the corner still casting a faint glow.

The entire house consisted of only three stone rooms and a dilapidated fence enclosing a courtyard. In the northeast corner stood a simple shed with a stove made of rubble and mud underneath.

A man in tight-fitting clothes squatted before the stove, idly poking at the firewood in the firebox. Wisps of white steam rose from the pot, filling the air with the aroma of rice.

When he felt the rice was almost cooked, he extinguished the fire and went inside.

Without lighting a lamp, in the dim light, he walked precisely to the bedside and stood there with his arms crossed, seemingly lost in thought while gazing at the woman lying on the bed.

He only stirred when there was a barely audible noise outside.

“Commander, you need medicine,” someone said from outside the door.

“Put it down,” the voice was hoarse.

“Yes!” The man put down his bundle and continued, “Commander, you should hurry back. I’ve heard from the Council of the Konghe Army that someone has proposed punishing you, and even the Privy Council has intervened.” The man inside the room had eyes shrouded in darkness, unfathomable.

“I understand. I have my own plans. Tell the brothers that as long as their loyalty to Chu remains unchanged, they should prioritize self-preservation. True loyalty lies in the heart, not in outward appearances.”

The man who received the order understood. Chu Dingjiang was reminding them not to be stubborn; they must yield when necessary.

“Yes! Take care, Commander.” The man lingered in the corridor for a moment, making sure Chu Dingjiang had no further instructions before leaving.

Chu Dingjiang sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching under the covers to touch a slender wrist, his fingers gently resting on it.

The pulse was weak; he could not feel a heartbeat, nor could he sense any meridians, as if the body was in a state of chaos.

Chu Dingjiang was puzzled. She had only been injured and poisoned, so why was this happening?

He remembered experiencing the same thing when he broke through to the ninth-tier, the Transcendent Realm. If one could endure it, life would emerge from the chaos, allowing one to reach another level.

For most ninth-tier martial artists, this opportunity only came once in a lifetime. A failed first breakthrough would create even greater obstacles for the next. The human heart was strongest when it returned to its true nature, unshakable by anything external, yet also most fragile, tolerating no impurities. If there were inherent flaws, they were extremely difficult to remove in the chaos.

At least, he had never heard of anyone successfully breaking through under these circumstances.

Chu Dingjiang channeled his internal energy into An Jiu’s body, confirming that her internal energy was almost negligible, unless… her spiritual power was about to break through!

Considering this possibility, Chu Dingjiang quietly withdrew, ate a quick meal, and went to practice in the woods next to the house.

Day after day passed.

An Jiu felt as if she had walked for an unknown amount of time in the darkness, her body utterly exhausted, as if filled with lead, each step leaving her drenched in sweat.

Just as she was about to stop and rest, she suddenly heard a deep, mellow male voice say, “Why not just throw the person into the pond to drown?”

An Jiu instinctively felt he was talking about her, and in her anger, a faint red light suddenly appeared before her eyes.