"I'm sorry, but there wasn't much information I could find."
Mu Rong Shu looked frustrated the next day, having taken the day off to search for intelligence on the enemy. She had volunteered to do it, suggesting that her skills put her in a better place for such a role. As for me, I stood out too much because I was a summoner. It took her over half a day, and by late afternoon, she had shown up in our antique store, a little disappointed at her lack of results. For my part, I wondered why she was so impatient. Usually people would take a few days to collate the necessary information.
"That's all right," I assured her. "If you could find them, then they wouldn't be worthy foes in the first place."
"There is some bad news, though," she said, checking her smartphone with a frown. "Remember the summoner you defeated last night? He's dead. Someone injected a lethal dose of arsenic into him when he was in the hospital."
"What the f?" I spluttered. I showed him mercy, only for someone else to show up and take his life. Wow. It did feel aggrieving, not because someone stole my kill, but simply because I didn't like murderers.
A person's life was priceless. The moment you lose your life, everything was over. There was no coming back. It took a really…ruthless and evil person to deprive someone of their life. It was one thing to die in an accident – drivers didn't have the intention to run over somebody and murder them – but it was another to stab someone with a knife and watch his life fade out of him up close. Or in this case, deliberately poison him.
"Any suspects?"
"None so far. Though I believe it might be another summoner. The motives fit somewhat. That said, Sha Ren Gui has made many enemies through his profession, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was others who had a grudge against him and acted upon it."
"What was his profession? An assassin?"
"No." Mu Rong Shu actually laughed at that. "He's an enforcer for a triad. Underground organization, but more of an illegal political revolutionist one."
That made sense, sort of. It explained why he ended up summoning Liu Shi Fu.
"I'll see if I can find more information." Mu Rong Shu sighed, resting her head on the counter and staring at me forlornly. I reached out and placed a hand over hers, squeezing it gently.
"Thank you. I appreciate it."
"No need to be so distant. Besides, these bastards will be targeting me too, so it's better if we're both prepared. Speaking of which, we'll have to work on the assumption that many of these summoners would be cooperating with other cultivators for support."
"Yeah, makes sense."
"You be careful." Mu Rong Shu rose and gave me a kiss. She then spun away and strode toward the exit, giving me one last wave before disappearing.
I watched her off, thinking to myself that I wouldn't be reckless. Personally, I wasn't interested in the Spirit War or Spirit Realm. Even if I could take Mu Rong Shu along with me, the whole idea of immortality never appealed to me.
Not when it involved the taking of other people's lives or the destruction of their summoned spirits. I refused to pay such a horrendous price for my own immortality.
Mu Rong Shu didn't return at night. I received a text message from her, telling me to go home first. Understanding that she had decided to stay out late to collect more information, I didn't protest. She had been trained in such roles – an assassin often had to gather intelligence on the target before carrying out the hit. While she wasn't exactly carrying out an assassination, the techniques for gathering intelligence were still relevant here.
Unlike her, I had not been trained in such methods, so I could only leave it to my wife. Furthermore, she had the connections and I didn't. The only thing I could do was explore tombs, defeat monsters and collect relics.
Speaking of which, perhaps I should see if there were any other tombs to explore. These relics would be of great help to me if I were to be embroiled in this war against my own will. There was also the option to transform one of these tombs into a fortress and hunker down in there until the Spirit War was over.
Anyone who tried to attack me would have to go through traps and a bunch of monsters. It wouldn't be worth it…and they might have to pay for the effort with their lives.
The problem, of course, was that such a thing was easier said than done. It was one thing to explore a tomb and grab its treasures, but it was quite another altogether to conquer a tomb and made it your own, to subjugate the monsters instead of straight up killing them, and leaving all the traps intact. Indeed, the monsters wouldn't bow down to me – even if I defeated them, they would disappear, just like the stone soldiers in the Tomb of the God of War.
Feeling a little annoyed at how limited my options were – apparently the only idea I could think of was to be reactive, stay on the defensive and wait for people to attack me – I locked the shutters and closed the store. Turning away, I went home.
However, I hadn't gotten very far when I noticed that someone was following me. Glancing over my shoulder, I caught sight of a figure tailing me from about ten meters away, trying to hide behind lampposts but failing spectacularly.
I made a sharp turn into what seemed like an alleyway. My stalker followed quickly, only to realize that I was gone when she rushed into the shadows. She skidded to a stop and looked around frantically.
"Where did he go?"
"Right here."
The girl jumped in fright, stumbling backward when I spoke up behind her. She immediately threw out an arm and a blast of qi washed out. With a casual flick of my hand, I cut apart the scarlet qi and narrowed my eyes.
"That was quite the greeting."
"Hah, you haven't seen anything yet! Gan Jiang! Mo Ye!"
I jumped away on instinct, doing my best to avoid the sudden materialization of two spirits. A man with blue hair and a woman with scarlet hair landed on either side of me, each bearing a sword. I had to dodge under a cerulean sword before retreating to avoid being eviscerated by a flaming maroon sword.
Both swordsman and swordswoman attacked with flawless coordination, their blades seamlessly striking in consecutive blows. I had hardly evaded one sword before the other took its place, forcing me to stumble back, only to duck under the first sword when it replaced the second.
While the couple assaulted me, I could see a yin yang symbol coalescing around them, representing the harmony of yin and yang. The sword style they used could only be executed when the both of them were together.
"Huh? What's going on?" the girl sounded miffed. "How the hell is he able to evade Gan Jiang and Mo Ye's swords for so long? Isn't he a summoner too?!"
That was right. I was a summoner. And it was my turn to fight back.
While Gan Jiang and Mo Ye – clearly the names of the two spirits – continued to assail me, Lu Bu crashed down on them, his spear sweeping at them from behind.
For a moment, I thought this would be it. But while Gan Jiang attacked me with his blue sword, Mo Ye spun around to deflect the spear from his back.
Not only a perfect offense, but also a flawless defense, huh?
Recognizing the greater threat, both Gan Jiang and Mo Ye reformed their formation and began attacking Lu Bu from both sides, the two of them striking from opposite flanks. Lu Bu calmly countered their thrusts and strikes, twirling his spear around to form an impenetrable defense. He retaliated with swift bows from his spear, but Gan Jiang and Mo Ye were always on hand to protect each other, weaving an intricate pattern of defensive maneuvers that saw many a lethal thrust deflected away.
"As expected of Lu Bu!" the girl growled. "I knew he would be strong…ugh! How did we allow you to survive long enough to summon him?!"
Evidently her plan was to finish me off with Gan Jiang and Mo Ye before I could summon Lu Bu. Unfortunately for her, it didn't work out.
"Sorry, but it's my turn now," I said behind her, thrusting my palm at her back. She crashed to the ground, winded, and rolled away before I could stomp her into oblivion. She threw her hands out and sent another blast of maroon qi to scorch the area. I whirled away from the explosive surge of energy, and then I struck her in the midriff with my elbow, causing her to hurtle away into a wall.
"Ugh?!"
Coughing out blood, the poor girl crashed onto the ground. Gan Jiang and Mo Ye spun, astonished to see that their mistress was in trouble, but before they could rush forward to help, Lu Bu slashed at them with his spear, forcing them back onto the defensive.
I rushed forward to finish her off, but the girl was not without teeth. She immediately conjured a golden barrier of qi over her, the force field emanating such power that I was sent bouncing back from my own strike. Glancing at my hand, where a wisp of smoke slowly drifted from, I shook it and muttered an oath in pain.
"Seems like we both underestimated each other," the girl said somewhat gleefully and wiped the blood from her mouth. "How about we both call it quits for the day?"
"You attacked me with the intent to kill, and you want to just walk away?" I asked, my tone filled with disbelief. Of course, I didn't intend on taking her life, but that didn't mean I was going to just let her go unpunished after pulling such a stunt.
"My name is Huang Hong Lin. If I say I'm from the Huang family…will it ring a bell? Mr. Zhao Huan Shi."
My eyes narrowed. I had indeed heard of the Huang family. They were one of the few families on par with the Zhao family. While they didn't match the Zhao family in cultivation might, they were wealthier.
"I'll compensate you financially for this, if you let me go."
"So you want to buy me off," I said sarcastically. Huang Hong Lin shrugged.
"Gan Jiang, Mo Ye."
Both sword spirits vanished, leaving Lu Bu alone. My war spirit paused, and then straightened himself, resting the blunt end of his spear on the ground as he watched out for any threats. I nodded at him, and he disappeared too.
Huang Hong Lin was wise enough to maintain her barrier when talking to me. not that I would attack her unless she showed any sign of trickery and attempted to launch a sneak attack, but given the reputation of the Huang family, I knew she wasn't that dishonorable.
Speaking of which…
"Since when was the Huang family a family of summoners?"
"We aren't," Huang Hong Lin replied. "I just bought a bunch of summoning techniques, and I also spent quite a fortune purchasing the relics to bind the spirits of Gan Jiang and Mo Ye to me."
Wow. I guess you could do anything as long as you had the money, huh?
"Gan Jiang and Mo Ye," I murmured. "The two famous swordsmith couple from the Spring and Autumn period…the swordsmith who forged a pair of swords for the king of Wu, and his wife who sacrificed herself in order to create the furnace fire hot enough to smelt the meteoric ore."
"Oho, so you know your mythology and history." Huang Hong Lin smiled, nodding in approval. I simply glared at her from outside her barrier, calculating the amount of power I needed to break it, and then deciding that it wasn't worth it. Not when she wasn't attacking me.
Pushing my glasses up, I shrugged. "That's the most basic knowledge for summoners."
"Yes, of course. You're most certainly a first rate summoner. I'll admit that you're strong." Huang Hong Lin raised both of her hands, and then smiled enigmatically before extending a hand toward me. "What do you say we form an alliance?"