For a moment, all was silent. Then the hall erupted in confusion.
The guests' faces paled, their gazes converging on Ye Wangxi where he
stood, eyes closed and head bowed, not making a sound.
Not a man?! This handsome and stalwart young hero was…
actually…a woman?
The black-clad man's words were like water dripped into a hot wok,
instantly producing a wave of searing heat. There were gasps of
astonishment and an explosion of buzzing conversation like the harsh sizzle
of oil in a pan.
"Ye Wangxi is a woman?"
"Heavens… How could this be…"
"No wonder Nangong Si didn't put the blame on her; he must have
known! That means Song Qiutong was really…"
"She was just trying to save her own skin by framing an innocent
person!"
"How awful! If they never slept together, then she's accusing him just
to clear her name?"
"No way though, how can Ye Wangxi be a woman? I can't tell at
all…"
Nangong Liu's eyes flashed with cold light. He stared into the inky
pupils of the man in black. "Sir, there's no need to stand here and lie.
Where's your evidence—"
"If your conscience is clear, then release Nangong Si," said the man.
"Fortunately, your esteemed son may be headstrong, but he's a gentleman to
the core. Not a heartless man like you."
Face shining with greasy sweat, Nangong Liu stood in silence, hands
curled into fists. "What's wrong?" the man in black asked coolly. "Go on,
release him."
Nangong Liu swept his sleeves aside. "An outsider like you has no
place telling me how to discipline my unworthy son—the cheek of you!"
Whether or not Nangong Liu would admit that the man in black told
the truth, the facts were plain from the way he spoke. Even those who
originally hadn't believed now began to waver. They scrutinized
Ye Wangxi's handsome face again, searching for any hint of femininity.
A clear voice called out from within the hall. "Nangong-zhangmen,
you're in the wrong here."
The crowd turned as one. Mei Hanxue stood beneath the flickering
light and shadow draped in a luxurious fox-fur coat, the very picture of
poise. Smiling, he continued, "Miss Ye is valiant, but she is without a doubt
a woman. Esteemed Sect Leader, since you're a man, you ought to favor the
fairer sex. And since you're of the older generation, you ought to be
magnanimous toward the younger. How can you bully a girl like this for the
sake of Rufeng Sect's reputation?"
As he spoke, he crossed unhurriedly to the front of the hall. "I'm not
ashamed to admit that I was lucky enough to meet Miss Ye at Peach
Blossom Springs. I thought her gallant and lovely, no willowy waif," he
said with a small smile. "I was smitten. Sadly, I offended her with my
careless words. She turned me down and we had a small disagreement.
After tasting Miss Ye's brilliant moves, how could I help but be impressed
by Rufeng Sect's long line of heroes, with its lady cultivators being no
exception? But although I had regarded Miss Ye's sect highly, after
witnessing the sect leader's behavior today… Heh, if you ask me, Rufeng
Sect doesn't deserve such a beauty."
"Mei-xianjun, you and Ye Wangxi met so briefly; it's only natural
you would be mistaken." Nangong Liu's expression was glum, but his teeth
remained bared in a smile. "Out of deference to Kunlun Taxue Palace,
I won't argue with you—but I advise you not to show any further lapse in
judgment." This time he didn't sound so calm.
The man in black chuckled. "Mei-gongzi's amorous exploits are
legendary. If he can't tell whether someone is a man or a woman, I'm afraid
there's no one in the world who can."
Nangong Liu was incensed. "Sir, were you not just criticizing
Ye Wangxi for humiliating Song Qiutong? Yet now you say Ye Wangxi is a
woman!" He snapped: "They're all lies to compromise the integrity of my
Rufeng Sect, to ruin my sect's name!"
"If not for this plan of mine, how would Nangong-gongzi come to see
Miss Song's true character?" the black-garbed man replied. "If he married
the wrong person, he would have to live disgusted for the rest of his life."
"But your explanation makes perfect sense! Not to mention, if
Ye Wangxi is a woman, how did the cinnabar on Song Qiutong's wrist
disappear?"
"What's the point in asking me this question? Why don't you ask her
yourself?" The man in black sneered. "After all, your Rufeng Sect has
thousands of male disciples. If the esteemed sect leader has the time, you
can interrogate them one by one—you're sure to get a satisfactory
explanation."
This was a matter of Rufeng Sect's reputation. Though no one in the
crowd made a sound, it was impossible to hide the scorn and curiosity on
their faces. Their eyes were like thorns pricking Nangong Liu from behind.
He stood unmoving for some time, then turned to bellow at Ye Wangxi,
"Come here!"
Ye Wangxi silently acquiesced.
"Out with it—did Miss Song fabricate this story or not?" Nangong
Liu stared down into Ye Wangxi's face, betting it all on the final bargaining
chip in his hand. How could he not know that Ye Wangxi had deep feelings
for his own son? She wouldn't want Rufeng Sect's good name to be
blackened. "Tell everyone the truth!"
Ye Wangxi had ever been obedient, always the most biddable piece
on his chessboard. Nangong Liu could recall clearly the day Ye Wangxi,
then only thirteen years old, had received the order to come before him in
Rufeng Sect's dazzling great hall. The doors had shut, leaving the two of
them alone inside. He had looked down from his ice-cold throne at this girl
of thirteen, who still had a child's figure. She wore a short, jade-green
jacket with a small silver bracelet at her wrist, and her hair was tied with a
satin ribbon.
"Wangxi," he said to her with a smile, "you must know why I've
summoned you today."
Ye Wangxi knelt and kowtowed before him. "Yes, Honored Leader."
"Your yifu has suffered several severe injuries. He can no longer
serve as the commander of the shadow guard. As his foster daughter and Si
er's childhood friend, you're the only one I can trust with this
responsibility."
Ye Wangxi didn't rise. She calmly remained in a kowtow, her slender
neck showing beneath her braid like a lamb baring its throat for slaughter.
"You're an outstanding talent, destined for a bright future," said
Nangong Liu. "It is my wish to make you the chief of Rufeng Sect's
shadow guard, with command over one of the seventy-two cities in the
future. You'll be a boon to your yifu, and indispensable to Si-er. From now
on, he will stand in the light while you stand in the shadow—together,
you'll usher in Rufeng Sect's next century of glory."
He paused. "However, it's fine if you refuse. Your yifu can hold out a
while longer, and I can search for a better candidate. I know this will ask
many sacrifices of you, so don't force yourself if you are unwilling."
After speaking his piece, Nangong Liu shifted on the seat of honor
and waited. This girl had no parents and no one else to support her. He was
assured of the outcome. He only waited for her to nod.
At last, Ye Wangxi sat up straight and looked at him coolly. In that
instant, Nangong Liu felt a chill run up his spine—it was as though this
girl's gaze had penetrated straight through his schemes and false smiles. But
in the next moment, Ye Wangxi said, "Yifu gave me my life. To repay his
kindness, I'm willing to do anything."
After a pause, Nangong Liu sighed. "This is truly an unfair thing for
me to ask of you."
Ye Wangxi replied calmly—indifferently, even. "It is I who should
thank the sect leader for the honor."
"However," Nangong Liu was already moving on. "Rufeng Sect has
always valued men above women. Women are, after all, weak and soft
hearted. In this world, only men have what it takes to control the masses
and command a city. Wangxi, you're a clever girl—you ought to know
what's required."
Ye Wangxi was silent a moment. Then, facing Nangong Liu with an
icy expression, she pulled the bracelet off her wrist and untied the ribbon
from her braid. She shrugged off her jacket, leaving only her pure-white
inner robe. Finally, she shook out her braid and gathered her hair into a high
ponytail. The sunlight streamed from the windows to fall on her straight
back and resolute brow. Although her figure was yet immature, she had
already the air of a tall pine or a cypress.
"Very good. You must present yourself this way henceforth,"
Nangong Liu said. "But don't forget," he reminded her, attentive to every
detail, "there's the matter of your voice."
Ye Wangxi looked downward. She had noticed the pair of golden
shears before her seat when she entered. She took them up and swiped their
blades ruthlessly across her throat.
Vivid blood dripped.
"Let my old voice be forever extinguished." She slowly pronounced
the words of the incantation before closing her eyes and tossing the shears
at his feet, their golden blades now streaked with blood.
Nangong Liu stared at them for a long moment. "Good, good. From
today forth, you are Rufeng Sect's Ye-gongzi, the successor to the shadow
city's commander. As for Si-er, I'll remind him to be a bit nicer—"
When Ye Wangxi opened her mouth, her voice was already that of a
young man's. "Sect Leader, I humbly ask this: don't let my yifu bear his
worries alone anymore. I will share the burden with him."
Nangong Liu knew Ye Wangxi's character too well. It had been ten
years since she started her seamless masquerade as a man. When she
reached puberty, she secretly took medicine every day, privately enduring
its painful effects in order to develop her current masculine figure. In
Nangong Liu's eyes, Ye Wangxi was a dog Rufeng Sect had raised. To
repay them for her upbringing, she would never betray them.
Ten years ago, blood had spattered across the floor when she'd cut
her throat to alter her voice forever. Today, she wouldn't let him down
either. He was gambling that Ye Wangxi would oblige him. As long as
Ye Wangxi herself said she wasn't a woman, even if no one believed her,
what could they possibly do?
It seemed the black-clad man had come to the same conclusion. He
strode over to Ye Wangxi and raised a hand to block her way. "Nangong
Liu, Miss Ye has already offered her passion and youth to Rufeng Sect.
Now that you're out of excuses, should she sacrifice her life too?"
Nangong Liu was about to argue when an orange light shot into the
distant night sky and exploded in a shower of sparks. Another hunter had
brought down a spiritual deer.
Yet in the face of these secrets of Rufeng Sect laid bare, who cared
which youth that deer had fallen to? It no longer mattered who won second
place—the eyes of all were locked on the center of the great hall, where
chairs were strewn across the ground and the main table split in two. The
mysterious black-clad mastermind stood between Nangong Liu and
Ye Wangxi. The groom of the evening had been trapped in a barrier by his
own father while his bride knelt on the floor with a face marred by tears,
shaking with silent sobs. Between the accusations of adultery, the bride and
groom falling out, a man revealed to be a woman, and now Rufeng Sect's
leader refusing to admit the truth—all was beyond the onlookers' wildest
imaginations. The events of the night were sure to be the topic of lively
discussion in tearooms and taverns across the land for the next several
years. Who would spare a thought for those three pitiful deer?
Thus no one noticed the dark red crack slowly splitting the sky above
the forest.
A cacophony of fireworks went off in quick succession, twenty signal
flares chasing away the darkness like a bright sea of blood. Crows and
sparrows startled into flight, cawing and chirping as they fled into the
depths of the night. Only now did the attendees in Poetry Hall realize aught
was amiss. One after another, they rushed to the railing to look toward the
forest.
"What happened?"
"Why did everyone's fireworks go off?"
"Look over there! Up in the sky! What the…?"
"…A Heavenly Rift!"
"It's a Heavenly Rift!"
For a fleeting second, all was still as death within the hall. Then a
flurry of alarmed cries and shrieks rose from the crowd. "A Heavenly Rift!
How could a Heavenly Rift open in the upper cultivation world?"
"It's right above the hunting grounds!"
"Shixiong! My shixiong is still in there!"
"Zizi!"
The guests were packed together like a school of fish in a pond, their
panic scattered bait that churned the water into stormy waves. There was no
point trying to manage the sect's scandal any longer—its secrets were open
to the entire jianghu. In an effort to maintain some dignity, Nangong Liu
cast a voice-amplifying spell and bellowed, "Ladies and gentlemen, don't
panic! It's merely a Heavenly Rift to the ghost realm! You are all guests of
Rufeng Sect; no harm will befall you!"
So saying, he summoned his sword with a wave of his hand.
Nangong Liu stepped onto the hilt glowing with blue light and rose into the
whipping night winds. "Guards from all five divisions of Rufeng, follow me
to the forest, investigate at once! Elders and disciples, defend Poetry Hall
and protect our guests!"
He hastily led the guards toward Moonwhistle Fields on their swords,
as if relieved to find an excuse to escape the black-clad man's interrogation.
As for the disaster that was the wedding, he let it lie.
"Everything was fine—how did this happen so suddenly?"
"A Heavenly Rift has never opened in the upper cultivation realm
before. Wh-what's going on here?"
These cultivators of the upper cultivation realm, accustomed as they
were to living like princes, waited anxiously upon the jewel-encrusted
balcony. Facing a Heavenly Rift that had appeared out of thin air was a
responsibility far too dreadful. It was one thing beheading a lone monster or
two, but a Heavenly Rift was a different matter entirely. If the rift opened
into the upper levels of the underworld, perhaps only ordinary ghosts would
escape. But if it were anything like the rift at Butterfly Town five years ago,
it would open straight into the bowels of hell itself.
The guests shivered, remembering that even a great zongshi like Chu
Wanning had lost his life in that terrible battle. They crowded fearfully
against the vermilion balustrade to survey the red crack snaking across the
sky.
Chu Wanning rose to his feet. "Sect Leader, the color of this rift isn't
right," he said to Xue Zhengyong. "It's likely to access the lower levels of
the underworld when it opens. I'm worried about Xue Meng and the others
—I'll go check on them."
He walked right to the front of the balustrade, the pale blue hem of
his formal robes sweeping the ground. As the crowd looked on in
astonishment, he leapt onto the dark tiles of the neighboring roof using
qinggong. His solitary figure vanished swiftly into the distance.
"Yuheng!" Xue Zhengyong called. But Chu Wanning had already
disappeared into the lightless night. Xue Zhengyong cursed under his
breath. He was about to leap after Chu Wanning when a hand grabbed his
shoulder.
He turned and found himself face-to-face with a leering bronze mask.
The black-clad man patted his shoulder and said quietly, "Uncle, stay here
and look after Aunt. I'll follow Shizun; don't worry."
Xue Zhengyong was stupefied. "Ran—"
The man in black raised a hand lightly to his lips and shook his head.
At no point had Xue Zhengyong considered that the man in black
might've been Mo Ran. Without waiting for Xue Zhengyong to question
him further, Mo Ran vaulted the railing with one hand and soared into the
night like a falcon, his cloak a billowing cloud of ink behind him.
Before long, he reached the rooftop Chu Wanning had just leapt off.
"Shizun!"
Mo Ran had made half the journey leaping between the rooftops with
qinggong. Finding this too slow, he summoned his oathbound longsword
and rode the wind to quickly catch up with Chu Wanning. He reached up
and took hold of his mask, pushing that sinister bronze guise to the side to
reveal an incomparably handsome face. "Wait up for me."
Chu Wanning's eyes flew wide. "It was you?"
"Get on. I'll take Shizun by sword and explain on the way."
Chu Wanning grabbed the hand Mo Ran offered and leapt nimbly
onto the blade. He had intended to let go, but Mo Ran's broad and sturdy
hand tightened its grip. Mo Ran stood right behind him, and when he spoke,
the blazing warmth of his youthful breath brushed the back of Chu
Wanning's ear. In the chilly night wind, it felt scalding.
"This sword's powerful," said Mo Ran. "It flies fast, so you'd better
hold on tight, Shizun."
The two of them sped downwind on the sword. "You planned that
whole spectacle in the hall?" Chu Wanning asked.
"Mn. I heard quite a few things about Song Qiutong on my travels
through the jianghu," Mo Ran answered. "She's not audacious enough for
murder or other such crimes—but she's the type who would throw rocks at
someone at the bottom of a well. If she married Nangong Si and became the
young mistress of Rufeng Sect, the sect would probably be even more
rotten than it is now."
Unexpectedly, Chu Wanning replied, "Rufeng Sect couldn't be any
worse than it is now." Then he furrowed his brow and glanced at Mo Ran's
black cloak again, doubts materializing in his mind. "But how did you
know Ye Wangxi is a woman?"