Chapter 1764: Purging Dissenters (II)

Xuanmiao Temple.

Radiance flickered ceaselessly in the distance, its crimson glow so intense that it made the eyes ache. The ritual lamps before the platform brightened and dimmed fitfully, lending the hall a cold, eerie air. A young man wearing a tall white gauze crown and a Daoist robe patterned with dark clouds and black designs, sat above them, staring intently at the Go board before him.

It was none other than Ch'i Lanyan, the man who had thrown Jiangbei into turmoil!

The youth playing against him wore blue robes, his bright eyes lively and alert. A tiny water sparrow perched on his shoulder as he looked across the board with a smile and said, "Shanji is in complete chaos, yet Lord Ch'i remains remarkably composed."

Ch'i Lanyan held a Go stone between his fingers and replied softly, "Shanji has Gongsun Bei and Murong Yan. There will be no problems there for the time being. Yang Ruiyi has yet to show himself, so neither of us can afford to move rashly."

He tapped the table and raised his brows. "I am rather curious. The Capital Immortal Dao faces the Wilderness, yet Fellow Daoist Bai still accepted the invitation to come here. Aren't you afraid?"

Yehui laughed, not the slightest trace of worry visible between his brows. "I trust you, my lord."

Yehui was selfish by nature. The only people he cared about were his younger sister's children, and he had sent them to the outer-sea long ago. He would not have cared in the slightest if everyone else died a thousand or ten thousand times over. His words were naturally nothing more than flattery, and Ch'i Lanyan did not believe them either.

He remarked calmly, "Jiangbei can broadly be divided into three lines. To the west are Mount Xiaoshi and Mount Tangdao behind White River Stream. In the center are Chengshui and the Capital Immortal Dao... and to the east is Xuanmiao Temple behind Shanji..."

"Which route do you think Yang Ruiyi will attack, fellow Daoist?"

Yehui picked up a Go stone and studied the flow of the game on the board before answering softly, “Great Song does not merely want to destroy one sect or another. It seeks to reshape the balance of power under heaven. It began with possession of Yue, then expanded to control the lands around Huai, and now it seeks to restore the power once held by Chu State... Still, although its territory is vast today, there remains a thorn in its side within Yue itself. Unless that thorn is removed, Yang Ruiyi will never be able to rest easy."

He placed his stone and said softly, "Shanji."

If there was one thing the Pavilion of Profound Order had done that had disgusted the Yang Family to the utmost, it was undoubtedly driving the nail of Shanji into the south. As long as Shanji Prefecture remained lost, even if Great Song conquered all of Shu, the Song Emperor would still bear the stigma of having lost the old territory of his ancestral realm!

Ch'i Lanyan nodded with a smile, but said, "No. They must take Shanji, but they lack the strength to seize it by force. Ordinarily, they would be plotting to acquire it gradually. But there is one respect in which Yang Ruiyi has it worse than I do. He has the Song Emperor above him. Once he launches a campaign, he has to produce results."

Yehui's expression darkened slightly as he narrowed his eyes. "My lord is certainly well informed."

He could not figure out how Ch'i Lanyan had become so certain of the relationship between Yang Ruiyi and the Song Emperor, so he could only assume the information had come from the forces backing him.

Ch'i Lanyan continued quietly, "Since he cannot take Shanji, his only choice is to strike through the center, cut off the Capital Immortal Dao, and sever Xuanmiao Temple's connection with Zhao State. First, this will coordinate with Western Shu's attack from the other side against the west. Second... it will also give him something to show the Song Emperor."

Yehui was exceedingly shrewd and immediately understood. He nodded and said, "So my lord deliberately arranged matters to leave the Capital Immortal Dao exposed."

Ch'i Lanyan smiled. "I would not go that far... There is still a part for you to play."

He lifted his sleeve, and saw the jade talisman faintly glowing in his hand. With a smile, he said, "Below Chengyun Gate, beside the Capital Immortal Dao, lies a place called Brahma Cloud Cave. Fellow Daoist Changyun, Mingxiang, and several others have already lost contact and are trapped inside. Yang Ruiyi must have arrived there.

“Please gather Zong Chang and the others, and head to Shanji first. Deal with Liu Bai, and if possible, push on and seize Yufu Prefecture as well!"

Yehui immediately rose to his feet and voiced his admiration before saying thoughtfully, "My lord's foresight is truly remarkable... But that spirit treasure is formidable. If we head east, we do not know who Yang Ruiyi has brought with him. Changyun and Mingxiang alone will have difficulty stopping him..."

Ch'i Lanyan gave a cold laugh. "I arranged for Fellow Daoist Guangchan to move nearby long ago. He should be able to hold Yang Ruiyi back for a while. The people of Great Primordial Hidden Radiance Mountain have all gone over there by now."

Yehui repeatedly praised his wisdom, cupped his hands in salute, and departed at once, though inwardly he was utterly unconvinced. Guangchan will go over there? What bullshit!

Guangchan would never leave such a juicy prize as Moongaze Lake untouched. That meant he was almost certainly still at the lake. Ch'i Lanyan had deliberately mentioned him only so that he could hold Guangchan accountable later. As for how the people trapped there died, Ch'i Lanyan could not have cared less.

If someone can trap Changyun and Mingxiang without so much as a sound, it can only be Yang Ruiyi... But if his whereabouts have already been revealed, why is Ch'i Lanyan still sitting here? Why hasn't he taken the opportunity to head south?

Yehui remained respectful on the surface, but inwardly he found the situation exceedingly strange. Unable to restrain himself, he turned toward Ch'i Lanyan and said, "Lord Ch'i..."

Ch'i Lanyan shook his head with a smile and said, "I have somewhere else to go."

The young man watched Yehui leave, then turned his attention back to the Go board.

After some time, a man in Daoist robes stepped forward, bowed before the platform, and said respectfully, "Master!"

Ch'i Lanyan had not brought any disciples of the Pavilion of Profound Order with him on this journey, yet this disciple who addressed him as master was dressed in the Pavilion of Profound Order's robes. Stranger still, the man's cultivation was only at the Qi Cultivation Realm!

"Rise."

Ch'i Lanyan looked at him with a smile. The man rose to his feet, and asked respectfully, "Master, what should we do now..."

Ch'i Lanyan withdrew his hand and turned to look at him, speaking softly, "Yang Ruiyi cannot afford to lose any more territory in the south. Losing even one piece there cannot be made up for by gaining ten in the north. He would never simply leave Shanji undefended. He must have something prepared there. Yehui and the others are certain to return empty-handed, so there is no need for us to go."

The man lowered his head and agreed, "Master is right..."

He knelt on the ground again and said cautiously, "Master... Perhaps we should make a trip to Tingzhou, to deal with that Wei wretch..."

His tone was solemn, yet his voice trembled slightly, as though he had suggested something deeply taboo. At the mention of Tingzhou, Ch'i Lanyan closed his eyes, exhaled heavily, and shook his head.

"I understand that you are anxious as well... But there is absolutely no need to rush this. Li Zhouwei is perfectly safe for the moment. If I go there alone, am I supposed to join forces with Guangchan? I might only end up dragging myself into the mess. Besides, even if you slaughtered everyone around the lake, he might not come out, and even if he did, we might not be able to kill him."

He looked troubled as he continued, "Since we failed to eliminate him before his wings were fully grown, forcing a siege now would be meaningless. We have already achieved our goal of slowing his cultivation. What cannot be changed is the overall course of the struggle between north and south..."

The young man rose to his feet and tossed aside the Go stone in his hand, saying quietly, "When true chaos breaks out and those great figures personally enter the fray, we may be able to push matters along from the sidelines and finally accomplish this. However, with just the two of us, even if we borrow the mountain's authority... we still do not have enough power to see it through."

The man below said, "I'm only afraid..."

He hesitated, leaving the thought unfinished, yet what little he said was enough to send a chill through one’s heart. Ch'i Lanyan gritted his teeth and replied, "Besides, it's not as though you didn't see whether it succeeded or not!"

The man below fell silent. Ch'i Lanyan closed his eyes and said, "Enough. I will make a trip to the Great Primordial Hidden Radiance Mountain."

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