Song of Everlasting Regret - Chapter 46

Lou Jing remained within her own courtyard all day, never stepping beyond its gates.

She practiced her sword, cultivated her internal arts, and often forgot to eat or sleep. She had always been deeply focused whenever she trained, and this had become even more pronounced after emerging from the serpent pit.

She stopped for only one day—New Year’s Eve.

Even from deep within the estate, she could hear firecrackers exploding throughout the city and see brilliant fireworks blossoming in the night sky.

It was a day for families to reunite.

But she was alone now and had no one with whom to reunite.

She sat upon a cold stone bench in the garden, watching streams of light bloom one after another beneath the dark blue heavens, then dissolve into silent specks reflected within her pitch-black eyes.

That liveliness belonged to other people.

She did not envy them.

She merely found herself thinking of her days upon Tiger Roar Mountain.

The estate itself was exceedingly quiet because its sickly master remained confined to bed.

Zhan Sanxiao’s condition improved for two days, then worsened for three. Even the joyful blessings of New Year’s Eve failed to dispel her illness. Instead, she became even more seriously unwell.

When a person was truly sick, even water and rice became difficult to swallow.

The courtyard was brightly lit, and maids came and went, yet not one of them made the slightest sound while moving.

Shao Yan stood in the outer room, her expression covered by dark clouds and her eyes heavy and oppressive.

She said nothing, but her imposing presence forced every maid passing nearby to take a wide detour, none daring to look at her face.

Two people stood before her with their heads half lowered.

Shao Yan rebuked them coldly, “Useless! What purpose do you serve? She had only just improved yesterday, yet today her illness is even worse.”

Zhan Sanxiao’s condition repeatedly relapsed.

Shao Yan believed Banxia had handled the matter poorly and summoned physicians from the cult as well.

Yet the more people who came, the worse Zhan Sanxiao seemed to become.

Her illness had arrived suddenly.

Even Banxia, who understood the true circumstances, could not help being startled.

She said softly, “Cult Leader, today is New Year’s Eve. Firecrackers are sounding, and families are gathered together. Perhaps the Tower Master was reminded of past sorrows. Her worries and grief became knotted within her heart, so…”

“…”

Shao Yan remained silent for a long while.

At last, she closed her eyes and released a deeply suppressed breath.

She raised one hand, ordering the two physicians to move aside and discuss the illness among themselves.

Then she entered the inner room and sat beside Zhan Sanxiao’s bed.

She pressed down the quilt and quietly watched her for a long time before speaking gently.

“Several years ago, a woman from Peach Blossom Medical Valley became acquainted with Master and followed one of Master’s connections into Miao territory.

“Everyone says the medical arts of Peach Blossom Medical Valley can revive the dead and regrow flesh upon bare bones.

“I have already asked Master to search Miao territory for that woman.

“The sects there are skilled in gu sorcery and possess many unusual methods of healing.

“Once she is found, we will invite both the people of Miao territory and Peach Blossom Medical Valley here. They will surely cure your illness completely and give you a healthy body.

“When that time comes and you meet someone who understands your heart, you can marry and establish a family. One day, your children will attend you at your knees.

“Why fear being alone then?

“Why remain trapped in the past and injure your own body through grief…”

Shao Yan had only intended to persuade Zhan Sanxiao to take care of herself and not ruin her health through sorrow.

Yet as she spoke, she involuntarily imagined Zhan Sanxiao someday meeting a man she loved and the two of them becoming deeply affectionate.

Her brows furrowed.

An unpleasant feeling arose within her, and her own words made her increasingly agitated.

She fell silent and simply remained beside the bed.

In the blink of an eye, it was the sixteenth.

That night, the full moon was hidden behind thick clouds. Apart from faint candlelight, not the slightest trace of illumination could be seen.

Such a night was well suited to concealing one’s form and escaping unnoticed.

But for Lou Jing, it was not ideal.

The disadvantages outweighed the advantages.

Yan Bumei could not see.

Whether the night was bright or dark made no difference to him.

But Lou Jing possessed perfectly functioning eyes, and the darkness hindered her.

And she knew she would certainly encounter Yan Bumei.

Sure enough, just as she crossed the courtyard and was about to escape, she keenly sensed another person’s presence within the darkness.

She twisted her body and landed.

Her five fingers spread upon the snow to support her, while her other hand held her sword.

Dressed entirely in black, she crouched close to the ground like a gecko. Within the lightless courtyard, an ordinary person would never have seen her.

But her formidable opponent—her insurmountable mountain—was no ordinary person.

Lou Jing’s eyes, black as the night itself, moved slowly through the darkness.

Thanks to the gallbladders of all those venomous snakes, her eyes had become darker, brighter, and clearer.

Once they adjusted, she could faintly make out the outlines of objects.

She had barely noticed a vague shape when an unnatural gust arose beside her ear.

Lou Jing rolled sideways, scattering a large sheet of ice and snow while simultaneously retreating.

In that instant, she attempted to draw her sword.

She had prepared thoroughly.

Knowing she possessed no chance in close combat against Yan Bumei, she intended at least to open some distance and unsheathe her blade.

Yan Bumei’s internal cultivation was so profound that Lou Jing could scarcely imagine it.

Although his qinggong was not particularly sophisticated, he relied entirely upon inner force as vast as an ocean.

With one explosive burst, he arrived directly before her.

His speed was terrifying.

The wooden staff thrust toward the center of her chest.

Its force was so fierce that Lou Jing did not doubt it could pierce straight through her body despite being made of wood.

If she drew her sword, she would not have time to block.

If she blocked, she could not draw her sword.

Left without a choice, she held the sheathed weapon horizontally before her.

When daylight arrived, Lou Jing met the same conclusion as before.

She retraced her path from the courtyard.

This time, however, she had learned.

Rather than waiting for Yan Bumei to break one of her bones, she decisively withdrew, obediently picked up her sword, and left.

Her steps were much lighter than during her previous defeat.

During this period, Zhan Sanxiao’s condition finally began to improve.

However, she had lost considerable weight and remained listless.

After lying in bed for more than ten days, her bones and muscles felt weak, so she wished to walk outside.

Shao Yan accompanied her through the courtyard, feeding the koi in the pond.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a figure pass by but paid little attention.

What caught her notice instead was Zhan Sanxiao’s soft laughter.

Shao Yan raised her eyes.

It was rare to see Zhan Sanxiao’s brows relaxed and her face carrying such a genuinely delighted smile.

Joy arose within Shao Yan’s heart.

Seeing Zhan Sanxiao happy made her happy as well.

But then an inexplicable fire flared inside her, leaving her strangely empty.

Whenever Zhan Sanxiao smiled at her, sorrow always seemed to lie beneath it, as though her mind were burdened with countless worries.

Shao Yan raised a cold gaze, intending to see what had amused her so greatly.

The person approaching was none other than Lou Jing.

As Lou Jing drew closer and noticed the two women, she slowed and reluctantly stepped toward them.

This time, both of Lou Jing’s arms were intact.

Only her attractive face was bruised and swollen.

Yet she continued wearing a stern, solemn expression.

The contrast was quite amusing.

One glance was enough for Zhan Sanxiao to understand that Lou Jing had challenged Yan Bumei again.

As though she had witnessed everything herself and could predict the future, she asked, “Why did you not discard your scabbard beforehand and face my grandmaster with only the bare blade?”

She did not even say, You failed to draw your sword again.

Instead, she skipped past that entirely and directly asked why Lou Jing had not unsheathed it before the confrontation.

She was completely certain that Lou Jing had once again failed to draw her sword.

Zhan Sanxiao coughed twice.

Shao Yan said, “You have been outside long enough. Your health has only just improved. Do not catch a chill again. Let us return.”

She supported Zhan Sanxiao back into the room.

Zhan Sanxiao summoned Banxia and had her deliver medicine to reduce swelling and disperse bruising.

Shao Yan said, “You are remarkably attentive toward her.”

Zhan Sanxiao had just swallowed a mouthful of medicine.

She lazily raised her eyelids and glanced over.

“And you are remarkably determined to dislike her.”

“Since you insist upon taking her in, I will not stop you.

“But there is one condition.

“If she becomes your subordinate, she must understand where her loyalties belong.

“If she ever displays the slightest treachery, I will skin her alive.”

The medicine tasted terrible.

After drinking bitter medicine day after day, everything Zhan Sanxiao ate seemed bitter.

She could not help furrowing her brows.

Already displeased, Shao Yan said, “Stop frowning all the time.”

Zhan Sanxiao set down the bowl and teased, “What is this? The Cult Leader governs heaven and earth and controls the lives and deaths of everyone in my Fengyu Tower. Now you even intend to control whether others may frown?”

“…”

Banxia brought the medicine and examined Lou Jing.

Her injuries were minor this time, consisting only of wounds to the flesh.

But Lou Jing herself appeared absentminded and dazed, as though Yan Bumei had struck her upon the head and made her foolish.

After Banxia left, Lou Jing remained seated, thinking about Zhan Sanxiao’s words.

Why had she not removed the scabbard beforehand before going to face Yan Bumei?

Why?

Lou Jing considered the question for a long time.

She treated Yan Bumei as an obstacle she had to overcome in life.

If she were to defeat him, she believed the victory must be open, honorable, and flawless.

She could not tolerate imperfections and disliked taking shortcuts.

Thus, even though she knew she would be unable to draw her sword while fighting him, she still carried the complete sheathed weapon into battle.

Her conviction remained firm.

One day, she would draw it.

Winter passed, spring arrived, and then came midsummer.

That conviction lasted for half a year.

She trained every day and attempted to escape upon every full moon.

She tried all four directions—east, south, west, and north.

No matter which road she took, she encountered Yan Bumei, as though the man were her shadow.

Yan Bumei never attempted to kill her, but neither did he show mercy.

After each contest, Banxia came as usual to treat her injuries.

After half a year, Lou Jing could finally draw her sword while facing Yan Bumei.

But defeating him remained a distant goal.

Shao Yan had delayed at Zhan Sanxiao’s residence for several months.

Eventually, Qiu Zhaoyi summoned her back with a direct order.

After receiving a severe reprimand, she had no choice but to depart and return to Huainan.

Zhan Sanxiao’s health had improved.

Yet the great illness had damaged her vitality.

There was little color in her face, and deeper worry now rested between her brows.

The reason was that Wenchou had found no news whatsoever.

Nearly a year had already passed.

The Hundred Arts Sect divided its people into two groups.

One group scattered throughout the Central Plains, secretly entering places where information frequently circulated.

Yet the missing person seemed to have sunk into the sea, leaving no trace behind.

The other group searched every beggar in the city.

Still, they found no clues.

Eventually, they encountered a beggar in a ruined temple who possessed a somewhat better memory.

He said that half a year earlier, a wealthy merchant had provided relief to the poor, distributing silver to many beggars.

The fortunate ones might have cleaned themselves up and begun small businesses.

Those without ambition might have kept some of the money and traveled to wealthier places to beg.

In any case, none of them cared about the brothers from their filthy den.

Once they obtained silver, they went away to enjoy themselves and were never seen again.

Everyone understood then how difficult the search would be.

The beggars had scattered.

Finding one would be like searching for a needle within the ocean.

They attempted to locate the wealthy merchant and question him carefully about what happened.

Perhaps a noble person simply forgot minor affairs, for the merchant’s household claimed to have no memory whatsoever of distributing relief that year.

Another half year passed without any result.

Half of Zhan Sanxiao’s heart turned cold.

She recalled her people.

Shao Yan had returned to her position, while Qiu Zhaoyi’s authority was at its height.

No matter how unwilling Zhan Sanxiao was, a remaining trace of reason pulled at her and persuaded her to avoid direct conflict for the moment.

On this day, it was once again the sixteenth.

After competing with Yan Bumei, Lou Jing was beaten back yet again.

She had never cared about formal paths and always cut directly through the courtyards on her return, choosing the shortest route.

Ignoring Banxia’s objections, Zhan Sanxiao had indulged herself in the cool air.

A thin lake-blue garment lightly covered her frail figure.

Holding a book behind her back, she stood beneath the shade of a tree.

The summer wind was gentle, rustling the leaves.

Scattered patches of sunlight trembled across her body.

Lou Jing happened to see this scene while limping across the courtyard.

She involuntarily stopped.

She had always thought Zhan Sanxiao looked familiar, as though they had met somewhere before.

Lou Jing constantly attempted to leave quietly rather than rushing forward and taking Zhan Sanxiao hostage.

There were several reasons.

First, she knew secret guards must be stationed nearby, and matters had not yet reached the point where she was willing to perish together with everyone else.

Second, Zhan Sanxiao had saved her life, and she found it difficult to repay kindness with betrayal.

Third, Zhan Sanxiao inexplicably gave her a sense of familiarity and closeness.

Lou Jing hated Li Changhong and Cao Bo to the extreme.

Both had given her periods of imprisonment so dark and oppressive that she wished for death.

Although Zhan Sanxiao was also holding her captive, Lou Jing’s initial resentment had gradually faded.

That feeling of closeness was partly responsible.

Apart from being unable to leave the estate, she remained free in every other respect.

Yet anxiety inevitably arose.

No matter how large the estate was, after enough time it felt no larger than a tiny square of ground.

The martial world changed with each passing day, but she knew none of the news outside.

Had her second uncle awakened?

Where was Shen Zhongyin now?

What was the true murderer doing?

What had become of the Qianyuan Sect?

During the deep nights of spring and summer, amid the endless cries of cicadas, she often thought about these things.

Zhan Sanxiao turned around and only then noticed someone behind her.

Seeing the blood at the corner of Lou Jing’s mouth, she smiled helplessly.

“You insist upon challenging him month after month. Do you not feel pain?”

This person’s stubborn resilience could sometimes be rather worrying.

“I do not understand,” Lou Jing suddenly said.

“What do you not understand?”

“I am now nothing more than an ungrateful wolf despised by everyone, with my innocence still unproven. Why are you so determined to make me join Fengyu Tower?”

Zhan Sanxiao said nothing.

Lou Jing continued, “You have kept me here for half a year and worn away at me every day. Do you believe I will eventually surrender to you?”

“Then why are you unwilling to surrender?

“I can help you find Shen Zhongyin.

“I can give you status, people to command, and the strength to act.

“This is a transaction from which you can only profit.”

“There is no such thing as a benefit given freely beneath heaven,” Lou Jing said coldly.

“Besides, I refuse because you belong to the Feihua Alliance.”

Zhan Sanxiao laughed.

Her laughter was filled with mockery, while the gaze she directed toward Lou Jing was as piercing as morning light.

“You care that much about your reputation?”

“What reputation do I have left? It is merely that the principles within my heart do not permit it.”

“If those principles exist within your heart, what difference does it make where your body stands?

“You can still uphold them.

“You take pride in belonging to a famous righteous sect—supporting justice, eliminating traitors, and destroying evil.

“You are unwilling to let this filthy ground stain your pure white robes.

“Let us say that means you hate evil passionately.

“But do you understand that you yourself are now considered a traitor and an evil person in the eyes of those righteous sects?

“Will you eliminate yourself as well?”

“Are you trying to claim that Fengyu Tower assists villains only because you have no choice?”

“Some matters cannot easily be judged as right or wrong. That is why I speak only of gains and losses.”

Zhan Sanxiao avoided the question lightly.

“Reputation or principles—in my eyes, everything possesses its own value.

“They are merely conditions offered upon the scales.

“Your determination to take revenge is not heavy enough to outweigh those two things, so you are unwilling to risk everything.”

“I do not even fear death. What could I possibly be unwilling to risk?”

“What is difficult about dying?

“Human life is thin as paper. Close your eyes, and every burden disappears.

“Living is what is difficult.”

Zhan Sanxiao’s voice carried profound melancholy as her gaze passed over Lou Jing’s face.

“Few matters in this world allow both sides to be preserved.

“If you wish to accomplish something, you must inevitably abandon something else.”

Zhan Sanxiao slowly approached, speaking like an elder patiently instructing a junior.

“Lou Jing, if a good person suffers harm and retaliates against an evil person by using the same methods, does that make the good person utterly wicked?

“The fault does not belong to the good person.

“It belongs to this world, which demands too much from good people and forgives evil people too readily.

“At such a time, extraordinary people must be handled through extraordinary methods.

“Otherwise, one is merely a fool clinging to benevolence and righteousness.”

“Look back at what you are protecting. How much is it truly worth?”

Zhan Sanxiao glanced at the sword in Lou Jing’s hand and lifted her chin toward it.

“Take your sword as an example.

“You refuse to face my grandmaster with a bare blade and insist upon bringing the scabbard.

“For half a year, you could not draw the sword.

“What meaning did that possess?”

“He is a staircase I must climb. I do not wish to overcome him through tricks or shortcuts.”

“Tricks and shortcuts?

“Your objective is to escape from my estate.

“As long as you can leave, what difference does the condition of the sword make to your result?

“Caring about such empty, superficial matters offers no assistance whatsoever toward your goal.

“You have reversed what is important and what is secondary.

“If it allows you to leave, what would be wrong with investigating the estate beforehand or setting an ambush?”

Zhan Sanxiao glanced askance at Lou Jing.

“What? Such actions are improper and dishonorable, so you look down upon them?

“You yourself said that the people of the Feihua Alliance are cruel and brutal.

“You are imprisoned here, yet you still debate right and wrong with me and speak of honorable methods.

“It is absurd and foolish beyond measure.

“You disdain such methods, and the result is that you remain trapped here today and may remain trapped for half your life.

“With all that time, you could have dug a tunnel and crawled out of my estate!

“The honor and righteousness you defend are worth nothing.

“Who cares that Lou Jing is trapped inside Fengyu Tower?

“Who cares that Lou Jing wishes to defeat Yan Bumei openly and honorably?

“The only result is that your father’s murderer remains free, while the injustice against you is never cleared.

“When others learn what happened to the scapegoat Lou Jing, they will only say, ‘Why was heaven so blind that Yan Bumei did not accidentally kill her with one strike?’”

Lou Jing’s face turned gray-green.

Still stubborn, she said, “I do not need others to know. It is enough that I understand myself…”

Yet her heart had already begun to waver.

Zhan Sanxiao’s final words had struck directly at her pain.

Zhan Sanxiao rarely spoke with such severity or pressed another person so relentlessly.

After saying so much, she began to breathe heavily.

Banxia happened to return carrying an outer robe.

She draped it around Zhan Sanxiao’s shoulders.

“Tower Master, return inside and rest. Do not catch a chill.”

Seeing her about to leave, Lou Jing reacted belatedly and raised her voice.

“You said that few matters allow both sides to be preserved and that accomplishing something requires abandoning something else.

“Then why did you join the Feihua Alliance?

“What did you abandon in order to enter it?”

Banxia’s expression changed.

She shouted, “What nonsense are you speaking? Be careful, or I will sew your mouth shut!”

Lou Jing continued looking only at Zhan Sanxiao.

Banxia turned back anxiously toward her master.

Zhan Sanxiao supported herself against the table.

Her hand pressed down upon the book, the bones of her fingers clearly outlined as they wrinkled the pages.

She had spoken so unusually harshly to Lou Jing today only because she had withdrawn Wenchou and the others back to Jiangnan without finding anything.

Unable to contain herself, she had vented the resentment within her heart upon this young woman.

“Good and evil will ultimately receive their reward. The only question is whether it comes sooner or later.

“Heaven will not fight for you. You can only fight for yourself.”

Zhan Sanxiao’s voice became rough.

“Me?

“I seek only justice.”

The words struck Lou Jing like a staff upon the head, leaving her stunned.

Zhan Sanxiao never explained what she had abandoned.

Lou Jing also forgot to ask.

After returning to her residence, Lou Jing seemed possessed throughout the night.

She tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Zhan Sanxiao’s words circled endlessly through her mind until only one sentence remained:

I seek only justice.

Lou Jing thought:

She had already experienced life and death.

What was there that she could not abandon?

What remained worth longing for?

What did it matter how other people viewed her?

Even if she entered the Feihua Alliance, how she behaved and acted would still depend entirely upon herself.

Near dawn, Lou Jing finally closed her eyes briefly.

The events of the past returned one after another within her dreams.

One moment, Lou Xuanzhi knelt halfway before her, her eyes empty while blood poured from her neck.

The next, she was inside the black prison upon Tiger Roar Mountain. Jia Yu held a staff, his face twisted as his sharp interrogations echoed beside her ears.

Then her body plunged downward into the serpent pit.

Countless snakes bit into her, and the agony made her soul tremble, yet she could not awaken.

Zhan Sanxiao’s voice drifted beside her like fine threads, wrapping around her and refusing to leave.

It repeated only:

It is not worth it. It is not worth it.

Lou Jing opened her eyes.

Her head still ached.

Her face, already pale after half a year without sunlight inside the serpent pit, now held no trace of blood.

Her expression was gloomy, and two tear tracks upon her cheeks had not yet dried.

A thought arose within her heart:

She wanted revenge.

She wanted nothing but revenge.

She practiced her sword throughout the morning, then ate a little plain soup and tasteless food.

Afterward, she went to Zhan Sanxiao’s study and requested an audience.

A maid entered to announce her and returned saying, “Master is presently occupied. Please wait here, Miss.”

The maid neither invited Lou Jing inside nor told her to return.

Lou Jing therefore stood outside the door, her waist straight and her back upright.

At noon, the sun shone fiercely.

Its heat brought a trace of red to Lou Jing’s pale face.

Yet she continued standing without urging, questioning, or leaving.

Half a year of struggling for survival in the serpent pit had forcibly carved two words into her temperament and embedded them within her soul:

Endure patiently.

A little more than a year earlier, she had still been an inexperienced youth.

She possessed a father upon whom she could rely and senior martial siblings who doted upon her.

Her temper had been fierce and explosive. She drew weapons at the slightest provocation, could not tolerate a grain of sand within her eyes, and refused to listen to unpleasant words.

Now she understood what it meant to depend upon another person and suppress her anger when asking for assistance.

For revenge, she could conceal her brilliance, nourish obscurity, and willingly remain dormant.

Lou Jing waited for four hours.

The sun tilted westward, its light no longer as fierce as at midday.

Zhan Sanxiao awakened from her afternoon nap, read for a while, and allowed Lou Jing to wait long enough.

Then she put on an outer robe and stepped outside.

She glanced at Lou Jing before lifting her face toward the clear blue sky.

The wind stirred the wind chimes overhead, producing a bright series of ringing notes.

Zhan Sanxiao knew Lou Jing had made her decision.

After saying those things the previous day, she had expected Lou Jing to react.

She merely had not believed the young woman would settle her heart so quickly.

Thus, she had made her wait, fearing the decision was a momentary impulse.

Pretending ignorance, Zhan Sanxiao asked, “The maid said you wished to see me. How unusual. As the saying goes, no one visits a sacred hall without a purpose. What business do you have with me?”

Lou Jing replied, “I am willing to join Fengyu Tower and become your subordinate.”

“Oh?”

Zhan Sanxiao sounded surprised, though her expression remained calm and effortless.

“Why did you suddenly change your mind?

“Do you no longer despise the Feihua Alliance as an unorthodox faction and a great evil beneath heaven?

“Are you not afraid that if the world discovers this, your reputation will be destroyed and your martial siblings will become your enemies?”

Lou Jing had already decided to preserve only the limits she placed upon herself.

Everything else no longer mattered.

Yet when Zhan Sanxiao asked the final question, her heart still trembled.

After a long while, she answered, “Those who understand me will naturally understand.”

Lou Jing raised her head.

“But you must help me find Shen Zhongyin.”

Zhan Sanxiao replied calmly, “I will not find him for you. I will help you.

“I will provide opportunities and allow you to approach Helian Que.

“How you obtain information about Shen Zhongyin from him, how you locate him, and even how you devise a way to capture him will depend upon your own abilities.”

Lou Jing frowned and considered it briefly.

“Very well.”

Thus, she formally entered Fengyu Tower and became one of the countless villains of the Feihua Alliance.

Compared with her previous days, little changed.

She merely became Zhan Sanxiao’s personal guard and followed her throughout the day.

As a result, she gained access to considerably more information.

Lou Jing’s previous knowledge of the martial world had been neither extensive nor entirely lacking.

Half came from the teachings and conversations of elders and disciples within the sect.

She was like a jar only half filled.

She knew the Feihua Alliance contained three great powers—the Chaosheng Sect, Yanzi Tower, and Dingshan Sect.

But she knew nothing of Fengyu Tower, which had quietly grown during the past several years.

Fengyu Tower did not possess many members, nor was every person within it a martial expert.

Yet it was indispensable.

It served as the treasury and accounting house of the Feihua Alliance.

The tower controlled many profitable places where people from every walk of life gathered and information flowed—banks, gambling houses, restaurants, and brothels.

It possessed even more legitimate businesses involving salt, silk, tea, and porcelain.

Fengyu Tower was the commercial lifeline of the Feihua Alliance.

More than half of the alliance’s expenses were supplied by it.

In some respects, its status was no lower than that of the three great powers.

Few people in the martial world had ever seen the mysterious master of Fengyu Tower.

Rumors claimed that her roof tiles were made of white jade, her floors paved with bricks of gold, and that she possessed so many banknotes they could never all be burned.

Her residence was said to be a paradise upon earth, while she lived as freely and happily as an idle immortal in heaven.

Because of her remarkable business ability and seemingly divine foresight, she had earned the nickname the Little Immortal.

Lou Jing examined the estate.

It possessed neither golden bricks nor jade roof tiles. Those would have been too crude for Zhan Sanxiao’s taste.

Yet the furnishings throughout the residence were probably no less expensive.

As for whether the Little Immortal truly lived freely and happily, Lou Jing doubted it.

She had rarely seen Zhan Sanxiao genuinely laugh.

Most of her smiles were cold or mocking and deliberately irritating.

Her brows were constantly burdened with worry, and she often grieved in silence.

No wonder she was always sick.

Lou Jing sometimes worried whether Zhan Sanxiao’s body, so frail it appeared capable of shattering beneath a single squeeze, would survive long enough for her to find Shen Zhongyin.

One day, Lou Jing came to see Zhan Sanxiao, intending to mention meeting Helian Que.

At the time, Zhan Sanxiao was receiving a guest, so Lou Jing waited nearby.

The visitor was a merchant.

He wore a dark red brocade robe decorated with cloud patterns and fastened down the front.

His stomach was large, and his eyes were long and narrow, disappearing into slits whenever he smiled.

While speaking with Zhan Sanxiao, his flattering and obsequious manner caused Lou Jing to feel contempt.

After the man left, Zhan Sanxiao asked, “What is it? Do you have some objection to that person?”

“No.”

“Your chin was nearly raised toward heaven.

“I know what you were thinking. You looked down upon his fawning manner, did you not?”

“So what if I did?”

“You despise him for being worldly and calculating. He would laugh at you for not knowing how to deal with people.

“You do not understand that no one else possesses his ability.

“He conducts business with both the righteous and unorthodox factions.

“Even the Qianyuan Sect may have dealings with him.

“For all you know, one of the blue-and-white porcelain vases upon Tiger Roar Mountain may have passed through his hands.

“Thousands of sects and factions exist across both sides, each with a different temperament.

“And within the Feihua Alliance, which person is easy to provoke?

“You believe he is behaving like a servile flatterer?

“He simply speaks human words when meeting people and ghostly words when meeting ghosts.

“He possesses a thousand faces and changes them according to whomever he meets.

“That is why he succeeds everywhere.”

Lou Jing clicked her tongue.

“He is Liu Zhaojin?”

People of the martial world rarely paid attention to merchants.

But this man was too famous to ignore.

His wealth was immense, and calling him the God of Wealth was no exaggeration.

So he even dared conduct business with the Feihua Alliance.

Merchants truly were unscrupulous.

Zhan Sanxiao glanced sideways at her.

“If one seeks power, one must know when to bend and when to circle around.

“If one seeks position, one must know deceit and flattery.”