Fan Chuan, enraged and overwhelmed by the pain of having his tongue cut, collapsed in a pool of blood.
Corpses lay strewn across the pavilion in all directions. The remaining young scholars were paralyzed with fear, clutching the pavilion columns, exchanging terrified glances, not daring to move an inch.
When immortals wage war, mortals suffer in the crossfire.
The two guards who had earlier been escorting Gu Zitao hurriedly released him and rushed back to rescue their young master, carrying Fan Chuan away in a panic.
The stark contrast between their menacing arrival and their frantic departure was almost comical, though no one present had the heart to laugh.
Liang Zhi, who had retained a sliver of clarity, swallowed nervously and turned to Chen Ning.
"What now? The Canal Guild is too powerful. If they come after us, none of us will get out of this..."
Chen Ning was just as anxious. Her fingers trembled slightly, wrinkling the scroll she held. But she took a deep breath, shut her eyes, and composed herself, speaking in a low voice:
"You and the others, go quickly, notify your families. I'll have my father and brother arrange to move all of you to South Wharf. With the Chen family's protection, you'll be safe for now..."
Ultimately, it was her actions that had dragged them into this mess.
From Fan Chuan's words, Chen Ning had already figured it out: he hadn't come just to stir trouble at the poetry gathering.
Even if it hadn't been this event, he would've found another excuse. Today it was her, tomorrow, it would be Chen An.
Several of the scholars, overjoyed and grateful, quickly came forward to thank Chen Ning and left the pavilion in haste.
But when she caught a glimpse of one particular face among them, her expression turned cold. She stepped forward and blocked the boy's path.
With a trace of anger in her eyes, she said, "As for you, Tang Shan, the Chen family does not welcome two-faced traitors.
Since you covet the wealth and status promised by the Canal Guild so badly, so much so that you'd betray your classmates, then go beg them for protection."
Tang Shan's expression twisted. He snapped back, "I only told the truth! Wasn't it Gu Zitao who wrote that poem?!"
"He spoke carelessly, got us all in trouble. So I can't even speak up to save us?"
He raised his voice, righteously indignant.
"Better he take the fall than all of us! I was doing it for everyone!"
Chen Ning looked at him, utterly disappointed.
"Yes, he acted recklessly. But it was out of love for Liang. And you? Are you really willing to cast off your identity as a Liang subject and become a citizen of Zhou?"
She continued, "Fan Chuan may have pretended to speak on behalf of the Canal Guild today, but he was really silencing dissent for that Great Zhou Enlightenment Envoy. Today, it was a poem, a name. Tomorrow, it will be a single word, a glance."
"You spoke up today, but tomorrow, who will speak for you?"
Tang Shan bristled. "What do you want from me? I'm not afraid of your Chen family!"
Chen Ning shook her head. "Go. You've chosen your path."
Tang Shan let out a breath of relief and made to leave, but only got a few steps before Gu Zitao, who had been hiding near the garden wall, stepped out and suddenly decked him with a punch.
Tang Shan was stunned, but Gu Zitao wasn't done. He followed up with a furious beating.
Chen Ning looked toward the upper floor of the small building and said respectfully, "Thank you for saving us, senior... May I ask your name? Chen Ning will remember this life-saving grace forever."
In the room above, Qi Sibai commented with some amusement, "This little girl may be young, but she certainly speaks well."
Shen Meinan, clearly unhappy, snapped, "I'm not much older, don't I speak well too?"
Qi Sibai shook his head. "You? You scream and draw your sword at the slightest problem."
True to form, Shen Meinan let out a battle cry and instantly drew her sword, about to rush at him.
Chen Kuang wrapped his arm around her waist and pinned her back to her seat.
Qi Sibai chuckled. "I meant that she has a clear view of the situation. She knows what to say, she's not afraid to act. She isn't even a cultivator, at her age, that's rare."
He turned to Chen Kuang. "But Brother Chen, are you really planning to let Fan Chuan live? That man is petty and vindictive. He'll surely seek revenge on the Chen family."
Chen Kuang shook his head. "I won't kill him."
He smirked. "I'm counting on the fact that once he learns your identity, he won't dare to take revenge."
Qi Sibai blinked, then burst into laughter. "Then I suppose I'd better be on my best behavior."
Chen Kuang cupped his hands. "Apologies for the trouble, Brother Qi."
Qi Sibai waved him off. "Think nothing of it. As long as you tell me the whereabouts of the Demon Sword, I'd be willing to circle around you like the moon itself."
He had said something similar to Lin Eryou on the river barge.
Chen Kuang's intentions were clear, he wanted the Canal Guild to make a move against the Chen family, so that he could turn it around and lift them into power.
Everything Qi Sibai had done was to set the stage for this request.
Chen Ning, having received no answer to her question, assumed her inquiry was being declined. She hesitated, then left behind a delicate hairpin as a token of gratitude before leaving the Envious Fish Hermitage.
A short while later, a servant brought the hairpin into the upstairs room.
Chen Kuang accepted it, storing it carefully before saying seriously, "I really will need to trouble you, Brother Qi."
"You probably already know, I was entrusted by Huo Hengxuan to escort that mother and daughter out of Liang."
Qi Sibai's expression darkened. He had a foreboding feeling.
"The Demon Sword... is connected to them?"
Chen Kuang nodded and explained everything he'd learned from Chu Wenruo and Qingcuo, as well as what Shen Meinan had told him.
"'Illusory Realm, Wujian Purgatory, Sun and Moon in the same sky, exchanged for this world...'"
Qi Sibai murmured the lines, then said gravely, "This is the first time I've ever heard of someone witnessing the moment the Demon Sword changed hosts."
"Hosts?" Chen Kuang asked.
"Yes," Qi Sibai explained. "The Demon Sword has no physical form. That's why the Sword Furnace Pavilion couldn't find it in the forge. The moment the first person approached the sword forge, the Demon Sword chose him as its host."
"That man was Tie Baiyuan, Jie Kun's master."
"At the time, the Sword Furnace Pavilion thought he collapsed from the shock of seeing his disciple go astray. But after seven days in a coma, he suddenly went mad, and vanished. Strangely enough, every one of the 170 family members who had been caring for him also went mad... and eventually committed suicide."
"Since then, the Demon Sword has resurfaced three more times: seven years ago, three years ago, and now."
"Unfortunately, every time I've arrived just a step too late. Each time, the result has been the same, the Demon Sword and its new host vanish. Everyone around the host... goes insane."
"I never understood why, but now, after hearing that line... I think it refers to the so-called 'Illusory Realm.'"
"And this is the first time... I've actually been in time."
Qi Sibai's expression turned grim. "The Demon Sword has had three previous hosts. The first time, 170 people went mad. The second, it was 1,100. The third, 15,600."
Chen Kuang's breath caught. That rate of escalation was terrifying.
"If we don't stop it this time," Qi Sibai said solemnly, "then the number of people driven mad by the Demon Sword..."
"I dare not imagine what that would look like."
Chen Kuang straightened his back and said, "Then I'll have to ask you to explain further, Brother Qi."