Chapter 230: Chapter 119: Grudges
"What do you think my little problem is?" Wang Ping asked with great interest.
"You’re certainly planning to go out and find suitable allies, aiming to reap the greatest benefits when the news about Dean Liu is announced. However, this sudden attack has disrupted your plans. You don’t even know where your enemy is, or who they are."
Guan Xi spoke with confidence. "You must be planning to take a risk, but I would advise you to be more cautious. Look at your current position. As a Taiyan Cultivator who has reached the Second Realm within a century, everyone in the Mystic Sect who knows of you already considers you a shoo-in for the Third Realm. This has inadvertently created many potential rivals for you."
"Especially those in the same region, and particularly the Taiyan Cultivators who are already in the Third Realm. Besides your ally, Daoist Zi Luan, there are two others you need to be especially wary of. One is Daoist Xiu Yu. He’s proud by nature and probably wouldn’t deign to move against you himself, but his disciples won’t think the same way. I believe you’ve already had a taste of that."
"As for the other one, he’s in the Jimin Association and has sided with the radical faction. He’s currently having some problems with his cultivation. He’s struggling to suppress the Spirit Vein within his body, and his Primordial Spirit needs to absorb a large amount of Wood Spirit energy. He’s even become addicted to it. The radical faction makes it easier for him to absorb Wood Spirit, since their creed holds that destruction is also a way to suppress conflict."
"His name is Si Ran. Your master, Yu Cheng Taoist, has likely heard of him. He was active around Mozhou Road two hundred years ago. Later, while competing for the third seat in the Daoist Scripture Hall, he suddenly went mad for some unknown reason. He attacked his rival right there at the assembly. The outcome, naturally, was that he was suppressed. If not for his past meritorious service to the Daoist Scripture Hall, he would have been exiled or imprisoned for life."
"He hasn’t been seen in public since. Recently, however, we received intelligence that he has appeared in the Southeast Islands. Our people also discovered that he’s been raising some maddened Star Gods. Following that trail, we found someone else..."
Guan Xi paused for dramatic effect, looking at Wang Ping with a smile. "This person also has a small connection to you, Daoist."
"Oh?" Wang Ping guessed instinctively.
"Bai Zhuo of the White Water Sect. Fellow Daoist is surely no stranger to him," Guan Xi said with a smile.
"A real shame about him," Wang Ping said, his face showing regret.
"Haha!"
Guan Xi laughed loudly, then said, "He has a Daoist partner named Xiao Lingzi." As he spoke, he took a portrait scroll from his storage pouch, unrolled it, and revealed a delicate-featured... man!
"Him?"
Wang Ping was slightly taken aback. The delicate-featured person in the painting was indeed a man. He was dressed in a proper Daoist robe, his left hand forming a Spell, his right hand pointing downward. The space around his body seemed to be collapsing.
"You don’t need to doubt it. He is a man, but he is indeed Bai Zhuo’s Daoist partner. He’s one of the leaders of Organization Three-Seven-Five under the Outer Star Alliance, with a Second Realm cultivation. Si Ran gave two of the maddened Star Gods to him..."
At this point, there was no need for Guan Xi to say more. Wang Ping put down his teacup and stood up. Across from him, Guan Xi also rose and, understanding the unspoken cue, offered him the portrait.
Wang Ping took the portrait and studied the person in it carefully. Then, it occurred to him that this man was Bai Zhuo’s Daoist partner, and here he was, staring intently at his portrait. An involuntary shiver ran down his spine.
"Why did your emotions suddenly become so... intense?" Yu Lian asked, confused.
Hearing this, Wang Ping silently handed the scroll back to Guan Xi and asked, "Fellow Daoist, what do you want?"
"What I want is simple. I wish to use your connections to surround and kill Si Ran. We can provide his exact location. We won’t take a single one of the valuables or Magical Artifacts on his person."
Guan Xi was quite direct.
"I need to discuss this with some people first... I’ll give you an answer within three days." Wang Ping pointed a finger, and a Blessing Talisman appeared before him. "Take this Talisman. If there’s any news, I’ll contact you with a Puppet Bird."
"Good. I’ll await your good news, Daoist. Also, it’s best you don’t spread the matter of the Saint too widely. Otherwise, you may well attract his gaze."
With that, Guan Xi bowed and took his leave.
Wang Ping released his aura, parting the Nine Extremes Array slightly to allow Guan Xi to fly away from the mountain gate. He then sat alone in his courtyard until dawn before walking to the small courtyard on the back of the mountain.
He needed to talk to his master first.
"Si Ran was indeed competing with my senior brother for the third seat back then. He had a very good chance of winning, but for some reason, he suddenly went berserk during the voting process. He ambushed Xiu Yu Taoist, who was presiding over the ceremony, and nearly wounded him severely."
Yu Cheng Taoist said, filled with emotion, "No one really knows the truth of what happened that year. Many rumors circulated afterward, but none were ever confirmed."
Yu Lian’s eyes widened, her forked tongue flicking rapidly. Just as she was getting ready to enjoy the drama, Yu Cheng Taoist changed the subject. "This deal can be made. The Jimin Association currently has a great deal of influence in the Daoist Scripture Hall, but you must be extra cautious when cooperating with them. None of those Loose Cultivators are simple."
As they left Yu Cheng Taoist’s courtyard, Yu Lian asked, "Tell me, why do you think Si Ran went mad? I feel like there’s more to this story."
"We might find out the truth when we besiege him," Wang Ping replied.
"I’m suddenly looking forward to it."
...
Wang Ping heeded Guan Xi’s warning and didn’t tell Zi Luan about the Saint. In truth, he had never intended to publicize the matter anyway. It wouldn’t be good for such a thing to spread widely; after all, the Saint was an object of faith for the entire world.
After listening to Wang Ping’s account, a flash of surprise crossed Zi Luan’s face before he immediately declared, "I will communicate with the Outer Star Alliance at once. If all goes as expected, Xiao Lingzi will soon lose his protection."
He first responded to the matter of Xiao Lingzi before turning to Si Ran. "As for the matter of Fellow Daoist Si Ran... I will handle it personally, and I will personally participate in the mission to kill him. I know you have some connections in Lishui Prefecture. You can make use of them. If we succeed in killing Si Ran, you’ll get a share of the spoils."
"Yes!"
Wang Ping nodded. Si Ran was still a member of the Daoist Scripture Hall, and a Third Realm one at that. To assassinate him, they would first have to strip him of his status within the Hall.
The political maneuvering involved would be a true bloodbath.
Yet, Zi Luan had agreed without a moment’s hesitation.
As they walked out of Zi Luan’s small courtyard, Yu Lian said very seriously in the Spirit Sea, "Zi Luan was most likely the one behind what happened to Si Ran."
"I sensed that as well."
Wang Ping replied calmly. When Guan Xi had come to him about Si Ran, it was inevitable that he would approach Zi Luan. Normally, Zi Luan would never agree to such a thing, yet Guan Xi had seemed certain that he would.
That alone spoke volumes.
Wang Ping pushed these troubling thoughts to the back of his mind, planning to compose himself and once again set out on his journey to visit Xia Yao.
But five days later, an unexpected person came knocking.
It was Xiao Lingzi!
He had come to settle a score.
