Chapter 169: Hanging Together
A dozen or so more nights later, Nalan Feng glanced toward the Isle of Xiao from the Isle of Nalan, his face dark.
"Your Highness, a large group of Mortal disciples have been entering the Isle of Nalan over the last two weeks. The situation isn't looking good," one of his subordinates reported.
"I know. Xiao Nanfeng's trying to win their gratitude and amass power for Ye Dafu and Ye Sanshui."
"Xiao Nanfeng's extending his reach to Mortal disciples. Won't you do anything about it, Your Highness?" Nalan Feng's subordinate asked.
"What's there to worry about? He's about to die," Nalan Feng replied disdainfully.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Are you certain that someone will attack the Isle of Xiao tonight?"
"Don't worry, Your Highness. News that Xiao Nanfeng is Xiao Hongye's son has spread throughout the Eastern Sea. It might take a while for action to germinate as a result, but there will surely be those here to seek revenge from him. I've received word from a reliable source that the third-in-charge of the Bloodkill bandits will be spearheading a raid on the island tonight."
"The Bloodkill bandits?" Nalan Feng asked.
"The Bloodkill bandits are renegade disciples from the major sects, who have been plundering and looting all over the Eastern Sea before they were slaughtered by Xiao Hongye. Only a few stragglers made it out alive, and they've been hiding from Xiao Hongye ever since. After learning that he's vanished and that his son has appeared, they've been raring to seek revenge."
"A group of pirates?" Nalan Feng frowned.
"Don't underestimate these pirates, Your Highness. The Bloodkill bandits boast two Spiritsong-realm cultivators, and their third-in-charge is at the peak of Ascension. They're all very strong, and even if Xiao Nanfeng doesn't die, he'll surely suffer a heavy blow. Ah, they're here! Look over there, Your Highness!"
Under the moonlight, a ship slowly appeared under cover of fog, difficult to spot in the darkness. If Nalan Feng and his subordinate hadn't been waiting attentively, they wouldn't have noticed that the ship was approaching the Isle of Xiao.
"Only the third-in-charge? Are they aware that the Isle of Xiao is guarded by a protective formation?" Nalan Feng frowned.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. This third-in-charge used to be a disciple skilled with formations, and he should be able to break through."
"Then I await their success."
Nalan Feng and his subordinates waited patiently all the way until the next morning, at which point they saw the Bloodkill bandits' ship being dragged away.
"What's going on? Where are the Bloodkill bandits? Xiao Nanfeng's subordinates are claiming their ship! Why isn't anyone stopping them?!"
"They're—right there!" Nalan Feng's eyes narrowed.
His subordinates sucked in deep breaths. Illuminated by the dawn light were fifty lengths of red rope hanging from the heavens, each looping around the neck of a pirate. The pirates swung in the air, dead.
"Who are these people? Committing suicide on someone else's doorstep in the middle of the night—what are they thinking?!"
The Taiqing disciples who had sailed to the Isle of Xiao early in the morning were the first to notice the fifty hanging pirates.
"These are all... Bloodkill bandits?"
"These pirates commit all manner of evil deeds in the Eastern Sea, and they even tried to raid one of our ships once. Good riddance!"
"I heard that Elder Xiao Hongye almost wiped out the Bloodkill bandits in the past. Could they have come here to seek revenge from Senior Brother Xiao?"
All the Taiqing disciples could talk about were the pirates. They glanced askance at the protective formation around the island, which had apparently killed them all.
In the end, it was Zheng Qian who explained that the formation had been constructed with the help of the red rope that Nalan Feng had given to Xiao Nanfeng as compensation. The Taiqing disciples ahhed in understanding even as they laughed at Nalan Feng for giving Xiao Nanfeng such a treasure.
In a certain valley on the island, the ancient turtle looked toward the hanging pirates and turned to Xiao Nanfeng. "Are you certain that these people are related to Nalan Feng?"
"Didn't we catch and interrogate one of the pirates last night? You were present too," Xiao Nanfeng replied, smiling.
"They received an anonymous tip to seek revenge on you. How did you judge that this was related to Nalan Feng?"
"I guessed." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.
The turtle: ...
"Elder, don't you need to recuperate from your wounds? Why do you care about the enmity between me and Nalan Feng?" Xiao Nanfeng asked curiously.
"I simply feel upset on your behalf. You know who's targeting you, but you can't do anything about it on account of your lack of evidence. It's a pity, isn't it? Are you just going to let Nalan Feng walk all over you like that?"
"Others aren't fools. Just because I don't say anything doesn't mean that they won't guess what's going on. No matter how covertly Nalan Feng does things, the Taiqing disciples will figure it out sooner or later. Nalan Feng's reputation will fall, and mine will rise." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.
"But Nalan Feng's targeting you, isn't he? Don't you want revenge? I could help you," the ancient turtle advised.
"I'm not in a rush, elder, and I don't intend to strike at the moment."
Xiao Nanfeng did want to deal with Nalan Feng, but after seeing how stridently the elders defended Nalan Feng during their confrontation, he understood that it would be pointless to try to do so directly.
The fact that the ancient turtle before him was repeatedly attempting to fan the flames of conflict made Xiao Nanfeng wary. It couldn't be plotting anything good.
In the next dozen or so days, more and more people attempted to raid the Isle of Xiao, but they were all found hanging in the air the next morning. One among them was a Spiritsong-realm pirate, whose death drew the attention of a large group of Taiqing disciples.
Everything on the island proper remained functioning as per normal; the residents' lifestyles were unaffected.
Xiao Nanfeng spent the morning imparting fist techniques to a group of Taiqing disciples, then proposed avenues for further study.
"Let's stop here. Make sure to practice what you've learned well. If you don't make a breakthrough, don't come back," Xiao Nanfeng joked.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Xiao!" everyone chorused.
Finally, one Ascended disciple couldn't help but speak up. "Senior Brother Xiao, we caught a few Bloodkill bandits today at sea. They were all planning to sneak onto the Isle of Xiao to kill you, but they were too slow! When they saw their second-in-charge hung up, they were so frightened that they tried to escape. They said that, more than a month ago, someone secretly sent word to their hideout that you were Xiao Hongye's son and that the Isle of Xiao boasts tremendous wealth and treasure, inducing them to attempt to assassinate you!"
"That's right. We calculated when this could have happened. For them to have received word of your identity that early, someone from the Taiqing sect had to have leaked the information."
"Senior Brother Xiao, I suspect that this was Nalan Feng's doing. How could he be so malicious?"
The Taiqing disciples conversed with each other, causing the few Mortal disciples to glance around awkwardly.
"There's no proof. You'd better not speak of this, lest trouble find you, too," Xiao Nanfeng warned.
"But..." The disciples seemed discontent to leave matters be.
"I appreciate your thoughts, but these assassins have failed to harm me so far. Furthermore, my father's enemies would have come to seek me out sooner or later. Don't worry about this matter, and don't disturb the peace. It doesn't have anything to do with you, and I wouldn't want all of you to be dragged into my personal business," Xiao Nanfeng warned.
Even so, the disciples were still upset. They were tremendously grateful to have received Xiao Nanfeng's personal tutelage—but now, he was now being targeted by an obvious culprit and could do nothing other than to grit his teeth and bear it! Not only that, he was still careful not to involve them in the matter. They were infuriated by Nalan Feng's actions and spoke out against his qualifications as the seniormost Mortal disciple. Even the Mortal disciples present weren't shameless enough to defend him.
A month passed in this fashion, and more and more people came to hang themselves in the Isle of Xiao. The affair had caused a considerable commotion throughout the sect, but Xiao Nanfeng chose not to investigate. As such, no elders stepped in, though rumors abounded; the matter became a hot topic for small talk and idle gossip.
One day, as Nalan Feng and several of his subordinates disembarked on Taiqing Island and headed toward the Vault of Scriptures, he suddenly found themselves avoided by the disciples around him. Some Mortal disciples even made expressions of disgust as he crossed their sight.
"These disciples usually fawn over you in order to get into your good graces, Your Highness. What's going on today?" one of his subordinates asked.
Nalan Feng watched the crowd of disciples avoid him as if he had been struck by the plague. His feet stilled as he came to a realization.
"What's the matter, Your Highness?" His subordinates quickly stepped forward.
"I've fallen into one of Xiao Nanfeng's schemes again." Nalan Feng blanched.
"What?"
"Over these last two months, Xiao Nanfeng has never once criticized me. He has focused solely on teaching fist techniques to disciples of all divisions, not only acquiring their gratitude but also their pity as he feigns weakness and fosters hatred against me." Nalan Feng narrowed his eyes.
"I heard some rumors too, but without any evidence, what could he do?" one subordinate asked.
"You don't know anything. He's trying to buy their hearts. Don't you see?" Nalan Feng replied coldly.
"What could that achieve?"
"He knows that many elders within the sect favor me and are willing to shield me. If he targets me, they'll surely pressure him. He has no allies among the elders and would only make a fool of himself—but things are different now. He has the hearts of the majority of the Taiqing disciples, and he's surely poised to strike at me!"
"What? How could that be? He wouldn't dare!" one subordinate replied in disbelief.
Back on the Isle of Xiao, Xiao Nanfeng and Zheng Qian were having tea at a pavilion.
"Can we strike now, Benefactor?" Zheng Qian asked.
"It's almost time. We'll give Nalan Feng a lesson he won't forget anytime soon. I have no interest in allowing him to continue scheming against me," Xiao Nanfeng replied coldly, having a sip of his tea.
"Now that the majority of disciples support you, few would blame you even if you were to do something beyond the pale," Zheng Qian agreed, smiling.
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