Chapter 25: The Twenty-Fifth Day as Cult Leader (Part 1)

When Shen Fubai did things, he naturally cared about one word above all: speed.

On the very day Qin Ming gave him the order, Shen Fubai brought the tightly bound Song Ping and his companion from shop to shop, visiting every business they had extorted over the past two days. First, he explained the cause of the matter. Then he made them hand over their ill-gotten gains.

After they went through two or three shops in a row like this, loudly publicizing his purpose as they went, nearly everyone in town heard the news and came over of their own accord to watch.

When Song Ping was forced to take out his Sword Pavilion disciple token and stammer through the process of how they had pretended to be Demonic Cult disciples to extort the shops, the townspeople immediately sucked in a breath, completely stunned.

Who could have imagined that the ones extorting them over the past two or three years were not the Demonic Cult on the mountain, but the Sword Pavilion, which had always been praised by them as a model of the righteous path?

“Wonderful. The people of Sword Pavilion actually played us for fools and dumped all the dirty water onto the Demonic Cult. What brilliant scheming!”

“Hah. I’m always hearing people say Sword Pavilion disciples are upright and chivalrous. I even praised them a few times when talking to others. Who would have thought? You may know a person’s face, but not their heart!”

Being practically cursed at to their faces, Song Ping and his companion finally flushed scarlet. They could not offer a single explanation and wanted nothing more than to bury their faces in the dirt. Yet he could not completely shut his mouth, because whenever he did, Shen Fubai would mercilessly stab his arm with his sword. That agonizing yet nonfatal sensation was like torture, forcing him to admit everything he had done.

This Shen Fubai truly had vicious methods!

As the saying went, good news never left the gate, while bad news traveled a thousand li. In less than two days, the news swiftly spread farther and farther as though it had grown wings, basically becoming the hottest topic of idle conversation throughout the jianghu.

Demonic Cult disciples were already notorious for being full of evil, so it was not strange for them to do bad things. But once the role changed to the righteous disciples of Sword Pavilion, that drew countless people’s curses and mockery.

Everyone said Sword Pavilion had truly disgraced the reputation of the Five Great Sects, and that righteous heroes all found them shameful.

After Shen Fubai led Song Ping and the others around for several days, he refused the suggestion from those indignant people who wanted to execute Song Ping in public. He only said, “Killing them would be easy, but that would let them off too cheaply. I want to escort these two back to Sword Pavilion and demand an explanation from Sword Pavilion. The matter of everyone here being extorted cannot simply be forgotten!”

“If all of you also wish to see what Sword Pavilion’s attitude will be, then why not come with me and witness it with your own eyes?”

These words immediately won loud cheers from the crowd. Everyone wanted to see whether Sword Pavilion knew about this matter, whether they had deliberately allowed it or had also been kept in the dark, whether they planned to take no measures at all or would give a response. In short, with a single order from Shen Fubai, countless people supported him and headed to Sword Pavilion together.

Among these people, there were plenty who came to watch the excitement, some who wanted to make a name for themselves, some who were furious over the incident, and others who simply wanted to see Sword Pavilion make a fool of itself. In any case, Shen Fubai’s goal of gathering the people and making Sword Pavilion’s reputation stink to high heaven was already halfway complete.

As for the remaining half, that depended on Sword Pavilion’s attitude. But… that was even easier than Shen Fubai had imagined, because after Sword Pavilion suddenly suffered such a heavy blow, its first reaction was to fling the blame outward and behead Song Ping and his companion for serious crimes in order to quell the anger of the crowd.

But this resolute attitude only chilled Song Ping and his companion further. In an instant, their faces turned deathly pale.

“Clearly, you were not the only ones who did this, nor were you the first to do it, yet all the consequences must be borne by you…”

Shen Fubai’s words were like a devil’s whisper, ringing in the ears of the two men and bewitching their hearts. “Do you feel angry? Do you feel resentful? If you speak out in public about all the unfairness inside Sword Pavilion, the wind will immediately change direction. This was never the fault of you two alone. Why should you two be the ones to bear it?”

Song Ping’s palms clenched tightly. But after only a few breaths, they loosened as though he had given up on everything. His face was full of bitterness as he said in a low voice, “You win.”

He no longer stubbornly concealed the real truth. He stood and, in front of all the commoners and jianghu people present, spoke of his life in Sword Pavilion over the past few years. He spoke of how Sword Pavilion had cut down on their resources, how it did not take them seriously, and how it had forced them, little by little, onto a path of no return…

And so, after he finished speaking, the scene fell into an incomparably silent stillness. Everyone’s expressions were complicated. They had never known that in their eyes, those Sword Pavilion disciples who seemed so steadfast, as though they would never be defeated, had been living with such hardship.

The wind changed direction once again, and Sword Pavilion’s strategy of cutting off its tail to survive further inflamed everyone’s anger. It went from a crusade against individual Sword Pavilion disciples to a crusade against Sword Pavilion’s entire internal management. Sword Pavilion seemed to become despised by ten thousand people in an instant, with everyone shouting for punishment and angrily denouncing them for abusing their disciples. How could they possibly set an example for the sects of the jianghu? Some even clamored for them to get out of the alliance of the Five Great Sects.

For a time, Sword Pavilion’s reputation was utterly ruined. Its sect master and elders were overwhelmed with anxiety, and its disciples were all in constant fear.

Whether the people shouting to beat and kill them were truly righteous, or merely wanted to drag them down and watch them make fools of themselves, everyone had their own thoughts. No one was foolish enough to say them out loud. Seeing that everything was accomplished, Shen Fubai flicked his sleeves and left without taking away so much as a cloud.

Only, before leaving, as he gazed at the familiar sect where he had stayed for two years, he still could not help the slight curve of his lips, revealing a mocking smile.

A gentleman’s revenge could wait ten years and still not be too late.

Those people who had severed the tendons in his hands back then—had they seen this?

…

“I truly never expected that the recent Sword Pavilion matter making such a huge uproar had this kind of cause and effect behind it!”

“And the incident even happened right here. You heard the news way too late.”

“I only heard that the Demonic Cult had done some evil deeds… After all, the Demonic Cult is on the nearby mountain. I’m used to it, so I didn’t pay attention to that sort of idle business. Who would have thought it was actually Sword Pavilion disciples pretending to be them?”

“Hah. They took advantage of our fear of the Demonic Cult to succeed. Truly hateful… But the Demonic Cult really hasn’t made any moves recently. I wonder what they’re doing?”

“Then I know even less about that… Where are we going?”

“You don’t know about this, do you?” The young man in a scholar’s outer robe pointed at the signboard overhead that read “Mantang Restaurant” and introduced it proudly. “This is a restaurant that just opened a few days ago, but all the dishes inside are top-quality delicacies no one has ever heard of. Quite a lot of customers come and go, and all of them praise this restaurant nonstop. Today, I’m treating you to a taste of their specialties!”

The scholar pulled the bewildered guest into the restaurant. The first thing they saw was the main hall, which was extremely lively and nearly full. Everyone was drinking, eating, chatting, and laughing. From time to time, they would enthusiastically discuss something. The whole place looked festive and cheerful. The interior décor was elegant and refined as well, making one’s eyes brighten with delight.

Before the scholar had even chosen a seat, he saw a young man walking briskly over. The boy lifted his face and revealed a smile. “Honored guests, please sit wherever you like. If you don’t care for the liveliness on the first floor, there are refined seats to choose from on the second floor.”

The guest carefully sized up the boy dressed like a servant and could not help saying in surprise, “Does even a servant in this restaurant practice martial arts?”

Zhan Yue smiled shyly. “I used to dream of becoming a great jianghu hero, so I learned a few paltry tricks. Nothing worth showing off. But they do let me work here as a guard.”

The guest nodded. Looking around at the restaurant’s décor, he could not help asking curiously, “Since you wanted to wander the jianghu, why are you working here instead?”

“A restaurant is also a small jianghu. You can meet all sorts of people, and listening to them talk can broaden your knowledge quite a bit.” Zhan Yue gestured toward the customers gathered and chatting in the middle of the first floor, then explained, “Please look, honored guests. From them, you can hear the latest news about Sword Pavilion.”

“Oh? I haven’t heard this yet. Let’s sit over there!”

The scholar eagerly pulled the guest toward the middle, and sure enough, they heard someone holding forth in high spirits.

“I heard Sword Pavilion’s sect master finally announced that they won’t accept new disciples for two years. They’re going to thoroughly rectify their internal affairs and improve the environment their disciples live in!”

“Good, good! That really is good news!”

“Your news is already outdated. Do you know who exposed the truth behind Sword Pavilion’s extortion? It was none other than a disciple of the Demonic Cult! If not for a Demonic Cult disciple, who else could have known those extortionists were impostors?”

“Hiss. Looks like the Demonic Cult got angry after being smeared. But I didn’t expect them to use this method to reveal the truth instead of shouting and charging up together…”

“No matter what, it’s a good thing that they didn’t actually start fighting.”

The scholar sat in his chair, listening curiously to their gossip with rapt fascination. The guest, meanwhile, looked at the bamboo slips hanging on the restaurant wall and found them quite novel. He saw that each bamboo slip had the name of a dish written on it. Some dishes had the word “special” added underneath, and others had the word “popular.”

Zhan Yue explained, “All the menus are on the wall for the convenience of our honored guests. The ‘special’ mark below represents special recipes improved by our restaurant, which have received excellent reviews. The ‘popular’ mark means more people order that dish, making it convenient for first-time guests to choose.”

“Not bad. It is indeed convenient.” The guest then ordered several of the extremely popular dishes while listening to the gossip around him and waiting for the food to be served.

By chance, he noticed that behind the counter sat an ordinary-looking young man holding a brush, apparently writing and drawing on paper, completely ignoring the restaurant’s affairs. Meanwhile, many servants were weaving in and out of the back kitchen, busily going back and forth. They were actually more memorable in appearance than that young man. The guest could not help laughing. “This restaurant is truly strange. The servants look like heroes, while the shopkeeper looks more like a servant. How interesting.”

But when the specially made dishes were brought up, even someone like him, who enjoyed sampling delicacies, could not help being stunned. He had never eaten fish so fragrant, sweet, and delicious, nor meat so rich without being greasy. There were also some strange drinks that truly made his eyes brighten.

“How is it? Delicious, isn’t it?” The scholar proudly lifted his chin. “I dare say that even in the capital, you absolutely couldn’t eat this flavor!”

The guest’s mouth was full of food, so he could only look at him with shining eyes and give him a thumbs-up.

Awesome!

“Business seems quite good.” Not far away, the young man in white who had just finished inspecting the back kitchen finally lifted the curtain with arrogant brows and eyes, then walked to the shopkeeper. “My task ends here. I’ll leave the rest for you to decide.”

After a pause, he added, “It will definitely be difficult and unfamiliar to gather information at the beginning. All the servants need to keep their eyes on all directions and their ears open to everything. Also, the two Demonic Cult Hall Masters staying on the third floor can usually be treated as if they don’t exist. Don’t start any conflicts. I don’t need to remind you of these simple things, do I?”

Next Chapter >