Firmament Sword

Chaos descended upon Luoshui Island. A mysterious assassin had appeared and crippled the abbot’s own nephew...

The news spread across the entire island in no time.

When Luo Xinlan heard the news, she was stunned for a long moment. Her shock was quickly followed by a rush of happiness.

’It’s good he was crippled. A scumbag like that is a menace to have around. Why wasn’t he just stabbed to death with a single strike?’ Luo Xinlan felt incredibly vindicated, and even the sunlight blanketing the sky seemed filled with cheer.

Before long, Abbot Master Huitong’s orders came down through the ranks, demanding that everyone in the Luoshui Nunnery be mobilized. They had to root out the assassin, and... they had to take him alive!

Huitong hated the assassin to her very core. He had destroyed her nephew’s manhood, severing her family’s line. She vowed to personally torture the bastard to death, slowly. She wouldn’t grant him an easy end... That would be letting him off far too lightly!

’Master Huitong has changed...’ Luo Xinlan sighed inwardly upon hearing the command. Back when a young Luo Xinlan was cultivating at Luoshui Nunnery, Huitong wasn’t yet the abbot.

Back then, Huitong was devout and pure, kind and benevolent, and held immense prestige throughout the Luoshui Nunnery. But all of that was ruined by this nephew of hers. Because of her doting, He Fang Hall’s actions became more and more outrageous, more and more unbridled.

In that sense, Huitong was directly responsible for the fate that had befallen He Fang Hall today!

But Huitong would never admit that... she wouldn’t even let herself think about it. Right now, all she wanted was to capture the assassin.

”This... is the Luoshui Nunnery! This is Luoshui Island! I want to know, where were those responsible for our defenses? For our patrols? How could such a powerful expert cross the ocean and arrive on Luoshui Island, and you... you all remained completely oblivious?”

”And another thing, I don’t understand why he targeted Fang Hall the moment he arrived. Why... was he so familiar with the terrain here? Is there... a traitor among you? Whoever it is, it would be best... if you stood up on your own. I will grant you a quick death. Otherwise... you know what will become of you!”

”My boy, Fang Hall, has always been of noble character and high morals. He has almost never left Luoshui Island, so how could he possibly have provoked someone from the outside? Therefore, I believe this matter... is definitely an internal affair. As for what to do about it, I trust you will give me a satisfactory answer.”

Huitong sat upon the main seat, her face an icy mask, her presence suffocating.

As she spoke, she repeatedly struck the ground with the Zen staff in her hand, creating a series of grating sounds that put everyone on edge.

Many of those present were cursing inwardly: ’What kind of person is that nephew of yours? Who on the entire Luoshui Island doesn’t know? This assassination attempt was an act of providence, because Heaven couldn’t bear to see such a scumbag continue to plague Luoshui Island!’

’They’d heard that when the assassin came to kill him, He Fang Hall actually used a woman he was in the middle of a tryst with as a human shield. Is that something a man should do? And a person like that deserves to be called noble and moral?’

’Now that he was crippled, besides the abbot herself, how many people on the entire island were inwardly clapping with glee?’

A pity these were just thoughts. They could only think them; none would ever dare speak them aloud.

On Luoshui Island, Master Huitong held absolute power. No one dared to defy her.

”Abbot, I believe there must be a traitor involved in this. These past few days, Steward He seemed to be visiting Luo Xinlan frequently. Do you think... it might be related to her?” a middle-aged nun from the crowd said.

”Luo Xinlan?” Huitong shook her head slightly. How could she be completely unaware of her nephew’s designs on Luo Xinlan? It was just that she didn’t care about such things.

Besides, Huitong had always felt her nephew was being too lenient with that woman, Luo Xinlan. ’The girl doesn’t know what’s good for her. He should have just used force... With women like that, once you possess their bodies, their hearts... will soon follow!’

Huitong had never been with a man in her life, but she believed she understood women. Otherwise, why were all those girls whose bodies had been ruined by her nephew so content with their situation?

She never considered: with her there to suppress them, how many would dare to muster the courage to resist?

”It’s probably not her. She doesn’t have that kind of ability.” Huitong didn’t give Luo Xinlan a second thought. ’How could a woman who married a worldly man possibly have such powerful backing?’ Then, Huitong looked up, glanced at the middle-aged nun, and said flatly, ”I know you’ve never liked Luo Xinlan, but there’s no need for this.”

The middle-aged nun stiffened, retreating awkwardly to the side, not daring to say another word.

She was Luo Xinlan’s senior sister and had always looked down on the quirky and clever Luo Xinlan back in the day. More importantly, she herself had an ambiguous, secret relationship with He Fang Hall and was very unhappy that he was constantly pursuing Luo Xinlan.

At a time like this, she naturally wanted to take the opportunity to sling some mud at Luo Xinlan. Unfortunately, Huitong saw right through her and called her out on the spot, leaving the middle-aged nun deeply embarrassed, though she didn’t dare say more.

Huitong’s icy eyes swept across the room. Almost no one dared to meet her gaze, but no one stood up to admit to colluding with an outsider either.

”Heh. No one, is that it? Very good. I’ve always had complete faith in you all,” Huitong said. ”Since there’s no traitor, then go and capture that assassin. And remember, I want him alive!”

The others let out a collective sigh of relief and quickly took their leave. The atmosphere here was too oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

This was the very source of Huitong’s absolute power on Luoshui Island. She was too powerful!

So powerful that no one even dared to entertain the thought of resisting her, let alone taking action.

Luoshui Island was vast. Though an island, its terrain was extremely complex, with towering mountains, deep gorges, and several great rivers that roared and flowed day and night.

Under these conditions, finding a single person was an incredibly difficult task.

Therefore, almost everyone from Luoshui Nunnery, from top to bottom, was mobilized. They started from the nunnery as the center and began to search outwards in all directions, bit by bit.

With Xu Luo’s current strength, as long as he didn’t run into a powerful existence like Master Huitong, no one else posed a threat to him.

So, even though a search party combed the area by the cliff and waterfall, Xu Luo easily avoided their detection.

In truth, that group wasn’t nearly as serious about the search as one might imagine!

”Steward He is really unlucky this time. I heard that... his ’thing’ was completely destroyed,” said a young, pleasant voice to her companion.

”I heard that too. A lot of people saw it. Steward He was a bloody mess down there, and he fainted from the pain. I guess he won’t be able to... you know... anymore, right?”

”If you ask me, Steward He brought this on himself. In recent years, as the abbot doted on him more and more—even intending to pass the Luoshui Nunnery on to him—his actions became more and more shameless. I have no idea what the abbot is thinking, passing a sect of mostly women to a pervert like him. Does she want us all to become members of his harem?”

”I think that’s exactly what the abbot is thinking. To her, her brother’s family bloodline is the most important thing...”

”It’s strange, though. Steward He has ravaged so many women over the years, but not a single one has gotten pregnant...”

The group of young girls chattered away, letting out occasional giggles.

Their voices weren’t loud, but Xu Luo heard them clearly. ’It seems the guy I crippled is truly despised in this sect,’ he thought.

”I really admire Master Luo Xinlan. She resolutely left the sect back then to marry into the secular world. A lot of people said she made the wrong choice, but if you ask me, Master Luo is living a happy life. Even though she was forced by Steward He to stay in the sect this time, she has remained faithful to her husband and given Steward He the cold shoulder.”

”Alright, let’s not talk about these things here. Be careful someone doesn’t overhear us. We’ll be in trouble,” a slightly older girl said.

The voices of the young women gradually faded into the distance. Xu Luo emerged from behind a large boulder and took a deep breath of fresh air, a faint smile flickering in his eyes.

This sect, after all, was different from the Stubborn Rock Sect he had annihilated. It wasn’t rotten from top to bottom.

’Now, it’s time to go see Mother!’

With this thought, Xu Luo stealthily made his way toward the sprawling complex of buildings.

...

”What? You want me to go out and join the search too?” Luo Xinlan looked at the middle-aged nun before her, slightly astonished. She furrowed her lovely brows and said, ”Leaving aside whether a search like this will even be effective on an island as large as Luoshui Island, for a sect as large as ours to get so worked up over a single assassin... doesn’t that seem like making a mountain out of a molehill?”

”My dear Junior Sister Luo, you seem quite happy about Steward He’s assassination attempt, don’t you? Such a major event, and you call it making a mountain out of a molehill?” This middle-aged nun was the very same one who had just suggested Huitong investigate Luo Xinlan.

Her eyes, filled with a cold light, stared at Luo Xinlan. ”This was a direct order from the abbot. I’m just here to inform you. You can choose not to listen.”

Luo Xinlan didn’t stoop to her level. As if not seeing the ugly expression on the nun’s face, she said coolly, ”Since it’s an order from the abbot, I’ll go.”

With that, she prepared to get up and leave.

The middle-aged nun sneered and whispered in Luo Xinlan’s ear, ”I know you’re the happiest one now that something’s happened to him. But don’t get too smug. Even with him like this, you won’t escape! Even without that ’thing,’ there are still ways to have fun with you!”

”You... What did you say!” Luo Xinlan’s face flushed with anger. She stared at the middle-aged nun and said coldly, ”How can you say something so shameless?”

But the middle-aged nun just sneered, her raised voice now filled with feigned hurt and disbelief. ”What? You dare to disobey the abbot’s orders? And you said Steward He deserved to be hurt? Heavens, Junior Sister Luo, how could you?”

Luo Xinlan looked at the middle-aged nun in disbelief. ”I have no grudge against you. Why are you slandering me?”