Martial Cultivator

Gao Qiu quickly walked down from the mountaintop, reaching the mountain gate in an extremely short time. At this moment, that Divine Capital’s Commander Song Lian had only walked a few dozen steps along the mountain path.

From a distance, Gao Qiu clasped his hands and laughed loudly. “Commander Song, I have long heard of your great name. It is a pity that only today have I had the opportunity to meet you. With Commander Song gracing Yin Mountain with your presence, Yin Mountain is truly honored!”

As a cultivator at the end of Nepenthe and the sect master of a sect, Gao Qiu’s manner and words showed that he had already lowered himself considerably. There was naturally nothing anyone could find fault with.

As the saying goes, you do not strike someone who comes with a smile. That was precisely the principle here.

Song Lian forced out a faint smile. “Greetings, Sect Master Gao.”

Compared with Gao Qiu’s worldly smoothness in handling matters, it was obvious that Song Lian was somewhat unhappy at this moment. But this was simply due to Song Lian’s nature. He had never been the sort of person who was smooth in dealing with others. It was only because he was part of the warden faction that he could get by with such a temperament. If he had been in another government office, who knew how many silent losses he would have suffered and how many difficulties others would have made for him long ago.

Gao Qiu had already clearly noticed that Song Lian was unhappy, but he did not reveal it. He merely smiled and said, “I truly did not expect His Excellency, the Lord Warden Commander, to send Commander Song here. I really should not have disturbed His Excellency over my 300th birthday.”

Song Lian said bluntly, “Since you should not have disturbed him, why send the invitation to Divine Capital? If there had been no such matter, this official would not have needed to come all the way here.”

Gao Qiu had not expected Song Lian to be so direct, so it was somewhat awkward for a moment. However, after thinking for a while, this Autumn Sound Sect Master still smiled and said, “Such matters always have to be reported to Divine Capital. His Excellency may not come, but I would still not dare fail to mention it.”

Song Lian stared at Gao Qiu before him and frowned. “If that is the case, then why was there not a single disciple of the Autumn Sound Sect to be seen on the Northern Frontier city walls during that battle?!”

Hearing the obvious accusation in the words of the Divine Capital Commander, Gao Qiu’s heart instead completely relaxed. He first showed some shame, then spoke softly. “The Autumn Sound Sect is newly established, and many matters had piled up, so we were unable to spare anyone for the previous battle. However, I have already discussed it with the second sect master. If another war breaks out in the future, no fewer than a hundred people from the Autumn Sound Sect will hurry to the Northern Frontier.”

Sure enough, after hearing this, Song Lian’s expression became less stern than before. He raised his brows. “Really?”

Gao Qiu smiled. “How would I dare deceive Commander Song?”

Song Lian smiled and said, “Sect Master Gao truly does have a sincere heart for the country. I was wondering why the Lord Warden Commander would have this official make a trip to Yin Mountain despite his busy official duties.”

Gao Qiu smiled and said, seemingly intentionally and yet unintentionally, “It would be even better if His Excellency could come personally, but having Commander Song here is also an excellent thing.”

Song Lian also looked meaningfully at Gao Qiu and said, “You can still hold out hope. Such things are impossible to say for certain.”

Gao Qiu smiled faintly. Hearing Song Lian say this, he felt much more at ease.

Afterward, Gao Qiu led Song Lian to the front of the reception hall at the mountaintop. Gao Qiu called out loudly to the sect masters who had come to celebrate the birthday, “Everyone, this is the Divine Capital’s Commander Song Lian!”

With Gao Qiu’s introduction, everyone rose and paid their respects. Compared with Gao Qiu of the Autumn Sound Sect, this Song Lian, whose position within the warden factin was second only to that of Chen Chao, was actually far more important.

Offending Gao Qiu was not a major problem.

But if they offended the Song Lian before them, as well as the Lord Warden Commander behind him, then it would be a very serious problem.

Song Lian clasped his hands in return and smiled. “This official is here today just like all of you, to celebrate Sect Master Gao’s birthday. Everyone, there is no need to be so reserved.”

The many sect masters all agreed, their faces full of smiles.

Whether they were happy or not, one thing was certain: they absolutely could not show their unhappiness before this commander.

Gao Qiu smiled. “Commander Song, please.”

He was about to lead Song Lian to his seat, but many people found it strange that this Divine Capital’s Commander of Great Liang had come up the mountain alone, seemingly without even bringing a birthday gift.

Although no one could say anything whether he gave the Autumn Sound Sect a gift or not, at the very least, basic etiquette should still be observed, right?

Song Lian was just about to follow Gao Qiu to his seat when suddenly, a figure rushed out from the crowd and directly knelt behind Song Lian, speaking loudly, “Commander Song, Your Excellency, Zhao Wuyan of the Autumn Sound Sect has something to report!”

This shout startled everyone present. Gao Qiu was the first to react and shouted angrily, “Zhao Wuyan, what nonsense are you spouting here?!”

Gao Qiu turned around and looked at Song Lian awkwardly. He was just about to speak when Song Lian waved his hand.

Song Lian turned around with great interest and looked curiously at Zhao Wuyan before him. “Zhao Wuyan? What is it that you wish to report to this official? Could it be that there is some great demonic cultivator causing havoc throughout Ying Prefecture?”

Zhao Wuyan glanced at Song Lian and gritted his teeth, as if he had made some sort of decision, before saying, “I wish to report that the Autumn Sound Sect is colluding with the demon race and providing the demon race with military intelligence concerning our Great Liang!”

This simple sentence was spoken as though a huge stone had been thrown into a calm lake.

Raising waves a hundred thousand foot high!

Gao Qiu’s expression changed. “Do you even know what kind of nonsense you are saying?!”

He considered that everyone in the Autumn Sound Sect was under his control, including Zhao Wuyan, but he had never imagined that Zhao Wuyan would suddenly step forward and say something like this.

“As a disciple of the Autumn Sound Sect, I should not be doing this, but I am also a citizen of Great Liang. If I knowingly see my sect doing such a thing yet fail to report it, then I am not worthy of calling myself a citizen of Great Liang!”

Zhao Wuyan knelt on the ground, his face filled with determination.

Song Lian said coldly, “Zhao Wuyan, do you know that a report must be supported by evidence? It is not enough for someone to come here and spout nonsense. The imperial court has the laws of the imperial court. It will not wrong any good person, nor will it let any bad person off.”

After saying this, Song Lian also turned his head and glanced at Gao Qiu. “Sect Master Gao, that is the meaning, right?”

Gao Qiu gave a dry laugh. “Commander Song is wise. How could my Autumn Sound Sect possibly do such a thing?”

Song Lian said suspiciously, “Then why would he say such a thing?”

“How would I know? Perhaps he suffered some grievance on the mountain, that may be the case. Once a sect grows large and has too many disciples, there are many things that, even if they happen right under one’s eyes, can still be overlooked.”

Song Lian nodded and smiled. “That makes sense. Whether it is managing a sect or managing a government office, it is the same. It is impossible to attend to every single detail.”

Gao Qiu and Song Lian chatted here, keeping the atmosphere from becoming so cold and also making the other sect cultivators present feel that the matter was not particularly serious.

Gao Qiu glanced at Zhao Wuyan. Although he did not know why this fellow had suddenly come forward, he was actually not particularly worried at this moment, because there were some matters he had never entrusted to Zhao Wuyan. Thus, it was impossible for him to know about them.

“Zhao Wuyan, since you wish to report this, then show this official the evidence. If there truly is evidence, this official will naturally deal with it.”

Song Lian looked at Zhao Wuyan, narrowing his eyes. There was not the slightest trace of emotion revealed in the eyes of this middle-aged martial artist. ℯℯ𝘭.

Zhao Wuyan had already prepared for this. He pulled a stack of letters from his robes. “Commander Song, these are letters exchanged between Gao Qiu and that member of the demon race. Everything is clearly recorded inside. In addition, there is also a great demon somewhere in the rear mountain!”

Once this sentence was spoken, everyone present was shocked beyond words. If those letters could be forged, then the existence of a great demon, if verified, would leave no way to explain themselves out of it.

Song Lian took the letters and looked through them a few times before slightly raising his brows. Then, with everyone watching him, he deliberately put on a sorrowful expression. “How could a sect like Autumn Sound Sect possibly do such a thing?”

Gao Qiu frowned. He had not expected the matters in the mountain to have been discovered by Zhao Wuyan, much less that he would even have evidence. He could not quite understand it, but in truth, quite a few people in the crowd had already seen through what was happening today.

There was no other reason. It was simply that Song Lian’s expression was so damn... damn fake!

It was obvious that this fellow seemed to have known about this matter beforehand... right?

Even so, many people still found it extremely shocking. No one had expected that things today would change direction so simply and directly.

Gao Qiu was just about to speak when, suddenly, the entire Yin Mountain began shaking for no apparent reason.

This was not some boring metaphor or exaggeration, but a literal statement of fact.

The bowls and chopsticks on the tables were all trembling slightly at this moment.

Quite clearly, the entire Yin Mountain was shaking.

Song Lian smiled. “Everyone, do not panic. This is the birthday gift that this official has brought for Sect Master Gao!”

A birthday gift?

At this moment, who would still believe that Song Lian would come bringing a birthday gift?

Besides, what kind of birthday gift could make such a commotion?

“Reporting to the sect master, below the mountain... below the mountain... a cavalry force has arrived! They are riding their horses up the mountain right now!”

A disciple hurriedly came here and reported this to Gao Qiu, his entire body trembling.

Gao Qiu looked toward Song Lian, complicated emotions filling his eyes. At this point, he no longer held out any hope. He knew that the exposure of this matter was already set in stone.

“Commander Song, what terrific means. For this matter, you even mobilized the frontier army?”

Song Lian smiled faintly. “Actually, when it comes to this sort of thing, the ones who are most furious are not people like us. It is them. They risked their lives for you people in the north, yet someone was stabbing them in the back like mad. If it were me, I would be angry too. So, taking advantage of the fact that there is no war going on, I came to take a look. That is perfectly reasonable.”

Gao Qiu laughed in anger. “Good, good, good. But even if my Yin Mountain is going to be destroyed, this Gao may not necessarily die here!”

Song Lian rolled up his sleeves. “This official was just wanting to test it myself, to see exactly what level Sect Master Gao’s end of Nepenthe, raised with the demon race’s help, is at, and just how many punches from this official you can withstand!”

......

......

On the mountain path of Yin Mountain, a cavalry force was riding their horses up the mountain, the sound of hooves ringing out repeatedly. When the Autumn Sound Sect cultivators saw these uninvited guests, not a single one of them dared step forward to stop them.

Not only because it was obvious that these people were imperial court troops, but also because the bloody aura emanating from these people was simply too strong.

It was as though every single cavalryman had walked out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.