Chapter 436 - 205: Four Pavilions, Three Halls, and One Department
Chapter 436: Chapter 205: Four Pavilions, Three Halls, and One Department
This unit was composed entirely of ’Rain Souls.’ If they were to strike as one, even the Four Great Pavilion Masters combined would be doomed to die.
However, this unit was shrouded in mystery. The two men only knew that the dozen or so Rain Souls currently twenty li to the west had been borrowed from Shi Wuya by the Vice Tower Master.
This was the basic structure of the Night Rain Tower.
As for the Tower Master of Night Rain Tower, Shi Wuya...
No one knew his origins or his past.
Night Rain Tower was born from his hands. He was the one who recruited its masters. The Vice Tower Master, Shen Qingfeng, Tu Qianqiu, Tang Xi—they all gathered at Night Rain Tower because of him.
It was said his Swordsmanship had reached the realm of Unity of Heaven and Man, and that his Inner Strength had long become self-sustaining and endless.
His Touching the Subtle Technique and Knowing Destiny Technique were rumored to have been cultivated to their absolute peak.
But what their effects were, exactly, was something no outsider could possibly know.
He was the unfallable banner of Night Rain Tower. As long as he drew breath, Night Rain Tower would never collapse.
...
...
Miao Feichan recorded all of this, but the more she wrote, the more her brow furrowed.
Liu Hanyan had said before that anyone who mastered the Observing Traces Technique was a figure on the level of a Hall Master or Pavilion Master.
But now it seemed that while her statement wasn’t wrong, it clearly wasn’t the whole truth.
Pavilion Masters and Hall Masters had undoubtedly mastered the Observing Traces Technique, but they weren’t the only ones who had.
Take these two Stewards, for instance.
’So there must be other masters in Night Rain Tower who also know the Observing Traces Technique. That means I can’t judge someone’s status based on that alone.’
’But this also meant Night Rain Tower was even larger and more complex than they had anticipated.’
Once Fang Shuwen had what he wanted, he made the two men recite the Observing Traces Technique.
The two men didn’t dare hold back and immediately recited the entire Mental Method for the Observing Traces Technique.
That was about the extent of their knowledge.
When asked about further plans, the two knew nothing. Seeing this, Fang Shuwen stopped talking and killed them with a flick of his hand.
It was, in a way, a mercifully quick death.
When he looked up, he saw the Vice Tower Master still screaming in the rain.
Fang Shuwen reached out, pulling the man through the air and right to him.
Once the man was before him, Fang Shuwen flicked a finger to retract A Line. The Vice Tower Master instantly collapsed to the ground in a heap, tears, saliva, and rainwater mingling as he remained lost in the recent agony, unable to snap out of it.
Fang Shuwen had crippled his Inner Strength. Though he was still slightly more robust than a commoner, that was the extent of it.
Such pain was all the more unbearable for him now.
Fang Shuwen watched him in silence.
"I will only ask you two questions. If your answers satisfy me, I can give you a quick and painless death."
The Vice Tower Master managed to force one eye open. He looked at Fang Shuwen, a trace of fear finally visible in his gaze. He gritted his teeth and spoke:
"We thought this plan would be sufficient.
"So, for now, there are no follow-up plans...
"However, I’d advise you not to kill me. If I die, Night Rain Tower will mobilize everyone to hunt you down.
"No matter how skilled your Martial Arts... you will die without a doubt."
Fang Shuwen frowned.
"Is that true?"
"I... Why would I lie to you..."
The Vice Tower Master’s jaw was clenched tight. Only now did he manage to catch his breath.
"So, it’s best you let me go.
"For now, at least, Night Rain Tower is only targeting Miao Feichan and the Seven Stars she holds.
"If she’s willing to hand over the Seven Stars, we can even spare her life...
"And we have no desire to make an enemy of someone like you, unless we have no other choice."
Fang Shuwen nodded, then took a token from his robes.
"Do you recognize this?"
The Vice Tower Master glanced at it, his brow furrowing slightly.
"The Dragon Abyss Order... So it fell into your hands. I knew Liu Hanyan couldn’t be trusted with anything important.
"But, as for that question... I don’t wish to answer you.
"You said you would only ask two questions.
"The first was about our follow-up plans. The second was when you asked... ’Is that true?’
"This is now the third..."
Fang Shuwen just smiled at that and swung a heavy slap across his face.
"A wise man knows when to yield. Has the Vice Tower Master still not grasped the situation?"
"You!"
The Vice Tower Master’s expression darkened. He took a deep breath.
"The one who ordered Night Rain Tower to seize the Seven Stars was Dragon Abyss.
"He offered our Tower Master a price he couldn’t refuse... but as for the specifics, we weren’t privy to them.
"This token is the sigil of our agreement.
"Night Rain Tower is to use it to deliver the Seven Stars."
Fang Shuwen nodded.
"The delivery method."
"I don’t know. The Tower Master only told Liu Hanyan... No one ever thought Liu Hanyan would fail."
Miao Feichan’s Lightweight Technique might be number one in the world, but Night Rain Tower had its own methods to counter her.
That was why neither Shi Wuya nor this Vice Tower Master had ever considered this job a major affair.
They didn’t understand why such a trivial matter would prompt Dragon Abyss to reveal itself.
But the price was too good to refuse and the job wasn’t difficult, so Night Rain Tower had no reason not to take it.
And yet, this small commission had somehow drawn out Fang Shuwen.
Only then did Night Rain Tower begin to take the matter seriously.
Fang Shuwen wasn’t disappointed to hear this.
He then asked more about Dragon Abyss and Night Rain Tower’s Shi Wuya.
But both subjects were shrouded in mystery.
As for Dragon Abyss, the Vice Tower Master knew no more about it than Miao Feichan did.
As for Shi Wuya... ten years ago, the Vice Tower Master might have known him quite well.
But now, he didn’t understand him well at all.
At first, this sounded rather odd. It seemed unreasonable for the Vice Tower Master not to know the Tower Master.
But the person responsible for this was, ironically, the Vice Tower Master himself, along with the other high-ranking leaders.
For a clandestine organization, the leader must naturally be mysterious as well.
Mysterious, unfathomable, with peerless Martial Arts.
All this made it easier to inspire reverence and fear.
They had intentionally turned Shi Wuya into a spiritual totem. They stepped back of their own accord, placing him upon a pedestal.
Fang Shuwen fell into thought after hearing all this. He knew this was likely all the information he could pry from the man. When he asked about the contents of the Touching the Subtle Technique and the Knowing Destiny Technique, it turned out the Vice Tower Master didn’t know them either.
Even a man of his station, the Vice Tower Master, had only mastered the Observing Traces Technique.
Fang Shuwen made him recite the Observing Traces Technique and compared it to the version from the two Stewards.
Finding no discrepancies, he brought his palm down on the man’s head, killing him on the spot.
The man had said that if he died, Night Rain Tower would come out in full force. Naturally, Fang Shuwen had to see if that was true.
So, killing him wasn’t enough. Fang Shuwen bound the corpse with a rope and hung it from the gate of the Chen Residence, as if fearing the people of Night Rain Tower might somehow miss it.
The questioning was done, but the killing was not.
Fang Shuwen turned to Miao Feichan.
"Let’s go."
"Mm."
Miao Feichan knew where he was going. And since she no longer had any reason to stay, she would naturally go with him.