Chapter 41: The Red Lotus Sect’s Guardian
Mu Bai dragged Peng Deshou over the wall, bound him with hemp rope, tossed him into a hidden thicket at the base of the wall, and then proceeded to beat him mercilessly with a wooden club.
Peng Deshou, his face bruised and swollen, kept dodging; the sobs and cries for help welling in his throat were shredded by the wad of waste paper stuffed in his mouth into broken whimpers.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a blurry red figure. His eyes, swollen shut like a pig’s head, lit up as if he had spotted a savior.
Peng Deshou struggled to wriggle his body outward, gurgling incessantly in his throat, trying to draw that person’s attention.
Mu Bai noticed his unusual movements and immediately turned to look behind him.
Ten meters away, a man cloaked in dark red stood there, his face obscured.
Mu Bai narrowed his eyes slightly.
He had also seen this person earlier in Hao Liang’s study.
The fact that he could approach so closely without Mu Bai detecting him indicated considerable skill; he must be a prominent figure within the Red Lotus Sect.
Mu Bai kicked Peng Deshou into the bushes by the corner with his heel, keeping a vigilant watch on the opponent.
Dressed tonight in black robes and a black veil to conceal his identity, he would not draw the Tianyu Liufang Sword unless absolutely necessary.
Peng Deshou sobbed and cried for help from behind, as the man leaped forward and struck Mu Bai’s chest with his palm.
Mu Bai blocked the blow with a wooden staff, leaned back while spinning around, then raised the staff again to strike the opponent’s head.
The man’s figure swayed as he dodged the strike, simultaneously flicking his wide-sleeved cloak to unleash over a dozen red-spotted venomous snakes. They landed on the grass, hissing and flicking their tongues as they slithered toward Mu Bai.
He lightly leaped backward, yet the snakes moved with astonishing speed, disappearing into the surrounding night. Their dull red spots nearly vanished amidst the grass.
Sensing the danger, Mu Bai instinctively swung his staff to block, but one snake behind him seized the opportunity to coil around the wood and glide toward his wrist.
Under the faint moonlight, its sharp fangs were visible, dark green venom poised to drip.
A chill ran down Mu Bai’s spine; he immediately flung both the wooden staff and the venomous snake several meters away.
The man attacked again, while poisonous snakes lurked all around.
He could no longer hide his true skills and was forced to draw the Tianyu Liufang Sword with a reverse grip. The blade traced a perfect arc, its silver light severing three or four snake bodies, sending venom flying.
Fortunately, having previously fought the woman in red, Mu Bai was already on guard; as he struck, he swiftly dodged, so that only the sword’s edge came into contact with the deadly poison.
A flash of sword light pierced the darkness, and from beneath the dark red cloak came a hoarse, grating voice: “Tian Yu Liu Fang… You are Ta Xue.”
Mu Bai: “…”
Recognized the moment the sword was drawn—being too famous truly isn’t always a good thing.
Yet this man had come to the Peng residence in the dead of night, surely to secretly contact Peng Deshou; he dared not cause any major disturbance, so he kept his voice extremely low, audible only to Mu Bai.
Mu Bai sidestepped the incoming palm strike and asked, “And who exactly are you?”
The opponent let out a sinister chuckle but offered no reply, his palm strike growing ever more fierce.
Mu Bai narrowly dodged, yet the edge of his robe was shattered by the force.
This man’s martial prowess surpassed that of the woman in red; moreover, surrounded by coiling snakes, he proved even more difficult to handle. After dozens of exchanges, Mu Bai finally spotted an opening and thrust his sword backward, aiming straight for the man’s throat.
The gust from the sword lifted the hood of the cloak, revealing the man’s face to him.
Mu Bai’s pupils contracted sharply.
Beneath the hood lay an exceedingly hideous face; from the jawline to the temples, even across the eyelids, every inch was covered with bulging purplish-blue and dark red veins, the muscles twisted and distorted under their pressure until facial features were nearly unrecognizable.
Even more bizarrely, once the sword tip pierced the skin, it seemed blocked by something as hard and solid as steel rebar, unable to advance further.
Mu Bai swiftly withdrew his sword, slashing away a venomous snake attacking from the left, while saying, “Brother, your face is truly too hideous. What sinister art did you practice to end up like this?”
The man’s facial veins swelled and contracted violently as he raised a hand to pull up his hood, clearly unwilling to let his opponent judge his appearance.
Mu Bai seized this opening and struck with a swift slash of her sword.
The man’s muscles must have been strengthened by some sinister technique; even the Tianyu Liufang Sword could only slice through his skin when it struck him.
Enraged by Mu Bai’s earlier words, the man panted heavily, the torn sections of his dark red cloak revealing the fierce undulation of his muscles beneath.
He suddenly lunged forward, unleashing a rapid succession of palm strikes, making no attempt to evade the sword’s edge.
Mu Bai gripped the sword with both hands to resist, channeling all her inner energy into the blade.
The sword’s edge finally pierced the opponent’s palm, severing blood vessels.
The man sneered, “Is this all the skill you possess?”
No sooner had he spoken than he was seized by sudden convulsions; his eyes widened in shock as he raised a hand to clutch his own throat.
The man’s face twisted in agony as he struggled to slowly kneel toward the ground: “How could this be…”
Mu Bai flicked his wrist, severing the last two snakes lurking in the grass: “Your snakes are quite venomous; one drop of blood and they seal the throat.”
The Tianyu Liufang sword was coated with the snakes’ venom; once a blood vessel was cut, the poison would spread throughout the body along with the blood.
While Mu Bai carefully surveyed the surroundings to ensure all lurking venomous snakes had been cleared away, the man had already fallen backward onto the ground.
This person either lost his temper too easily and acted irrationally, or was overly confident in his defenses. Given his sinister martial arts and inner strength, even if he couldn’t defeat Mu Bai, he should have been able to escape; instead, he ended up being taken down by his own snake venom.
Mu Bai carefully wiped the venom off the blade before sheathing his sword.
He crouched down to take a closer look and saw that the man’s bulging veins and muscles had turned bluish-purple from the toxin, as if they might burst at any moment.
Mu Bai quickly moved farther away from him and turned back to search for Peng Deshou.
The two fighters made little noise, and in that time, Peng Deshou had already wriggled along the wall for nearly ten meters, though he was still some distance from the main gate of the Peng residence.
Seeing Mu Bai approach, his heart lurched with fright, and he twisted forward with even greater effort.
Mu Bai grabbed Peng Deshou by the back of his collar, dragged him backward a few steps, then crouched down. “Stop crawling.”
Peng Deshou’s entire face was swollen like risen dough, his eyelids bruised purple and barely able to open; yet he still strained to glare in terror, emitting muffled gurgles from his throat.
Mu Bai raised a hand and clamped it around his throat. “Answer a few questions truthfully, and you may yet live to return. Dare to shout, and I will kill you this instant.”
Peng Deshou struggled for breath, nodding frantically in agreement.
Mu Bai pressed his thumb against Peng’s chin and applied force, squeezing out the crumpled wad of paper.
Choked by the paper, Peng’s throat was filled with phlegm. Just as he was about to cough, he caught Mu Bai’s threatening glare and heard the sound of a sword being drawn. He immediately fell silent, daring only to gasp softly with a hoarse voice.
Mu Bai asked, “Do you know that man in the red cloak from just now?”
“I… I do…”
“Then tell me everything you know, all at once. Don’t make me ask one by one. If you annoy me, I’ll chop you up right here.”
“Hero, spare my life… I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you all. That man just now is one of the Four Dharma Protectors of the Red Lotus Sect, sent to meet us in place of the Red Lotus Sect Leader.”
“You?”
“Yes, myself and the Third Prince, along with two other ministers.”
“So, you’re colluding with the Red Lotus Sect?” The question was obvious; Mu Bai had no intention of waiting for an answer and pressed on, “What about Hao Liang? Is he in league with you as well?”
Peng Deshou paused, taken aback. “Hao Liang? Isn’t he one of the Fifth Prince’s men?”
Mu Bai furrowed his brows.
Peng Deshou’s expression didn’t seem feigned. If that were true, then Hao Liang wasn’t aligned with the Third Prince after all.
“Besides you, has the Red Lotus Sect colluded with anyone else?”
“No, I don’t think so. The Red Lotus Sect cooperated with us to help the Third Prince ascend the throne, and in return, he promised to make their sect the state religion of Wuti once he became emperor. Why would they need to collude with others…?”
Mu Bai raised an eyebrow: “They said that, and you just believed them?”
No wonder Su Mo said the Third Prince was short-sighted.
Peng Deshou said, “The Red Lotus Sect must naturally demonstrate their sincerity; otherwise, we would not place our full trust in them.”
According to Peng Deshou, the woman who bore a striking resemblance to Consort Qiong was arranged by the Third Prince’s faction to appear before the Emperor. She immediately caught his eye and was taken into the imperial harem. Once inside the palace, she received exclusive favor and whispered many influential words into the Emperor’s ear during their private moments.
Nowadays, the Emperor of Wuti lies bedridden with illness, his mind no longer clear.
Consort Qiong had been the crimson mole on his heart for many years. Encountering someone so similar to her in his twilight years, he naturally bestowed upon this woman every conceivable affection. Moreover, as she hailed from the Red Lotus Sect and excelled at bewitching minds, nowadays whatever she says, the Emperor simply accepts without question.
The edict to install the Third Prince as Crown Prince has already been drafted, awaiting only the selection of an auspicious date for the grand ceremony to announce it to all officials.
With every word Peng Deshou spoke, the furrow between Mu Bai’s brows deepened; by the time he finished, his eyebrows were knotted tightly together.
If what he says is true, then why would the Red Lotus Sect still be contacting Lord Hao?
“What about the other princes? Is it possible the Red Lotus Sect has colluded with them as well?”
“Other princes?” Peng Deshou pondered. “The Emperor has many offspring, yet few capable of bearing great responsibility. Besides the Third Prince, only the Fifth Prince could be considered one. Hmph… As for this Fifth Prince, if his mother were not Consort Qiong, he would have perished a thousand times over.”
Peng Deshou explained that they had once arranged for that woman to slander the Fifth Prince before the Emperor, hoping to eliminate a rival, but their scheme failed. It seemed the Emperor still cherished old affections and favored the only child of Consort Qiong.
Mu Bai lowered her eyes.
While in Hao Liang’s study, the Guardian mentioned that the Red Lotus Sect had once extended an olive branch to Su Mo.
It is likely that they initially had no intention of supporting the Third Prince; only after being rejected by Su Mo were they forced to choose him instead.
Afterward, while collaborating with the Third Prince, the Red Lotus Sect secretly colluded with other ministers, plotting to insert someone into Su Mo’s inner circle. Upon learning that Su Mo valued Mu Bai, their scheme shifted to kidnapping him as leverage.
Judging from this series of actions, it seems their ambitions remain undeterred; they still hope to recruit Su Mo into a partnership.
Perhaps things were not as Peng Deshou imagined; rather, the Red Lotus Sect had not given up on winning Su Mo over, so they outwardly complied while secretly disobeying, never actually carrying out the Third Prince’s orders.
Yet the Red Lotus Sect’s plans had repeatedly failed. If they were to abandon their efforts now and fully throw their support behind the Third Prince, Su Mo would undoubtedly become their first target for elimination.
Judging by Su Mo’s demeanor, he was far from ignorant of the court’s intricate dynamics. When he spoke those words that night, he likely already knew he stood at the eye of the storm…
“Lord Peng has been abducted by assassins! Quick!”
Uncle Liu’s voice came from the other side of the wall, interrupting Mu Bai’s thoughts.
Flickering torchlight illuminated the Peng residence as a squad of guards began searching along the wall.
Snapping back to reality, Mu Bai kicked Peng Deshou unconscious, tossed him beneath the wall, clapped the dust from his hands, and turned to leave.
On the way back, he kept pondering the affairs of the Red Lotus Sect, his mind heavy with thoughts.
Thus, upon seeing a faint light still glowing in his bedchamber, he gave it no further thought and simply stepped forward to push open the door.
The dim yellow candlelight merged into a single pool, rendering the room’s scenery hazy and indistinct as it swayed with the flickering flame.
Mu Bai paused for a moment, then looked toward the person sitting at the round table, chin resting on their hand.
His raven hair cascaded loosely over the edge of the table, partially veiling a face of cold, striking beauty; his eyes resembled ink-black jade holding a subtle gleam, while long lashes gently brushed against a tear mole.
The flickering light of the red candle cast shifting shadows across his profile, inexplicably bringing to Mu Bai’s mind the words “a time of beauty and splendor.”
Though this moment was hardly such a time.
Mu Bai closed the door and walked toward him. “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
Su Mo reached out, pulled Mu Bai close, and settled him onto his lap, saying, “I was waiting for you.”
Perhaps because the position felt so awkward, Mu Bai was suddenly struck by an ominous premonition.
“Where did you go?” Su Mo asked.
“Just… to the Peng residence,” Mu Bai replied. Seeing Su Mo’s expression gradually shift, he hurriedly added, “I just dragged that Peng Deshou out, gave him a beating, asked a few questions, and then came back…”
“You finally know to come back.” The prince smiled as he retrieved the shackles from beneath the table.