CALID Chapter 60

Invitation

On this day, Fang Xianye was about to leave the mansion to go to Jin’an Temple for worship. He lifted the sedan curtain and was about to step in when his footsteps halted. His servant, Hezhi, who was standing aside, asked strangely, “Sir, what’s wrong?”

He was about to approach, but Fang Xianye waved his hand to stop him, saying, “It’s nothing.”

With that, he stepped into the sedan and lowered the curtain. Hezhi outside elongated his tone and said, “Lift the sedan.”

The sedan was then lifted unsteadily. Fang Xianye looked at the unexpected guest in black with a masked face inside the sedan, frowned, and whispered, “What are you here for?”

The person tore off the black cloth covering his face, revealing a young and handsome face. It was Duan Xu.

He smiled and said, “Something came up suddenly. Someone is lying in wait for you outside the city. Let me ask you, do you have any particular preference among the four sedan bearers outside, any you want to keep to continue carrying your sedan?”

Fang Xianye replied, “The one on the left front, why?”

“Alright, then I’ll ensure your safety along with Hezhi and him. The one who came to assassinate you is a skilled member of the Hall of Whispering Sounds, the same place where Luo Xian used to stay. Although he’s not my match, I can’t guarantee the safety of too many people.”

“Who wants to kill me?”

“Of course, it’s my father, who sees you as a major threat.” Duan Xu snapped his fingers.

Recently, he had let Chenying watch his father at home. Chenying was a meticulous child with an innocent face, although he didn’t yet possess the ability for analysis and deduction, he provided many useful clues.

For example, the steward inadvertently mentioned that his father had withdrawn a large sum of money from the treasury, claiming it was for renovating the ancestral home, but there had been no action taken.

Also, his father had been frequently exchanging messages with someone using carrier pigeons.

He followed up on these clues and found out that his father had finally decided to kill Fang Xianye again, just like he had tried five years ago, by hiring assassins from the Hall of Whispering Sounds.

Fang Xianye’s gaze darkened. He thought for a moment and said, “Then I’ll return to the mansion immediately and stay within the city.”

“If the Hall of Whispering Sounds is going to act, even if you dodge it once, you can’t avoid it forever. Moreover, if they fail again after the first and second attempts, the Hall of Whispering Sounds won’t accept the job a third time. With my father’s character, he won’t want more people to know about it. If they fail this time, he’ll probably stop.”

Fang Xianye sneered. As long as he didn’t die, his former “father” would not have peace of mind.

**Nomad: I knew it!!**

Duan Xu folded his arms and said, “You’ve already made a name for yourself. In the future, there will be more dangers. You need to select a few skilled personal guards. Before you find guards, why don’t you first bring Luo Xian out of the Jade Tower and let her protect you for a while?”

“No, recently the court is in turmoil. I need Luo Xian to provide intelligence from the Jade Tower.” Fang Xianye immediately refused, then seemed to think of something and said seriously, “I was just about to find you, there’s been a change in the horse administration corruption case, the witness has recanted.”

“The registrar of the Imperial Stables, Sun Changde? Is he claiming that the three thousand horses were not phantom allocations, but actually died of the plague?”

“Not only that, he also said that his previous report of the horse administration corruption was under the threat and manipulation of others, intended to frame the Minister of the Imperial Stables and the Minister of the Military. The recantation was probably ordered by Duke Pei, but I am not clear on the details. Now, Sun Changde is under custody awaiting trial at the Ministry of Justice under Minister Jing Yan.”

“Jing Yan doesn’t belong to any faction; he’s an upright and impartial official. He’s been monitoring this matter closely, and it won’t be easy to fool him.”

However, Fang Xianye shook his head and said, “You and I both know the corruption in the horse administration is real, but some of the evidence in Sun Changde’s hands was forged by you. Although Sun Changde does not know those forgeries came from you, if Jing Yan investigates further, he might very well trace it back to you. With truth and falsehood intermingled, things could get complicated.”

Duan Xu clasped his hands at his lips, casually crossing them.

Initially, when they discovered the corruption and the witness, Fang Xianye had mentioned that this witness was unreliable and to be cautious, and due to insufficient evidence, they had not blown the whistle on the matter.

Even when they were recapturing Shuozhou, the evidence was still not well collected, and it was not the right time to bring up the issue. However, missing this opportunity would jeopardize the battle plans of Yuncheng and Luozhou. Before leaving Nandu, Duan Xu forged a batch of evidence just in case, creating coincidences that would get these “evidences” into Sun Changde’s hands, triggering the corruption case to influence the emperor.

Now, Sun Changde, under pressure from Duke Pei, had recanted, hindering the investigation, and these forged evidences had become a major issue.

After a moment of silence, Duan Xu smiled and said, “We will confront the soldiers with generals, and meet the flood with earth. My father, Minister Du, and my future father-in-law will not stand by idly, it’s better to stir the waters.”

Listening to the inquiry of the city gate soldiers, Duan Xu stretched and said, “I understand the situation now, saving you is more urgent.”

Duan Xu’s information was indeed correct. Not long after leaving the city, the sedan suddenly shook violently, and outside, there were hurried footsteps and cries of alarm. He instructed Fang Xianye to stay inside the sedan, then lifted the curtain and flashed out. The next moment, Hezhi and the sedan bearer chosen by Fang Xianye were thrown into the sedan. The two of them were trembling with fear, wishing they could hold each other.

Outside the sedan, there was a tumultuous noise, swords clashing, blood splattering, bodies falling, the scene was as intense as a storm. Fang Xianye could almost imagine the scene outside.

He had never seen anyone as proficient in killing as Duan Xu, not even the assassins of the Hall of Whispering Sounds who made a living by killing. It was hard to call Duan Xu’s methods martial arts, because his methods had no routines, no fixed moves, only taking lives.

Sometimes, Fang Xianye felt that Duan Xu enjoyed this direct and violent killing.

Five years ago, when Fang Xianye, ignorant and naive, set foot on the road to the capital, his servants were slaughtered along the way, and he was being hunted down with his head almost about to fall, he saw Duan Xu for the first time.

This guy was like a godsend, killing all the assassins who were originally here to massacre. Fang Xianye vividly remembered, amidst the bloody sunset, holding his bleeding left hand, watching the blood-drenched demon-like figure turn to look at him, feeling both panicked and hopeless.

Yet, the man walked up to him, squatted down, and casually said, “I’m not here to kill you, I’m here to save you.”

He pulled Fang Xianye’s hand, skilfully bandaged it, and smilingly introduced himself, “Nice to meet you, I’m Duan Xu, the Xu of Seal Wolf Residence. The one who wants to kill you is my dad, Duan Chengzhang.”

That was the first time Fang Xianye saw the person he had been impersonating for seven years.

A very peculiar person indeed.

Duan Xu brought him to Nandu, chatting with him through the night along the way.

The stars were brilliant at that time, Duan Xu used his sword to poke the fire, with the firelight reflecting in his eyes, he earnestly said, “I’ve read your articles, they are too good, such words shouldn’t disappear from the world. You should, as the ancients said, establish a heart for the heavens and earth, establish a life for the people, inherit the wisdom of the sages, and bring peace for generations to come.”

“I heard that weapons are ominous, not the tools of a gentleman. I’ll be that ominous weapon, and you’ll be that tool of a gentleman, how about it?”

A trembling voice interrupted Fang Xianye’s reminiscence, his young servant trembling with fear, curled up, asked, “That man outside is really powerful, who is he?”

Fang Xianye fell silent for a moment and replied, “He’s a friend.”

If they weren’t like-minded, they should have been enemies.

Before he could finish speaking, he saw a black-clad assassin crashing into the sedan, a sword pierced through his chest, eyes wide open staring at him, blood spurting out, lifeless. The two men beside him screamed in fear, the sedan driver courageously raised his hand to protect Fang Xianye, only to see Duan Xu, with his face covered, stepping onto the sedan’s threshold, seemingly amused. He bent his legs, one hand on his knee, the other hand reached out to wipe the blood from the assassin’s chest with his sleeve, calmly sheathing the sword, saying, “All cleaned up.”

Fang Xianye’s tense body finally relaxed, he breathed a long sigh of relief, but then heard Duan Xu say, “I have something else to tell you, come out with me for a moment.”

After saying this, Duan Xu pointed to the two people beside Fang Xianye, smiling, “You stay here, lower the sedan curtain later, don’t look at what shouldn’t be seen, don’t listen to what shouldn’t be heard, got it?”

The sedan driver and the attendant looked at each other, hesitant about whether this person could be trusted, yet also fearing his sword. Fang Xianye waved his hand, saying that he wouldn’t harm me, then stepped out of the sedan, casually dropping the curtain.

The roadside outside the sedan was littered with corpses, probably a dozen or so, blood staining the ground. Duan Xu stood among these corpses, leisurely as if seeing such a scene was nothing out of the ordinary. Fang Xianye glanced at the sedan, walked a bit further away, and whispered, ‘What do you want to say?’

“I have someone I want to introduce to you.”

Fang Xianye exclaimed in surprise, “Now? Here?”

Duan Xu nodded, his eyes curved as he took two steps back and called out slowly, “He Simu.”

“When you return to the mortal world, if there are any disasters or difficulties, or anywhere you need help, just call my name, and I will come to you.”

Not long after his words fell, a faint blue smoke filled the air, accompanied by the familiar scent of Agarwood. A girl appeared, stepping on the blood-soaked ground with her embroidered light purple shoes. Her face was pale, her willow-leaf eyebrows complemented her phoenix eyes, beautiful yet cold.

This was He Simu’s true form.

Seeing the corpses on the ground, she turned her head to size up Duan Xu, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

Duan Xu made a soft sound of surprise but didn’t evade.

He Simu frowned and asked, “Are you injured?”

Duan Xu nodded slightly, then shook his head, smiling, “Not seriously, just some skin and flesh wounds on my shoulder and ribs. Most of the blood is from the enemies. Are you concerned about me?”

He Simu chuckled lightly, “If my contracted person loses any of their five senses, how can they trade with me?”

Duan Xu’s eyes flickered slightly. He didn’t continue this topic but instead pointed to Fang Xianye, saying, “Can you let my friend here see your true form as well?”

He Simu’s gaze turned to Fang Xianye, and she briskly snapped her fingers. Fang Xianye, whose complexion wasn’t great to begin with, suddenly widened his eyes.

Initially surprised to see Duan Xu talking to the air, now he was faced with a pale girl in red clothes appearing out of nowhere, looking at him coldly.

For a moment, he didn’t know if this was a dream or reality, so shocked that he couldn’t speak. Duan Xu then made a simple introduction between the two silent individuals, “Simu, this is my dear friend Fang Xianye. Xianye, this is the Ghost King, Her Highness He Simu.”

“Ghost King?” Fang Xianye repeated softly.

However, He Simu ignored him and turned directly to Duan Xu, asking coldly, “Why did you summon me? I didn’t grant you this power just so you could call me for amusement.”

“Naturally, I want to make a deal with you.”

“And the conditions?”

Duan Xu blinked innocently, his smile pure and naive as he said, “Come to attend my wedding. Simu, I want you to come to my wedding as a condition for our deal.”